IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING OR COLOURING TEXTILE FABRICS AND MATERIALS, AND IN THE MA- CHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING
OR COLOURING TEXTILE FABRICS AND MATERIALS, AND IN THE MA-
CHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."-A communication
from Emile Weber, of Mulhouse, in the Empire of France,
Chemist.
Sealed the 16th January 1854, and dated the 18th August 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry
Johnson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 13th August 1853.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County I
5 of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING
OR COLORING TEXTILE FABRICS AND MATERIALS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-

page_text: This Invention consists in the employment of a current of dye liquid,
which is forced through the material to be dyed by means of a force
pump, steam-pressure,. or any other convenient arrangement for forcing
fluids. The material to be dyed is placed in a receiver with a double
perforated bottom, and the dyeing liquid is forced through it, entering
by the lower end of the receiver, and flowing off at the top into the
reservoir from which it is pumped. The receiver-and reservoir may be
heated by means of, steam jackets. The washing of such materials
may be effected either before or after the dyeing by the same process,
strong currents of water or other cleansing fluid being forced through
the material, as herein-before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th February 1854.-
-
TO ALL TO--WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields; in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seventeenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her especial license that
I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my execu-
tors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
DYEING OR COLORING TEXTILE FABRICS AND MATERIALS, AND IN THE MA-
CHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," being a communication
from Emile Weber, of Mulhouse, in the Empire of France, Chemist,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry

page_text: Johnson, 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 saine 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and 'in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
The said Invention relates to an improved system or mode of dyeing,
whereby the process is effected much more effectually and rapidly than
by the ordinary method, and consists in the employment of a current
of dye liquid, which is forced through the material to be dyed by means
of a force pump, steam pressure, or any other convenient arrangement
for forcing fluids. The material to be dyed is placed in a receiver with a
double perforated bottom, and the dyeing liquid is forced through it,
entering by the lower end of the receiver, and flowing off at the top
into the reservoir from which it is pumped. The receiver and reservoir
may be heated by means of steam jackets. The washing of such mate-
rials may be effected either before or after the dycing by the same process;
strong currents of water or other cleansing fluid being forced through
the material, as lierein-before described.
The accompanying Sheet of Drawings represents a vertical sectional
elevation, showing the general arrangement of the apparatus as adapted
for dyeing yarns. A, B, C, D, is a cylindrical vessel of copper or
other suitable metal, closed at its lower extremity, and open at the
top. A short distance from the bottom is fitted a perforated plate
E, F; a similar perforated plate or disc G, H, is made to slide-ver-
tically within the cylindrical vessel, being actuated by the screw I.
This part of the apparatus is enclosed in the cast iron jacket or steam
chaniber R, R, which is carried on suitable supports. The space bc-
tween the perforated bottom E, F, and the bottom of the cylindrical
vessel, is connected by means of the copper pipe L, with the lift and
force pump M. which conimunicates by the pipe P, with the boiler N,

page_text: which may be heated by steam. In certain cases the force pump may
be replaced by steam pressure or any other force. The size of the
apparatus and pump is regulated according to the nature and quantity
of the articles to be dyed.
When using this apparatus the interior of the copper cylindrical
vessel is lined with a thick cloth, and the material to be dyed, having
been previously damped, is piled up inside until it reaches the top of
the cylindrical vessel. It is then covered over with a cloth, and the
moveable perforated disc G, H, is forcibly pressed down upon the
material by the screw and baud wheel I. Should woollen yarn be the
material under treatment, it is first washed to remove the grease from
it. For this purpose the boiler N, is supplied with the necessary
washing liquid, which is heated to the required temperature by steam
or other means. The heated liquid is forced by means of the pump M,
into the bottom of the cylindrical vessel, entering therein through the
pipe L, immediately beneath the perforated plate or disc E, F. By
the continued action of the pump-the-liquid-is-forced-through_the_per-
forated disc, and passes upwards through the wool or other material
to be washed, which becomes thereby thoroughly saturated. After
permeating the material to be washed the liquid passes through the per-
forations in the disc G, H, and flows off and re-enters the boiler N, by
the tube or pipe O. This constant upward flow of the wash is continued
for about fifteen or twenty minutes, or longer, according to the nature
of the material under treatment. After being well washed, as above
described, the material is rinsed with clean water, the operation being
effected in precisely the same way as that above described, with this
exception, that in place of the water re-entering the vessel or boiler
N, it flows away by the pipe O. This operation is continued until the
water forced through the material by the pump M, flows off at the
top perfectly clear.
The process of dyeing is then commenced. The boiler N, is filled
with dye liquid, which is forced by means of the pump M, through the
material to be dyed. The rising current of the dye liquid displaces
the remainder of the water with which the material is still saturated.
The whole. of the water having been displaced, the dye liquid per-

page_text: colates through the upper perforated disc G, EI, and flows off by the
pipe O, into the boiler again. The temperature of the liquid in the
boiler is now gradually raised, the action of the pump being kept up
continuously the whole time. In order to prevent the sides of the
cylindrical vessel from cooling by being in contact with the 'atmosphere
the jacket R, is filled with steam. The duration of the process, as well
as the temperature of the coloring liquid, will vary according to the
different colors to be produced, and to the nature of the material to be
dyed; the washing of the wool after dyeing is effected in a similar
nianner to the rinsing before described, it being simply necessary to
substitute water for the coloring liquid in the boiler, and to actuate
the force pump until the water flows off at the top of the cylindrical
vessel perfectly clear. The coloring matters and the mordants required
for dyeing are introduced into the boiler at the commencement of the
operation, either at one time or not; in the latter case they are
introduced successively during the process of dyeing.
It will thus be seen that the coloring liquid is constantly rising,
since it first enters the bottom of the cylinder, but by adapting a second
pipe to the upper portion of the cylindrical vessel also communicating
with the boiler N, a second current of liquid may be introduced into
the cylinder at the top, and caused to flow downwards. This second
current may be employed in dyeing certain materials for the purpose of
imparting thereto a perfect equality of tint, but this system may be also
employed either alternatively with the rising current, or alone, accord-
ing to the color to be produced, and the nature of the material to be
operated upon.
The system or mode of dyeing herein-before described, although
extremely simple, differs from the ordinary process, by the employment
of a current of dye liquid, which passes through and saturates the
material to be dyed without disturbing it. By this means a great
economy of fuel and manual labor is effected. The process is more
successfully carried on, as the assistance of an attendant is almost
entirely dispensed with, and the tints are clearer and brighter. The
improved process is particularly applicable to the dyeing of yarns, which
are no longer deteriorated by being frayed or entangled as in the old

page_text: system, whereby a great waste of material occurs, as well as of time in
disentangling it for the winder and weaver.
Having now described-and particularly ascertained the nature of the
sail Invention, and the manner in which, the same is or inay be used
or carried into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not
confine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which
I have had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may be
made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features
of the said Invention. But what I consider to be novel and original, and
therefore claim-as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent, is,
First, the system or mode of dyeing any textile material, either before
or after spinning, or when woven into cloth, by the employment of a
current of coloring liquid traversing through and penetrating the
materials to be dyed, whether this current be produced by means of
a lift and force pump, by steam pressure; centrafugal force, or any
other power.
Second, the system or mode-of" washing and rinsing these same
materials, either by separate operations, or in conjunction with the
dyeing process herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.