IMPROVED MACHINERY OB APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING COTTON, LINES, AND OTHER WOVEN OR TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Hodgkinson, of Donegall Street Place, Belfast,
in the County of Antrim, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY OB
APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING COTTON, LINES, AND OTHER WOVEN OR TEXTILE
FABRICS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Hodgkinson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1856.
1, HENRY HODGKINSON, of Donegall Street Place, Belfast, in the County of
Antrim, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVED
MACHINERY OR, APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING COTTON, LINES, AND OTHER WOVEN OR
TEXTILE FABRICS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain novel and improved apparatus, in which I
employ steam in combination with bleaching matters or drugs, such as are
used in bleaching. The following will be found a convenient form of machine
or apparatus for bleaching linen, &c:-A steam-tight casing made in two parts
with a place at bottom to hold liquid; inside this casing there is a wheel,
revolving upon an axis, and containing the fabrics to be operated upon; there
is a tap and perforated pipe at the bottom part of the casing, by which steam
is admitted thereinto for boiling the bleaching liquid therein. The aforesaid
wheel, is formed with sides, and has a series of buckets placed around its
periphery and openings at the bottom of each of such said buckets, for the
admission and emission of the bleaching liquid as the wheel, revolves. There
are four or more openings made in the sides of the wheel, for charging and
discharging the goods to be operated upon. The top of the casing is furnished
with a valve, for regulating the discharge of the steam from the interior
thereof

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Hodgkinson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HODGKINSON, of Donegall Street Place, Belfast, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, 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 Henry Hodgkinson, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Hodgkinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Henry Hodgkinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING COTTON, LINEN, AND OTHER WOVEN OR TEXTILE
FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Hodg-
kinson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 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 Henry Hodgkinson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in certain novel and improved apparatus, in which I
employ steam in combination with bleaching matters or drugs, such as are
used in bleaching. The following will be found a convenient form of machine
or apparatus for bleaching linen, &c. :-A steam-tight casing made in two parts
with a place at bottom to hold liquid; inside this casing there is a wheel,
revolving upon an axis, and containing the fabrics to be operated upon; there
is a tap and a perforated pipe at the bottom part of the casing, by which steam
is admitted thereinto for boiling the bleaching liquid therein. The aforesaid
wheel is formed with sides, and has a series of buckets placed around its
periphery and openings at the bottoms of each of such said buckets, for the
admission and emission of the bleaching liquid as the wheel revolves. There

page_text: are four or more openings made in the side of the wheel, for charging and
discharging the goods to be operated upon. The top of the casing is furnished
with a valve for regulating the discharge of the steam from the interior
thereof.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked thereon
respectively, as follows.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved machinery or apparatus for
bleaching as it would appear when ready for use; Figure 2, an end elevation
thereof; Figure 8, a transverse and vertical section through the line A, B, at
Figure 2; Figure 4, a vertical section taken through the line C, D, at
Figure 1. At each of the foregoing Figures I employ similar letters of
reference to denote corresponding parts, in so far as such parts appear or can
be seen at each of such said Figures respectively. A, A, is a casing, of metal
or wood, or a wood casing bound with metal, covering the whole of the wheel
air-tight, and containing the alkali, soap, or other liquid; B is a short cylinder
or wheel of any suitable material, mounted upon an axis C, working in bearings
D, fixed to or formed outside the casing A; one end of the axis C passes
through the casing to receive a winch handle a, for imparting motion to the
cylinder and its contents, as hereafter described. The cylinder is formed with
ends, one of which is solid or closed, and the other has four or more openings
d, d, therein, having a lid or cover to cach, for charging and discharging the
same with the goods to be bleached through the apertures d, d², shewn at
Figure 1, having lids or covers to fit them tightly and properly secured. The
periphery of the cylinder B is furnished with a series of buckets E, extending
across the width of the said cylinder about three inches asunder, more or less,
according to the size of the machine; and between each of such said buckets
a slit or opening is formed, to admit the liquid into the compartments formed
by divisions F, F. G is a steam pipe, perforated with innumerable small holes;
H, tap or cock for admitting steam from a boiler into said pipe; I, a valve to
regulate the pressure of the steam within the apparatus; J is a gauge, to
; indicate the quantity of liquid in the machine.
MODE OF OPERATING.
in thosed with blenching liquid such as is

page_text: the cylinder, by removing one of the doors or lids in the outer casing through
one or other of the openings d, d; steam is then introduced into and amongst
the. bleaching liquid for heating the same, and during such heating, motion is
imparted to the cylinder in the direction of the arrow's flight by means of a
winch handle a; the effect of which is to cause the bleaching liquid to enter
by the openings in the periphery of the cylinder, into and amongst the goods to
be bleached, the length of time necessary for performing the operation being
<letermined by the operator; the goods are then removed and rinsed or other-
wise treated, in the manner usually practised by bleachers, the liquid in the
machine being withdrawn when required by means of a tap K, Figure 3.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention of
"Improved Machinery or Apparatus for bleaching Cotton, Linen, and other
Woven or Textile Fabrics," together with the best, means I am acquainted
with for carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion;
that I do not confine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements
which I have herein described, as variations may be made therefrom without
in any way deviating from the principle of my Invention; but what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as my Invention intended to bo
secured by the above in part recited Letters Patent, is, the general arrangement
and construction of improved machinery or apparatus above particularly
described, set forth, and represented by tho Drawing hereunto annexed, by the
use of which, and by the aid of bleaching agents, I ain enabled to perform the
operation of bleaching, washing, or cleansing textile fabrics in a simple and
efficient manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Hodgkinson, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
HENRY S. SHAW,
Glenali ia.
ПENRY HODGKINSON. (Ls)