A New or Improved Process of Treating China-Grass and other Fibres and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Dec., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 16th Sept., 1897-Accepted, 24th Dec., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Process of Treating China-Grass and other
Fibres and Apparatus therefor.
I, HENRY LANE, of Blockley, in the County of Worcester, Manufacturer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a new or improved process for the ungumming of china-
grass and other fibres and apparatus therefor, by means of which certain advantages
are obtained:
In order that the nature of my invention may be readily understood I shall
briefly describe one way of carrying it into effect with one type of apparatus which
may be employed.
I take the hanks of china-grass as they are imported; that is to say arranged
in bundles tied with a ligature of grass or other fibre and I slip these into a frame
consisting for example of a wire bent into three hoops of loops spaced at a con-
venient distance apart. I then remove the ligature of grass or the like by means
of which the bundle has been tied up and the hank is now retained within the
said frame, the fibres being loose and being retained in independent and parallel
position with respect to one another. I now remove these hanks to the machine.
in which they are to be treated. This machine consists of a hollow cylinder
whose outer walls are formed of wire netting, perforated metal sheet or the like
and capable of being rotated in any desired way, by power or by hand. The said
cylinder lies within a tank designed for the reception of the treating solutions
hereinafter to be mentioned which tank is furnished with a heating coil of any
convenient form. The said cylinder is built up of separate cages of sector shape
in cross section which when put together in a frame constitute the said cylinder.
Concentric with the geometric axis of the said cylinder and traversing the bearings
thereof is a perforated pipe for the admission of steam as will be hereinafter
described:
I place the 'hanks, now retained within these frames, within the cages of the
cylinder and so that, when the cylinder is revolved through the solution or liquid
for the time being in the tank, the fibres of the said hanks will be so moved as
to be continually exposed to new surfaces of solution or liquid. When a sufficient
number of hanks have been placed within the cylinder I admit to the tank in which
the said cylinder rotates, and which for the purposes of this specification I shall
term the treating tank, a solution which I shall term the cleansing solu-
tion. This solution I preferably make in the following manner. Within
a tank, hereinafter termed the boiling tank, I place a quantity of
cold water which I heat to boiling point or thereabouts and to whicli I add a
quantity of soft soap. When the soap has been fully dissolved I pass the soap
solution thus formed from the boiling tank into the treating tank turning on the

page_text: steam or boiling water as the case may be through the heating coil. I then start
the rotation of the cylinder and at the same time admit the steam to the centre of
the cylinder through the perforated pipe before mentioned and I maintain tho
rotation of the cylinder and the passage of the steam until the fibre has been
sufficiently treated by the cleansing solution after which I run off the said solution
through an outlet pipe or orifice and admit boiling water to the treating tank
keeping up the rotation of the cylinder and the admission of the steam until the
fibre has been throughly rinsed and all traces of the soap solution and impurities
have been removed. I then run off the impure rinsing water from the tank and
now admit a weak solution of chloride of lime (hereinafter termed the bleaching
solution) still keeping up the rotation of the cylinder and or the injection of steam
therein.
When the fibre has been sufficiently bleached I run off the bleaching solution
and then admit tepid water for the purpose of again rinsing the fibre and removing
the traces of the chloride of lime.
The fibre is now ungummed and all that remains to be done is to run off the
rinsing water, stop the rotation of the cylinder and remove the fibre from the
cages. The fibre is still contained within the wire frames and lying in parallel
order, no matting having occurred. It can now be dried and be treated, made up,
or utilized in any convenient known manner.
Although I have herein before described my invention with reference to china-
grass I desire it to be understood that I can apply my process and my apparatus
to any other fibre to the treatment of which they are applicable.
I desire it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the particular steps
of the process or to the details of apparatus herein before set forth. I have cited
these merely by way of illustration or example for it is obvious that the details and
arrangements may be modified to an indefinite extent without departing from the
spirit of my invention.
J. G. LORRAIN, M.I.E.E., M.I. Mech. E.
Norfolk House, Victoria Embankment London W.C
Chartered Patent Agent.
A New or Improved Process of Treating China-Grass and other
Fibres and Apparatus therefor.
I, HENRY LANE, of Blockley, in the County of Worcester, Manufacturer, 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 a new or improved process for the ungumming of china-
grass and other fibres, and to apparatus therefor, by means of which certain advan
tages are obtained.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure I is a perspective view of the hank frame hereinafter to be described:
Figure II illustrates a hank frame with a hank or bundle of fibre therein and
after removal of the ligature of grass or the like in which the hanks are supplied.
Figure III shows the treating tank in vertical longitudinal section with the
cylinder frame, one of the cages; heating coil and injecting, pipe arranged therein.

