RINSING MACHINE

is one of those ingenious automatic contrivances for economizing labour, and securing uniformity of action, now so common in the factories of Lancashire. Fig. 941. is a longitudinal middle section of an approved mechanism for rinsing pieces of calico dyed with spirit or fancy colours, and which require more delicate treatment than is compatible with hand-washing. A , E , F , B , is a wooden cistern, about 12 feet long, 4 feet high at one end, 2 feet at the other, and of the ordinary width of calico cloth. It is divided transversely into a series of equal compartments by partitions, decreasing in height from the upper to the lower end, the top of each of them, however, being an inch at least under the top of the enclosing side at its line of junction. Above the highest end of the trough, a pair of squeezing rollers is mounted at B ; the lower one having a pulley upon the end of its shaft, for turning it, by means of a band from one of the driving-shafts of the factory; and the upper one is pre ed down upon it by weighted levers acting on the ends of its axis. The roller above the second highest partition has also a pair of squeezing rollers, with a weighted lever D . The pieces of cloth, stitched endwise, being laid upon a platform to the right hand of the cistern, are introduced over the roller A , pa ed down under the roller beneath it, and so up and down in a serpent-like path, from the lowest compartment of the cistern to the uppermost, being drawn through the series by the traction of the rotatory roller at B . While the long web is thus proceeding upwards from A to B , a stream of pure water is made to flow along in the opposite direction from B to A , running over the top of each partition in a thin sheet. By this contrivance, the goods which enter at A , having much loose colour upon their surface, impregnate the water strongly, but as they advance they continually get cleaner by the immersion, and pre ure of the succe ive rollers, being exposed to purer water, till at last they reach the limpid stream, and are discharged at B perfectly bright. The rinsing operation may be modified by varying the quantity of water admitted, the speed with which the pieces are drawn through the cells, or the pre ure upon the series of top rollers.