IMPROVE- MENTS IN SEPARATING ANIMAL FROM VEGETABLE FIRRES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Lee Norton, of the Imperial Works, Bromley-
by-Bow, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SEPARATING ANIMAL FROM VEGETABLE FIRRES"
Sealed the 23rd June 1857, and dated the 28th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Lee Norton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th January 1857.
I, JAMES LEE NORTON, of the Imperial Works, Bromley-by-Bow, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEPARATING ANIMAL FROM VEGETABLE FIBRES," to be as
follows:-
The rags or other combinations of wool with other fibres are placed in the
trough of a steeping apparatus. Dilute sulphuric acid varying from 2 to 14
degrees on Twaddle's hydrometer (and in some cases it is heated to a
temperature of about 100° to 120° Fahrenheit) is admitted into the trough or
tank of the steeping machine in sufficient quantity to thoroughly saturate the
rags or mixtures of wool and other fibres. The trough or tank is then placed'
under beaters of a beating machine, and the rags or mixtures of wool with
other fibres are beaten until thoroughly saturated. The. rags or wool mixtures:

page_text: are then taken out of the trough or tank, and the superfluous liquor extracted
from them. by a centrifugal machine; after which the rags or other mixtures
of wool with other fibres are passed through a drying machine or chamber
over a series of endless aprons, placed one above another, and the material is
fed on to a sheet at the top of the drying machine or chamber, which delivers
the material on to the endless sheet below it, and so on till the materials are
delivered out of the drying machine or chamber by the bottom or lowest
endless apron. The drying machine or chamber is kept heated to a tempera-
ture of from 150 to 300, degrees Fahrenheit, (according to the strength of the
acid used for steeping,) by means of a current of heated air passing through
the machine or chamber continually; and the endless aprons are made to
travel by suitable gearing at such a speed so that when the material has
passed through the drying machine or chamber the vegetable matter is entirely
destroyed, and will fall away as powder or dust. The rags or wool mixtures
are then passed through a dusting machine or willow, (which may be placed
so that the material shall be delivered from the drying machine or chamber
on to the feed sheet of the, dusting machine,) with three or more cylinders, all
running in the same direction but at different speeds, say, the first cylinder
300, the second 400 and the third 500 rotations per minute. On each of the
cylinders are fixed pieces of wood, in which are fixed strong iron teeth, for the
purpose of shaking the, dust out of-the-materials, and in some cases the teeth
of one cylinder intersect the teeth of the other cylinders; but I prefer to use
them so that the teeth of each cylinder are clear of each other. Below each
cylinder is fixed a grating, to allow the dust to go through, and below the
grating a fan is placed, so as to collect the dust. The materials are delivered
to the first cylinder of the machine through a pair of rollers, and delivered out
at the opposite end of the machine.
For some descriptions of rags, when consisting, partly of rags wholly composed
of wool intermixed with woollen and cotton rags, I prefer to use the following
machinery: A cylinder having a large number of sharp-pointed teeth; the
teeth are fixed in the cylinder. The materials are fed on to the feed apron and
delivered to the main cylinder with teeth, which runs at a high velocity. The
cylinder is cleared by a brush, which, throws the wool on to a tin cylinder
that delivers.it.out of the machine. Under the cylinder there is a grating,
and below the grating there is a fan to drive away; the dust. The object of a
this machine is to answer the double purpose,both of a dusting machine, and
willow, and also to pull the rags to pieces. The teeth being fixed, in the
cylinder, so that the points having a downward, inclination the fibres of the
materials are, thoroughly opened without the staple, being broken. In some

page_text: cases instead of passing the' rags through tlie dusting "machines I pass them
through a washing machine, and' after they are well beaten in such machine
they are passed tlirough a machine for rinsing out any loose dirt or dust:.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Lee Norton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES'
LEE NORTON, of the Imperial Works, Bromley-by-Bow, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 'Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of our:
Lord One thousand eiglit hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors; give and grant unto me,
the said James Lee Norton, Her special licence "that I, the said James Lee
Norton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I; the said
James Lee Norton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at "any.
time agree with, and' no others, from time to time and at all times tliercafter:
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and 'vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SEPARATING ANIMAL FROM 'VEGETABLE FIBRES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Lee Norton, "my executors or administrators;
by an instrument in writing under my or their or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent' Office within six calendar:
months next and immediately after the date of the 'said Letters Patent!
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Lee Norton, do' hereby decláré
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following!
statement thereof; that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements' in' separating animal from
vegetable fibres. For this purpose the rags or other combinations of wobl
with other fibres are placed in the trough of a steeping apparatus. Diftite
sulphuric acid, varying from 2 to 14 degrees on Twaddle's hydrometer" (andlin
some cases it is heated to a temperature of about 100° to 120% Fahrenheit):