page_text: The pulley and cog wheels for transmitting rotary motion to the cylinder are
shown in this figure in elevation..
Figure IV is a transverse section of the parts shown in Figure III, the cog
wheels being represented by dotted circles,
In carrying my invention into effect I take the banks of china-grass, or other
fibre to be ungummed, as they are imported (that is to say arranged in bundles
tied with a ligature of grass or the like), and I slip these into a frame 1 (herein
termed the hank frame) consisting for example of a wire 2 bent into two, three or
more hoops or loops 3, 3, spaced at a convenient distance apart. I then remove the
ligature of grass or the like by means of which the bundle has been tied up; and
the hank is now retained within the said frame as shown in Figure II, the fibres
being loose and being retained in independent and parallel position with respect
to one another. I now remove these hanks, whilst still in their frames, to the
machine 4 in which they are to be treated. This machine consists of a hollow
cylinder 5, which I shall hereinafter describe more minutely, whose outer walls
are formed of wire netting, perforated metal sheet or the like 6, and capable of
being rotated in any desired way by power or by hand. The said cylinder lies
within a tank designed for the reception of the treating solutions hereinafter
to be mentioned and which tank may be furnished with a heating coil 8 of any
convenient form. The said cylinder 5 is built up of separate cages 9, of prismatic
form and of sector shape in cross section, which when put together in the frame 10
(herein termed the cylinder frame) constitute the said cylinder. These cages consist
of wire netting, perforated metal or the like and are capable of being readily
lifted out of the cylinder frame when desired or of being replaced therein. They
are attached to the said frame by any convenient mechanical device such for
example as a hasp passing over a staple through which a wooden peg is afterwards
inserted. The fronts of the said cages, that is to say the arc shaped sides of the
prisms or in other words those sides which when the cages are all in position
make up the cylindrical surface of the cylinder, are fitted with doors also formed of
wire netting or perforated metal and extending throughout the whole of the said
front. These doors are hinged along one of the long sides of the cage and are
fastened along the other or opposite edge by means of any suitable clips or
fastenings, such for example as hasps passing over staples through which pins or
pegs are inserted or by sliding bolts or the like. Concentric with the geometrio
axis of the said cylinder, and traversing the bearings 11 thereof, is a perforated
pipe 12 (herein termed the injecting pipe) for the admission of steam as will be
hereinafter described.
I place the hanks, now retained within the hank frames, within the cages of
the cylinder in the following manner. I open the top or cover of the tank 7 and,
reaching down to the nearest of the cages, I open the door of the said cage and then
lay the hanks still in their hank frames within the said cage, the hanks lying
parallel to the geometric axis of the cylinder: When the cage is full I close its
door and move round the cylinder by hand until the next cage is conveniently
situated for filling. Having filled it in the manner aforesaid I again rotate the
cylinder through a small angular distance until the next cage is in a position
convenient for filling and I thus proceed until all the cages have been filled. When
a sufficient number of hanks have been placed within the cylinder to loosely
fill it, I admit to the tank in which the cylinder rotates, and which for the purposes
of this specification I term the treating tank, a solution which I term the.cleans-
ing solution. This solution I preferably make in the following manner. Within
a tank, hereinafter termed the boiling tank, and which I need not describe in
detail as it is simply an ordinary heating tank (any of the usual tanks
or boilers used for heating water or solutions will answer the purpose), I
place a quantity of cold water which I heat to boiling point or there-
abouts and to which I add a quantity of soft soap. When the soap has
been fully dissolved I pass the soap solution thus formed from the boiling tank
into the treating tank and then turn on steam through the heating coil. I also

page_text: start the rotation of the cylinder and at the same time admit the steam to the
centre of the cylinder through the perforated pipe. 12 and I maintain the rotation
of the cylinder so that the fibre may be so moved through the solution as to be
continually exposed to new surfaces thereof,, and I continue the passage of the
steam until the fibre has been sufficiently treated by tlie cleansing solution. This
the workmen can easily ascertain by the appearance of the fibre and also if desired
by its feel. It is impossible to lay down any rule as to the strength of the soap
solution or the length of time during which the treatment must be continued as
this depends upon the fibre under treatment and different samples of fibre vary
enormously in the quantity of gummy matter present. I may however state that
a proportion of one pound of soap toy one pound of fibre is. sufficient for
extremely refractory samples. of china grass. To obtain good results
reliance must be placed upon the powers of observation of the work-
men employed: I then run off the said solution through an out-
let pipe or orifice 13 and admit boiling water to the treating tank, rotating
the cylinder and admitting steam until the fibre has been thoroughly rinsed and
all traces of the soap solution and impurities have been removed. I then run off
the impure rinsing water from the tank and now admit a weak solution of chloride
of lime (hereinafter termed the bleaching solution) still keeping up the rotation of
the cylinder and or the injection of the steam therein..
When the fibre has been sufficiently bleached I run off the bleaching solution
and then admit tepid water for the purpose of again rinsing the fibre and re-
moving the traces of the chloride of lime.
The fibre is now ungummed and all that remains to be done is to run off the
rinsing water, stop the rotation of the cylinder and remove the fibre from the
cages. The cages themselves seldom require to be removed from the cylinder
frame except when repairs are necessary or the tank 7 requires cleaning out.
The fibre is still contained within the wire frames and lying in parallel order,
no matting having occurred. It can now be dried and be treated, made up or
utilized in any desired manner.
I have hereinbefore referred to a heating coil in the treating tank. Such heating
coil is not an essential feature of my invention and may be dispensed with without
deleterious result.
Although I have hereinbefore described my invention with reference to china-
grass I desire it to be understood that I can apply my process and my apparatus
to other fibres requiring nngumming.
I desire it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the particular stens
of the process or to. the precise details of apparatus hereinbefore set forth. The
form of the hank frames mav, in particular be varied within wide limits. It is
not necessary that they should be constructed of wire. Perforated tubes or indeed
any device which will retain the fibres in a parallel order, and at the same time
admit of free exposure of the fibres to solutions or liquids employed, will answer
the purpose. The employment of hank frames constitutes a very important
feature of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The new or improved process of treating china-grass and other fibres sub-
stantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The new or improved apparatus for treating china-grass and other fibres, sub-.
stantially. as set forth.
3. The employment of hank frames substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
4: The form of hank frame set forth with reference to Figure I.
5. The arrangement and combination of parts substantially as set forth. with
reference to Figures III and IV.

page_text: 6. As a reagent for the ungumming of china-grass and other fibre the employ-
ment of soft soap substantially as described.
Dated this 15th day of September 1897.
Wash Anulinant
J. G. LORRAIN, M.I.E.E., M.I. Mech. E.
Norfolk House, Norfolk Street, Strand, London, W.C.
Chartered Patent Agent.