IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING, BLEACHING, DYEING, AND OTHERWISE TREATING YARNS, WOVEN AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS OR MATERIALS AND ARTICLES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Whiteford, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew,
North Britain, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING, BLEACHING, DYEING, AND
OTHERWISE TREATING YARNS, WOVEN AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS OR
MATERIALS AND ARTICLES."
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Whiteford at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th April 1880.
JAMES WHITEFORD, of Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain.
'IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
WASHING, BLEACHING, DYEING, AND OTHERWISE TREATING YARNS, WOVEN AND
OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS OR MATERIALS AND ARTICLES."
This Invention relates to a new or improved construction and arrangement of
the parts of washing, bleaching, dyeing, and dressing machinery or apparatus for
treating yarns of the class in which two endless travelling webs with the yarn
entered between them are made to traverse the length of a trough or vessel
containing the washing, bleaching, or other liquid for the purpose of therein treating
the yarn as desired; and the present improvements are specially designed to
simplify and increase the efficiency of the apparatus, and enable the processes to
be more expeditiously effected at less cost than heretofore by dispensing to a great
extent with manual labour. The improved machino or apparatus.is applicable for
the washing, bleaching, dyeing, sizing, dressing, or other similar treatment of all
kinds of yarns or thread in hanks or in chain, woven or other fabrics or materials,
and articles of weaving apparel or clothing; and it may also be advantageously
employed on a smaller scale for laundry or domestic washing, starching, or dressing
purposes.
And the nature and novelty of the Invention consist as follows:-The improved
machine comprises a long wooden trough fitted with several sets of transverse
rollers carried and free to revolve in bearings in the sides of the trough, one set or
series close to the bottom of the trough, and the other set near the top or surface of
the washing or treating liquid with which the trough is filled. Round these
rollers two endless webs or bands of network, open porous cotton, cloth, or similar
porous material are passed, both entering through a pair of nipping rolls fitted
outside the trough at the feeding in end, and passing into the trough in an inclined
or slanted line to and round the first of the lower set of rolls, and returning in a

page_text: parallel or nearly parallel line to the first of the upper set of rollers, thence
passing on to the second roller of the lower set or series, and so on, undulating
or traversing round all the rollers in the trough in this inclined manner, and
passing out at the other or delivery end, through a pair of gripping and squeezing
rollers carried in a suitable framing above, and which draw the webs simul-
taneously through the trough. From these gripping and squeezing rolls the
lower web passes round suitable guide rollers down to and beneath the trough
whence it returns to and round its gripping roller at the feeding-in end;
whilst the upper web passes in a similar manner from the delivery gripping rolls,
round guide rollers fitted above the trough, and returns to its corresponding
gripping roller at the feeding-in end, the tension of the webs being regulated by
intervening adjustable rollers. The endless webs are made to travel through the
trough by means of the gripping delivery rolls, which are driven by a belt from a
counter shaft or other motive shaft passing over fast and loose pulleys on the
spindle of one of these rolls; and when loose hanks of yarn or separate pieces of
woven fabrics or articles of clothing are to be washed or otherwise treated in tho
machine these are simply laid on the surface of the upper or lower endless travelling
web, and are thereby carried through the gripping rollers at the feeding-in end
between the two webs, then up and down in the inclined lines round the sets of
rollers immersed in the treating liquid, and after traversing the whole length of
the trough pass with the webs through the delivery rolls, which are preferably
covered with vulcanised rubber and pressed together, so that the treating liquid is
pressed or squeezed out by the rolls to flow back into the trough, and the yarn
hanks or other articles either fall direct into a receptacle at the end of the trough
or are carried on the surface of the lower returning web to be lifted off by hand.
