An Improved Method of Bleaching, Dyeing and Washing Fabrics with Liquid and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Apr., 1899-Accepted, 12th Aug., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of Bleaching, Dyeing and Washing Fabrics with
Liquid and Apparatus therefor.
I, BERNHARD THIES, Coesfeld, in the Province of Westphalia, German Empire,
Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
-
All apparatus hitherto known for bleaching, dyeing or treating fabrics and
other articles, have been subject to the important drawback that the circulating
liquid did not pass in a satisfactory and even manner through the goods pressed
into a receptacle, but that it formed channels at the points where it found the
least resistance, so that a certain portion of the goods were not sufficiently or
even not at all attacked by the circulating liquid whereby the material treated
was very often rendered of small value.
The object of the present invention is to obviate this drawback and relates to
an apparatus in which the liquid circulates in a uniform manner vertically and
horizontally through the boiler containing the goods.
In my invention the vessel containing the circulating liquid is arranged higher
than the boiler containing the goods, thereby a good vertical circulation of the
liquid being attained.
The horizontal circulation in the apparatus is effected by means of a pressure
boiler located somewhat lower than the boiler containing the goods to be treated.
A 4-way cock is suitably arranged to alternately reverse the vertical direction
of circulating liquid, so that at one time it enters the boiler from the top side
and when the 4-way cock is altered in position, it then enters the boiler from the
bottom-side. The goods to be treated are stamped into a boiler, but a cylindrical
space is provided in the centre of this boiler by means of any suitable arrange-
ment, so that when the horizontal circulation takes place, the goods which might
have stuck together are stirred up and mixed thoroughly, thus ensuring that all
portions of the goods are attacked by the circulating liquid.
My invention will be the better understood with reference to the accompanying
drawing, which shows in sectional elevation a plant constructed according to my
invention.
B is a vessel containing the circulating liquid. Underneath this vessel is
located a second boiler A of larger volume, serving to take up the goods to be
treated. These two boilers are connected together by means of two connecting
pipes controlled by a 4-way cock C, one of these pipes entering the boiler at the
top and the other at the bottom end. When the circulating liquid is in a cold
state, it the liquid in both tubes will be in equilibrium. In the example repre-
sented in the drawing the connections between the boilers B A would be;
1. B F G H A, and
2. B ED and A.
The connection E' is surrounded by a heating-tube E and is provided on its
inner walls with heating ribs E.

page_text: is heated to the boiling point and the liquid column in the connection B E¹
D A becomes lighter or more precisely longer. Consequently the circulating
liquid rises into the boiler B and tends to replace the hydrostatic equilibrium,
thus effecting a circulation through BFG HADE B. It is quite evident that
in reverse position of the 4-ways cock C the circulation of the liquid is reversed too.
Besides this vertical circulation a circulation in horizontal direction is effected
by means of an arrangement conducting the liquid from all sides of the circum-
ference of the tank horizontally through the same. The consequence of this
combined horizontal and vertical circulation is, that a thorough mixture of tho
goods is attained and that the formation of portions not attacked by the circulating
liquid is rendered impossible. For the purpose of attaining the said horizontal
circulation I have arranged on the periphery of the boiler A several lines of short
tubes K provided with cocks. All these tubes K are connected together by a
common connecting pipe L. This pipe L is led into a pressure boiler N and
terminates in a tube M having perforated side-walls. The pressure boiler N on
its inner side-walls is provided with series of heating ribs (). The whole boiler
is surrounded by a steam-jacket P effecting the heating of the said boiler. Sup-
posed now this pressure boiler N is filled with the liquid, the same will be heated
up to the boiling point and pressed subsequently from all sides of the circum-
ference into the boiler A. The liquid penetrates the goods from the exterior to
the interior and compresses the same to the centre of the boiler. The surplus
of liquid being pressed upwards enters the vessel B without interrupting the
vertical circulation of the liquid. Thus the vessel B serves at the same time
as a reservoir to take up the surplus of the liquid pressed from the pressure
boiler N into the boiler A containing the goods. As long as the tube M is in
contact with the liquid contained within the pressure boiler N a mixture of
liquid and steam will pass through the connections L K into the boiler A and
the efficiency of the stirring action of the circulating liquid is immense.
soon as the lower extremity of the tube is out of contact with the liquid, that is
to say, when the latter has descended to the level indicated by a, steam only will
pass through the connections L K.
