IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING, DYEING, WASHING, SCOURING, AND SOAPING COTTON, FLAX, SILK, AND WOOL, IN THE UNSPUN CONDITION, AFTER SPINNING, AND IN THE WOVEN FABRIC."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Mather, of the Firm of Messieurs Mather and
Platt, of the Salford Iron Works, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
BLEACHING, DYEING, WASHING, SCOURING, AND SOAPING COTTON, FLAX,
SILK, AND WOOL, IN THE UNSPUN CONDITION, AFTER SPINNING, AND IN
THE WOVEN FABRIC."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Mather at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th May 1881.
WILLIAM MATHER, of the Firm of Messieurs Mather and Platt, of the Salford
Iron Works, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING, DYEING, WASHING, SCOURING, AND SOAPING
COTTON, FLAX, SILK, AND WOOL, IN THE UNSPUN CONDITION, AFTER SPINNING,
AND IN THE WOVEN FABRIC."
This Invention has for its object the treatment of cotton, flax, silk, and wool in
the combed or carded condition, also as yarn and woven into fabrics, by winding
or batching the material to be treated into a roll and then subjecting it to the
various processes of bleaching, dyeing, washing, scouring, and soaping.
To carry out my Invention I use a cylinder of any diameter with a hinged lid
or cover, which may be screwed down to render it tight under any required
pressure.
In the centre of the cylinder is a pipe perforated along its length with small
holes. The pipe is movable and upon it is wound or batched the material to be
treated. The lower end of the pipe is made perfectly true to fit upon a valve
seating. The upper end of the pipe is made up tight. Immediately below the
valve seating, which is fixed to the cylinder, is a plate, and below the plate is a
cavity or reservoir. To the reservoir is connected a pipe leading to the suction side
lh ...סז

page_text: of a pump or injector, and from the pump or injector on the delivery side a pipe is
carried to the top end of the cylinder. The liquor used is forced into the cylinder
by the pump or injector at the upper end and made to pass through the material
wound upon the perforated pipe, so that it passes from the circumference to the
interior of the upright pipe through the holes in the surface of the pipe. The
liquid then passes into the reservoir or cavity below the plate and is again pumped
round to the top side of the cylinder continuously until the operation is completed.
The cover of the cylinder is then removed and the perforated pipe taken out for
the material to be stripped off and another lot wound on.
The temperature of liquor is kept up by the admission of the required quantity
of steam or by a steam coil in the reservoir.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Mather in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th November
1881.
WILLIAM MATHER, of the Firm of Messieurs Mather and Platt, of the Salford
Iron Works, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR BLEACHING, DYEING, WASHING, SCOURING, AND SOAPING
COTTON, FLAX, SILK, AND WOOL, IN THE UNSPUN CONDITION, AFTER SPINNING,
AND IN THE WOVEN FABRIC."
This Invention has for its object the treatment of cotton, flax, silk, and wool
in the combed or carded condition, also as yarn and woven into fabrics, by
winding or batching the material to be treated into a roll and then subjecting it
to the various processes of bleaching, dyeing, washing, scouring, and soaping.
To carry out my Invention I use a cylinder of any diameter with a hinged lid
or cover, which may be screwed down to render it tight under any required
pressure.
In the centre of the cylinder is a pipe perforated along its length with small
holes. The pipe is movable, and upon it is wound or batched the material to be
treated. The lower end of the pipe is made preferably true to fit upon a valve
seating; the upper end of the pipe is made up tight. Immediately below the
valve seating, which is fixed to the cylinder, is a plate, and below this plate is a
cavity or reservoir. To the reservoir is connected a pipe leading to the suction
side of a pump or injector, or both, and from the pump or injector on the delivery
side a pipe is carried to the top end of the cylinder. The liquor used is forced
into the cylinder by the pump or injector, or by both pump and injector, at the
upper end, and made to pass through the material wound upon the perforated pipe,
so that the liquor passes from the circumference to the interior of the upright pipe
through the holes in the surface of the pipe. The liquid then passes into the
reservoir or cavity below the plate and is again pumped round to the top of
the cylinder continuously until the operation is completed. The cover of the
cylinder is then removed and the perforated pipe taken out for the material to be
stripped off and another lot wound on.
The temperature of liquor is kept up by the admission of the required quantity
of steam or by a steam coil in the reservoir.
And in order that any Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will describe the accompanying Drawing, reference being had to the
figures and letters marked thereon.
The Drawing shows a sectional elevation of my improved apparatus.
a is the perforated pipe, the upper end of which is closed with a plug piece b;
in the lower end is fitted the perforated plug piece c, and at each end is an axle d,
which must be mounted on suitable bearings when the fibre or fabric e is to be
wound on the pipe before it is placed in the vessel or kier; f, f, are flanges to keep
the fibre or fabric in its place and to prevent liquor entering at the ends of the
batch or roll; g is the cylindrical vessel or kier; h is the hinged cover, and i is an
annular piece of india-rubber or other packing, which fits in recesses extending
round the rims of the vessel and cover to make a steam tight joint; in the centre
of the cover is a boss recessed to receive an axle d; k is the plate, which closes the
lower end of the vessel g, and in the centre of this plate is a hollow boss 7, the
upper edge of which forms a seating that fits the lower surface of the plug piece c,
which is turned true to ensure a tight joint; the plate is part of a short cylinder,
which with the bottom plate m forms the reservoir below the vessel g; n is a pipe
which connects the reservoir to the suction side of a pump or injector, or to both
pump and injector; o is a pipe, through which the liquor is forced into the top of

page_text: the vessel from the delivery side of the pump or injector; p is the pipe through
which liquor is supplied to the vessel g; and q is the blow-off tap through which
the liquor is discharged; r is the working stage.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The perforated pipe a is mounted in
suitable bearings placed as near as is convenient to the vessel g, and it is caused to
rotate by a strap and pulley or otherwise; the fibre or fabric is wound on to the
pipe until it fills the space between the flanges ff; the pipe is then raised by
blocks and ropes, or other hoisting gear, and is lowered into the vessel g, so that
the perforated plug piece c rests on the hollow boss l; the cover his then secured
in its place and the liquor to be used for bleaching or otherwise treating the fibre
or fabric is admitted into the vessel through the pipe p; the action of the pump or
injector, or both pump and injector, connected to the pipes g and o, draws the
liquor from the outer circumference to the inner circumference of the roll of fabric
or fibre into the pipe a through the perforations in the plug piece c into the
reservoir, the vacuum caused in the reservoir and in the interior of the pipe a by
the suction side of the pump or injector and the pressure caused in the vessel g by
the delivery side of the pump or injector keep up a thorough and constant
circulation of the liquor through the fibre or fabric until the whole of it is
sufficiently saturated and the operation is completed. The liquor may then be
discharged through the tap q, the cover is removed from the vessel g, and the
pipe a with the fabric removed.
By the use of my Invention a large quantity of fabric or fibre may be quickly
and efficiently treated, and by forming it into a roll and performing the operation
of bleaching, dyeing, washing, scouring, or soaping, without disturbing a fibre or
thread, the fibre or fabric may be subsequently wound off the perforated pipe in its
original even state.
Having stated the nature of my Invention and described the manner of per-
forming the same,
I declare that I claim,-
The improved apparatus for bleaching, dyeing, washing, scouring, and soaping
fibre in the unspun condition, after spinning, and in the woven fabric, substantially
as shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Mather, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty fourth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and eighty one.
WILLIAM MАTHЕR. (L.S.)