IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING, WASHING, AND DYEING YARNS IN HANKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Crawford, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew,
North Britain, Dyer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING,
WASHING, AND DYEING YARNS IN HANKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
Sealed the 6th April 1877, and dated the 11th October 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Crawford at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th October 1876.
WILLIAM CRAWFORD, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Dyer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING, WASHING, AND DYEING YARNS IN HANKS, AND IN
THE MACHINERY OR APPARTUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
This Invention has reference to a new or improved mode and means or mechanism
for carrying and conveying all kinds of thread or yarn in hanks, such as that of
cotton, wool, silk, jute, or other fibrous material, through the liquid, steaming,
or other troughs or chambers for treating the same in the process of bleaching,
washing, or dyeing, all in a more simple, efficient, and expeditious manner than
heretofore.
And the nature and novelty of the Invention consist in mounting two endless
webs of network over and between two driving or drawing and nipping rollers at
the upper part of one end of the machine driven and geared so as to actuate and
draw the webs and yarn through the liquid troughs or other chambers, the one web
being carried across from the top roller for a considerable distance nearly horizontally
and over a guide roller at the opposite side of the machine; the upper web being
carried up over one or more rollers situated above the lower horizontal web, thence
on to and over the same guide roller from which both webs undulate round and
under a set of rollers at the bottom of the trough or chamber and up over a
corresponding intermediate set of rollers at the top thereof, and finally pass out

page_text: through between the nipping or drawing rollers before referred to, which are fitted
in proper bush bearings and standards at the one end of the machine, where one of
the roller spindles may be conveniently driven by belts and pulleys or other ordinary
driving gear and fitted with stopping motions, the action of the machine being as
follows:-
The banks of yarn to be bleached, washed, dyed, or otherwise treated, are spread
in an open or other loose manner upon the top of the horizontal travelling web as
it travels towards the guide roller, where the upper web then gripes the hanks as
the two webs pass over the guide roller and carrying the hanks between them in
the up and down, vertical, or other undulating manner, backwards through the
troughs or chambers before referred to until they reach and pass through between
the drawing rollers where the water or liquid may be pressed out of the hanks, and
after passing over the upper roller the banks are left free on the upper surface of
this end of the lower horizontal web ready to be lifted away as the upper web rises
over its opening and guiding rollers, leaving the upper surface of the lower web free
for the reception of fresh hanks as before described to be carried and treated in like
manner through the troughs or machine.
Although nets have been described for the carrying and griping of the hanks of
yarn, it is to be understood that wide meshed wire cloth, or a series of endless bands
or cords of wire or other material might be used instead.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said William Crawford in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th April
1877.
WILLIAM CRAWFORD, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Dyer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING, WASHING, AND DYEING YARNS IN HANKS, AND IN
THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
"
My said Invention has reference to a new or improved mode and means or
mechanism for carrying and conveying all kinds of thread or yarn in hanks, such as
that of cotton, wool, silk, jute, or other fibrous material, through the liquid, steaming,
or other troughs, or chambers for treating the same in the process of bleaching,
washing, or dyeing, all in a more simple, efficient, and expeditious manner than
heretofore.
And in order that the nature, novelty, and mode of performing my said Invention
may be properly understood, I shall now proceed to describe the several Figures on
the Sheet of Drawings which I have hereunto appended for the purpose of showing
the best modes and means I am at present aware of for putting the Invention into
effect or practice, the same reference letters and numerals indicating the same or
like parts in all the Figures where shown.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 are respectively a longitudinal and transverse section and a
plan, the sections being taken on the lines 1 - - - - 1 and 22 in Figure 3, which
has a portion of the upper endless traversing web a shown as broken away, and all
of one modification or arrangement of the parts of a machine constructed in accordance
with and illustrative of my said Invention, for the purpose of bleaching, washing,
and dyeing yarns.
Figure 4 shows a side elevation of two machines (slightly modified from that
shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3) in which one of the endless traversing webs after
passing through the bleaching or dye box is conducted or carried back under it to
the front or entering end again, all for the purpose of making the one machine deliver
the yarn, after it has passed through it, on to or between the traversing web of
the next machine, so as to be passed through it also in like manner to the first, and