When yarns in chain or fabrics in length or in pieces attached together are to be
treated these are preferably fed in through a guiding eye and pair of nipping rolls
carried in a framing above the rolls where the webs meet and enter the trough;
these upper rollers being driven by a belt from the spindle of one of the rollers in
the trough, preferably at a higher speed than the lower web rollers so as to feed in
the chain of yarn or fabrics quite slack, and prevent any undue strain or marking
of the yarn by the connecting cords forming the chain, and the yarn or fabric after
passing between the webs, undulating through the trough and between the liquid
expressing delivery rolls, is led through a guiding eye and over a roller at this end
to be delivered into a receptacle and removed for subsequent treatment. The
whole operation of feeding-in, carrying, and delivering the yarn or fabrics is thus
effected automatically with a great saving in time and labour over any process
hitherto employed, and the yarn or other material being carried through the trough
between the webs, traversing it in inclined planes instead of vertically and
horizontally, as heretofore, space is economised, or a greater length of web admitted
within the usual length of trough, and the banks are, not liable to change their
position within the webs and thus interfere with the efficient working of the
machine.
Two or more of these improved machines may be placed in line, and the yarns,
fabrics, or other materials may be washed, bleached, or otherwise treated in the first
machine, and be delivered on to the travelling web or between the feeding-in
rollers of the second machine for further treatment or for the dyeing or subsequent
process, and if required carried through this on to a third machine in succession
without intermediate removal by hand from one machine to another.
When the machine is to be used for domestic or laundry purposes, as for the
washing of blankets or heavy articles of clothing, or for starching, the trough and
travelling webs may be much reduced in length, and the latter may undulate in
inclined lines round a small number of rollers only, and much less power being
required, the- squeezing delivery rolls, and with them the whole machine, may be
driven by a hand crank either direct or through the intervention of spur gearing.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
Alexander McMillan Whiteford, of 17, Castle Street, Paisley, Machinist,
executor of the said James Whiteford, deceased, in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th October 1880.
ALEXANDER MOMILLAN WHITEFORD, of 17, Castle Street, Paisley, Machinist,
Executor dative qua, next of kin of the deceased James Whiteford, of Paisley, in the
County of Renfrew, North Britain. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING, BLEACHING, DYEING, AND OTHERWISE
TREATING YARNS, WOVEN AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRIC OR MATERIALS AND
ARTICLES."
This Invention relates to a new or improved construction and arrangement of
the parts of washing, bleaching, dyeing, and dressing machinery or apparatus for
treating yarns of the class in which two endless travelling webs with the yarn
entered between them are made to traverse the length of a trough or vessel
containing the washing, bleaching, or other liquid for the purpose of therein
treating the yarn as desired; and the present improvements are specially designed
to simplify and increase the efficiency of the apparatus, and enable the process to
be more expeditiously effected at less cost than heretofore by dispensing to a great
extent with manual labour. The improved machine or apparatus is applicable for
the washing, bleaching, dyeing, sizing, dressing, or other similar treatment of all
kinds of yarns or thread in hanks or in chain, woven or other fabrics or materials,
and articles of wearing apparel or clothing; and it may also be advantageously
employed on a smaller scale for laundry or domestic washing, starching, or dressing
purposes.
And in order that the said Invention and the manner in which the same is to
be performed or put into effect or practice may be properly understood, a sheet of
explanatory Drawings is hereunto appended for that purpose, and representing a
modification of the improved machine or apparatus applied as for washing or
treating yarns in chain. In these Drawings the same reference letters are used to
indicate the same or like parts where they are shown.
Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a side elevation of the improved machine;
Figure 2 is a corresponding longitudinal vertical section showing the yarn in chain
being traversed between and by the travelling webs B, C, through the washing
liquor in the trough A. The improved machine comprises a long wooden trough
or vessel A, rectangular in plan, but made with a sloping end at A¹, where the
yarn or other material enters, but vertical at the opposite end A", and this trough A
is supported on transverse wooden beams A' over a shallow pit or trench As in the
floor. The vessel A supports side framings or standards A, A, at each end
bound together above by longitudinal and tranverse beam A, and these standards
carry the journal bearings of the main moving parts of the machine. The trough A
is fitted internally with two or more sets of transverse wooden rollers a, a³, carried
by central iron spindles all free to revolve in bearing bushes all preferably made
of brass or gun metal fitted in the sides of the trough A, and having no retaining
caps, but being placed so that the upper rollers remain in position by their own
weight while the lower series are retained by the strain of the travelling webs B, C,
on the rollers a. These rollers a, a¹, are placed one set or series a close to the
bottom of the trough A, and the other set a near the top or surface of the washing
or treating liquid with which the trough is filled. Two endless webs or bands B, C,
of network, open porous cotton cloth, or similar porous material, are passed round
the rollers a, a, both entering through a pair of nipping rolls b, c, fitted outside the
trough A at the feeding-in end A', and passing into the trough in an inclined or
slanted line to and round the first of the lower set of rolls a, and returning in a
parallel or nearly parallel line to the first of the upper set of rollers a', thence

page_text: passing on to the second roller of the lower set or series a, and so on undulating or
traversing round all the rollers, and through the liquor in the trough A in this
inclined manner. These webs B, C, pass out at the other or delivery end A"
through a pair of gripping and squeezing rollers b, c, made of cast iron covered
with vulcanised rubber, and carried by their spindles b, c, in journal bushes
fitted in a vertical slot d in the side framings A, so that the upper bushes are
capable of adjustment to press the rolls b, c, together, and which is effected by
means of a screw d' with a square head d" and jam nut above. The squeezing
rolls b, c, express the liquid from the webs B, C, and the yarn between them, and
draw the webs simultaneously through the trough A. From these gripping and
squeezing rolls b, c, the lower web C passes round suitable guide rollers c² carried
free to revolve in bearings in brackets d' secured to the body of the trough A,
the web C passing down beneath the trough, and being guided by the rollers c
placed at intervals apart in the pit A³ and round the trough A, where it returns to
and round its gripping roller c at the feeding-in end. The upper web B passes in
a similar manner from the delivery gripping rolls b, c, round a guide roller b
fitted at the end A¹¹ of the trough, which also serves to release the web and the
yarns carried by it from the surface of the upper squeezing roll b'; thence the
web B continues round one or more guide rollers 62, carried in wooden standards B²
to its corresponding gripping roller b at the feeding in end A¹ of the trough A.
The tension of the webs B, C, is regulated by one or more intervening adjustablo
rollers b², c, outside the trough A, which are fitted in notches b³, c³, in their
respective carrying brackets B, C. The endless webs B, C, aro mado to travel
through the trough A by means of the gripping delivery rolls b', c¹, the
spindles b, c, of which project beyond the framing Ali, and have spur
wheels E, F, keyed on them, and are driven by a belt F¹ from a counter shaft or
other motive shaft passing over fast and loose pulleys F1, F2, on the spindle c" of
the lower of these rolls c. When loose hanks of yarn or separato pieces of woven
fabrics or articles of clothing are to be washed or otherwise treated in the machine,
these are simply laid at B* or C*, on the surface of the upper or lower endless
travelling web B or C, and are thereby carried through the gripping rollers b, c, at
the feeding in end A" of the trough A, between the two webs B, C, then up and
down in the inclined lines round the sets of rollers a, a, immersed in the treating
liquid; and after traversing the whole length of the trough A pass with the
webs B, C, through the delivery rolls b, c, which are covered with vulcanised
rubber and pressed together as described, so that the treating liquid is pressed or
squeezed out by the rolls to flow back into the trough A, and the yarn hanks or
other articles either fall direct into a receptacle at the end A" of the trough, or are
carried a short distance on the surface of the lower returning web C at C", to be
lifted off by hand.
When yarns in chain, as shown at Y, or fabrics in length or in pieces attached
together are to be washed or treated, the leading end is fed in by hand through a
guiding eye G fitted in a bracket g connected to the framing A, and the piece is
drawn by a pair of nipping rolls F, H', the lower H' of which is preferably covered
with rubber, whilst the upper H bears on it by its own weight, its spindle
being fitted in vertically moving bearings, or simply in a slot formed in the
framing A in which the journal bearings of the lower roller H' are carried.