page_text: is admitted into the trough or tank of the steeping. machine in sufficient
quantity to thoroughly saturate the rags or mixtures, of. wool and other fibres.
The trough or tank is then placed under beaters of a beating machine, and
the rags or mixtures of wool with other fibres are beaten until thoroughly
saturated. The steeping machine which I prefer to employ for this purpose
is that described in the Specification of a Patent granted to me, and bearing
even date with the Patent of which the present is the Specification. The
rags or wool mixtures are then taken out of the trough or tank, and the
superfluous liquor extracted from them by a centrifugal machine, the case of
which I line by preference with lead. Afterwards the rags or other mixtures
of wool with other fibres are passed through a drying machine or chamber
similar to that described in the Specification of a former Patent granted to
me, and dated the 11th day of April 1855. It consists of a series of endless
aprons, placed one above another, and the material is fed on to a sheet at
the top of the drying machine or chamber, which delivers the material on to
the endless sheet below it, & so on till the materials are delivered out of the
drying, machine or chamber by the bottom or lowest endless apron. The
drying machine or chamber is kept heated to a temperature of from 150° to
300° Fahrenheit (according to the strength of the acid used for steeping) by
means of a current of heated air passing through the machine or chamber
continually; and the endless aprons are made to travel by suitable gearing at
such a speed that when the material has passed through the drying machine
or chamber the vegetable matter is entirely destroyed, and will fall away as
powder or dust. The rags or wool mixtures are then passed through a dusting
machine or willow, (which may be placed so that the material shall be
delivered from the drying machine or chamber on to the feed sheet of the
dusting machine,) with three or more cylinders all running in the same
direction but at different speeds, say, the first cylinder 300, the second 400,
and the third 500 rotations per minute. On each of the cylinders are fixed
pieces of wood, in which are fixed strong iron teeth for the purpose of shaking
the dust out of the materials, and in some cases the teeth of one cylinder
intersect the teeth of the other cylinders, but I prefer to use them so that the.
teeth of each cylinder, are clear of each other. Below each cylinder is fixed
a grating to allow the dust to go through, and below the grating a fan is
placed, so as to collect the dust. The materials are delivered to the first
cylinder of the machine through a pair of rollers, and delivered out at the
opposite end of the machine.
2
Figure 1 of the annexed. Drawing is a longitudinal section of a dusting
machine or,
willow arranged in this way. a, a, is a feeding sheet, on which.

page_text: the material is placed, and
which it is taken up to the rollers b, b, and
it passes between them into the machine; c, d, and e are three cylinders
mounted on axes carried by the frame of the machine. These axes are all
driven in one direction but at, different speeds; the axis of the cylinder c I
prefer to drive at 300 revolutions per minute, that of the cylinder d at 400,
and that of the cylinder e at 500. On these three cylinders are mounted a
series of bars c, d, and e', having teeth c, d, and fixed in them. The
cylinders are enclosed in a case, which is made air-tight, except at the point
where the material is fed in, and at this point the air is allowed to enter to
supply the fan f, which sucks air out of the case of the machine, and with
it the dust shaken out of the material by the operation. In order to prevent
the material passing to the fan with the dust, the lower part of the case, which
contains the fan, is separated from the upper part which contains the cylinders
by perforated screens g, g. When the process is complete the material is
thrown on to the roller h, and this roller has a constant forward motion, so
that the material is caught between it and the small roller i, and is discharged
from the machine without admitting any material quantity of air to the case.
For some descriptions of rags, when consisting partly of rags wholly composed
of wool intermixed with woollen and cotton rags, I prefer to use the following
machinery: A cylinder having a large number of sharp-pointed teeth; the
teeth are fixed in the cylinder. The materials are fed on to the feed apron,
and delivered to the main cylinder with teeth, which run at a high velocity.
The cylinder is cleared by a brush, which throws the wool on to a tin cylinder
that delivers it out of the machine. Under the cylinder there is a grating,
and below the grating there is a fan to drive away the dust. The object of
this machine is to answer the double purpose both of a dusting machine and
willow, and also to pull the rags to pieces. The teeth being fixed in the
cylinder, so that the points having a downward inclination, the fibres of the
materials are thoroughly opened without the staple being broken.
apron
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of a machine arranged according to the
above description. a is a cylinder, having mounted on it the bars a', a¹
which carry teeth a², a². The material to be treated is fed in to the machine
by the
b and the feed rollers c, which hold it while it is opened out by
the teeth, and the dust which is separated during this operation falls through
the screen d placed under the cylinder a. e is another cylinder, having
brushes and rows of teeth placed alternately on the cylinder, which
rotates at such a velocity that its brushes and teeth take the material out of
the teeth a², and the material is thrown to the drum f, which is made by
preference of perforated zinc. is a fan, which draws air from the interior of

page_text: the drum f, and so sucks 'the dust away from the'material deposited. on thé
drum f. The whole of the machine is enclosed in an air-tight case, and the
air is only allowed to enter at the point where the material is fed in. The
fibre deposited on the drum 'f passes under the roller h, and is so discharged
from the case without admitting any 'material quantity of air in tliat' direction.
When the material to be treated contains a considerable quantity of fabric
consisting wholly of wool, I prefer to feed the machine' by means of the
arrangement shewn at Figure 3. 6 is'the feed apron, as before; and c, c, aré
feed rollers' which bring up the material to the spiked roller c', and it becomes
firmly held between the feed rollers and this roller c', as well as between it
and the under case or shell c. The hold of the material is maintained close
up to the teeth of the cylinder a, and consequently the opening effect is more
complète. In some cases, instead of passing the rags through the dusting
machines, I pass them' through a washing machine, and after they are well
beaten in such machine they are passed through a machine for rinsing' out
any loose dirt or dust.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lee Norton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
J. L. NORTON. (L.S.)