Improvements in Preparing for Bleaching and Dyeing and in Bleaching, Dyeing, and Washing Vegetable Textile Material, and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Jan., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 19th Oct., 1894-Accepted, 24th Nov., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Preparing for Bleaching and Dyeing and in
Bleaching, Dyeing, and Washing Vegetable Textile Material,
and in Apparatus therefor.
A communication from abroad by LA SOCIÉTÉ LEBLOIS, PICENI ET COMPAGNIE,
of 16, Rue Drouot, Paris, France, Manufacturers.
I, JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN of 55 and 56 Chancery Lane, in the County of
London Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
It is usual before bleaching or dyeing vegetable materials to submit them to a
vigorous preliminary ungumming, which is only obtained by subjecting them for
some hours to the action of baths of boiling water or lye. Experience has shown
that this energetic and hot process of extracting the gum has a deleterious effect on
the strength and solidity of the fibre so treated and it is a characteristic feature of
the present invention to replace it by a simple thorough steeping which must be
perfect, after which the material so treated is in a condition to be submitted to the
treatments for bleaching or dyeing. This thorough and perfect steeping is very
difficult to effect without deteriorating or matting the material under treatment,
particularly when it has already undergone the operations preliminary to spinning
such as slivers or rovings of cotton, carded or combed, and also when it is necessary
to treat the material in a quantity at a time. The object of this invention is to
obtain this important result by means of special processes and apparatus for
carrying them out. The invention consists in a mode of impregnation which
permits of the dyeing or bleaching of all kinds of textile vegetable materials,
particularly when in the form of slivers or rovings, a mode realized by a
harmonious combination of operations, processes and apparatus which allows them
to be treated in quantity without matting, entangling or deterioration, cold as well
as hot.
In order to obtain this important industrial result the following operations and
processes, which are all indispensable to obtain complete success, are combined.
First Preliminary threading or stringing on cords or tapes of the materials to
be treated, and in the case of rovings or slivers the use by preference of a special
method of threading which is very quick and very easy, and is hereinafter
described; this threading of the rovings renders it possible to treat them in a large
quantity at a time without fear of entanglement or matting.
:
Secondly The use of a vacuum vessel with or without a receiver, of which the
chief characteristic is a movable lid in the interior, capable of automatically
pressing more and more the material under treatment as it naturally subsides or
sinks owing to its impregnation by liquid baths; this automatic sinking prevents
the matting and entanglement of the material under treatment.
Thirdly The employment of a particular mode of impregnation by means of a
vacuum and of alternately a vacuum and the admission of air through the liquid baths
in the vessel, the material being always kept pressed down as already explained.
The alternation of a vacuum and of admission of air will alone serve to thoroughly
steep the material thus pressed.

page_text: :
Fourthly After the impregnation thus effected without matting, the use of an
immersing wheel with sliding drawers, so that the steeped material can easily be
placed in the said drawers in order to submit them always without matting or
deterioration to any desirable processes of bleaching, dyeing or washing.
The combination and employment of the processes as above described permit of
effecting under the best conditions of economy of hand labor and as desired hot or
cold, the perfect treatment in bulk of all vegetable textile materials however
delicate, and particularly cotton in the form of carded, drawn or combed slivers.
In order to make the new method of procedure the more clear I will now
describe the manner of carrying it out and the new apparatus designed for this
purpose.
Materials that have been entirely spun are arranged on cords and in bundles by
the ordinary processes, but in the case of rovings.or slivers the process preferably
adopted is as follows:-
In the revolving cans or holders which ordinarily receive the carded, drawn or
combed slivers is placed a tube or rod of iron or wood mounted on two supports
having the same diameter as the interior of the can. The lower support rests on
the bottom of the can and the other is a little higher up and serves to keep the rod
in the middle of the can so as to allow the slivers to be easily wound round it by
the ordinary devices. On this second support is placed a small spiral spring and
the coils of slivers are wound above the spring. When the can is full, before
withdrawing it completely from its position, the attendant fastens by the help of a
hook at the end of the rod a cord or tape, and holds the other end in her
band. The can being then completely removed all the coils of slivers are pushed
up by the spring and become strung automatically on the cord or tape which is
between the hands of the attendant. "She then joins the two ends of this cord with
a kuot and thus makes a small bundle of coiled slivers which is the best form for
manipulation and treatment in the vacuum vessel. This preliminary operation of
stringing or threading is indispensable for spun material or for material in the form
of slivers or rovings, but it is not necessary in the case of loose material..
The vacuum vessel may be of any shape, round or square, but its inner side
should be very smooth so as not to deteriorate, by friction, the very delicate
material that it may contain; at the upper part of the vessel are fitted a suction
cock, an air inlet cock and a vacuum gauge; at the lower part of the tank there
are a large discharge pipe and two other pipes for the inlet of liquid and air;
these three pipes are fitted with cocks. About 8 or 10 centimetres from the
bottom of the vessel there is a perforated plate of wood or iron on which is placed
the material to be steeped, and in the upper part of the vessel there is a movable
perforated lid which slides easily up or down on guides or on the sides of the vessel,
it descends by its own weight and is lifted by means of a chain and a small winch
which enables it to be raised to the top of the vessel after each operation. The
winch is operated by a removable handle which is fitted thereto after the vessel is
opened and when it is required to withdraw the material after treatment. Instead
of using a vessel with a lateral opening a vacuum tank with an opening at top shut
by a hermetically closing lid suitably attached can be employed. In this case the
interior pressure lid may be attached by cords or chains of convenient length to the
top lid itself in such manner that on removing the latter in order to open the vessel
by means of a winch or counterweight this internal perforated lid is raised from
outside the vessel and lowered similarly when the outer lid is replaced. Lastly
instead of employing a lid moved by a winch attached to the top of the vessel or to
an upper lid of the vessel as above explained, there can be placed in this latter,
opening in front, suitable perforated receivers carrying pressure lids worked
automatically by springs, with a rack or not, pressing the material in proportion to
its impregnation, the distinctive feature of the method being the automatic pressing
of the material treated either in the vessel itself or in the receivers which take its
place, and that in proportion to its impregnation, this pressing being an essential
condition of thorough steeping without entanglement or matting of the material

page_text: when it is wished to treat a quantity at a time. I then work in the following
manner :-The material to be steeped, either loose or in threads or in slivers or
rovings is placed in a mass and without particular care in the vacuum vessel or in
the perforated receivers. The movable lid is lowered to press it as much as
possible. The vessel being hermetically closed, the vacuum is produced and the
liquid with which the material has to be impregnated is drawn into the tank by the
lower tubes connected with an adjoining vat. The vat having become emptied a
fresh vacuum is made by closing the lower cocks, then opening them, air is thus
caused to enter, which, by traversing the liquid that covers completely the material
under treatment, produces a tumultuous movement of the bath and causes the
material to be thoroughly impregnated by these alternations of vacnum and inlets
of air repeated several times. During these operations the more the material
becomes impregnated or saturated the more it loses the bulk that it had before the
steeping, and it is then that the automatic pressure lid acting by its own weight or
by the action of the rack is indispensable to prevent the entanglement and matting
that would be otherwise produced by the action of the inlets of air. After the
effects of 8 to 10 air passages the operation is finished, the upper air cock and the
three cocks of the bottom tubes are then opened. The surplus liquid drains off,
the vessel empties itself, the latter is opened, the movable pressure lid is lifted and
the pressed material is found perfectly steeped without being matted, and in a
condition to receive all the subsequent treatments that it may be desirable to give
it after a perfect steeping.
By the processes above described all the operations relating to bleaching, dyeing
and washing that are possible in vacuum vessels can be effected directly on the
material and not only steeping operations without matting applied to the most
delicate materials. The perfect impregnation of the material treated being thus
obtained, the material is withdrawn from the vacuum vessel and placed in another
apparatus, an immersing wheel with drawers in which it is submitted if required to
the last operation of bleaching, dyeing or washing. This apparatus consists of a
semicircular tank of wood, sheet iron or other suitable material in which turns a
large wheel divided into as many segments or compartments as the number of
drawers desired therein. There are spokes connecting it with the centre which
forms the hub and these spokes carry two concentric rings between which the
drawers are placed. The apparatus is strengthened at these parts by one or more
intermediate rings and cross pieces, the thickness of which is regulated so as to
leave free parallelopipedic spaces between them which are occupied by the drawers,
subdivided if preferred into two or more compartments formed by thin strips or
partitions of metallic gauze or perforated metal. In these compartments the
material to be treated is placed after its withdrawal from the vacuum vessel.
drawers can be made to pull out at the front or at the sides and when pushed into
place are retained by springs ending in handles at the sides of the drawers. The
drawers can be manipulated from each side of the tank, and for this purpose the
tank is fitted with hinged shelves which can be raised or lowered. The revolution
of the wheel may be effected by any desirable means, by machinery or by hand so
that it can be revolved in either direction at will. On one side of the tank there
is a spring catch lever which will stop the wheel at any desired moment by means
of a projection at its extremity being forced by the spring into corresponding holes
in the side of the outer rim of the wheel.
