IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING, SCOURING, CLEANING, PREPARING, DYEING, OR FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS, YARNS, OR THREADS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Dugdale Kay, of Accrington, in the County
of Lancaster, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING, SCOURING, CLEANING, PREPARING,
DYEING, OR FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS, YARNS, OR THREADS."-A com-
munication.
Sealed the 10th February 1857, and dated the 13th August 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Dugdale Kay at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th August 1856.
I, RICHARD DUGDALE KAY, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING, SCOURING, CLEANING,
PREPARING, DYEING, OR FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS, YARNS, OR THREADS," as
communicated to me from abroad, to be as follows:-
The said Invention consists, firstly, of an improved arrangement or con-
struction of machinery or apparatus for washing, scouring, and cleansing
woven fabrics between the differont operations of printing, dyeing, or bleaching,
or in other cases when washing, scouring, &c. is necessary. This part of the
said improvements, though applicable to all kinds of fabrics, is particularly
useful for delicate textures, and consists of a combination of three, well-knows

page_text: systems, and although extensively used separately, have not been heretofore
applied in combination; the said systems being respectively known by the
technical terms of "clapping or beating," "methodical washing," and "accu-
mulation or advance." The method of combining the said systems is as
follows:-
For clapping or beating, a box or trough is formed into a number of
compartments, and over it one or two clappers of the customary kind are
fixed on strong shafts in the usual way, motion being given to it or them by
bevilled wheels or similar contrivance, so as to move both of them when two
are used in the same direction, their faces being kept parallel with each other.
For methodical washing, the box or trough may be either placed in a stream
of water, or be supplied from a cistern, the water or liquid being in either case
introduced at that end at which the piece goes out, and escapes or runs out at
the end at which the piece-enters.
For accumulation_or_advance, the cloth or material enters first between
two solid or skeleton-formed rollers, and 'is drawn, into. one compartment
of the box, when a certain length or portion of it: is allowed to accumulate
in folds. The said rollers must run in the same direction, and. may be either
in contact or separate. From the first compartment of the box or trough,
the cloth or material passes over the clapper nearest to the water, and
from thence over a bar furnished with pegs, eyes, or rollers, which keep
it separate or divided during its passage to the upper clapper; it then
comes again in contact with the rollers as before, which draw it into another
compartment, where it again accumulates or makes an advance as in the first
compartment, and so passes on from one compartment to another, coming in
repeated contact with the rollers or clappers until it is sufficiently washed or
cleansed. There is also a gutter or open trough to receive and carry away the
dirty water or impurities pressed out of the material during its passage against
the pegs, eyes, or rollers, which would otherwise fall down into the box or com-
partment below; or, instead of the aforesaid two rollers to draw the pieces,
two or more instruments of a similar form to the clappers may be used in any
suitable relative position. The revolving square instruments may be dispensed
with by having the bar with pegs or eyes made to rise and fall by means of
an eccentric wheel or shaft above, working a rod affixed to it. The upper
revolving square instrument in this case is replaced by a roller or two rollers,
the upper one pressing on the lower one, and as a substitute for the lower
revolving instrument a board or table is placed at such an angle that the
piece, in its passage from the water, being raised by the bar above, is dashed
upon this board as the bar descends.