The yarns Y fall from the rolls H, H', to and between the rolls b, c, where the
webs B, C, incet and enter the trough A. The roller H' has a pulley H" fitted on
the outer end of its spindle ', which is drawn by a belt H from a small pulley H³
on the spindle of the roller bover the trough A, so as to revolve at a higher speed
than the lower web rollers a, a', and thus fced in the chain of yarn or fabrics Y
quite slack, to prevent any undue strain or marking of the yarn by the cords
connecting the hanks together to form the chain. The yarn or fabrics Y, after
passing between the webs B, C, undulating through the trough A in oblique lines,
as shown, and passing between the liquid expressing delivery rolls b, c, is led
through a guiding eye G₁ in a bracket piece g' fitted to the framing A and

page_text: led over a roller H³, having its spindle h³ carried in bush bearings, fitted
in a bracket h² fixed to the framing A, and driven by a belt I passing over a
pulley on the spindle h², and round a pulley on the spindle c" of the
lower squeezing roll c', and the yarn Y is delivered into a receptacle to be
removed for subsequent treatment. The whole operation of feeding in, carrying,
and delivering the yarns or fabric Y, is thus effected automatically with a
great saving in time and labour over any process hitherto employed; and the
yarn or other material Y being carried through the trough A between the webs
B, C, traversing it in inclined planes instead of vertically and horizontally, as
heretofore, space is economised, or greater lengths of web admitted within the usual
length of trough, while the hanks are not liable to change their position within the
webs, and thus interfere with the efficient working of the machine. The trough A
is fitted with hot and cold water pipes, and is filled with water to cover the webs
B, C, and carrying rollers a, a, and the usual washing lyes or alkalies added. The
water is then agitated to mix and dissolve these materials by means of steam
admitted by a steam pipe J fitted with a cock j passing vertically down to near
the bottom of the trough A, where a perforated branch pipe J' is fitted, lying along
the bottom; and the steam which is admitted through the perforations in the pipe
J agitates the liquid, and also heats it to the desired temperaturo before the
machine is set in motion, or if desired, also during the washing operation.
Two or more of these improved machines may bo placed in line, and the yarns,
fabrics, or other materials may be washed, bleached, or otherwise treated in the
first machine, and be delivered on to the travelling web, or between the feeding in
rollers of the second machine for further treatment to prepare them for the blueing,
dyeing, or subsequent process, and if required, carried through this on to a third
machine in succession without intermediate removal by hand from one machine to
another. The improved machine is susceptible of modification in regard to details
of construction, and though shown and described as mainly formed of wood, which
is not liable to be acted on by the washing liquor, yet the trough A may be made
of enamelled iron, or of wood lined with zinc or lead, and the framing or standards
carrying the moving parts may also be formed of metal.
The machine shown and described may be used for washing, bleaching, blueing,
or dyeing, or for starching or finishing yarns or fabrics, but when employed for
starching or finishing one or more nipping or squeezing rolls would preferably be
fitted to pross the webs B, C, and fabrics Y between it and the web carrying rolls
a, a', in the trough, so as to thoroughly impregnate the starch or finishing solution
into the fabrics.
When the machine is to be used for domestic or laundry purposes, as for the
washing of blankets or heavy articles of clothing, or for starching, the trough and
travelling webs may be much reduced in length, and the latter may undulate in
inclined lines round a smaller number of rollers; and much less power being
required the squeezing delivery rolls, and with them the whole machine may be
driven by a hand crank, either direct or through the intervention of spur gearing.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
performing the saune, I have to state that I do not confine myself to the precise
details herein described or delineated, but what I believe to be 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 arrangement and construction of a machine for washing,
bleaching, dyeing, or otherwise similarly treating yarns, woven and other textile
fabrics and articles, carried through it between two travelling webs B, C, passing in
oblique or inclined undulating lines through the washing or treating liquor in a
trough or vat A, the one web B returning over guiding pulleys above the trough,
and the other web C returning below, all substantially as and for the purposes
herein described in reference to the accompanying Drawings.
Second. In a machine for washing, bleaching, dyeing, or otherwiso similarly
treating yarns, woven and other textile fabrics and articles, the arrangement of the

page_text: travelling webs B, C, traversed through the liquor vat A in oblique or inclined
undulating lines, with the one web B returning above, and the other C below the
vat, all substantially as and for the purposes herein described in referenco to the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander. McMillan Whiteford, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
Witness,
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER, C.E.,
of W. R. M. Thomson & Co.,
Patent Agents,
Glasgow.
ALEX, M. WHITEFORD. (L.S.)