The
It can be readily understood that each small bundle of material being placed in
one of the compartments of the drawers in the wheel, can be subjected to all the
necessary processes of bleaching, dyeing or washing without risk of matting
tangling or deterioration.
Dated this with of L1904

page_text: COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Preparing for Bleaching and Dyeing and in
Bleaching, Dyeing, and Washing Vegetable Textile Material,
and in Apparatus therefor.
A communication from abroad by LA SOCIÉTÉ LEBLOIS, PICENI ET COMPAGNIE,
formerly of 16, Rue Drouot, Paris, but now of Elbeuf, Saint Aubin (Seine
Inférieure), France, Manufacturers.
1, JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN of 55 and 56 Chancery Lane in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, 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 :--
It is usual, before bleaching or dyeing vegetable materials, to submit them to a
vigorous preliminary ungumming, which is only obtained by subjecting them for
some hours to the action of baths of boiling water or lye. Experience has shown
that this energetic and hot process of extracting the gum has a deleterious effect
on the strength and solidity of the fibre so treated, and it is a characteristic
feature of the present invention to replace it by a simple thorough steeping which
must be perfect, after which the material so treated is in a condition to be
submitted to the treatments for bleaching or dyeing. This thorough and perfect
steeping is very difficult to effect without deteriorating or matting the material
under treatment, particularly when the material has already undergone the
operations preliminary to spinning, as is the case with slivers or rovings of cotton,
carded or combed, and also when it is necessary to treat the material in a quantity
at a time. This important result is obtained according to this invention by means of
special processes and apparatus for carrying them out. The invention consists in a
mode of impregnation which permits of the dyeing or bleaching of all kinds of textile
vegetable materials, particularly when in the form of slivers or rovings, a mode
realized by a harmonious combination of operations and processes and by apparatus
which allows them to be treated in quantity without matting, entangling or
deterioration, cold as well as hot.
In order to obtain this important industrial result the following operations
and processes, which are all indispensable to obtain complete success, are
combined :-
First. Preliminary threading or stringing on cords or tapes of the materials to be
treated and in the case of rovings or slivers the use by preference of a special
method of threading which is very quick and very easy, and is hereinafter described;
this threading of the rovings renders it possible to treat them in a large quantity at
a time without fear of entanglement or matting.
Secondly. The use of a vacuum vessel with or without a receiver, of which the
chief characteristic is a movable internal lid capable of automatically pressing more
and more the material under treatment as it naturally subsides or sinks owing to its
impregnation by liquid baths; this automatic sinking prevents the matting and
entanglement of the material under treatment.
Thirdly. The employment of a particular mode of impregnation by means of a
vacuum, and alternations of vacuum and the admission of air through the liquid
baths in the vessel, the material being kept always pressed down as already explained.
The alternation of a vacuum and of admission of air will alone serve to thoroughly
steep the material thus pressed.
Fourthly. After the impregnation thus effected without matting, the use of an
immersing wheel with sliding drawers so that the steeped material can easily
be placed in the said drawers in order to submit them always without matting
or deterioration to any desirable processes of bleaching, dyeing or washing.

page_text: The combination and employment of the processes as above described permit
of effecting under the best conditions of economy of hand labour and as desired
hot or cold, the perfect treatment in bulk of all vegetable textile materials
however delicate, and particularly cotton in the form of carded, drawn or
combed slivers. In order to make the new method of procedure more clear I
will now describe the manner of carrying it out and the new apparatus designed
for this purpose.
