IMPROVEMENTS IN FIXING COLOURS ON WOVEN FABRICS OR FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Lightfoot, of Accrington, in the County of
Lancaster, Calico Printer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIXING
COLOURS ON WOVEN FABRICS OR FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 16th August 1859, and dated the 14th March 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Lightfoot at the
Office of the. Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th March 1859.
I, THOMAS LIGHTFOOT, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, Calico
Printer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FIXING COLOURS ON WOVEN FABRICS OR FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be. as.
follows:-
In order to fix more permanently the whole or greater portion of tho
coloring matter on the fabric or material to be stained or printed, I steam
the fabric or material after the dyeing process and previous to the soaping.
process.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Lightfoot in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
LIGHTFOOT, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, Calico Printer, send
rooting

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Thomas Lightfoot, Her special licence that I, the
said Thomas Lightfoot, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Lightfoot, my 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, usc, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIXING COLOURS ON WOVEN
FABRICS OR FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Lightfoot, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 I, the said Thomas Lightfoot, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement (that is to say) :-
. I expose to the action of steam, cotton fabrics which have been mordanted
with salts of alumina or other earthy or metallic salts, or mixtures of salts of
alumina or other salts, and subsequently dyed with madder, or a preparation
of madder or other coloring matters, with a view to cleaning afterwards with
soap liquor commonly called "soaping;" the said steaming process being
given between the dyeing and the soaping, by which I find the dyed portions
to have become more capable of resisting the dissolving action of the soap, and
retaining at the same time the property of being purified or brightened thereby,
whilst the unmordanted portions are being by the same process cleared or
bleached.
The manner in which my said Invention is to bo performed is as follows:-
After the dyed fabrics have been well washed and dried, I wind them on the
perforated cylinder known as the "steaming can," and proceed to .steam
precisely as is usual with "steam colors." The steam should be of such
pressure as to be able to blow freely through the roll of pieces on the cylinder;
a pressure of about eight to twelve pounds per square inch will be found
sufficient for the purpose. I pass the steam through the fabrics for about

page_text: half an hour; I then unfold them and give them the soaping process
usual for the particular description of colors. Or, instead of steaming the
fabrics on a cylinder, I hang them in folds in a chamber or box, and admit
steam in the manner known as steaming in the "chest or box," the desired
effect being attained by either process, but I prefer cylinder steaming.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set forth,
as such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle
thereof; but I claim as my Invention, and which to the best of my knowledge
and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm, submitting to the
action of low-pressure steam fabrics mordanted with alumina or other
mordants, or a mixture of alumina and other salts, and dyed with madder
or preparations of it, or other coloring matters, previous to soaping, in order
to enable the dyed portions to resist more perfectly the detersive action
of the soap; the fabrics being dried after dyeing and washing previous to the
steaming process.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas. Lightfoot, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Thomas Lightfoot,
in the presence of
THOMAS LIGHTFOOT. (L.B.)
THOMAS BROADLEY, Book-keeper,
Broad Oak, Accrington.