CERTAIN IMPROVE MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BOWKING, BLEACHING, DYEING, AND
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Holdin, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Paper Manufacturer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BOWKING, BLEACHING, DYEING, AND
+1
Sealed the 5th December 1856, and dated the 9th June 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Holdin at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th June
1856.
I, JAMES HOLDIN, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Paper Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BOWKING, BLEACHING, DYEING,
AND WASHING TEXTILE FABRICS OR MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the employment or use of a revolving bowking
kier or wash wheel for such purposes, enclosed in a steam-tight casing or
chamber. The revolving kier or wash wheel is furnished on its periphery (or
at its sides) with shallow "buckets" in a similar manner to an overshot water
wheel, which buckets have their sole perforated, so that as the kier or wash
wheel revolves in a reservoir of water or other liquid, the buckets upon the
periphery of the wheel take up the liquid, and as each bucket ascends to the
uppermost parts of the wheel the liquid percolates or rains through the fabrics
under operation in the several compartments of the kier or wash wheel, being

page_text: thus distributed as it were in a continuous shower upon and through the goods
or pieces. The steam-tight outer casing or chamber in which the revolving
bowking kier is placed and operates may be furnished with the necessary
usual steam guage, safety valve, and vacuum valve at its upper portion, and
also with a water pipe or alkali pipe as required below for the entrance or
exit of the water or other liquid which may be used in the various processes of
bowking, bleaching, dyeing, or washing, and also with the necessary steam
pipes, either high or low pressure, and a waste pipe for discharging purposes
when required. The revolving kier may be driven or actuated by any suitable
arrangement of motive power, as spur or bevil gearing, or by a worm and
wheel (which I prefer), which may be conveniently employed, as it would lock
or hold the wash wheel in any suitable position when requisite to charge or
discharge any of the compartments of the wheel with goods or pieces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Holdin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HOLDEN, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Paper Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Holden, Her especial license that I, the said James Holden, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Holden,
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, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BOWKING, BLEACHING, DYEING, AND WASHING
TEXTILE FABRICS OR MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said James Holden, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the samo was to be performed, and cause the same to be

page_text: 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 James Holden, 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 by the following statement
and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in the employment or use of a revolving kier or wash
wheel for such purposes, enclosed in a steam-tight casing or chamber. The
revolving kier is furnished on its periphery (or at its sides) with shallow
"buckets" in a similar manner to an overshot water wheel, which buckets
have their sole perforated, so that as the kier or wash wheel revolves in a
reservoir of water or other liquid, the "buckets" upon the periphery of the
wheel take up the liquid, and as each "bucket" ascends to the uppermost
part of the machine, the liquor percolates or rains through the fabrics under
operation in the several compartments of the kier or wash wheel, being thus
distributed as it were in a continuous shower upon and through the goods
or pieces. The steam-tight outer casing or chamber in which the revolving
bowking kier is placed and operates may be furnished with the necessary usual
steam guage, safety valve, and vacuum valve at its upper portion, and also
with a water pipe or alkali pipe as required below for the entrance or exit of
the water or other liquid which may be used in the various processes of bowking,
dyeing, or washing, and also with the necessary steam pipes, either high or
low pressure, and a waste pipe for discharging purposes when required. The
revolving kier may be driven or actuated by any suitable arrangement for
motive power, as spur and bevil gearing, or by a worm and wheel (which
I prefer), which may be conveniently employed, as it would lock or hold the
wash wheel in any suitable position when requisite to charge or discharge any
of the compartments of the wheel with goods or pieces.
In order that my Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, I have attached to these presents a Sheet of Drawings, illustrative of
the same, made upon a scale of about three quarters of an inch to a foot, and
having similar letters of reference marked upon corresponding parts of the
apparatus in all the Figures shewn.
Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional elevation of the revolving bowking kier, shewing
the internal division of the same into compartments, and the method of filling
them with goods in a continuous length. Fig. 2 is a plan view shewn in
section, shewing the method of driving the said kier by means of "mangle
gearing" and worm and wheel, so as to impart thereto an alternate recipro-
cating motion round its centre. Fig. 3 is an elevation shewing the outer

page_text: casing and arrangement of supply and waste pipes, together with vacuum valve,
steam pipes, &c. In Fig. 1 a, a, is the "bowking kier" or wash wheel re-
volving within the casing b, b; the revolving kier is furnished on its periphery,
or if preferred at its sides, with the "buckets c, c, which have their soles d, d,
perforated for the passage of the steam into the interior of the wheel, and also
through which the water or other liquid taken up by the "buckets" c, c, per-
colates or rains upon the fabrics which are placed in the compartments e, e, of
the wheel. The openings or apertures f, f, in the periphery of the wheel are
for supplying the corresponding compartments with goods or fabrics to be
washed, bowked, or dyed, which may either be filled into such divisions in
layers of continuous lengths, or in any other approved manner; when the
former is preferred the "made up" cloth is unfolded and passed over the guide
roller g, so as to fall perpendicularly into the division then immediately below
the aperture in the steam-tight casing, where it is folded into layers until the
compartment is filled. his the vacuum valve; i the steam pipe for the admis-
sion of steam into the casing; k is the clean water pipe which supplies the
reservoir with water similarly to the pipes 1, 1, 1, 1, for the supply of any of the
required liquids used in the processes of bowking, dyeing, washing, &c.; the
operation of the machine will be more readily understood upon reference to
the Drawings and the following working description thereof. The divisions e, e,
are filled successively with goods through the aperture in the periphery of the
casing and the corresponding one in the wheel, until they are full and ready
for the ensuing process of washing, &c.; an alternate reciprocating motion
is then imparted to the wheel by the "mangle gearing," so as to cause it to
make one or more revolutions in one direction, and then return in the opposite
direction; the "buckets" and their openings are so formed that one set of
them shall take up a a supply of liquid when driven in one direction, and each
alternate set when driven in a contrary direction; by this arrangement the
goods do not become entangled, as might be the case if always driven in one
direction, and are therefore more readily removed from the wheel, and the
process of washing, &c. is rendered more complete, as it ensures every portion
of the fabric coming in contact with the liquid employed; as each "bucket"
fills and is carried round, the water or liquid it contains percolating and is
showered through the sole d upon the goods until they are thoroughly satu-
rated and the process is finished.
Having now described the nature and object of my Invention, together with
the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I will remark, in con-
clusion, that I claim,-
First, the novel method of loading or filling the compartments, namely, by

page_text: apertures in the periphery of rotary bowking, bleaching, dyeing, and washing
apparatus when divided into compartments, in contradistinction to the sides, so
that the fabric may be placed therein in continuous lengths if required.
And, secondly, I claim the application and use of an alternate reciprocating
motion to be imparted to the wheel.
And lastly, I claim the general arrangement and combination of machinery
or apparatus for effecting the above-named purposes, as herein described and
fully set forth and exhibited in the Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Holden, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand cight hundred and fifty-six.
JAMES HOLDIN
JAMES HOLDIN (1)