page_text: Another arrangement or modification of machinery or apparatus for com-
bining the three systems aforesaid consists of having one or more cisterns
or troughs with a vertical tube or channel suspended over each, with a
stream of water running down them. The cloth or material is drawn by
rollers into one of these cisterns, and a certain length of it is then allowed.
to accumulate in folds or plaits, from whence it is drawn up by rollers
through the tube or channel above, and then descends into a corresponding
cistern, and so on, consecutively, through as many cisterns and tubes as
are considered requisite. The tubes have given to them by mechanical
contrivance a kind of rectilinear or circular reciprocating motion, which
powerfully agitates the cloth in connexion with the water inside the tubes.
The cisterns are so arranged, that the water or liquid shall flow from that
through which the piece last passes into the one preceding, running out at that.
into which the picce first enters. The water or liquid is conveyed to the top
of each tube by means of a horizontal or cross pipe or pipes, with holes or
apertures of any convenient size opposite to or just over the mouth of each
tube, the supply of water being regulated by a cock or tap in the said cross
pipes. The lower end of each of the vertical tubes, namely, those ends
nearest the water in the cistern, is formed of glass, metal, caoutchouc, or other
suitable metal or material, for the purpose of diminishing the friction, and
preventing any fraying or teasing of the cloth, which might arise from the
unequal wearing of substances less durable than those named. There is also
in this arrangement a small gutter or passage to convey away the dirty water
or impurities forced out of the material by the said rollers, and the ordinary con-
trivance for folding or plaiting up the material as it comes from the machine.
Secondly, in the arrangement and construction of machinery or apparatus
for washing, scouring, preparing, or dyeing yarns or threads, in which a
hook is used to support the skein of yarn or thread, the said hook being
fixed to the end of a lever, having a rectilinear or circular alternate motion,
easily varied or suspended at the will of the workman, either by the direct
Under the said hook
application of the hand or by mechanical means.
is a reservoir, supplied with water or other liquor at a point opposite to the
skeins by floats, tubes, taps, or any suitable arrangement, so as to be regulated
at pleasure, and let out by similar means at the bottom of the side opposite to
that at which it enters; or, if desirable, the same water or liquor may be
retained the whole time, and in either case the water or liquor may be used
either hot or cold. It is quite evident, that any number of these hooks may
be used, and they may be made of wood, caoutchouc, iron, glass, or any
suitable metal or material. The levers are attached to shafts, which support

page_text: cams worked by eccentric wheels fixed on the driving shaft; to each of the
levers is attached a spring, so that when the workman, who stands on the
opposite side to the springs, draws the hook towards him in order to put on
another skein, or to change the position of that which is at work, the alternate
or backward and forward motion will be instantly suspended, and recommenced
as soon as the hook is released.
• Another arrangement or modification of machinery or apparatus for the
said objects consists of using or employing only one eccentric wheel for a
number of levers instead of one to each lever, the said eccentric wheel by
means of an arm working the only shaft that supports all the levers. The said
arm being attached to that shaft will have the necessary alternate motion,
which shaft bearing on the side of each of the levers which support a hook,
two cams working two pins or flanges fixed on the said two levers, one above
the other and beneath the shaft. In this manner the shaft will work the levers
during its alternate motion by means of the cams through the action of the
pins. By this arrangement, the stopping of the levers when the workman
draws them towards him, will be effected almost as conveniently as by the
method already described.
Another arrangement or modification of the same consists of causing the
eccentric wheels to act either directly on the levers or to act by means of
rods; or a steam cylinder might be used, by attaching to the end of the piston
a traverse motion to work the levers which support the hooks, or the levers
may be dispensed with by fixing the hooks on a wheel or pulley put into
motion by a crank or similar means; but it is evident the same principle may
be varied or modified to any extent.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Dugdale Kay in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
DUODALE KAY, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, 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-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Dugdale Kay, Her special licence that I, the said Richard

page_text: Dugdale Kay, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Dugdale Kay, 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 OR APPARATUS FOR WASHING,
SCOURING, CLEANING, PREPARING, DYEING, OR FINISHING WOVEN FABRICS, YARNS,
OR THREADS," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Richard Dugdale Kay, 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 Richard Dugdale Kay, 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, that is to say:-
The nature of the said Invention relates, firstly, to an improved arrangement
of machinery or apparatus for washing, scouring, and cleansing woven fabrics
between the different operations of printing, dyeing, or bleaching, or in other
cases where washing, scouring, and cleansing are necessary; which arrange-
ment, though applicable to all kinds of fabrics, is particularly useful for
delicate textures, and consists of a combination of three well-known systems,
which, although extensively used separately, have not been hitherto applied in
combination; the said systems being respectively known by the technical
terms of "clapping or beating," methodical washing," and "accum Alation or
advance;" and, secondly, to the arrangement and construction of machinery
or apparatus for washing, scouring, preparing or dyeing yarns or threads.
บ
These improvements will be clearly understood by reference to the accom-
panying three Sheets of Drawings, with the figures and letters of reference
thereon, the said letters referring to each Figure separately.
Fig. 1 is a transverse, and Fig. 2 a longitudinal section, of the improved
machine or apparatus for washing, scouring, and cleansing woven fabrics; and
Fig. 3, a transverse section of a modification of the same; Fig. 4 is a
longitudinal elevation, with part in section of another of the said improved.
arrangements for producing the aforesaid results; Fig. 5 is a plan of the.

