A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN THE TREATMENT OF WOOL PREPARATORY TO ITS BEING CARDED, SPUN, OR WOVEN
Year: 1855

page_text: Sealed the 26th November 1855, and dated the 28th September 1855.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Thomas Barrows at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration, on
the 28th September 1855, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,
BE IT KNOWN that I, THOMAS BARROWS, of the State of Massachusetts,
of the United States of America, have made an Invention or discovery of
"A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN THE TREATMENT OF WOOL PREPARATORY TO
ITS BEING CARDED, SPUN, OR WOVEN," and I do hereby declare that the following
is a description of the principle and application of my Invention:
To facilitate the mechanical operations on wool, it is the common practice
to use oil preparatory to carding it, by which the fibres are loosened and the
naturally adhering varnish-like matter not removed in the scouring is softened.
In the subsequent steps in forming the "rovings" and spinning, the oil pre-
viously added prevents or much diminishes the excitation of electrical attrac-

page_text: tion, which in the colder months would very much interfere with the production
of good rovings or even thread. The oil as usually added to some extent
overcomes the obstacles to the certainty and uniformity of the manufacture of
wool by machinery; but its use involves the increased expenses of removing it
from the fabricated articles wholly, or, as usually, only partially, by the use of
soap or some other chemical agents, and especially before the goods can be
perfectly dyed, as the oil under the management does not fully effect all that
is desired. Manufacturers of yarn or cloth from wool, in order to produce the
required results, are often led into experimenting on different kinds of oils and
mixtures of oils, or mixtures of oils and saponaceous compound. The general
requirement I have found to be the presence of aqueous moisture through
all the steps of the mechanical operations. Purely oiled wool has a strong
tendency to lose even the naturally combined water of its fibres, the different
kinds of oil showing in this connection different characters in inducing this
loss. Hence, in order that water might be retained entangled by the oil, manu-
facturers have used oil and ammonia water in the form of an emulsion;
gelatinous bodies like common glue have been used, which, aside from putri-
fying, often renders impossible the cleansing of the fabricated articles in cold
fluids. My own experiments continued through many years have led me to
the use of peculiar mucilaginous substances combined or mixed with oil, either
naturally or artificially; as an instance, the mucilage of flax seed and similar
seeds contains much entangled oil, and with a small addition of oil will answer
as a substitute for oil within certain limits of time. But most of these oils
having a drying nature, the wool on which the mucilage has been used cannot
be safely stored, on account of the danger there is of spontaneous combustion.
I have resorted to the use of those kinds of mucilage which, retaining water,
do not become dry or adhesive when used alone or mixed with oil, and I have
combined with such pure oleic acid instead of oil. My Invention, discovery, or
improvement has as its principle the use of oleic acid, and such mucilage of
plants and seeds as is of a kind that retains moisture, does not readily dry, and
yet be mixed uniformly with oils. In forming the mixture I prefer the purified
oleic acid, or so-called "elaine," which is to a small extent soluble in water.
In applying my Invention, the first step is the preparation of a clear muci-
lage, by boiling in water the substance affording mucilage, such as carrageen,
Irish moss, or other marine plants of allied species yielding mucilage freely.
These I prefer for the qualities of the matter extracted, as well as for the
abundance and cheapness of the material, it being an almost worthless product
on sea coasts. One pound (avoirdupois) of "Irish moss," or similar plants,
affording mucilage after having been carefully washed in cold water, so as to

page_text: entirely remove the sea salt, may be dissolved in eight or ten gallons (wine
measure) of water, by steeping for six or twelve hours while the water is
tepid, and afterwards boiling by a dry steam pipe or coil, until solution takes
place.
Seeds and mosses may be treated in the same way, or by boiling over the
fire and constant stirring. The clear mucilage may then be used to impreg-
nate the wool, using from one to two and one-half gallons for every one
hundred pounds of wool, and afterwards adding from one to one and one-half
gallons of oleic acid to the moistened wool; or in most cases it is preferable to
form a uniform emulsion, by agitating ten gallons of the mucilage with one or
one and one-half gallons of oleic acid.
Having thus obtained the mixture of mucilage and oleic acid, I apply it to
ordinary grades of wool, using it in the proportion of eleven or twelve gallons
to one hundred pounds of wool, and which may afterwards be submitted to the
usual operations of carding and spinning. At each step of these operations
the wool is found to be better adapted than when oiled with oil solely, and all
tendency to become electrically excited is destroyed. But the advantage
attending the use of this mixture is more fully realized when the yarn or flannel
is to be cleansed. It is then found that the moisture of the mucilage has
loosened the dressing and other adhering matter of the fibres, so that a weak
solution of the carbonate of soda or prepared soda ash will at once remove any
oily matter, mucilage, and dressing, leaving the fibres clean and of unusual
whiteness. When the flannel in the process of manufacture is to be fulled, I
add to it, while it is still imbued with oleic acid and mucilage, so much of a
solution, made in the proportion of and from one pound of carbonate of soda or
prepared soda ash to eight gallons of water, as may be required, to produce a
consistent soapy mixture on the cloth. This done, the flannel is next to be
placed directly in the mill, where the fulling proceeds in an even and expe-
ditious manner. After this operation has been performed, the goods may be
washed in the usual manner, no addition of soap being required. It will be
observed that volume of mucilage is large in comparison with that of the oleic
acid, the intention being to preserve a due degree of moisture in the fibre
through the successive steps of the manufacture. The oleic acid is used in con-
nection with the mucilage for the purpose of forming a soap with the alkaline
base of the prepared soda ash among the fibres when the yarn or cloth is to
be cleansed, or for lubricating and softening the imbrecations on the fibres,
so that they will readily felt in the fulling mill when the flannels are to be
milled. The risk and expense attending the use of soap in the ordinary
method of fulling cloth is thus avoided. I use and prefer the oleic acid instead

page_text: of ordinary oils for forming the emulsion, as the latter do not so easily make
soaps in uniting with the base of a carbonated alkali unless after several weeks
exposure to air.
In the subsequent steps the manufacture of the goods is carried on as usual,
the effect of the mucilage and oleic acid in more perfectly cleansing the cloths
being apparent in the finish obtained. Gummy substances have been used for
imparting a fugitive gloss to the finished surfaces of goods, but my improve-
ment renders such a resort unnecessary, and it has no connection with such
means of finishing.
In basing my claim of Invention or improvement on the use of mucilaginous
matter in connection with oleic acid, I do not include albuminous or gela-
tinous matter of animal origin, nor ammoniacal or other alkaline emulsions,
which have been before used, but restrict myself to the use of those watery
solutions of mucilage from plants and seeds whose muculent character is dis-
tinguished from the gum or glue-like character of those substances heretofore
used, not drying out from the mixture of oleic acid when on the fibres of
the wool. I prefer the prepared oleic acid or "elaine" mixture to oil, as it
often remains uniform for several days, and is far better. I, however, lay no
claim to the application and use of oil and mucilage, as described; but what I
claim as my Invention or discovery for the treatinent and imbuing of wool
during or previous to its manufacture into yarn or cloth is, the application
thereto of oleic acid when the wool is treated with mucilage possessing an
attraction for water, viz., such mucilage as is found in sea mosses and allied
vegetable productions, or in various seeds, such as flax seed or quince seed.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my signature and seal, this
Third day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
THOMAS BARROWS. (L.S.)