IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANNER OF AND MEANS FOR DYEING OR SIZING HANKS, AND FOR EXPELLING THEREFROM THE SUPERFLUOUS DYE OR SIZE
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Conlong of Blackburn in the County of Lancaster
Engineer for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANNER OF AND
MEANS FOR DYEING OR SIZING HANKS, AND FOR EXPELLING THEREFROM THE
SUPERFLUOUS DYE OR SIZE,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Conlong at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th September 1882..
JAMES CONLONG of Blackburn in the County of Lancaster Engineer " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANNER OF AND MEANS FOR DYEING OR SIZING HANKS AND FOR
EXPELLING THEREFROM THE SUPERFLUOUS DYE OR SIZE
"
The Invention relates to Improvements in machinery or apparatus employed in
the dyeing or sizing of hanks and in means for expelling therefrom the superfluous
dye or size. Previous to my present Invention the hanks have been dyed or sized
by means of rollers to which rotary motion has been imparted and have afterwards
been wrung by means of a sliding and rotating hook. This method is objectionable
principally on account of the slowness of the process and also on account of
damaging the hanks in the wringing particularly in the case of woollen hanks. In
another arrangement the hanks have been thrown into an extractor or cage to
which a rapid rotary motion was imparted this arrangement is also objectionable
on account of damaging the hanks by their being knocked about in the cage. In
another arrangement for hank sizing the hanks have been mounted on a reel having
arms with radial springs to distend the hanks and the reel with the contained
hanks has had to be removed bodily from one set of bearings into a second
set of bearings when it was required to rotate the reel rapidly to throw off the
superfluous dye or size from the hanks this method is also objectionable
principally on account of having to shift the reel from one set of bearings into
the other and also on account of the said radial springs becoming weak To
overcome these defects and also to provide means for dispensing with the
lifting of the rollers when removing the banks or rinsing-out and also to cause
the dye or size to be run into the vat or vats and afterwards displaced or
ID 71

page_text: emptied are the principal objects of my Invention
To this end a number of
hanks say for example thirty are placed on a swift mounted on a shaft extending
the length of the vat. The said swift is formed with a number of horizontal metal
or wood bars supported outwards to distend the hanks placed thereon by means of
suitably jointed radial arms connected with collars on the swift shaft
In one
arrangement and when employing more than one set I combine them in sets of
two and extend the one swift shaft through the two vats and mount the driving
mechanism between or it may be mounted at one end. On a suitable part of the
said swift shaft three pullies of equal diameters are mounted the center pulley
being mounted loosely and the others fast. On a second or overhead driving shaft
are mounted two driving pullies of comparatively large and small diameters.
When the hanks are to be dyed or sized the prepared liquor or size is run into the
vat or vats by the means hereinafter mentioned and the swift is rotated slowly by
the strap from the small driving pulley passing over the fixed pulley on the swift
shaft until the hanks are sufficiently dyed or sized after which the liquor or size is
allowed to run off from the vat or vats and the swift is then rotated rapidly by
means of the driving strap from the large driving pulley being shifted onto the fast
pulley on the swift shaft during which time the strap which rotated the swift
slowly will be on the center or loose pulley and vice versa. In order to shift the
strap from the fixed onto the loose pulley I employ a strap fork or forks actuated
by a rack and pinion worked by a hand arm having a projection formed thereon
which projection fits into and is held firm in a slot in a quadrant formed with
three slots for three required positions of the rack into any of which slots the
attendant can place the projection on the arm according as it may be required. A
spring bearing against the said handle also prevents further movement until
released from the slot by the attendant. Before rotating the said swift rapidly to
expel the excess of dye or size from the hanks the dye or size within the vat is run
off through a pipe placed at the bottom of the vat into a cistern carried by a
foundation built beneath the floor the cistern being placed near the end of the vat
or series of vats. The dye or size to be used may be mixed or prepared for use in
this cistern in which is fitted a piston or drum provided with an annular india
rubber packing ring the said drum or piston being raised or lowered by means of a
rack and pinion operated by a hand wheel or any other suitable arrangement of
mechanism may be employed to raise and lower the piston. When the piston or
.drum is raised the contained dye or size flows from the cistern through a pipe or
conduit into the said vat or vats and lowered when the swift is rotated rapidly
or when it may be required to rinse or wash out the vats. In another arrangement
for displacing the dye or size within the vat a block of wood arranged to be raised
and lowered within an extension of the vat and actuated by any suitable arrange-
ment of mechanism may be employed. Other modifications may be made in the
machine without departing from the novel features of the Invention which consists
in the employment of a stationary expanding swift rotated to dye or size the banks
and after to expel therefrom the superfluous dye or size and in the means for
charging the vat or vats with dye or size and afterwards displacing the same. Each
vat is provided with a hinged cover and fitted with a boiling pipe.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Conlong in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th March
1883.
