IMPROVEMENTS IN FINISHING WOOLLEN AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS, PATENT to William Renton, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Cloth Dresser, Thomas Renton, of Leeds, aforesaid, Millwright, and
William Binns, of Leeds, aforesaid, Cloth Finisher, for the Invention of
Sealed the 1st July, 1859, and dated the 6th January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Renton, Thomas
Renton, and William Binns at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th January 1859.
We, WILLIAM RENTON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Cloth Dresser,
THOMAS RENTON, of Leeds, aforesaid, Millwright, and WILLIAM BINNS, of Leeds,
aforesaid, Cloth Finisher, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FINISHING WOOLLEN AND OTHER FABRICS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in subjecting woollen and other fabrics, when
finishing them to obtain a face, to hydraulic pressure. This is accomplished in
the following manner :-A cylindrical vessel with a hemispherical end, or it
may be of other suitable shape, is used, near the lower end of which vessel is a
perforated bottom and an outlet through which the water or liquid introduced
may be run out. The vessel is surrounded by a jacket so as to admit of the
vessel being externally heated by steam or suitable heated fluid over each of
the perforations; in the false or inner bottom of the vessel there is a per-
forated tube, on to which a piece of woollen or other cloth is to be wound,
and then placed on end over a perforation on the inner bottom. The vessel
is then to be covered and the cover secured thereon; the water or liquid used
is then pumped into any desired pressure, and the same is retained for any
length of time under pressure.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Renton, Thomas Renton, and William Binns in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
RENTON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Cloth Dresser, THOMAS RENTON, of
Leeds, aforesaid, Millwright, and WILLIAM BINNS, of Leeds, aforesaid, Cloth
Finisher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria,. by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said William Renton, Thomas Renton, and William Binns, Her special
licence that we, the said William Renton, Thomas Renton, and William
Binns, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said William Renton, Thomas Renton, and William Binns, our 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 FINISHING WOOLLEN AND
OTHER FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
William Renton, Thomas Renton, and William Binns, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, or them, 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 Thomas Renton, on behalf of myself
and the said William Renton and William Binns, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention consists in subjecting woollen and other fabrics, when
finishing them to obtain a face, to hydraulic pressure. This is accomplished
in the following manner:-A cylindrical vessel with a hemispherical end, or
it may be of other suitable shape, is used, near the lower end of which vessel
is a perforated bottom and an outlet through which the water or liquid intro-

page_text: duced may be run out. The vessel is surrounded by a jacket so as to admit
of the vessel being externally heated by steam or suitable heated fluid. Over
each of the perforations in the false or inner bottom of the vessel there is a
perforated tube, on to which a piece of woollen or other cloth is to be wound,
and then placed on end over a perforation on the inner bottom. The vessel
is then to be covered and the cover secured thereon; the water or liquid used
is then pumped in to any desired pressure, and the same is retained for any
length of time under pressure.
Having thus stated the nature of our said Invention, we will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
The Drawing shows a vertical section of an apparatus such as is used by us
in carrying out our Invention. a, a, is the vessel with hemispherical end;
bis the cover; c, c, is the external vessel or case; d is the pipe by which
water is supplied by pumps into the vessel a, a; e is the outlet at the bottom
of such vessel by which the water is run off from the vessel a, and such outlet
is stopped by a suitable plug or valve when the vessel is being used; fis the
supply pipe, and g the outlet pipe to the outer vessel or case by which steam
or heating fluid is applied; h, h, are tubes or cylinders on which the cloth or
fabric is wound; these tubes or cylinders which rest on a perforated bottom i
are generally perforated with numerous small holes, or they may be unper-
forated. The outer surfaces of these tubes or cylinders is first wound round
with felt, and then the cloths or fabrics are wound evenly and smoothly
thereon. It is preferred that the heat, interior of the vessel, should be kept at
about 200° Fahrenheit, and a pressure of about five to six hundred pounds on
the square inch employed, but these may be varied. The process is usually
completed in from half an hour to two hours, depending on the substance of
the fabric, thin or comparatively open fabrics being more quickly finished than
thick and close fabrics. What we claim, is the subjecting fabrics to bydraulic
pressure, as herein described, for the purpose of finishing the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Renton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
THOMAS KENTON. (L.S.)