page_text: so on automatically through as many more machines in a sequence as found
necessary or desirable to complete the process in hand without stoppage.
Referring to Figures 1, 2, and 3, the nature, novelty, and mode of performing my
said Invention, consist all as follows:-In mounting two endless webs a and b of
network (or other suitable web fabric) over and between two driving or drawing
and nipping rollers A¹ and A" at the upper part of one end of the machine, driven
and geared so as to actuate and draw the webs a and b and yarn between them
through the liquid trough or other chamber B, which is much of an ordinary con-
struction. The one web (as b) is carried across from the top roller A¹¹ for a
considerable distance nearly horizontally and over a guide roller C at the opposite
end of the machine; the other or upper web (as a) being carried up over one or
more rollers C carried in the side frames B2 above the trough B and the lower
horizontal web b, thence down to and over the guide roller C from which both
webs a, b, pass down to and round the lowest roller D of a set of rollers D, D¹, D¹¹,
placed at a little distance vertically over each other at this entering or feeding-in
end of the box and machine, and thence away forward between the lower pair of a
set of pressing rollers E, E¹, E", E2, E, E³, placed over each other near the middle
of the box or trough B, and then forward under and over the lowest of another set
of rollers D2, D3, D4, at a little distance above each other at this driving and delivery
end of the machine, so as to be passed back again through the second pair of central
pressing rollers E¹, E", back round and over the second roller D¹ at the front end,
and so on, undulating (all as indicated by the arrows) horizontally from the rollers
at the bottom or lower part of the trough B to those at the top, where the two
webs a, b, together pass from the roller D' out through between the nipping or
drawing rollers A, A¹, before referred to.
The rollers on which the webs travel within the box are carried by their journals
in brackets fixed or bolted to the inside of the box; and for varying the tension of
the webs the bushes c of the roller C are carried on horizontal slide brackets c¹ and
fitted with screws and hand wheels c¹, c², for setting the roller in the desired position
to the slides to tighten the webs a, b, and make them run evenly and regularly.
The shafts of these rollers A¹, A", work in suitable bush bearings A2, A3, fitted in
the standards A4, secured to the upper edge of this delivery end of the trough B,
the bushes As of the upper roller A" sliding in the guides in the standards, with
springs and regulating pinching screws A5 above them, to give any desired pressure
to the webs and yarn passing through between the rollers; the upper roller being
driven by the rolling friction on the lower roller, which in the arrangement as shown
in Figure 3, is driven by the fast and loose pulleys 1, 2, on its shaft A direct through
a belt from any adjacent prime moving shaft, or it might be from a countershaft
above driven by reverse belt cones to give various moderate speeds. But for very
slow speeds this roller shaft A may be driven by shifting the belt on to the loose
pulley 3, though the reducing spur wheels 4, 41, and 5, 51, engaged or disengaged by
shifting a coupling 5" into the pinion 5 on the countershaft 6 carried in the
bracket G¹ secured to the side of the trough B below the overhanging end of the
shaft A of the roller A', or the pinion 5 or wheel 5¹ might be shifted laterally on
their shafts out of gear with each other.
As this machine requires very little power to drive it it may in some cases be
driven by hand through a crank winch handle mounted on either the shaft A or on
a countershaft (as 6) for very slow speeds.
The working and action of the machine are as follows:-The hanks. of yarn z to
be bleached, washed, dyed, or otherwise heated, are spread in an open or other loose
manner upon the top of the horizontal travelling web b as it travels towards the
guide feeding-in roller C, as shown in Figure 3, where the upper web a then gripes
the hanks as the two webs pass over this guide roller, carrying the hanks between
them, in the down and up vertical or horizontal undulating manner forwards and
backwards through the trough or chamber B, until they reach and pass through
between the drawing roller A¹ and A" where the water or liquid may be pressed

page_text: out of the hanks by the action of the springs A' above the bushes of the upper
roller A, and after passing over this roller the hanks are left free on the upper
surface of this end of the lower horizontal web b ready to be lifted away as the
upper web a rises to pass over its opening and guiding roller C¹, leaving the upper
surface of the lower web b free for the reception of fresh hanks, as before described,
to be carried and treated in like manner through the machine and trough B.
Referring to Figure 4, when it is desired to carry the yarn through two, three, or
more machines in succession, it is preferred to mount a second guiding and nipping
roller C¹¹ over the roller C at the front end of each machine, and conduct the web a
direct from the top of the roller A¹¹ to and over this roller C¹¹. The web b after
passing over the roller A¹ is carried forward and over the guide rollers 61, 6¹¹, at the
delivery end of the machine, thence down to and under the two guide rollers 62, b³,
below the trough B, back and up to a guide roller 6 at the feeding-in end of the
machine, thence round over the roller C below the roller C¹¹ where the two webs a, b,
again meet, all as indicated by the arrows, and then pass down to and undulate
over the rollers within the trough, all otherwise substantially as described in reference
to and shown in Figure 1.
The hanks of yarn or thread to be dyed or otherwise treated are laid on the
feeding-in part of the web bx of the first or right-hand machine, where they are
gripped and passed in between the two webs a, b, at the feeding-in rollers C, C¹¹,
so as to be carried through the dye or liquid in the first trough B, all as herein-
before described. When the hanks are then delivered from the web bat b** at
the delivery end of this first machine on to the inclined feeding-in part b* of the
second machine, through which they pass in like manner to the first, to be finally
delivered at the extreme left or delivery end 6×× of this second machine, or on to a
third or fourth machine in succession in like manner until the operation or process
in hand is complete.
Although webs of net a, b, have mainly been described as used for griping and
carrying the hanks of yarn through the machine, it is to be understood that wide
meshed wire cloth, or a series of endless bands or cords of wire or other material
might be used instead, and that webs of open or porous soft woven fabric could also
be used for that purpose.
And although this machine has been designed and described essentially for the
dyeing and treating of thread or yarn in hanks, it is to be understood that it is also
applicable to the dyeing of thread or yarn in the chain, either by feeding it in
in a number of chains longitudinally between the nets and rollers, or by attaching
them together and carrying or conducting them through the machine and trough in
the same manner as the webs are; and that loose fleeces or flakes of wool might be
spread on the web b and fed in and treated in like manner to the hanks of thread
or yarn; or short pieces of woven fabrics, or articles of clothing, or furnitures may
be re-dyed or cleaned in like manner without any material difference in the process
or construction of the machine.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I have to state that I do not confine myself to the precise
details herein described or delineated, but what I consider novel and original
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The general construction or combination of parts forming the machine for
the bleaching, washing, or dyeing of yarns or threads in hanks, all substantially as
herein described in reference to and shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any
mere modification thereof.
Second. The arrangement and use of two endless traversing webs for carrying
hanks of yarn or thread in an undulating manner through troughs or machines for
bleaching, washing, or dyeing the same, substantially as herein-before described in
reference to and shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any mere modification
thereof

page_text: Third. The bleaching, washing, or dyeing of yarns or threads placed between
endless carrying nets or webs, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Crawford, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
JOHN BROWN,
Patent Agent,
96, Buchanan Street,
Glasgow.
WILLIAM CRAWFORD. (LS.)