IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO FACILITATE THE RINSING, WASHING, AND CLEANSING OF FABRICS, WHICH MACHINERY IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN OPERATIONS IN BLEACHING AND DYEING
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bridson, of Bolton le Moors, in the
County of Lancaster, Bleacher, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY TO FACILITATE THE RINSING, WASHING, AND CLEANSING
OF FABRICS, WHICH MACHINERY IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN
OPERATIONS IN BLEACHING AND DYEING."
Sealed the 8th December 1852, and dated the 1st October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bridson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, ou
the 1st October 1852.
I, HENRY BRIDSON, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inveni-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO FACILITATE THE RINSING,
WASHING, AND CLEANSING OF FABRICS, WHICH MACHINERY IS ALSO
PLICABLE TO CERTAIN OPERATIONS IN BLEACHING & DYEING," to be as.
follows:-
My improvements consist in substituting flat winces or revolving
frames for the ordinary round or angular rollers. A cistern or other
vessel, partly filled with water, has two shafts mounted in bearings

page_text: attached to it, and to each shaft two rails are fixed by cross arms;
these shafts and rails constitute the flat winces or revolving frames;
the rails may be equi-distant from the shaft, or one rail may be nearer
to the shaft than the other; the shafts are cach furnished with a
driving wheel, and are put in motion from an intermediate wheel
working into both the wheels on the shafts; by this means both shafts
are made to revolve in the same direction. In putting the machine
together the shafts and rails should all be in the same plane, and the
water in the cistern should about cover the shafts. The fabric to be
operated upon is fed in at one end of the machine, and passed round the
shafts and rails, and taken out at the other end, in the ordinary manner;
motion is then given to the shafts and rails by the steam engine or other
motive power, and the fabric is continuously progressing and flapping
together and against the water in the cistern so long as the machine is
in motion. The flapping of the fabric is particularly beneficial in
removing dirt or other impurities when the machine is used for
washing, and it also facilitates saturation when the machine is used in
any of the processes of bleaching & dyeing. In treating heavy goods
it may be desirable to introduce a series of rails or rollers in the same
plane as the axes of the winces or revolving frames, in order to increase
the effect produced by the flapping of the fabric. It may in some
cases be found advantageous to use round or angular rollers placed
excentrically on their axes, instead of the winces or revolving frames
above mentioned; if it is found requisite to squeeze part of the moisture
out of the fabric before it leaves the machine, a pulley may be fixed
near the end of oue of the shafts, and a pressing roller placed above it.
The fabric, before leaving the machine, would be guided between this
pulley and press roller, and the moisture would thus in part be squeezed
out.
I also propose in some cases to pass the fabric round a single
revolving flat wince, instead of using two, as above described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Bridson in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 31st March 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
HENRY BRIDSON, of Bolton le Moors, in the County of Lancaster,
Bleacher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Bridson, Her special license that I
the said Henry Bridson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Henry Bridson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend;
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and the Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MA-
CHINERY TO FACILITATE THE RINSING, WASHING, AND CLEANSING OF FABRICS,
WHICH MACHINERY IS ALSO APPLICBALE TO CERTAIN OPERATIONS IN BLEACH-
ING AND DYEING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Bridson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office. within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Bridson, do hereby de-
clare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement (that is to say):
My Invention consists in causing the fabric to be operated upon to
pass around flat winces, placed in a cistern partially filled with water or
other liquid, whereby the fabric is acted upon by the liquid in the

page_text: cistern, and at the same. time progresses through the machine.. And
in order that my Invention may be fully understood, and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me,
reference being had to the annexed Drawing, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1, is a longitudinal section through one of my improved
machines, particularly applicable for washing muslins or other light
fabrics. Fig. 2, is a transverse section of the same. Fig. 3, is a
longitudinal section of a machine for operating upon fustians or other
heavy fabrics which require to be kept distended to their full width in
passing through the machine. Fig 4, and 5, are two other modifica-
tions of my improved machinery. Fig 6, 7, and 8, represent three
other modifications of my Invention. In Figs 1, and 2, a, is the
cistern; b, b, are the outer rails of two flat winces, which consist of the
centre shafts b', and disks b, into which the rails are secured. The
shafts 6, pass through glands in the sides of the cistern, and they are
put in motion' by the driving wheel c, represented by a red circle in
Fig. 1. This wheel works into two wheels 63, on the shafts of the flat
winces, and above in the wheel d', on the shaft of the bottom squeezer
roller d. The fabric to be operated upon enters the machine between
the rollers e, and f, the former of which is supported in the elbow
levers c¹, which are weighted in order to compress the fabric between
the rollers e, and f, and thereby prevent it entering too fast. The
fabric is then passed under the roller g, from which it is taken to the
flat winces, around which it passés as often as is necessary; it then
goes under the guide roller g', and over the roller 7, to the squeeze
rollers d. i, i, are vertical bars to keep the fabric to the required
distance apart as it passes round the flat winces. The dotted circles j,j,
represent horizontal bars, which may, in some cases, be placed across
the cistern in the same level as the shafts b'. The object of these bars
is to increase the effect on the fabric when it is flapping together in
the cistern. The roller 7, is supported in sliding bearings, to which the
springs h, are attached. The object of these springs is to enable the

