IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE DYEING OF WOOLLEN AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Adolphus Durrieu, of 33, Soho Square,
London, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE DYEING OF WOOLLEN AND OTHER FABRICS."-A communica-
tion from abroad by Louis Gouchon, residing at Lisieux, in the Empire
of France.
Sealed the 16th September 1864, and dated the 18th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Adolphus Darrieu
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th March 1864.
I, LOUIS ADOLPHUS DURRIEU, of 88, Soho Square, London, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE DYEING OF WOOLLEN AND OTHER FABRICS," a communication
to me from abroad by Louis Gouchon, resident in Lisieux, in the Empire of
France, to be as follows:-
The boilers used in this country are generally made of iron or copper, and
heated by a fire placed under them, and when jacketed or double they are
heated by steam; upon the upper part of such boiler is placed a drum or
roller, by which the cloth or fabric is rolled or brought backwards and for-

page_text: wards whilst being subjected to the dyeing process, and men are employed to
spread out the cloth or fabric with staves or poles, so that it shall be well and
evenly dyed.. This system is defective and clumsey in manipulation, as the
staves or poles frequently causes holes and in many instances blemishes in the
cloth or fabric by unequal pressure, the cloth is also frequently injured by
coming into contact with the hot sides of the dye boiler or vat. In im-
my
provement for remedying these defects I use a wood dye vat or bath, and
place a cylinder or drum at the forward part of it for the purpose of moving
the cloth in the dye, and in order to produce regular dyeing of the cloth or
fabric I have added another cylinder or roller, which I call the folding cylinder,
over which the cloth or fabric intended to be dyed passes, which roller has a
motion backwards and forwards by means of a to-and-fro or eccentric motion,
whilst it receives a second motion by a strap on itself, causing it to rotate at
the same time, which arrangement assists the cloth or fabric in passing over
and being kept stretched. On the extremity of the axle of the cylinder or
drum is attached a spur wheel and a driving pulley, by which motion is given to
the machine; this spur wheel works into another wheel, which is placed on a
pin attached to the side of the vat, and this wheel works into another wheel
which gives the motion to the to-and-fro folding roller. I place a roller across
and in the front of the machine, which roller has two threads or worms upon
it, one right-handed and the other left-handed, these threads meet in the
middle of the roller; the use of this is to open and spread out the cloth as it
passes over it, in the same manner and upon the same principle as a similar
but much smaller roller acts when used to stretch the cloth as it leaves the
lay of the room in weaving to ensure a good selvage; by means of this roller
the cloth or fabric to be dyed is spread out evenly while passing through the
dyeing liquid. A jet of steam is supplied by a pipe which enters a partial
double bottom, the upper bottom is pierced with rows of holes not quite hori-
zontal, but having an oblique direction of about 180 degrees; the steam
passing from these holes strikes the cloth or fabric about the middle of the
fold, the oblique direction of the steam jets assists in pushing, the cloth forward,
and prevents its rolling or twisting, the steam forces the dye equally upon all
parts of the cloth or fabric, and also serves to keep the dyeing liquid at the
desired temperature. By the means above described I ain enabled to dye much
more evenly, with less labour and cost, and without risk of injuring the cloth
of fabric, than by the methods at present in use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Adolphus Durrieu in the Great Seal Patent. Office
on the 16th September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Louis
ADOLPHUS DURRIEU, of 38, Soho Square, London, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth 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 Louis Adolphus Durrieu, Her special licence that I, the said Louis
Adolphus Durrieu, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Louis Adolphus Durrieu, 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 THE DYEING OF WOOLLEN AND OTHER FABRICS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Adolphus Durrieu, 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 Louis Adolphus Durrieu, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings:..
My Invention consists in improvements in the dyeing of woollen and other
fabrics. These improvements are in the machine I use for such purpose.
Fig. 1 is a side view, a portion of the side is removed to shew the interior
at the lower part of the dye vat; Fig. 2, an end view; and Fig. 8, a plan view
ooking down on the top of the machine. The same letters or figures are placed
on the same parts in the different views, and all the parts which I prefer to be
n metal are coloured blue, and those parts in outline I prefer to be of wood as
ess likely to affect the colour of the dye used. As the same letters always

page_text: refer to the same parts in each Figure, I shall not refer specially to either
Fig. 1, 2, or 3, without it is necessary to do so.
a represents the dye vat; b, bridges across the vat to carry some of the
geering as well as to strengthen the open vat; c, a steam pipe which passes
down to the bottom of the vat on the one side and up on the other, having a
pipe d, the open end of which is attached to a boiler for the admission of steam
into it; the bottom of this pipe c. passes underneath the bottom of the vat at 6
into a recess g made for its reception, and it is pierced with holes along its
cross length to allow an out passage for the steam into the vat; there is a
wood cover which is placed over the pipe c as it passes from one side to the
other, which wood covering is pierced also with holes to admit the steam into
the vat; the holes in this wood covering are pierced at an angle, so that the
steam may assist in moving the cloth in the way required; i is the bottom of
the dye vat, and .j are cross supports for it; k is the fast and loose pulley
upon which the driving band works (better seen in Figures 2 and 3); i* is the
shaft upon which these pulleys are placed, which also carries the wood drum l,
which shaft is supported by the bearings m, m; and n is a spur wheel which
is also fixed on the shaft i*; this spur wheel works into another, o, the shaft of
which is Pi the wood roller q is best seen in Figure 2, this wood roller has cut
upon its surface a right and left handed screw to spread or stretch the cloth
evenly before it goes over the drum 7; the spur wheel o gears into the spur
wheel r which is keyed on to the shaft s; on this shaft & is also geered or fixed
two drums or pulleys t and t*; attached to these two drums or pulleys by
pins u are two rods w, w, which give a to-and-fro motion to the wood roller x
over which the cloth comes from the drum 1; this roller has also an
independant motion given to it in the direction of the arrow which prevents
the cloth from falling into a ruck between itself and the drum. This
motion is accomplished in the following manner:-The drum 1 is V-grooved
to carry firmly a round endless band y which passes over it and takes a double
turn over the pulley z, which pulley is attached and turns on the spindle or
stud 2 which carries the roller a, it then passes over the pulley 3 which runs
on the stud 4.
Having described the various parts of the machine its action is as follows:-
Any length of cloth suitable to the size of the vat may be sewn or attached
together in one length and placed in the dye vat, one end to come up before
the right and left handed screw roller 9 and the other end of the cloth over the
farther side of the roller x, and these ends may be then attached together so
as to form an endless band of cloth. The vat has the dye liquor put into it and
motion is then given to the machine by the strap from any suitable power; the

page_text: strap being placed over the driving pulley k in the usual way, the drum
draws the cloth over it, and the to-and-fro roller a lays it regularly in the dye
vat; the steam is put on, which passes down the tube c, c, and it finds at
the perforated part at the bottom of the tube an exit and passes into the
receptacle g and out of the perforated holes in the wood bottom h. The steam
so passing heats the liquor dye to the proper temperature and assists to push the
cloth in the direction required; the cloth then passes over the front part of the
roller 9. and should it be rucked or puckered the right and left handed screw
will stretch it flat to pass evenly over the drum and over the roller & into the
dye liquor. This operation is continued untill the cloth has obtained the color
desired. The cloth by this method is more evenly dyed and is not subject
to be damaged by being thrust into the dye vat by poles or sticks. I claim
as my Invention the machinery as described and colored blue, and the
spreading roller x, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Adolphus Durrieu, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
· LOUIS ADOLPHUS DURRIEU. (L.S.)