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abroad, on whose behalf the patent, in this country, is obtained, consists of an apparatus, by means of which the processes of scouring, washing, and dyeing wool, cotton, and other fibrous substances, may be carried on, as it is stated, in a better and more effectual manner, and with a more satisfactory result, than by the methods usually employed.

The apparatus consists of a close vessel, suited for containing the substances to be washed, bleached, or dyed; contiguous to which is to be placed a vessel, containing the alkaline liquor and water for washing, or the dyeing liquor.

In Plate VIII., fig. 1, represents a vertical section of the improved apparatus. a, a, is a cylindrical vessel, made of iron or wood, or other suitable material, constructed strong enough to bear a pressure of from one to two atmospheres, and coated on the inside with some material not liable to oxidation, and incapable of giving out color or damaging the goods whilst under operation; b, is a false bottom, placed in the lower part of the vessel, and perforated with holes for the passage of the liquor; c, is a cover, closing the aperture, or man-hole, in the top of the vessel, which is furnished with two loops. Into these loops, wedges d, d, are driven, which, at their extremities bear on the upper part of the vessel a, and thereby hold up and make fast the lid or cover c, in contact with the top of the vessel. A tube e, is placed vertically in the middle of the vessel, resting upon the false bottom; it is open at bottom and closed at top, and is pierced with holes all round, for a considerable distance down, in order to allow the liquid to escape, in radial directions, into the goods packed in the vessel round it. A pipe f, supplies the liquid to the vessel a, by a forcepump g, which raises it from the reservoir h, and forces it into the lower part of the vessel a. The liquor in the reservoir may be heated to any given temperature, in any convenient manner, if required; or the reservoir may be an open boiler. A cock i, is inserted into the upper part of the vessel, in order that the liquid may be discharged, after having passed through the goods under operation. A flexible pipe j, is to be attached to the cock, for the purpose of returning the liquid into the reservoir, after it has circulated through the apparatus. In the bottom of the

vessel a, there is a pipe l, provided with a cock, for emptying the vessel, after the operation is done. The wool or other substance, on which the cleaning operation is to be performed, must be tightly packed in the vessel a, as at m, m, and the pump g, being set to work, the liquor will be forced through.

In some cases, it is more advantageous to employ a closed vessel, as at fig. 2, which represents a vertical section of the vessel a, having a perforated piston p, attached to a crosshead q, working within it by means of a screw r. It may be also found, in some cases, that the central pipe presents too easy a passage to the liquid, which then does not act properly on the substances under operation. This apparatus is therefore modified accordingly. By turning the screw r, the cross-head and the piston are forced down upon the substances to be operated upon, which compresses them. Fig. 3, is a top view of the cross-head.

The other parts of the apparatus are similar to those already described; viz., f, is the supply-pipe, for introducing the alkaline or other liquid into the vessel a ;—g, is a double-action pump, similar to the one above described. The reservoir, containing the liquid to be employed, and which has not been represented in the drawing, is similar to that shewn at fig. 1. i, is the exit-pipe, for the escape of the liquid, after it has passed through the perforated piston p, to which a leather tube may be adapted, if necessary, in order to conduct the liquid into the reservoir, or direct it into any other vessel. The screw r, is of a sufficient length to give a suitable pressure to the goods placed in the vessels employed, and may be turned by any convenient means.

In order to scour wool, packed in the vessel a, as described, in reference to fig. 2, an alkaline solution, or any other solution, generally used for that purpose, is poured into the vat. The pump g, draws up this liquor, and forces it into the lower part of the vessel a, through the supply-pipe f. The liquor rises through the false bottom, ascends into the vessel a, and passes through the substances contained therein, and through the perforated piston, and

ultimately escapes by the exit-pipe or cock i. The same liquid may be brought back by a pipe or tube into the vat, from whence it is again drawn, by means of the pump, and thus a continuous circulation of the liquor is produced, and constantly driven upwards through the fibres of the material to be operated upon. The same process and the same apparatus is employed for the bleaching of cotton yarns, fabrics, or other fibrous materials, the solution employed being varied according to the substances operated upon. An artificial current is, by these means, directed upwards, which constantly washes the fibres of the wool or other material, and carries away the greasy and coloring matter it has extracted, which, being constantly driven upwards, cannot enter the material again, as hitherto has been the case in the old mode of washing; the material, thus operated upon, is rapidly and most completely washed.