page_text: roller h, to imove towards and recede from the roller d, to compensate
for the variations in the delivery of the fabric from the point where it
leaves the wince to the nip of the squeeze rollers d. The compensating
roller h, may be made to yield by the fabric in various other ways; for
instance, the fabric may be made to pass under and support the roller,
or the bearings of the roller may be supported in weighted elbow levers,
or a weighted cord can be attached to the bearing; all these combina-
tions would produce the same result as the springs . On referring to
Fig. 2, it will be seen that this machine is constructed so as to operate
upon two continuous lengths of fabric at the same time; cách length
after passing three times around the flat winces is conveyed through
the squeeze rollers d, which are placed in the centre of the width of the
machine. If it should be found desirable to pass the fabric more than
three times round the flat winces, the machine can be made wider, or
only a single endless length of fabric can be operated upon at once;
in which case the squeeze rollers d, might be placed at the opposite
side of the machine to that at which the fabric enters. The water
enters the cistern at the pipe k, and it may be made to flow on to the
fabric as it leaves the machine near the roller d; by this means any
loose impurities on the surface of the fabric would be carried back into
the cistern. 1, is the off pipe, and m, the overflow pipe, which should
be on a level with the centre of the shafts of the winces. If it is found
preferable, the squeeze rollers d, can be dispensed with, and the fabric
removed from the cistern by hand, or by means of an ordinary carrying
wince; or several cisterns, each containing flat winces, may be placed
in succession, and the fabric carried from one to the other; this latter
mode is chiefly applicable in some of the processes used in dyeing.
From the foregoing description it is apparent that the flat wincers not
only cause the upper and lower strands of the fabric to flap against each.
other and pass through the water for the purpose of loosening and
disengaging the impurities, but the revolutions of the flat winces also
carry the fabrics forward; by this means the machine is rendered less
complicated than those in ordinary use, the injurious effects produced
by beaters are entirely obviated, and the power required for putting
the machinery in motion is more advantageously applied. A vibrating

page_text: motion may in some cases be given to the flat winces, instead of a
revolving one; the action of the liquid on the fabric would be partially
the same as that before described; but in this case it would be neces-
sary to draw the fabric through the machine by the squeezing rollers d.
The machine shewn in Fig. 3, is intended to be used when the
fabric under operation requires to be kept distended in passing through
the cistern; this may be found necessary in washing and dyeing
fustians and other fabrics of the same description. The fabric is
represented by the red line o, and the direction in which it passes over
the two pair of flat winces p, to the squeeze rollers q, is indicated by
the arrows; in this instance the roller p', would have to be mounted
in moveable bearings in the same way and for the same purpose as the
roller, shewn in Fig. 1."
In Fig. 4, I have shewn a single flat wince 7, of larger dimensions
than those before referred to, round which the fabrics may be wound
several times, and then carried up to the squeeze rollers or other-
wise disposed of, as may be required, according to the object for which
the machine is used; the action of the fabric on the liquid in the
cistern would be somewhat similar to that in the machines shown in
the previous Figures. This machine may be modified in its action by
substituting revolving rollers for the bars 7, and in giving a vibrating
motion to the flat wince instead of a rotary one. By this means the
fabrics would be dipped into and lifted out of the liquid by the vibra-
tions of the wince, and drawn forward by the squeeze rollers.
Fig. 5, represents another modification of my Invention. In this in-
stance I have placed a single flat wince s, in a, cistern, and above it is a
roller t; the fabric to be operated upon in passing around the wince and
roller is flapped together and agitated in the liquid according to the
position of the wince, as indicated by dotted lines.
In the diagram Fig. 6, u, u, are two rollers, placed excentrically on
their shafts ; in this instance the level of the water or other liquid in
the cistern is somewhat higher than in the machines before referred
to. This is done to bring the fabric in contact with the surface when
the rollers are in the positions shewn in dotted lines.
The diagram Fig. 7, represents two flat frames v, around which

page_text: the fabric is carried, and in Fig. 8, I have shewn two winces with
three arms in each, the action of which will be very similar to that of
the excentric rollers shewn in Fig. 6.
Various other combinations of machinery might be shewn, but the fore-
going are sufficient to illustrate the nature of my Invention; and I wish
it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the details herein set forth,
as the same may be varied to suit particular purposes; but what I do
claim is, substituting flat winces or revolving frames, similar to those
marked b, b, in Fig. 1, and p, p, in Fig. 3, for round or angular rollers,.
around which the fabric is passed, and thereby caused to progress and to
flap together and against the fluid in the cistern, so and in such manner
that the same shall strike in flat parallel blows on the surface of the
fluid. Secondly, the combinations of machinery shewn in Fig 4, 5, 6,
7, and 8, for producing either wholly or in part the same effect as the
flat winces or revolving frames b, b, and p, p. And, lastly, the com-
pensating roller 7, when used for the purpose herein-before described
in reference to Fig. 1.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bridson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of March, One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-three.
HENRY BRIDSON. (L.S.)