IM- PROVEMENTS IN FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark and William Williams, of the City
of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS."
Sealed the 11th January 1860, and dated the 15th July 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark and
William Williams at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 15th July 1859.
We, WILLIAM CLARK and WILLIAM WILLIAMS, of the City of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS," to be as follows:-
In finishing woollen fabrics, or fabrics made of wool with a mixture of other
material, we use steam either in a steam chest or by perforated pipes, so that
in the process of laying the material in folds it will become perfectly saturated
with it previously to putting it through the finishing machine, by which we
raise the colors of the cloth better than has been hitherto done. We use the
ordinary finishing machine or apparatus, but reserve to ourselves the right of
heating the rollers with gas instead of steam, if we find it desirable.
3
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark and William Williams in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 13th January 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
CLARK and WILLIAM WILLIAMS, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did. for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
William Clark and William Williams, Iler special licence that we, the
said William Clark and William Williams, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Clark and William
Williams, 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 WOVEN FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said William Clark and William Williams, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 we, the said William Clark and William Williams,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement (that is to say):-
In the process of finishing woollen fabrics, or fabrics made of wool with a
mixture of other material, we employ steam, and saturate the fabrics with it
before they are laid in folds, by which means we raise a better color of the
fabric when it is put through the finishing machine than has hitherto been
done. The fabric passes over guide rollers, and through a steam chest made
of wood or other suitable material, and supplied with steam either by per-
forated pipes or by any other means. The steam chest is enclosed, with the
exception of narrow spaces, to allow the passage of the fabric, and thereby
causes the steam to concentrate and react upon the fabric, and produce a
perfect saturation. We also heat the metal rollers of the finishing machine
with ignited gas, instead of employing steam or heated irons, as at present in
use, by which means we can regulate the required amount of heat with great
certainty, and thus avoid the different degrees of heat of the rollers arising
from the varying temperature of the steam, or the gradual cooling of the
beated irons. We. pass one or more iron gas tubes having the desired number
of iets into the interior of the rollers to be heated, and regulate the supply by

page_text: cocks in the usual manner, vent pipes leading to a flue or chimney being
employed to maintain the necessary supply of air for the burning of the gas.
The first part of our improvements, relating to the saturation of fabrics with
steam by passing them through a steam chest, is so simple as to require no
further explanation; but we illustrate the second part, so as to be clearly
understood, by certain figures and letters of reference on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a transverse section, and Fig. 2 a front
view of a finishing machine, in which the metal rollers are heated by ignited
gas. a represents the metal rollers, one or both of which are required to be
heated; b, the gas tubes passing into the interior of the rollers; c, the jets;
d, the supply pipe for the gas; e, the vent pipes; and f, the flue or chimney.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of our said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, we desire it to
be distinctly understood that we do not confine ourselves to the precise details
herein set forth, as such may be varied or modified without departing from the
principle thereof; but we claim as our Invention, and which to the best of
our knowledge and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm, the
employment of a steam chest, through which woollen fabrics, or fabrics made
of wool with a mixture of other material, are passed in order to saturate them
with steam, and the employment of ignited gas for heating the metal rollers of
finishing machines, as such improvements are herein described and illustrated
in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, for and on behalf of
myself and the said William Williams, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
WILLIAM CLARK. (L.s.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named William Clark, in
the presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.