IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DRYING FABRICS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Eden, of Lytham, in the County of Lancaster,
Bleacher, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DRYING
FABRICS."
Sealed the 10th November 1854, and dated the 6th September 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Eden at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th September
1854.
I, JAMES EDEN, of Lytham, in the County of Lancaster, Bleacher, lo
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
RATUS FOR DRYING FABRICS" to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in an improved drying stove or chamber,
through which fabrics, after they have been bleached and stiffened or otherwise
prepared, are caused to pass in order to dry them. I prefer to construct my
improved drying chamber of cast-iron plates, and to place a chest heated by
steam near the floor thereof. The fabric in entering passes between the outer
partition and a vertical steam chest, then under and over a series of rollers, and
then along each side of another vertical steam chest. The fabric is then carried
under and over another series of rollers, and along each side of another steam
chest, and thence taken to be packed or otherwise disposed of. The object of

page_text: my Invention is to dry the fabric without bringing it in contact with the heating
surfaces, also to economise time, space, and fuel. Cold air may be blown in
by a fan, or otherwise admitted, to cool the fabric before it is removed from the
drying chamber. The number of the heating chests and the size of the appa-
ratus must be regulated according to the work to be done, and the heat may
be obtained by hot air instead of steam.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Eden in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
EDEN, of Lytham, in the County of Lancaster, Bleacher, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Eden, Her special license that I, the said James Eden,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Eden, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
RATUS FOR DRYING FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Eden, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
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 James Eden, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
Specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
(that is to say):
My said Invention consists of an improved stove and other apparatus

page_text: connected therewith for drying textile fabrics, the fabrics being caused to pass
through such stove for the purpose of being dried. The apparatus which I
employ in connection with the stove consists of a series of rollers, which con-
duct a web of the fabric to be dried through the stove, and which whilst the
fabric is in the stove cause it to pass over and near to the heated surfaces, by
means of which it is to be heated and dried during its passage through the
I have in the said Drawings given Figures for shewing how my
improved drying apparatus may be constructed, similar parts in each of these
Figures being marked with similar letters of reference.
stove.
Figure 1 of the said Drawings is a longitudinal section, Figure 2 a trans-
verse section, and Figure 3 a plan, each shewing a part of a stove and other
apparatus for drying fabrics according to my Invention.
a, a, is a steam chest,
the upper plate of which forms the floor of the stove; upon this steam chest
may be fixed eleven or any other convenient number of vertical steam chests b.
These chests may be made of cast iron, but wrought iron or other material
which will enable them to be made steam-tight or air-tight may be used.
Steam for heating the chests is admitted through the pipes c, and it afterwards
passes away through the pipes d. The water formed by the condensation of
steam in the interior of the chests makes its escape by means of the pipes c.
The vertical steam chests are inclosed by the casing f, to prevent the heated
air from escaping without acting upon the fabric to be dried. The air heated
by the steam chests, after passing over the surfaces of the fabrics passing
through the stove, together with the moisture evaporated from the fabrics under
operation, rises up and makes its escape into the vertical flue g, through the
opening h. The roller i, containing a web of the fabric to be dried, is sup-
ported by standards i, as seen in Figure 1, from whence it is drawn and passed
into the stove. For this purpose the fabric is passed under the roller k, and
rising between the first steam chest b and the casing f, as shewn in Figure 1,
also passes behind the first guide roller l on to the first roller m. After passing
over the first roller m, the fabric passes behind a second guide roller 1, on the
other side of the first steain chest b, and descends nearly to the bottom of the
space between the first and second steam chests, where it passes under two
guide rollers n, n, from whence the fabric again rises, passing behind a guide
roller near the top of the second steam chest b, and over the second roller m,
and so on, passing down and up all the spaces between the steam chests, as
shewn by the lines and arrows in Figure 1, until it arrives at the roller a,
placed near the foot of the vertical flue g, into which cold air may be
admitted, or, if desired, forced by a fan, in communication with the pipe g',
for the purpose of cooling the fabric as it passes through the vertical flue.

page_text: . The
After passing, under the rollera, the fabric passes under the roller o, then it
rises up to the roller'p, and after being brought down to the rollers 9 and rit
again rises to the roller s, from whence it goes to the roller t, which is supposed
to form part of an ordinary plaiting down machine; or the fabric may be
wound upon a roller, or otherwise disposed of, as may be required.
rollers mare driven by steam or other power, and they are connected together
by the bevel wheels and horizontal shaft, shewn best in Figure 3, and the
guide rollers and are so placed as to cause the fabric to pass over and near
to the heated surfaces of the vertical steam chests without touching them, in
order. that the fabric may be dried by the heat which it will thus receive, and
by the action of the heated air in passing up through the chest. The mode of
working the apparatus. is as follows:-When the interior of the drying stove
or chamber is sufficiently heated, by means of steam admitted into the steam
chests, motion is given to the rollers m and to the roller t, and the fabric to be
dried is then gradually unwound from the batch roller i, and drawn by the
friction of the rollers m and t under and over all the guide rollers in the
interior of the stove and in the vertical flue g. When the whole of the web
has been unwound from the roller t, another web may be introduced, securing
the commencement of the second web to the end of the first, so that it may
be drawn through the stove. A web of some inferior material or a cord may
also be drawn through the stove by the end of a fabric, to serve as means for
introducing a subsequent fabric into the stove. The temperature of the stove
and the speed of the rollers must be varied according to the substance and
state of moisture of the fabric to be dried. It may in some cases be desirable
to increase the extent of the surface of a fabric subjected to the operation of
drying within the stove, by conveying the fabric from one of the bottom rollers
n in each space between two vertical steam chests, up to and over an inter-
mediate guide roller u, and thence down again under the other guide roller n in
the same space, as shewn by the dotted lines in the first compartment of the
drying chamber. The steam chests, a and b may also be heated by means of
hot air forced into them by a blowing machine or other appropriate machinery,
but I prefer steam as being more convenient. The current of air passing up
through the spaces between the steam chests may be increased, by providing
additional inlets for air at the bottom of the stove, and increasing the outlet at
the top. By means of this apparatus fabrics are dried while in a state of
tension, and without coming in contact with the heating surfaces; and the
amount of tension may be varied according to the nature of the material to be
operated upon, for the purpose of improving the finish or appearance of the
fabric when dried.

page_text: Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim any
of the elements of the apparatus which I have described as forming any
part of my Invention separately or apart from the combination and application
thereof for the purposes above described; and that what I do claim is, an
improved apparatus for drying of fabrics, by causing them to pass over and
near to heated surfaces within a stove by means of guide and other rollers, in
manner and for the purposes above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Eden, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Third day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JAMES EDEN.
(L.B.)