IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANSING CLOTHS AND OTHER WOOLLEN .FABRICS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Théophile Moison, Chemist, of No. 13, Rue
Gaillon, Paris, in the Empire of France, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANSING CLOTHS AND OTHER WOOLLEN
.FABRICS."
Sealed the 16th September 1864, and dated the 21st March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Théophile
Moison at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st March 1864.
I, FRANÇOIS THEOPHILE MOISON, Chemist, of No. 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris,
in the Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CLEANSING CLOTHS AND OTHER WOOLLEN
FABRICS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has reference, first, to the separation from cloths and other
woollen goods of the greasy, fatty, or unctuous matters, and for this purpose I
cause such goods to enter a machine enclosed hermetically or nearly her-
metically in a case, and during their progress through such machine I
cause the cloths to dip successively into baths of volatile liquids, such
as petroleum spirit, light coal oil, or schist oil, benzine, chloroform, or
bisulphuret of carbon, capable of dissolving fatty or greasy matters, the cloth,
if necessary, passing through a pair of pressure rollers after each successive
bath, in order to expel therefrom the fatty matters dissolved by the said
volatile liquids; and in order subsequently to separate from the said woollen
goods the volatile liquid which may remain, I cause them to pass-over

page_text: cylinders heated by water, steam, or air, and if necessary, in order to increase
evaporating action, I make use of exhausting apparatus, such as a pump, a
suction fan, or their mechanical equivalents.
Second, to the separation from cloths and other woollen fabrics of gummy
or glutinous matters remaining in such goods after manufacturing, for which
purpose I cause them to pass through an apparatus or machine similar to the
one described, but which need not necessarily be under cover, and wherein I
substitute hot water for the volatile liquids above mentioned.
Third, in order that this first operation of cleansing may be carried on con-
tinuously with the same volatile oils, I receive the said oils charged with fatty
matters after the first part of the operation in a close vessel, where, by means
of steam, I evaporate the volatile oils, which I condense in a refrigerator,
whilst I draw off from the said close vessel the fatty matters in a liquid state,
and I also conduct the vapours of volatile oils produced in the second part of
the aforesaid operation, either in the same refrigerator or in a separate one,
where I also cause them to be condensed, and I receive the produce of these
two condensations in a close tank, which supplies the cleansing apparatus.
Fourth, as all the above-mentioned machines and apparatus are hermetically
closed or nearly so, and as at the onset they contain a certain amount of air,
which is liable to be increased or diminished in volume by the different
degrees of temperature existing in the said machinery or apparatus, I connect
with the said machines in a convenient position a receiver capable of pre-
senting an increased or diminished capacity, such, for instance, as a gaso-
meter, thereby avoiding either undue pressure or vacuum in any part of the
above-mentioned machines or apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said François Théophile Moison in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
THEOPHILE MOISON, Chemist, of No. 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, in the Empire of
France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said François Théophile Moison; Her special licence

page_text: that I, the said François Théophile Moison, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said François Théophile Moison,,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR CLEANSING CLOTHS AND OTHER WOOLLEN FABRICS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said François Théophile Moison; 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 François Theophile Moison, 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 (that is to say):-
These improvements are based on the special use of dissolving and volatile
liquids conjointly with novel machinery or apparatus, by the aid of which Ţ
separate greasy, fatty, or unctious matters from woollen threads, cloths, or
tissues, and subsequently from the said volatile liquids the fatty matters held
in solution; which operations are carried out continuously or intermittently, as
may be desired, without any material loss of the volatile liquids, or deteriorating
or fading the colour. For this purpose any description of volatile liquids can
be made use of providing it is easily volatilized, it dissolves fatty matters and
does not stain or injore the materials submitted to its action; the most
appropriate for this purpose are the liquid hydrocarbons, petroleum, coal,
boghead, and 'schist oils, benzines, chloroform, and bisulphuret of carbon, and
I prefer making use of the light and very volatile oils obtained by distillation
from the above-mentioned materials.
In order that my improvements may be better understood, I will proceed
to describe the same, with the aid of the six Figures on. the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings. :
The process of separating the fatty matters from the cloths is effected in a
rectangular case A, Fig. 1, closed on all sides, and in which a series of
rollers b, 6, 6, are arranged and provided with gearing in such manner as to,
transmit mutually rotary motion, imparted in the first place to either one of.