Materials that have been entirely spun are arranged on cords and in bundles by
the ordinary processes, but in the case of rovings or slivers the process preferably
adopted is as follows:-
In the revolving cans or holders which ordinarily receive the carded, drawn or
combed slivers, one of these holders being shown at P in Figure 1 of the annexed
drawings, is placed a tube or rod of iron or wood T, held by two supports S S'
having the same diameter as the interior of the can. The lower support S rests
on the bottom of the can and the other S' is a little higher up and serves to keep
the rod in the middle of the can so as to allow the slivers to be easily wound
round it by the ordinary devices. On this second support is placed a small spiral
spring R (see Figure 2) and the coils of slivers are wound above the spring.
When the can is full, before withdrawing it completely from its position_the
attendant fastens, by the help of a hook cat the top of the rod T, a cord or
tape V (Figure 2) the other end of which she holds in her hand. The can being
then completely removed all the coils of slivers are pushed up by the spring and
become strung automatically on the cord or tape V which is between the hands
of the attendant,-see Figure 2. She then joins the two ends of this cord with
a knot and thus makes a small bundle of coiled slivers which is the best
form for manipulation and treatment in the vacuum vessel. This preliminary
operation of stringing or threading is indispensable for spun material or for
material in the form of slivers or rovings but it is not necessary in the case of
loose material.
The vacuum vessel, one form of which is shown by way of example in Figure 3,
may be of any suitable shape, round or square, but its inner side should be very
smooth so as not to deteriorate, by friction, the very delicate material that it may
contain at the upper part of the vessel are fitted a suction cock A, an air inlet
cock B and a vacuum gauge D; at the lower part of the tank there are a large
discharge pipe E, and two other pipes F G for the inlet of liquid and air; these
three pipes are fitted with cocks. About 8 or 10 centimetres from the bottom of the
vessel there is a perforated plate H of wood or iron on which is placed the material
to be steeped, and in the upper part of the vessel there is a movable perforated
lid L, which slides easily up or down on guides M, or it can be guided by the
sides of the vessel; it descends by its own weight and is lifted by means of a
chain N and a small winch O which enables it to be raised to the top of the vessel
after each operation. The winch is operated by a removable handle which is fitted
thereto after the vessel is opened, and when it is required to withdraw the material
after treatinent. Instead of using a vessel which opens at the side as that shown
in Figure 3, a vacuum vessel such as that shown in Figure 4 with an opening at
top shut by a hermetically closing lid C suitably attached can be employed. In
this case the internal pressure lid L may be attached by cords or chains N of
convenient length to the top lid C itself in such manner that on removing the
latter in order to open the vessel by means of a winch or counterweight this
internal perforated lid is raised from outside the vessel and it is lowered similarly
when the outer lid C is replaced. Lastly, instead of employing a lid moved by a
winch attached to the top of the vessel or to an upper lid of the vessel as above
explained there can be placed in this latter, opening in front, suitable perforated
receivers carrying pressure lids worked automatically by springs, with a rack or
not, pressing the material in proportion to its impregnation. The distinctive
feature of the method, in whatever way it is carried out, is the automatic pressing
in proportion to its impregnation of the material treated either in the vessel..

page_text: itself or in receivers which are placed in it, this pressing being an essential
condition of thorough steeping without entanglement or matting of the material,
when it is wished to treat a quantity at a time. I. work the apparatus in the
following manner :-
The material to be steeped either loose or in threads or in slivers or rovings
is placed in a mass and without particular care in the vacuum vessel or in the
perforated receivers. The movable lid L is lowered to press the material as much
as possible. The vessel being hermetically closed, the vacuum is produced and
the liquid with which the material has to be impregnated is drawn into the tank
through the lower tube F connected with an adjoining vat. The vat having
become emptied, a fresh vacuum is made, the lower cocks being closed; then by
opening them air is caused to enter, which by traversing the liquid that covers
completely the material under treatment produces a tumultuous movement of the
bath and causes the material to be thoroughly impregnated by these alternations of
vacuum and inlets of air, repeated several times. During these operations the
more the material becomes impregnated or saturated the more it loses the bulk
that it had before the steeping, and it is then that the automatic pressure lid,
acting by its own weight or by the action of the rack, is indispensable to prevent
the entanglement and matting that would be otherwise produced by the action of
the inlets of air. After the effects of 8 to 10 air passages the operation is
finished, the upper air cock and the three cocks of the bottom tubes are then opened.