In the dyeing of wool, which has been previously scoured and washed, the same apparatus is used, only instead of an alkaline solution, a coloring bath, of the required strength, must be employed. This bath is to be heated in any convenient manner, either by steam or the naked fire. When the wool has been washed, as described, it is to be placed in the apparatus, fig. 2, and the screw r, turned, so as to press the piston tightly down upon the material; when, by means of the pump, the coloring solution is made to pass again and again through the wool under operation, until it has become completely saturated with the coloring matter. The discharging-pipe may then be opened, and the wool, completely dyed, may be removed from the apparatus. Those colors which require that the wool should be previously saturated with a chemical agent, may be operated upon by the agent being introduced into the apparatus in the same manner; and when this operation is finished, the coloring solution may be injected, as before stated, and continued passing through the material, as long as may be necessary, until the operation is completed.-[Inrolled in the Petty Bag Office, June, 1842.]

Specification drawn by Messrs. Newton and Son,

TO CHARLES HANCOCK, of Grosvenor-place, in the county of Middlesex, artist, for his invention of certain improvements in printing cotton, silk, woollen, and other stuffs.[Sealed 8th February, 1842.]

In order to obtain a suitable medium for the colors, linseed oil, nut oil, or other drying oil, is mixed with raw or burnt Turkey umber, in the proportion of about one gallon of the oil to about every pound of the umber; linseed oil is preferred, because of its drying quality, and of its retaining its fluidity at lower temperatures than most others. This mixture is boiled over a slow fire, in an open metal pan, of large area, and of sufficient depth to allow it to rise without boiling over; the boiling is continued until the mixture gives indication of having nearly parted with most of its evaporable constituents, care being taken to draw the fire before any deposition of carbon takes place, which would have a discoloring effect on the contents of the pan. When these conditions have been duly observed, the resulting product is a viscid substance, of an uniform consistency, resembling that of dissolved caoutchouc, flowing freely on the application of a slight heat, or spreading by slight mechanical pressure, and neither soiling or running, on being brought into contact with textile fabrics or paper.

Instead of mixing the oil with umber, it may be used alone for a medium, when boiled, in the manner as aforesaid, till it has acquired a like consistency, and like properties; but the former method is preferred. In either case, instead of completing the process at one boiling, it may be effected with less risk of failure, though more slowly, by several boilings, allowing the mixture or oil to cool each time the fire is drawn. A metal cover may be suspended over the pan, by weighted chains or ropes passing over pullies, so that, in the event of the inflammable gases disengaged, catching fire, the cover may be instantly lowered, and the flame extinguished. When it is desirable, for any particular purpose, to have the medium of a more drying or more adhesive quality than usual, a little white vitriol,

litharge, sugar of lead, or other dryer, or a little of any suitable resin, is added to the mixture or oil, when in the pan. Before the product of the boiling or boilings has become quite cold, it may be thinned down, if desired, with highly rectified oil of turpentine, or any other sufficient solvent. The combination of the above described composition or medium, with any of the pigments or other matters suitable for the printing of cotton, silk, woollen, and other stuffs, is best effected in vessels heated by steam, according to the mode usually adopted in color manufactories and laboratories. When the colors are to be applied to the stuffs, it may be done, without any previous preparation of the stuffs, by mordants, sizes, oils, or otherwise, and by means, either of cylinder printing machines, or plates, or blocks. If the medium has been previously thinned sufficiently, by oil of turpentine or other solvent, the colors may be applied in a cold state; or if the medium has not been so previously thinned, then, in order to make the colors flow freely, the color-troughs, tearing-sieves, plates, and cylinders, must be kept warm by steam, or some other transmitter of a gentle heat, by any of the well known methods commonly employed for such purposes.

The colors do not rest on the surface, but penetrate the body of the stuff, and this without running. Any smell imparted by the oil or turpentine, may be dissipated by exposure to the air. The medium possesses of itself a considerable degree of color, and may be used for printing stuffs, without the intermixture of any other coloring matter; and the stuffs, so printed on, may be of any color or colors.

In the processes hitherto described, it has been supposed that the figures, designs, or patterns, are to be printed with the oil or oil-colors; but instead thereof, the figures, designs, or patterns, may be produced, in the manner of resists, by some fugitive water-color, gum, or paste,-an oil or oil-color, prepared as before directed, being made use of, to produce only the general ground; the stuff is afterwards washed, to discharge the resist, and then aired, as before directed, to get rid of any smell of the oil or turpentine.

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