JAMES CONLONG of Blackburn in the County of Lancaster Engineer "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANNER OF AND MEANS FOR DYEING AND SIZING HANKS AND FOR
EXPELLING THEREFROM THE SUPERFLUOUS DYE OR SIZE"
The Invention relates to and consists of improvements on that class of machine
for dyeing and sizing purposes in which the dye or size is expelled from the hanks
mounted on a reel or swift by imparting thereto a whizzing or centrifugal motion
and in preference to wringing the hanks by rotating hooks. To this end a
peculiarly formed swift mounted on a horizontal shaft is provided with metal arms
carried parallel to the shaft by means of jointed or hinged arms connected thereto
and to collars on the swift shaft by means of pins. On the said swift shaft are
mounted two loose pullies and a fast pulley for imparting to the swift two speeds
of rotation. On a second and overhead driving shaft are mounted two pullies of
large and small diameters for the purpose of rotating the pullies on the reel shaft.
To actuate the driving straps a strap fork actuated by means of a rack and pinion
is employed. A cistern is mounted at one end of the reel into and from which
cistern the dye or size is run into and from the vats. Within the said cistern a
piston or drum is fitted and arranged to be raised and lowered therein by means of
a rack and pinion or a block of wood may be used.
In order that the Invention may be fully understood I have caused to be attached
hereunto, two sheets of drawings marked with letters of reference, corresponding
marks indicating the same parts in the various Figs.
Referring to Sheet 1 of the said Drawings Fig 1 is a front view partly in section
and fig 2 a cross section of a machine constructed in accordance with my Invention.
In the said Figs a a are dye vats; b is the rotating swift and c is the dye or size
cistern. The said swift is formed with arms d fitted to collars e by means of pins
and are capable of working loosely thereon as on an hinge. These hinged arms are
also connected by pins to horizontal arms b of the swift which arms are always
maintained parallel to themselves and to the shaft h when expanded or contracted,
Two or more collars fg are keyed or otherwise fastened to the shaft h and are
capable of sliding thereon. A horizontal slot i is cut in a part of the shaft h and
a key is fit into the collar which fits into and slides loosely in the slot i. The
arms d on the loose collar e¹ are set out at. On the shaft hand to the right of the
collar el a suitably formed cam j is caused to act on the pin k fit in the shaft h, the
loose collar is arranged to fit by a set screw on the shaft hand at a suitable distance
apart between it and the cam ; whereby the amount of lateral movement it may be
required to give to the collar e¹ can be regulated to a nicety by the cam j. To the
opposite side of the cam jis fit a second collar g. When it is required to expand the
reel or swift to any required radius, the cam j is turned by the handles m n turned
thereon and the groove of the cam is caused to act on the collar e¹ and move it
along the shaft h for a regulated distance and thereby expands the reel or swift.
By turning the cam j in the opposite direction the reel or swift will be contracted,
the size or diameter of the reel may be increased or decreased to any desired
extent by these means. On the end of the reel and appliance o, for supplying the
reel with banks and for removing the finished hanks from the reel, is employed.