The surplus liquid drains off, the vessel is opened, the movable pressure lid is lifted
and the pressed material is found perfectly steeped without being matted and in a
condition to receive all the subsequent treatments that it may be desirable to give
it after a perfect steeping.
By the processes above described not only can steeping operations be effected
without matting on the most delicate material, but all the operations relating to.
bleaching, dyeing and washing that are possible in vacuum vessels can be effected
directly on vegetable textile materials.
The perfect impregnation of the material treated being thus obtained, the
material is withdrawn from the vacuum vessel and placed in another apparatus,
an immersing wheel with drawers, in which it is submitted if required to the last
operations of bleaching, dyeing or washing. A convenient form of this apparatus
is shown in Figures 5 to 8, Figure 5 being a front elevation and Figure 6 a side
elevation, while Figures 7 and 8 are detail views. It consists of a semicircular
tank of wood, sheet iron or other suitable material in which turns a large
wheel g divided into as many segments or compartments m as the number of
drawers desired therein. There are spokes a connecting it with the centre which
forms the hub and these spokes carry the concentric rings bb¹ between which the
drawers c are placed. The apparatus is strengthened at these parts by one or more
intermediate rings d and cross pieces e, the thickness of which is regulated so as
to leave free parallelopipedic spaces between them which are occupied by the
drawers c, subdivided if preferred into two or more compartments as seen in
Figure 8, formed by thin strips or partitions of metallic gauze or perforated
metal. In these compartments the material to be treated is placed after its with-
drawal from the vacuum vessel. The drawers can be made to pull out at the front
or at the sides and when pushed into place are retained by springs r (Figure 8)
ending in handles at the sides of the drawers. These drawers can be manipulated
from each side of the tank as is shown in Figure 5, and for this purpose the tank is
fitted with hinged shelves which can be raised or lowered. The revolution of the
wheel may be effected by any desirable means, by machinery or by hand, (as for
example by the pinions p p p worked by a crank handle or otherwise) so that
it can be revolved in either direction at will. On one side of the tank there is
a spring catch levert which will stop the wheel when desired by means of a
projection at its extremity being forced by the spring into corresponding holes
in the side of the outer rim b¹ of the wheel; Figure 7 illustrates this lever in
detail.

page_text: It can be readily understood that each small bundle of material being placed in
one of the compartments of the drawers in the wheel can be subjected to all the
necessary processes of bleaching, dyeing or washing without risk of matting, tangling
or deterioration.
I have already stated that in the vacuum vessels and by the special mode of
impregnation described not only can perfect steeping be effected but also other
operations which are practicable in vacuum vessels. When it is desired to treat
raw cotton good results can be obtained in a short time, at small expense and with
little hand labour by applying the special mode of impregnation directly to cotton
bales placed in the vacuum vessel in the state in which they are received in this
country, that is to say without undoing the bales, the hoops and cloths being
retained. In this case the internal pressing lid serves to hold the bales steady in
the vessel during the alternations of vacuum and admissions of air during the
impregnating operation. Raw cottons can thus by this quick and economical
process be submitted to all operations that are practicable in vacuum vessels and
particularly without preliminary steeping, to direct dyeings in a single bath.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion as communicated to me and in what manner the same is to be performed, I
declare that what I claim is :-
1. The mode substantially as hereinbefore described of bleaching or dyeing
vegetable textile materials and more especially cotton slivers or rovings, the
said mode being characterized by a combination of operations and processes and
by apparatus substantially as set forth, whereby the bleaching or dyeing of the
materials can be effected in quantity without deterioration or matting and either
hot or cold.
2. The preparation of slivers or rovings for the bleaching or dyeing process
by threading or stringing them on cords or tapes, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
3. For the purpose of bleaching, dyeing or washing vegetable textile materials,
submitting the said materials in a vacuum vessel to the action of the bleaching,
dyeing or washing liquid with alternations of vacuum and admissions of air,
the said vessel having a movable internal lid which presses the materials as they
become impregnated with the liquid, substantially as herein before described.
4. For the purpose of bleaching, dyeing or washing vegetable textile materials
the use of an immersing. wheel having drawers, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
5. The treatment of cotton in bales in a vacuum vessel, substantially as herein-
before described.
6. The several apparatus hereinbefore described and represented in the accom-
panying drawings for the respective purposes explained.
Dated this 19th day of October 1894.
J. C. MEWBURN.