page_text: the series, by means of a shaft passing into a stuffing box placed in the side
of the said case. The tissues, threads, or slivers to be operated on are repre-
sented by the red line, and they travel in the direction of the arrow from one
roller to the other. On each alternate roller 6 is adapted a loose pressure
roller c covered with tissue or other appropriate material in order to give to
the same a certain amount of elasticity, and if requisite, in order to increase
or regulate the pressure, such rollers may be hung on levers with adjustable
weights. The bottom of this case A is divided into a series of compartments
d, d, d, equal in number to the pair of rollers b and c, and they are each
provided with a roller e, which is either partly or completely immersed in the
volatile liquid, and set so as to turn freely on its journals. The tissue or other
fibrous material to be operated on enters the case A by a mercurial joint f
which consists in a narrow reservoir charged with mercury, and in which is
immersed a roller hung on proper axes or a smooth rigid bar, under either of
which the cloth is drawn by the operation of the machinery contained. in the
case, the object of this arrangement being to prevent air entering the case or
gases issuing from the same; the cloth then passes between two cylindrical
rotating brushes g, g, which brush off any particles of mercury carried away
by the cloth and cause them to return to the reservoir, and from thence over
the first roller b and under the first bottom roller e, where it is impregnated
with the volatile and dissolving liquid contained in the first compartment d,
and it will be seen that after having passed over a second roller 6 it presents
itself between the first pair of cylinders b and c, where by the pressure of the
upper roller a certain amount of fatty matter is expelled with the volatile
liquid which has dissolved the same, and these two substances thus expelled
from the tissue fall into a trough h, from whence they are directed by the
pipe ¹ into a special apparatus described below. It will be seen that the cloth
continuing its progress through the machine is successively impregnated with
the dissolving and volatile liquid contained in the compartments d, d, and
that after each saturation the said liquids are driven out with the fatty
substances they have dissolved, thus on its arrival at the second case B all
the greasy matter contained in the cloth will have been expelled therefrom
during this progress of the cloth through the apparatus, and in this case from
left to right. It will be remarked that the volatile and dissolving liquid proceeds
through the said machine in an opposite direction, that is, from right to left,
the said liquid entering in its pure state into the first compartment d, that is,
the first compartment at the right hand, from whence it passes successively
through each of the other compartments increasing the quantity of fatty
matter it is charged with until it has reached the last compartment on the

page_text: left, from whence it makes its exit from the machine. The cloth thus cleansed
of fatty mater passes from the apparatus A to that at B, where it is cleansed
of the volatile liquid it may contain by means of heat derived either from
'steam or heated air, or from both of these means united. The cloth passes from
A to B through the opening i, and partly encircles the first or lower cylinder j,
which is beated internally by steam, and from thence it partly surrounds the
upper and similar steam cylinder j', on leaving which it is drawn out of the
machine through a second mercurial joint f' similar to the first one, and on its
passage from the cylinder j¹ to the joint f¹ it is acted on on both its faces by
a stream of heated air admitted through the distributors k and k¹; by means of
the heat imparted by these cylinders and these two streams of air. all the
volatile liquid remaining in the cloth is expelled therefrom in the shape of
rapour, which together with the air escape from the apparatus through the
pipe 1, to be treated as hereafter described. Cylindrical rotating brushes g and
9, similar to those already described, are placed at the exit of the apparatus B
to drive out of the cloth any mercury that may have been raised from
outlet mercurial reservoir f¹. In order to be able to make a repeated use of
the same volatile liquids, I have added to the machinery above described not
only a still D to separate by means of distillation the said volatile liquids from
the fatty matter, and a refrigerator E to condense the said liquids, but I have
also adopted means to collect the volatile liquid which escapes in the shape of
vapour from the apparatus B; for this purpose I make use of a second refri-
gerator F which condenses the said vapour, whilst the air thus purified is drawn
in afresh by a pump C to be re-employed as above stated. The volatile
liquids in their pure state are contained in a closed vessel G, from whence they
are extracted by a pump H, and conducted into the first compartment d, from
whence, as it has been above stated, they travel successively from one compart-
ment to the other until they arrive at the last compartment, holding in solution
the fatty matters dissolved from the cloth, on leaving which they pass through the
pipe h¹ into the still D; or the said reservoir G can be placed at an intermediate
level, that is to say, below the refrigerator E, but above the compartments d,
and in such case the volatile liquid will flow freely from the reservoir G into
the compartment d, and the pump H can be dispensed with. This apparatus D
is provided with a false bottom heated by steam let in through the cock m,
the heat thus engendered being sufficient to evaporate the said liquids, which
escape in the shape of vapour through the pipe n, and are condensed in the
refrigerator E, from whence they are conducted by the pipe o into the supply.
tank G; the fatty matters are subsequently discharged through the cock p,
and to facilitate this operation they can be rendered more liquid by a jet of

