IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEAMING AND AGEING PRINTED FABRICS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Mather, of the Firm of Messieurs Mather and
Platt, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEAMING AND AGEING PRINTED FABRICS."
Sealed the 30th May 1876, and dated the 18th March 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Mather at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th March 1876.
WILLIAM MATHER, of the Firm of Messieurs Mather and Platt, of Salford, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEAMING
AND AGEING PRINTED FABRICS."
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the apparatus for which Letters
Patent were granted to me, in conjunction with Honoré François Adolphe Cordillot,
on the 9th day of February 1875, No. 479.
In the Specification of the said Patent, three heated rollers are shewn in a closed
chamber which is heated by steam, and the fabrics, after passing around the said
rollers, are deposited in a waggon, which, after remaining a certain time in the
closed steaming chamber, is removed. I have found that by increasing the number
of the heated rollers the waggons may be dispensed with, and the same result
obtained in a much shorter time.
The action of the heated rollers, which are made by preference of copper, is to
partially dry and heat the printed fabric passing around it; the fabric on leaving
one roller is thus prepared to absorb the steam in the chamber before it reaches the
next roller, where the same drying and heating action takes place, and these
operations are repeated as many times as may be required to fix the colours on the
fabrics. The fabric, when steamed or aged, is carried out of the heated steaming
chamber and wound on a beam, or it otherwise disposed of, the operation being
continuous.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said William Mather in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th September
1876.
WILLIAM MATHER, of the Firm of Messieurs Mather and Platt, of Salford, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR STEAMING
AND AGEING PRINTED FABRICS."
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the apparatus for which Letters
Patent were granted to me, in conjunction with Honoré François Adolphe Cordillot,
on the 9th day of February 1875, Number 479.
In the Specification of the said Patent, three heated rollers are shewn in a
closed chamber which is heated by steam, and the fabrics, after passing around
the said rollers, are deposited in a waggon, which, after remaining a certain time in
the closed steaming chamber, is removed. I have found that by increasing the
number of the heated rollers the waggons may be dispensed with and the same
result obtained in a much shorter time.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into operation, I will proceed to describe the two accompanying Sheets of Drawings,
reference being had to the Figures and letters marked thereon.
On Sheet 1, Fig. 1, is a longitudinal sectional elevation, and on Sheet 2, Fig. 2,
is a transverse section of my improved apparatus for steaming and ageing printed
fabrics. Fig. 3 is a plan of part of the same; a, a, is a closed steaming chamber
made of brick or other suitable material, and b is a steam jacket forming the roof
thereof. The sides and ends of the jacket are supported on balls to allow for ex-
pansion and contraction, and there are flanges all round which dip into troughs to
form a water joint. d is a perforated pipe placed near the floor of the steaming
chamber a, and this pipe is supplied with moist steam from the steam saturator p;
this saturator is similar to that described in the Specification of the Patent before
referred to. The steam from the boiler is supplied to the saturator by the pipes o,
the lower arm of which is perforated, and the moist steam is conveyed to the pipe d
by the pipes q. The steam entering the chamber a is simply a vapour without
pressure, having only to supply moisture to the fabrics; the heat is supplied by the
steam chest b, and heated rollers j, j, which are made by preference of copper, corre-
sponding to the rollers j, in the Patent before referred to. These heated rollers are
driven by a strap or band from the countershaft c, which strap or band gives motion
to a pulley on the shaft f. The rollers j are all connected together by intermediate
wheels, as shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 1, or they are driven in any other con-
venient manner. Immediately below the heated rollers j, j, are the rollers e, e, and
beyond the rollers are the rollers m, which are driven by a band from a pulley on
the shaft f. Between the rollers m are the small rollers m¹, and below them are
the rollers m. Above the perforated piped are the rollers d¹; all the rollers e, m, m³,
m², and d¹ are made, by preference, of sheet copper, and the ends are left open for
the circulation of the steam.
At each end of the chamber is a steam-tight door, and at the sides are windows,
to gain access to the chamber and to examine the progress of the work. The printed
fabric is fed into the steaming chamber a, between the heated tube, with side
flanges, and the roller , then under the steam chest i, and then under the guide
roller 8, from whence it passes over the rollers 81, 82, 83, and 84, placed under the
steam chest b, from the roller 8, the fabric descends to the first roller near the
floor of the chamber, it then rises over the first roller e, and again descends to the
second roller d³, and so proceeds until it is taken around the first heated roller j,
from whence it proceeds as shewn by the lines and arrows until it has passed over
or under all the heated and other rollers in the chamber (, or as many of them as
may be required, after which the fabric, being sufficiently steamed and aged, is con-
veyed out of the chamber through the aperture at which it entered, and is then
taken over the draw roller t, and is laid in folds by an ordinary plaiter as shewn
at u, in Fig. 1, or it is otherwise disposed of.

page_text: The ventilating shaft n is to carry off the steam and gases escaping through the
aperture through which the fabric enters and is discharged.
The action of the heated rollers is to partially dry and heat the printed fabric
passing around them. The fabric on leaving one roller is thus prepared to absorb
the steam in the chamber before it reaches the next heated roller, where the same
drying and heating action takes place; and these operations are repeated as many
times as may be required to fix the colours on the fabrics.
The operation of this apparatus being continuous effects a great saving of time,
and produces better results than can be obtained by any other means; it also
economises steam and labour. It is evident that the degree of moisture and the
temperature can be regulated according to the fabric under operation.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described a convenient mode
of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to limit
myself to the number or the arrangement of the heated and other rollers employed,
as the same may be considerably varied or modified according to the quality or
class of fabrics to be operated upon.
I claim steaming and ageing printed fabrics by the alternate application of heat
and moisture, as described; and
I also claim the improved arrangement of the heated and other rollers in a closed
steaming chamber, whereby the processes of steaming and ageing printed fabrics
are performed continuously, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Mather, have hereto set my hand and
seal, this Twelfth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and
Seventy-six
W. MATHER. (L.S.)