page_text: same; and Fig. 6 is a transverse elevation of a similar machine adapted for
two or more pieces of cloth or material; Fig. 7 is a transverse, and Fig. 8 a
longitudinal elevation, of the improved machine or apparatus for washing,
scouring, preparing, or dying yarns or threads; and Figs. 9 & 10 are detached
views of a modification of some of the parts. One of the methods of com-
bining the system of "clapping or beating," "methodical washing," and
"accumulation or advance" is shewn in Figs. 1 & 2. a represents a box or
trough formed into the compartments b, and over it are the two clappers c & d,
of the ordinary kind, fixed on the strong shafts e in the usual way, motion
being given to them for clapping by the bevilled wheels f, so as to move both
of them in the same direction, their faces being kept parallel with each other.
For "methodical washing," the box or trough a may be either placed in a
stream of water or be supplied from a cistern, the water or liquid being in
either case introduced at that end at which the peice goes out, and escapes or
runs out at the end at which the peice enters.
-For-" accumulation-or- advance," the cloth or material g enters first between
two solid or skeleton-formed rollers h & i, and is drawn into one of the
compartments 6 of the box or trough, where a certain length or portion of it is
allowed to accumulate in folds. The said rollers h & i must run in the sanie
direction, and may either be in contact or separate. From the first com-
partment of the box or trough a, the cloth or material passes over the clapper c
nearest to the water, and from thence over a bar k, furnished with pegs l, which
keep it separate or divided during its passage to the upper clapper d, it then
comes again in contact with the rollers h & i, as before, which draw it into
another compartment, when it again accumulates or makes an advance, as in
the first compartment, and so passes from one compartment to another, coming
in repeated contact with the rollers and clappers, until it is sufficiently washed
or cleansed. There is also a guttor or open trough to receive and carry away
the dirty water or impurities pressed out of the material during its passage
against the pegs, which would otherwise fall down into the compartments below.
In Fig. 3, shewing a modification of the aforesaid arrangement, the drawing
roller a is placed at the upper part of the machine, the cloth or material b
passing from thence to the compartment c and the clappers d & e. For
"accumulation or advance," there is a series of compartments through which
the material is made to pass, as in the former example. Instead of pegs for
keeping the cloth separate, eyes or rollers may be used, and also instead of
bevilled wheels, any well-known method of communicating motion may be
employed; or, instead of the aforesaid two drawing rollers, two or more in-
struments of a similar form to the clappers may be used in any suitable relative