As
The level of the liquid in the boiler N descends more and more and the pres-
sure within this boiler becomes less and less. When now the level has descended
to the point indicated by b, the pressure within the boiler N will be less than
the pressure within the boiler A containing the goods. In consequence thereof
the circulating liquid will flow rapidly back into the boiler N and the before
described process takes place again. The pressure lessening within the boiler A
a certain quantity of liquid passes from the vessel B into the boiler A without
hindering the vertical circulation. Owing to the combination of the two circula-
tions the goods will be stirred up and pressed from all sides while hitherto they
only were stirred up on the top and on the bottom of the boiler. Owing to the
arrangement of the vessel B serving at the same time to contain the circulating
liquid for the vertical circulation, and to take up the surplus of the liquid of
the oscillating horizontal circulation it is possible that the process can be carried
out with only a small quantity of circulating liquid.
It is quite easy to be seen that owing to the special arrangement of the circula-
tion the goods will be stirred up in a thorough manner and it is quite impossible
that there remain portions of goods which are not attacked by the circulating
liquid. A pump R is suitably arranged in the pipes J J for the purpose to
assist the start of the circulation when the liquid has not yet attained its boiling
point. As soon as this boiling point is attained and the initial heating of the
goods is effected, this pump R is brought out of action. To render possible a
very thorough mixture of the goods I use a very simple process, in forming a
hollow space in the centre of the boiler containing the goods.
When the goods are stamped into the boiler A I introduce at the same time
a cylinder having the form of the square represented by Q. After the mass is
stamped in, I lift this cylinder more and more, and when the boiler is filled up,

page_text: I remove the same, so that a hollow space Q having the form of the cylinder
employed, is formed. Owing to this hollow space it is possible that the goods
are stirred thoroughly, as they have a certain play and portions of the goods
which are stamped too heavily together, take advantage of this play to take the
convenient form.
Having now particularly described the nature of my said invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. An improved method of bleaching, dyeing or treating fabric, with liquid in
closed vessels consisting in introducing the liquid alternately at the top and
bottom end of the vessel, and at all sides of the circumference of the boiler in
a continuous manner, substantially as described and for the purposes specified.
2. In an apparatus for use to carry out the process according to Claim 1, a
boiler A to receive the material to be treated, a vessel B containing the circulating
liquid, connections E F, a 4-ways cock C reversing the connection, a boiler N
effecting the heating of the circulating liquid and of the goods to be treated,
connected to the boiler by suitable pipings, substantially as described and for
the purposes specified.
3. In an apparatus for use to carry out the process according to Claim 1,
tubes K arranged in lines upon the circumference of the boiler A, tubes L
uniting all the tubes K and leading into a receptacle_N, a tube M having
perforated walls and forming the extremity of the tube L, a pressure-boiler N
provided with heating ribs 0, a steam-jacket P surrounding the pressure-boiler,
a vessel B containing the circulating liquid, connections E, F, G, a 4-ways-cock C
for reversing the direction of the circulating liquid, heating-ribs E2 provided
on the inner sides of the connecting tube E, a heating mantle E enclosing the
connection-pipe E¹, a pump R suitably arranged in the plant, substantially as
described, and for the purposes specified.
4. In an apparatus for use to carry out the process according to Claim 1, the
arrangement of a hollow space in the centre of the boiler containing the goods,
substantially as described, and for the purposes specified.
Dated this 30th day of March 1899.
GEO. H. RAYNER,
37, Chancery Lane, London,
Agent for the Applicant.