This machine as described was not found practically adapted to squeezing two pieces at the same time, without fear of tearing the clotla, owing to the tension of the two pieces being different, from their overlying each other in the groove. In the newest machines but recently introduced, this difficulty has been effectually overcome, by substituting for the rollers R R a pair of movahle brass straining-bars, which can be fixed at any angle, and by adding a swinging guide-rail, round which the pieces pass before going over the straining-bars. With this arrangement, .the tension of two pieces passing between the grooved squeezing-rollers at the same time is better regulated, and risk of damage is avoided.
The squeezed pieces are guided right away from the machine, by means of pot-eyes and small wooden rollers, from the bleach-house to the white drying-room, there to be opened and dried. The average time required for cotton bleaching is four to five days ; the output of bleached cloth, using two pairs of Barlow's kiers, with regular work, boiling during the night and filling the kiers in the daytime, would be about 120,000 lb. cloth for five and a half days.
Opening and Drying.—By the old method, " opening" was effected by leading the squeezed pieces into large wooden vats standing on turn-tables on the ground floor ; when full, an end of the piece was led up through the floor to the top of the drying-room above, where the piece passed over a large drum-roller, down to the drying-machine. Immediately before this drum-roller, a youbg girl or boy opened out by hand the twists of the long length of piece hanging down to the vats on the turn-tables, which required to be turned occasionally one way or the other to take out the twist as it increased. Just before the opened-out piece passed on to the cylinders of the drying machine, another young person was placed to take hold of each selvage of the piece with finger and thumb, and stretch it as much as was necessary to ensure the complete removal of every crease and fold, the piece then passing in a state of tension over the grooved scrimp rails and the revolving breadthener placed immediately before the first drying cylinder.
Fig. 352 represents Wm. Birch's seutcher and opener, which performs this work far more effi ciently and cheaply, at the same time abolishing an unhealthy occupation for young people, who were perched close to the ceiling, where heat and vapour collect most. Iu order to convey an opinion of the quality of the work, it need only be mentioned that the machine operates by friction, which is uniformly distributed across the middle and over the whole length of the piece, thus giving it a uniform appearance; while hand labour, being only applied intermittently and to a com paratively small number of spots, was always liable to pull the piece more or less awry. As the piece comes from the squeezer, it is considerably twisted, like the strands of a rope, as shown at A ; it then passes at B between the two double-armed scntchers or heaters geared together by the wheels C C, and driven by a belt at the other end, so that they revolve in the opposite direction to the cloth at the rate of about 300 revolutions per minute ; these give a violent shaking to the twisted cloth and beat back the twist freely. The entire success of these beaters depends on the fact that, in a long length of pieces, there is about an equal number of right and left handed twists; before passing through the beaters, the strand of cloth must hang horizontally and freely for about 30 ft. From the beaters, the cloth runs over the spiral or scroll roller D.
This is a wooden roller with copper sheeting fixed into it edgeways and spirally, so that a point ou the thread of the screw travels outwards at about the same velocity as the piece which, passing over Lb guide, not seen in the figure, then goes over the roller E and behind the roller F. As shown at G, the °loth is already pretty well opened out ; it then passes to the opener or spreader placed below, and immediately adjoining the drying machine. The opener consists of four endless chains provided with projections ; two work against the piece in front and two at the back, and, as one is placed slightly above the other, the fabric cannot be damaged by the close interlacing of their projections. These endless chains H II move, at the side next the passing cloth, from the centre of the fabrio outwards, as indicated by the arrows, and exactly imitate the dravving out of the same with finger and thumb. Immediately on leaving the chains, the piece passes between the three corrugated friction-bars of the regulator I, which ensures that the calico shall run in the central line of the machine. Of these three bars, the middle one, appearing in front of the cloth in the figure, can be adjusted to produce any required tension of the cloth, by screwing it more or less between the other two bars ; the latter are sup ported behind by a pivot at the centre, so that all three bars together can swing like the ems of a balance. As long as the passing cloth continues central with tbe machine, no change takes place ; but directly it com mences to swerve on either side, the regulator is called into action. This regulator is connected by levers with tho framework carrying the endless chains. The mo ment the centre of the fabric moves in the slightest degree to right or left of the central pivot of the cor rugated friction-bars, these ewerve from their normal horizontal position, and, through the connecting levers, cause the pair of endless chains on the same side of the central line of the fabric to recede from each' other ; thus the friction on that side is reduced, while the pair of chains on the opposite side are caused to approach each other and grip the cloth tighter, the latter being thus drawn to the centre again. The corrugated surface of the regulator retains the absolute straightness of the cloth imparted to it by the chains; the cloth then passes over the corrugated scrimp rails at K on to the drying cylinders L. The guide referred to above, as being between the rollers D and E, is very similar to the regulator I, the only difference being that the two outside friction bars are replaced by spirally corrugated revolving rollers. The manner of suspension by a cen tral pivot is the same, and the whole thus forms u, perfectly independent swinging balanced frame ,sup porting two rollers and a bar. If the piece swerves to either side, this guide of itself instantly brings it back to the centre. In the figure, the piece is represented as passing from the opener to the scrimp rails K, and at once on to tho drying cylinders ; in practice, however, a revolving breadthener is placed before the first dry ing cylinder, by means of which the cloth receives a last expansion ; there being only a few inches between the breadthener and the drying cylinder, it is not drawn into the slightest crease by the tension.