IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING YARNS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ralph Walker Stewart, of Dunfermline, in the
County of Fife, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WASHING YARNS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREFOR
"
Sealed the 26th September 1871, and dated the 2nd June 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ralph Walker Stewart
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd June 1871.
I, RALPH WALKER STEWART, of Dunfermline, in the County of Fife,
North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING YARNS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APparatus.
EMPLOYED THEREFOR," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to a new or improved arrangement of machinery
to be employed in the washing of yarn in the hank whereby any number
of heads whereon the banks are carried whilst being washed may be
mployed, and each of these said heads made to pass two points at

page_text: regular intervals, one for the purpose of receiving the yarns to be
washed, and the other for delivering the same after they have been
washed, thereby requiring much less attention and less dexterity on the
part of the attendants than is necessary with the existing arrangements
of yarn washing mechanism; and it consists of two endless chains 5
or bands arranged parallel with each other, and passing round and
travelling between corresponding pitch wheels or drums of the required
diameter, the axis of which may be situated at any distance apart so as
to correspond with the length of chain or band to be employed. At
intervals a series of transverse shafts are arranged upon the outer surface 1
of the chain or band at right angles thereto, and carried in bearings
formed or fixed thereon. The ends of the said transverse shafts project
beyond the outer edges of the chain or band, and have heads of the
usual form fixed thereon for the purpose of carrying the hanks.
When the apparatus is in motion, as cach of the transverse shafts 1
arrives at the point of its furthest travel towards one end, one or more
hanks of yarn are hung upon each of the heads fixed to the said
transverse shafts and are carried onwards therewith, and after arriving
at or near to a point corresponding with the vertical plane of the axis of
the chain wheel or drum round which the chain or band is passed, a
portion of the suspended hanks is drawn through water or other liquid
contained in a tank situated beneath, and simultaneously with the yarn
being brought into contact with the water the transverse shafts and
therewith the heads fixed thereon are made to revolve by means of two
or more small pulleys fixed upon the said transverse shaft, being brought
into frictional contact with rails, which may be of any suitable material,
but are preferably formed of india-rubber and situated in and fixed to
the bottom of the tank. By this means the hanks of yarn are caused
to travel round through the revolving of the heads, and consequently
their whole length is drawn through the water. When each of the trans- 3
verse shafts arrives at a point in the vertical plane of the axis of the
chain wheel or drum situated at the end opposite to that already set forth,
with reference to the point where the yarn is first is first brought into
contact with the water, and the said transverse shafts. mado to revolve,
they cease to revolve through now moving in an upward direction round:
the surfaces of the pitch wheels or drums, and the consequent with-
drawal of the small pulleys fixed thercon out of contact with the surface
of the rails and the yarns which have been washed are finally taken

page_text: from off the heads at this end by an attendant, the heads continually
moving onwards towards the other end to receive another set of hanks..
and repeat their operation.
Under the arrangement of machinery and mode of washing now set
forth the degree of washing to be given to thic yarn can be easily modified
by means of regulating the diameter of the small pulleys fixed upon the
transverse shafts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said Ralph Walker Stewart in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RALPH.
WALKER STEWART, of Dunfermline, in the County of Fife, North.
Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of
our Tord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the 35th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and.
grant unto me, the said Ralph Walker Stewart, Her special license that
I, the said Ralph Walker Stewart, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Ralph Walker Stewart, my
executors, administrators, or 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 WASHING YARns, and in the MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED. THEREFOR,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Ralph Walker
Stewart, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ralph Walker Stewart, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and

page_text: by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say :-
My said Invention relates to a new or improved arrangement of
machinery to be employed in the washing of yarns in the hank,
whereby any number of heads whereon the hanks are carried whilst
being washed may be employed, and each of these said heads is caused
to pass two points at regular intervals, one for the purpose of receiving
the yarns to be washed, and the other for delivering the same after they
have been washed, thereby requiring much less attention and less
dexterity on the part of the attendants than is necessary with the
existing arrangements of yarn washing mechanism, and it consists of
two endless chains or bands arranged parallel with each other passing
round and travelling between corresponding pitch wheels or drums of
the required diameter, the axis of which may be situated at any
distance apart so as to correspond with the length of chain or band to
be employed. At intervals a series of transverse shafts are arranged
upon the outer surface of the chain or band at right angles thereto, and
carried in bearings formed or fixed thereon. The ends of the said
transverse shafts project beyond the outer edges of the chain or band
and have heads of the usual form fixed theroon for the purpose of
carrying the hanks.
When the apparatus is in motion as each of the transverse shafts
arrives at the point of its furthest travel towards one end, one or more
hanks of yarn are hung upon each of the heads fixed to the said trans-
verse shafts and are carried onwards therewith, and after arriving at or
near to a point corresponding with the vertical plane of the axis of the
chain wheel or drum round which the chain or bands is passed a portion
of the suspended hanks is drawn through water or other liquid contained
in a tank situated beneath, and simultaneously with the yarn being
brought into contact with the water, the transverse shafts and therewith
the heads fixed thercon are caused to revolve by means of two or more
pulleys or rollers fixed upon the said transverse shaft, being brought
into frictional contact with rails, which may be of any suitable material,
but are preferably formed of india-rubber, situated in and fixed to the
bottom of the tank. By this means the hanks of yarn are caused to
travel round through the revolution of the heads and consequently their
whole lengths are drawn through the water. When cach of the trans-

