Process and Apparatus for Treatment of Textile Plants.
Year: 1888

page_text: Cate of Application, 1st Oct., 1888
Complete Specification Loft,
05th
th June,
4000
Accepted, 3rd Aug,
1000
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Process and Apparatus for Treatment of Textile Plants.
I LEONARD DE KIEN Manufacturer of Courtrai.in the Kingdom of Belgium
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the treatment of textile plants such as flax, hemp and the
like, so as to obtain the fibres ready for the ordinary manufacturing operations in
which such fibres are employed, the object which I have in view being to economise
time and labour, to avoid waste, and to secure good and uniform quality of fibre.
For this purpose, the plants having been cut and stored sufficiently dry to prevent
fermentation, I thoroughly dry the stems that are to be treated in a steam desiccator
or otherwise, and then I pass them through between a number of upper and under
rollers having projecting blades arranged at various intervals on their peripheries,
whereby the bark and woody matters are broken up and cleared off the fibres falling
into a receptacle below the rollers.
In the machine which I employ, a number of parallel rollers are arranged side by
side in a horizontal plane, these having pinions geared together through intermediates
so that, one or several of the rollers being driven, all of them revolve in the same
direction. Above these are mounted a corresponding number of rollers free to
revolve. The stems are fed in at one end of the machine between the upper and
lower rollers and the cleared fibres are discharged at the other end, the woody matters
falling into a receptacle below the rollers.
Dated this 1st day of October 1888.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Process and Apparatus for Treatment of Textile Plants.
I, LEONARD DE KIEN, Manufacturer, of Courtrai, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My invention relates to the treatment of textile plants, such as flax, hemp and the
like, so as to obtain the fibres ready for the ordinary manufacturing operations in which
such fibres are employed, the object which I have in view being to economise time
and labour, to avoid waste, and to secure good and uniform quality of fibre. For
this purpose, the plants having been cut and stored sufficiently dry to prevent
fermentation, I thoroughly dry the stems that are to be treated in a steam desiccator
or otherwise and then I pass them through between a number of upper and under
rollers having projecting blades arranged at various intervals on their peripheries,
whereby the bark and woody matters are broken up and cleared off; the fibres falling
into a receptacle below the rollers.
In the machine which I employ, a number of parallel rollers are arranged side by
side in a horizontal plane, these having pinions geared together through intermediates
so that one or several of the rollers being driven, all of them revolve in the same
direction. Above these are mounted a corresponding number of rollers free to revolve.
The stems are fed in at one end of the machine between the upper and lower rollers
and the cleared fibres are discharged at the other end, the woody matters falling into
receptacle below the rollers.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a side elevation of a machine according
to my invention, Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, Fig. 3 is an end elevation and

page_text: A are screws which press on springs which act on the bearings of the upper
rollers B the springs allowing them to yield when excessive thickness of material
passes between them and the lower rollers.
C is the side of the roller casing, which may be of wood lined with sheet metal,
Dare pinions on the lower rollers gearing with loose intermediates E, so that one or
other of the lower rollers being driven the others are all made to revolve in the same
direction. F is the feed board and S the delivery board. G is the driving shaft
carrying a toothed pinion H which gears with a loose wheel I having on its axis a
pinion gearing with a wheel L on the axis of one of the lower rollers. K is an
intermediate loose wheel driven by L and driving L' on the axis of another of the
lower rollers. The wheels KIJ are pivotted in slotted frames so that they can be
adjusted in position according to the gearing employed. O is the supporting frame,
P the striking lever, R the fast and loose pulleys. T are the rollers furnished with
blades separated by intervals that diminish from the entering end. U is a receptacle
for the fragmentary matter separated from the fibres.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described method of treating textile plants so as to clear their fibres,
by drying the stems and passing them between an upper and lower set of rollers
having projecting blades.
2. For treating textile plants in the manner referred to in the preceding claim,
the construction and use of apparatus, substantially as herein described and
illustrated.
Dated thistaxıl
г T..
1000
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant..