A NEW METHOD OF DISCHARGING COLOR FROM RAGS USED FOR PAPER-MAKING OR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN TREATING OF VEGETABLE FIBRES BY SUCH PROCESS." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Gray, of Mitcham, in the County of Surrey,
Bleacher, for the Invention of "A NEW METHOD OF DISCHARGING COLOR
FROM RAGS USED FOR PAPER-MAKING OR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN TREATING OF
VEGETABLE FIBRES BY SUCH PROCESS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Gray at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
November 1863.
I, THOMAS GRAY, of Mitcham, in the County of Surrey, Bleacher, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW METHOD OF
DISCHARGING COLOR FROM RAGS USED FOR PAPER-MAKING OR OTHER PURPOSES, AND
IN TREATING OF VEGETABLE FIBRES BY SUCH PROCESS," to be as follows:-
I first steep the rags, if coloured, in a solution of muriatic acid in the
proportion of oz. of acid to 1 gallon of water, for the space of from 2 to 4
hours, dependant on the nature of the rags. If for piece goods of cotton,
hemp, or linen, or their yarns, I use sulphuric acid instead of muriatic acid;
the rags or goods are then drained and are immediately immersed in a
solution of soda ash and chloride of lime in the proportion of, say, 1 ounce
of soda ash dissolved in 1 gallon of warm water, and 4 ounces of chloride
of lime, or what is termed bleaching powder, to 1 gallon of cold water.
These ingredients are then mixed together. When the lime of this solution
has settled down, add the two solutions to 1 gallon of warm water; place
the rags in this solution for a space of time dependant on the judgment

page_text: of the operator, the effect of which will be to discharge the color and prevent
the escape of noxious effluvia so common to the ordinary process of bleaching,
the combination being new to effect the objects herein contained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Gray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th
May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GRAY, of Mitcham, in the County of Surrey, Bleacher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Gray, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Gray, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Gray, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
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 "A NEW METHOD OF
DISCHARGING COLOR FROM RAGS USED FOR PAPER-MAKING OR OTHER PURPOSES,
AND IN TREATING OF VEGETABLE FIBRES BY SUCH PROCESS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Gray, 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 1, the said Thomas Gray, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:—
I first steep the rags, if colored, in a solution of muriatic acid in the pro-
portion of oz. of acid to 1 gallon of water for the space of from 2 to 4 hours,
dependant on the nature of the rags. If for piece goods of cotton, hemp, or
linen, or thin yarns, I use sulphuric acid instead of muriatic acid. The rags
or goods are then drained, and are immediately immersed in a solution of

page_text: soda ash and chloride of lime, in the proportion of, say 1 oz. of soda ash
dissolved in 1 gallon of warm water, and 4 ounces of chloride of lime, or what
is termed bleaching powder, to 1 gallon of cold water. These ingredients are
then mixed together. When the lime of this solution has settled down, add
the two solutions to one gallon of warm water. Place the rags in this
solution for a space of time dependant on the judgement of the operator. The
effect of which will be to discharge the color and prevent the escape of
noxious effluvia so common to the ordinary process of bleaching. The com-
bination being new to effect the objects herein contained. Or, I adopt
another method similar to the former, but do not alter substantially the
chemical effect. I first take colored rags after being cut up and dusted, as is
usual with paper makers; after this I place them in a revolving or stationary
tank or any other suitable vessel, and boil them in a solution of alkali or soda
ash. The quantity of soda ash to the cwt. weight of rags is about 9 to 10 lbs.
It is then boiled for 3 to 4 hours. After this I wash the same in an ordinary
rag engine until they are perfectly clean. I then take muriatic or hydro-
chloric acid, about 10 lbs. and place the same in the rag engine with the
engine trough full of warm water. It is then run into the revolving tank
as above described. I then add to the rags a solution of 8 lbs. weight of
chloride of lime. It is then closed up and revolved for about 15 minutes. I
then run off this and add more water with a solution of bleaching liquor,
about 2 lbs. to 6 gallons of cold water and 2 lbs. of soda ash mixed together,
after which the rags are washed and ready for the paper maker.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be distinctly understood that
I do not confine myself to the quantities of the chemical agents herein used, as
they may be modified to suit the colors to be discharged, but, what I do claim
as new and of my Invention is, the mode of discharging color from rags or
other fibrous materials in the mauner herein described and set forth in this
Specification.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Thomas Gray, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
THOMAS GRAY. (LS.)