page_text: verse shafts arrives at a point in the vertical plane of the axis of the
chain wheel or drum situated at the end opposite to that already set forth
as the point where the yarn is first brought into contact with the water
and the said transverse shafts made to revolve, they cease to revolve
through now moving in an upward direction round the surfaces of the
pitch wheels or drums and the consequent withdrawal of the pulleys or
rollers fixed thereon out of contact with the surface of the rails. The
yarns which have been washed are finally taken off from the heads at
this end by an attendant, the heads continually moving onwards towards
the other end to receive another set of hanks, so that the operations
herein referred to are rendered continuous.
Under the arrangement of machinery and mode of washing now set
forth, the degree of washing to be given to the yarn can be easily
modified by means of regulating the diameter of the pulleys or rollers
fixed upon the transverse shafts.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood,
I now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or
manner, in or under which the same is or may be used or practically
carried into effect, that is to say :-
Upon the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended, Figure 1 is in part
a side clevation and in part a longitudinal section; Figure 2 is an end
clevation, and Figure 3 a plan of a yarn washing machine constructed
in accordance with my said Invention. The same letters of reference
mark the same parts upon the different figures on which they occur.
Under the arrangement shewn my said yarn washing machine
consists of two endless pitch chains A, each passing round a corre-
sponding pair of pitch wheels B and B' fixed upon shafts C and C'
carried by pillow blocks a resting upon the brackets D, secured to
ledges formed upon the side plates of the tank E. Upon the outer
edges of the pitch chains A and at regular intervals apart a series of
light transverse shafts c are situated carried by and free to revolve in
bearings & fixed to the links of the said chains A, as more particularly
seen at Figures 1 and 3. Upon the ends of the shafts c surging heads F
arc fixed, these project outwards beyond the sides of the chains A, as
shewn at Figures 2 and 3, whilst near their centres a pair of pulleys or
rollers e are fixed upon each of the said shafts c, as also more par-
ticularly shown at Figures 2 and 3. Above the tank E, and at or near
to the centre of the apparatus, a beam G is situated supported by

page_text: brackets or stools I fixed to ledges ƒ formed upon the end plates I of
the tank E. Upon the upper surface of the said beam G two rails g,
preferably of india-rubber, are secured, the object for which is hercin-
after fully set forth.
Having now described in detail the more essential part of the
apparatus illustrated upon the hereunto appended Sheet of Drawings,
the manner wherein the washing of yarn in hanks is effected thereby
will be understood as follows:-
When it is desired to put the machine in operation the driving belt h
is passed round the fast pulley i situated near one end of the shaft C',
thereby the pulley i is actuated by an adjacent driving pulley or drum
and together with it the shaft Caud the pitch wheels Band 13' are
caused to revolve, thus the endless pitch chains A are moved in a circuit
round their respective pitch wheels situated at opposite ends of the
apparatus, the direction in which they are moved being indicated by
the arrows at Figure 1, and as each of the transverse shafts c passes the
limit of the chain circuit at the end of the apparatus marked A Figure 1,
one or more hanks of yarn is or are hung by the attendant at that end
of the apparatus over both of the surging heads F, as shown at Figure 1,
and as they are carried onwards the lower portions of the suspended
hanks become submerged in the water or other liquid contained in the
tank E, and at or about the same time that the hanks aro brought into
contact with the water or other liquid the pulleys or rollers e upon the
shaft c are brought into frictional contact with the rails g, whereby the
said shaft c, and with it the surging heads F are revolved, so that the
whole of each bank of yarn is continuously drawn through the water or
other liquid until tho surging heads F upon which they are hung begin
to be carried up round the circle of the pitch wheels B and B' upon the
shaft C' at the opposite end of the machine, after which time the hanks
are gradually drawn upwards from the water until arriving at or near
the period where the said surging heads F pass the limit of their circuit
at this end of the machine, when the said banks are taken therefrom by
an attendant, whilst the surging heads are still moving on to return to
the end of the machine marked A, Figure 1, to receive a succeeding
series of banks to be washed.
The operation that has now been described with reference to one pair
of surging heads is maintained by cach pair of surging heads in the
series, and the action or motion of the whole apparatus can be speedily

page_text: stopped by shifting the driving belt / from the fast pulley i on to the
loose pulley also situated on the end of the shaft C'.
It is to be understood that I do not limit my Invention to the precise
arrangement and construction of apparatus illustrated upon the annexed
Sheet of Drawings, for example, in place of being arranged horizontally
as shewn, the axis of the pitch wheels may be placed in a vertical
position, so as to render the motion of the pitch chains in a horizontal
plane, and further any number of transverse shafts and surging heads
may be arranged upon a pair of endless pitch chains or bands under one
apparatus.
In like manner it is to be understood that when such can be obtained
my apparatus is preferably arranged with the tank situated in a stream,
and arranged as a simple channel through which a natural flow of clean
water is maintained, thereby saving the labour of pumping or otherwise
lifting the water to the tank.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be used
or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that
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,
the arrangement and construction of mechanism and the combination
of parts constituting the same for washing yarns in the hank as hercin-
before described and shewn upon the annexed Sheet of Drawings or any
mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ralph Walker Stewart, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Twentieth day of September
RALPH WALKER STEWART. (L.S.)