page_text: steam injected into the mass through the cock n¹. The vapours and atmo-
spheric air passing from the apparatus B by the pipe are conducted into a
second refrigerator F, where the condensation of the vapours is effected, and
the volatile liquid thus obtained passes with the air into the receiver G, the
upper part of which serves as a reservoir of air for the pump C, which
exhausting the same by the pipe 9 forces it through the pipes r, r, into the
apparatus B, and on its passage from the said pump to the said apparatus it
is heated to the required degree by steam contained in the jacket s; or by
other appropriate and analogous means; and in order to regulate the pressure
of the air thus employed, I make use of a reservoir connected with the
pipes r, r, at any convenient place. It will thus be seen that there is a
'constant circulation and utilisation of the same volatile liquids and the same
air necessary for cleansing cloths or other fibrous materials of the fatty matter
therein contained, with facility for discharging the said fatty matters without
interrupting the working of the machines. As these different machines are
naturally charged with a certain amount of air before starting, and as the
volume of the said air is subject to augment or diminish according to the
temperature existing in the apparatus, I make use of an extensible reservoir I
connected with the supply reservoir G by the pipe t, and which serves to
regulate at all times the pressure existing in the different apparatus; a common
metallic bell dipping into water and balanced like an ordinary gas holder
can also be employed for this purpose. In order to facilitate the inspection,
cleaning, and repairs of the apparatus A and B, I make the covers of the
cases containing the said machines moveable, and prevent leakage by lining
the upper part of the cases with a canal containing water into which the edges
of the said covers dip, and in such case the pipe is placed on the side of the
case B instead of on its top, as shewn in the Drawing. In order to empty
the volatile liquid and greasy matter contained in the compartments of the
apparatus A, I have adapted to the said apparatus a pipe t, one extremity of
which dips into the still D, whilst it is provided with small branch pipes
and cocks, one of which is jointed to each compartment, and for the purpose
of draining more completely the said compartments I set the bottom of the
case A with a slight inclination both longitudinally and laterally, taking care
to unite the drain pipe at the lowest corner of the said compartment.
If preferred I substitute for the apparatus B above described a second
apparatus, represented by Fig. 4, where the volatilization of the dissolving
liquids is effected by the passage of the cloth in a succession of hot-water baths,
maintained at the proper temperature by means of a steam coil or other
appropriate means. The steam and vapours resulting from this operation are

page_text: conducted through the pipe 1, Fig. 4, into the refrigerator F, from whence
the condensed water and volatile liquids fall into the supply reservoir G,
the water being drained off at intervals by means of a cock placed either
below or above according to the relative density of the volatile liquids made
use of. In order to increase the volatilization in this apparatus, if required, I.
make use of an exhaust pump to create a partial vacuum in the case, which I
provide with an hydraulic joint having the requisite depth for preventing air
entering from without. This arrangement of apparatus is represented by
Fig. 5. I would here remark that by the use of hot water, varying in tempe-
rature from 100° to 212° Fab., I also expel from the cloth all gummy or
glutinous materials, and when it is desired to extract these latter materials
only I make use of the apparatus, Fig. 4, and in such case the cover can be
dispensed. with: This arrangement can also be applied to the working of the
machinery B, in which case the parts k, k³, r, r, and s would be suppressed
and the action of the pump C reversed, that is to say, it would exhaust the.
case B through the pipe land deliver the products into F, G, and B, being in
communication by means of a pipe. To obviate the inconvenience of the
mercurial joint at the inlet and outlet of the cloth in the apparatus A and B,
I have imagined two other different arrangements, shewn in Figs. 2 and 3,.
the first of which consists in the use of a metallic syphon pipe bolted to the
under side of the case A, and provided at the junction of the two legs with a
light roller running on centres, and I charge the inlet syphon with volatile
liquid of the same nature as that used for cleansing the cloth, so that it acts
in the double capacity of an hydraulic joint and a material for cleansing, and
I provide the outer leg of such syphon with a loose cover to prevent the external
evaporation, and I charge the outlet syphon with water. In the second
arrangement of parts, Fig. 3, I suppress the use of liquids and form the joint
by means of a fixed table u covered with elastic material, such as cloth or
india-rubber, and a flexible lip u', on which is laid a sack of sand u², which by
its pressure on the lip u' insures the requisite contact for preventing any con-
siderable escape of gases, and, if requisite, I prevent all leakage, however
inconsiderable, by making a partial vacuum within the case by means of an
exhaust pump. The air drawn off by the above-mentioned pump would be
more or less charged with the vapours of the volatile liquid, which I collect
for further use by forcing the said air to pass through a special apparatus,
shewn at Fig. 6. This apparatus consists in a vertical metallic case, the
central part of which is charged with moss v or other appropriate spongy and
absorbing materials, which I saturate with a fixed mineral or vegetable oil.
The air is directed into this apparatus by the pipe a, from whence it rises

page_text: through the perforated bottom v into the moss, after traversing which it
escapes into the open air by the pipe a¹. divested of all kind of vapour, which
latter, united by condensation with the fixed oils, falls gradually with the
same into the lower division ³, from whence they escape together through the
syphon pipe y. I subsequently separate these two materials by passing them
through a heated pipe where the volatile liquid is evaporated and conducted
into the refrigerator E or F, and after condensation it falls into the supply
reservoir G, Fig. 1, whilst the fixed oils, after having also been passed into an
appropriate refrigerator are stored in a separate receiver, from whence, as may
be required, they are drawn off by a pump and poured through the syphon
pipe on the perforated top v³.
Having now described my different improvements, and the best means I
am acquainted with for making practical use of the same, I claim,-
Firstly, the three different modes or joints described for passing the cloth in
or out of the apparatus.
Secondly, the construction and working of parts contained within the cases
A and B, for the purposes above described.
Thirdly, the combination and working of the different parts A, B, C, D, E,
F, G, H, and I, Fig. 1.
Fourtbly, the construction and application of the apparatus, Figs. 4 and 5.
And, fiftbly, the construction and use of the apparatus, Fig. 6.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Théophile Moison, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
D. H. BRANDON.
F. T. MOISON. (L.B.)