AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF CLEANING COTTON WASTE AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Shaw Lewis and George Lewis Hawkins,
both of the City and State of New York, United States of America,
now of No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF CLEANING COTTON WASTE AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS."
Sealed the 20th October 1873, and dated the 28th April 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Shaw Lewis
-
and George Lewis' Hawkins at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 28th April 1873.
We, SAMUEL SHAW LEWIS and GEORGE LEWIS HAWKINS, both of the
City and State of New York, United States of America, now of No. 8,
Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare that the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF CLEANING COTTON WASTE
AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:--
My Invention relates to the application of a hot solution of silicate
of potash or soda for cleaning cotton waste and other fibrous materials.
This solution removes the oil from the fibres by destroying the capillary

page_text: attraction therefor, and taking its place also by increasing the density
of the water in which the said fibres are suspended, and causing the
oil to rise to the surface of the silicate of potash or soda solution, by
reason of its lesser specific gravity.
The only apparatus required for this process consists of a series of
kettles and a washing machine and drying apparatus.
The fibrous material to be cleaned is placed in one of the kettles
with the aqueous solution of silicate of potash or soda, of any desired
density, which solution is made to boil for a sufficient length of time to
disengage all the oils from the fibre; then the temperature is allowed
to subside to discontinue the mechanical action of the boiling, the
oils rise to the surface whence they may be skimmed off. The cotton
waste or other fibrous matter is now pressed nearly dry and then
transferred to the next kettle, which contains a small quantity of soap
in water, and is boiled as long as necessary; thence it is taken to a
washing or agitating machine, and then to the next kettle, which con-
tains pure water, in which it is boiled as long as the requirements of the
process indicate. The waste or fibrous matter is now to be pressed and
transferred to the drying apparatus, and when sufficiently dry is ready
for reuse or the market. The silicate of potash or soda solution is
allowed to repose long enough to permit the fragments of coal, rock,
sand, and the like to subside, and the clear solution is then to
be decanted or drawn off to allow an opportunity of cleansing the
kettle, to which it is to be returned subsequent to cleansing the said
kettle, it is then ready for use in cleansing fresh quantities of waste or
other fibrous matter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Shaw Lewis and George Lewis Hawkins,
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL 3
SHAW LEWIS and GEORGE LEWIS HAWKINS, both of the City and State
of New York, United States of America, now of No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, London, send greeting.

page_text: of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Samuel Shaw Lewis and George Lewis
Hawkins, Her special licence that we, the said Samuel Shaw Lewis and
George Lewis Hawkins, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Samuel Shaw Lewis and George Lewis
Hawkins, our 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."AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF CLEANING COTTON WASTE AND OTHER FIBROUS
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Samuel
Shaw Lewis and George Lewis Hawkins, our executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 we, the said Samuel Shaw Lewis and George
Lewis Hawkins, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
-
Our Invention relates to the cleaning of cotton waste and other
fibres or fibrous materials by an improved process wherein we employ a
hot solution of silicate of potash or soda. This solution removes the oil,
gum, resin, and other like matters from the fibres or fibrous materials by
destroying their capillary attraction for such oil or other matter and
taking their place in the said materials; it also increases the density of
the liquid in which the said fibres are suspended to such an extent
that the oil or other matter expelled from the said fibres being of less
specific gravity than the silicate of potash or soda solution will rise to
the surface of the same..
In carrying our said Invention into practise we use a series of pans or
boilers and any suitable washing and drying apparatus, and we proceed
as follows, that is to say, we place the cotton waste or other fibrous
'

page_text: material to be cleaned in one of the said pans or boilers with the afore-
said aqueous solution of silicate of potash or soda, which solution is
boiled long enough to disengage from the fibres all the oils or other
matters to be extracted therefrom. Then the boiling is discontinued,
and the oil or other matter extracted rises to the surface of the solution,
the same being then readily removed by skimming or otherwise. Then
we take the cotton waste or other fibrous material and by means of a
press or other suitable means remove the greater part of the moisture
from the same. Then we place the said materials in the second of the
aforesaid pans or boilers which contains water with a small quantity of 1
soap. In this soapy water the fibrous material is boiled, it is then taken
to the washing apparatus wherein it is subjected to agitation or stirring,
and thence it is removed to another pan or vessel containing pure water,
in which it is again boiled. If the material under treatment is cotton.
waste the same is now again subjected to pressure if necessary, and is
then dried by any suitable apparatus or means, it will then be ready
for use.
In the application of this improved process to the cleaning of cotton
waste and similar materials, we prefer that the solution of silicate of
potash should have a density of 1330° specific gravity, and the silicate
of soda a density of 1700° specific gravity, Twaddle's gauge.
The quantity and quality of water and the time of boiling must be
regulated according to the quality and texture of the cotton waste or
other fibres under treatment, and the quantity and nature of the oil and
other matter to be extracted from the same. We may use both solid and
liquid silicates, the liquid solution of silicate of potash of a density of
1330 specific gravity in the proportion of 20 to 25 per cent., and the
liquid solution of silicate of soda of a density of 1700 specific gravity
in the proportion of 25 to 30 per cent. or thereabouts of the weight of
the dirty cotton waste operated on. We prefer however the application
of higher temperatures with a smaller quantity of the silicates and
shorter time of operation.
It will be found advantageous to extract a portion of the oils and
other matter by mechanical appliances both previously and subsequently
to the boiling processes above set forth, and to recover the oils by
separate boilings with the silicates either with or without the use of
other chemicals when the quantity and quality of the oil render the

page_text: saving or recovery of the same by such separate application of this
process commercially profitable.
The quantity and nature of the soap to be used in our process will
depend also on the quantity and quality of the cotton waste, and of
the water and other material, and the machinery and power employed,
and the state of saponification and the cleanliness of the waste desired
to be attained. A quantity of soap equal to five per cent. in weight of
the cotton waste operated on will be generally sufficient, but more or less
may be required, and the quantity of all the materials for this process
as above set forth may be reduced by reuse in the continuation and
extension of the operations and by the proper use of effective machinery
and regulation of the temperatures.
Having thus fully described our said Invention and the manner of
performing the same we wish it understood that we claim, the process
of cleaning cotton waste and other fibrous materials, as herein set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Shaw Lewis, for myself and
on behalf of the said George Lewis Hawkins, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
W. ROB. LAKE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
S. S. LEWIS. (L.S.)