page_text: position. The revolving square instruments may be dispensed with by having
the bar with pegs, eyes, or rollers made to rise and fall by means of an
The upper
eccentric wheel or shaft above working a rod affixed to it.
revolving square instrument or clapper is replaced by two rollers, the upper
pressing on the lower; and as a substitute for the lower clapper, a board or
table is placed at such an angle, that the peice, in its passage from the water
being raised by the bar above, is dashed upon this board as the bar descends.
Figs. 4 and 5 represent another arrangement or modification of machinery or
apparatus for combining the three systems aforesaid, which consists of having
one or more cisterns or troughs a, b, c, with vertical tubes or channels d, e, f,
suspended over them, a stream of water running down each. The cloth or
material g is drawn forward by the rollers h to one of the cisterns a, and a
certain length of it is then allowed to accumulate in folds or plaits, from"
whence it is drawn by other rollers i through the tube or channel d, and then
descends into the cistern b, it is then drawn forward by the rollers k through
the tube e, and then descends into its corresponding cistern c, and so on
consecutively through as many cisterns and tubes as are considered requisite.
The tubes have given to them by means of the gearing and eccentric ma
kind of rectilinear or circular reciprocating motion, which powerfully agitates
the cloth in connection with the water inside the said tubes. The cisterns
are so arranged that the water or liquid shall flow from that through which
the peice last passes into the one preceding, running out at that into which
the peice first enters. The water or liquid is conveyed to the top of
each tube by means of a horizontal or cross pipe or pipes, with holes or
apertures of any convenient size, opposite to or just over the mouth of each
tube, the supply of water being regulated by a cock or tap in the said cross
pipes. The lower end of each of the vertical tubes, namely, those ends nearest
the watar in the cistern, is formed of glass, metal, caoutchouc, or other suitable
material, for the purpose of diminishing the friction, and preventing any fraying
or teazing of the cloth, which might arise from the unequal wearing of sub-
stances less durable than those named. There is also in this arrangement a small
gutter or passage to convey away the dirty water or impurities forced out of
the material by the said rollers, and the ordinary contrivance for folding or
plaiting up the material as it comes from the machine.
In Fig. 6, two or more peices of cloth or material can be cleansed.
In Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10, representing the arrangement and construction of
machinery or apparatus for washing, scouring, preparing, or dyeing yarns or.
threads, a hook or pulley n is used to support the bank or skein of yarn or
thread, the said hook or pulley being fixed to the end of a lever o, having a

page_text: retilinear or circular alternate motion, easily varied or suspended at the will of
the workman, either by the direct application of the hand or by mechanical
means. Under the said hook or pulley is a reservoir supplied with water or
other liquor at a point opposite to the hanks or skeins by floats, tubes, taps, or
any suitable arrangement, so as to be regulated at pleasure, and let out by
similar means at the bottom of the side opposite to that at which it enters; or,
if desirable, the same water or liquor may be retained the whole time, and in
either case the water or liquor may be used either hot, cold, or at any suitable
temperature. It is quite evident that any number of these hooks or pullies
may be used, and they may be made of wood, caoutchouc, iron, glass, or any
suitable metal or material. The levers are attached to the shaft p, which
support the cams q, worked by the eccentric wheels r, fixed on the driving
shaft 8. To each of the levers is attached a spring t, so that when the
workman, who stands on the opposite side to the springs, draws the hook or
pulley towards him in order to put on another hank or skein, or to change the
position of that which is at work, the alternate or backward and forward.
motion will be instantly suspended, and recommenced as soon as the hook or,
pulley is released.
Another arrangement or modification of machinery or apparatus for the said
objects consists of using or employing only one eccentric wheel for a number
of levers instead of one to each lever, the said eccentric wheel by means of an
arm working the only shaft that supports all the levers. The said arm being
attached to that shaft will have the necessary alternate motion, the said shaft:
bearing on the side of each of the levers which support a hook, two cams
working two pins or flanges fixed on the said two levers, one above the other
and beneath the shaft. In this manner the shaft will work the levers during
its alternate motion by means of the cams through the action of the pins.
By this arrangement, the stopping of the levers when the workman draws.
them towards him, will be effected almost as conveniently as by the method
already described.
Another arrangement or modification of the same consists of causing the
eccentric wheels to act either directly on the levers, or to act by means of
rods; or a steam cylinder might be used, by attaching to the end of the
piston a transverse motion to work the levers which support the hooks, or
the levers may be dispensed with by fixing the hooks on a wheel or pulley
put into motion by a crank, or similar means; but is is evident the same
principle may be varied or modified to any extent.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of the said Invention,
and the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, as communicated to

page_text: me from abroad, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine
myself to the exact details herein set forth; but I claim the arrangement
and construction of machinery or apparatus for washing, scouring, cleansing,
preparing, dyeing, or finishing woven fabrics, yarns or threads as herein
described, and illustrated in the accompanying three Sheets of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Dugdale Kay, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
RICHARD DUGDALE KAY. (L.8.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-named
Richard Dugdale Kay, in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.