The appliance o is of a circular form having a portion of its rim cut away. The
horizontal arms of the reel are contracted into their lowest position and the plate q
with projection on is fastened on to the boss of the pulley. On the reel being

page_text: caused to revolve by means of the strap on the pulley the hanks are not liable
to become entangled with the arms thereof. The loop of the hank is placed in the
cut out portion of the rim of the pulley o and moves round with the reel and has
the effect of placing the hanks on the reel, a like motion being used to remove the
hanks from the reel after expelling the superfluous dye or size therefrom. By the
means described the parallelism of the horizontal arms to each other and to the
shaft are maintained in all positions of the reel which is an important advantage
as the hanks on the reel will be all equally expanded. Upon the reel shaft is
mounted three pullies S1, S2, S3, the centre pulley being fast and the others loose,
and upon an overhead driving shaft not seen in the Fig, is carried two pullies of a
large and small diameter. To run the said reel slowly to dye or size the hanks
the strap t riding on the small overhead driving pulley is shifted on to the loose
pulley S3 by means of the rack u actuated by the pinion v and handle w supported
by the bracket x. The strap fork when moved by the attendant is set permanently
in a fixed position, by means of a projection on the hand lever w engaging in the
quadrant y and held by the spring z. After a few turns has thus been given to
the reel to size or dye the hanks, the strap fork presses the strap riding over the
large overhead pulley on to the pulley s¹ and a rapid rotary motion is imparted to
the reel to expel the superfluous dye or size from the hanks during which time the
hinged casing indicated by dotted lines in Fig 2 is let down to prevent escape of
dye or size. The horizontal arms of the reel may be provided with woven fabric
as shewn in Fig 5 to permit of a soft bearing surface for the hanks and to take up
inoisture therefrom. The cistern c containing the dye or size is provided with a
piston braised and lowered by means of the rack and pinion 62, 63, the object
being to run the required quantity of liquor from the cistern e into the vat or vats
through connected piping c¹ and after being used to return it to the cistern, but in
many cases the used or spent liquor may be allowed to run from the vats into
buckets or to waste. An ordinary steam boiling pipe is mounted within each
vat for heating the liquor.
Sheet 2 represents modifications in the apparatus, the machine represented by
Figs 8 & 9 being especially applicable for sizing purposes. The shaft e¹ is
provided with three pullies f, g, h, the centre pulley, gl being fast and the others
loose and are carried by the bracket bolted to the back side of the vat The
straps which ride over these pullies being operated by a strap fork as herein
before mentioned. In front of the vat a sliding door j¹ is mounted the object of
which is to prevent the size from and keeps the heat within the box during the
time the swift is being rotated rapidly. The shaft e¹ is hollow and extends into
the vat, and on which loose collars m³, are mounted. An adjustable and fixed
collar o' is arranged to be moved between the small collars p¹, q¹ by the hand
lever in order to limit and adjust the amount of expansion of the swift. The
horizontal arms 8¹ of the swift are jointed to the said collars m¹ n¹ and o¹ by
means of the expanding arms t¹, when the hanks have been sized by being slowly
rotated by the swift when in the position indicated by u¹ in Fig 8 a rapid rotary
motion is then imparted to the swift, and by the centrifugal action of the arms
thereof the hanks assume the position indictated by v' in Fig 8 and as will be
seen run clear of the size contained within the vat. When this rapid motion of
the swift is caused to cease the arms of the swift, contract into their first position,
and the finished hanks is free to be removed. The vat is provided with an
opening into which the bung or plug w¹ is fitted, and used to run off the size when
required to rinse out the vat.
Having now set forth and indicated the nature of the said invention and the
manner in which the same may be carried into effect, I would have it to be under-
stood that I do not claim the arrangement of vats as shewn in the drawings but
what I do claim is
First, the novel construction of reel or swift having for its object the equal 5
expansion of the arms when rotated by centrifugal force.

page_text: Second the modified form and arrangement for sizing and scouring purposes of
the reel shown by Fig 9 in the drawings.
In witness whereof I, the said James Conlong have hereunto set my hand
and seal this thirteenth day of March in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty two
JAMES CONLONG. (L.S.)