AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING ROPE INTO OAKUM
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Webber, juuior, of Trentham Terrace, Grove
Road, Mile End, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING ROPE INTO
OAKUM."
i
Sealed the 9th April 1861, and dated the 23rd October 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Webber at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
October 1860.
I, JOHN WEBBER, junior, of Trentham Terrace, Grove Road, Mile End, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING ROPE INTO OAKUM,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain means for facilitating the separation of the
fibres of old ropes for the purpose of converting the same into oakum. To this
end I construct a closed vessel of an oval or oblong form with rounded ends,
and fit it with an inner periphery, so as to form therewith an endless closed
trough. At a straight portion of this trough I mount a paddle wheel, for the.
purpose of keeping up by its rotation a constant circulation of water, which is
to be run into the trough so as to fill it about two-thirds full. The rope to be.
operated upon, after having been cut up into short pieces and separated by
hand into strands, is placed in this trough and allowed to float round for a

page_text: suitable time with the current, steam being at the same time admitted as
thought desirable to heat the water. When the fibres are judged to have been
sufficiently saturated to destroy the adhesive property of the resinous matters
contained in the rope, they are to be removed from the trough and dried, after
which they will be in a proper condition to undergo the carding process.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Webber in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WEBBER, junior, of Trentham Terrace, Grove Road, Mile End, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Webber, junior, Her special license that I, the said John Webber,
junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Webber, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
nny 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 MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING ROPE INTO ОAкUM," upon
the condition (amongst others) that 1, the said John Webber, junior, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to he 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 John Webber, junior, do hereby declare
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 fol-
lowing statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
-
This Invention relates to certain means for facilitating the separation of the
fibres of old ropes for the purpose of converting the same into oakum
In

page_text: order to prepare ropes that are intended to be converted into oakum for my
improved mode of treatment, which is a step in the process of conversion pre-
paratory to the final process of separating the fibres by mechanical force, I cut.
the ropes up into suitable lengths, saturate the pieces in hot water to soften
them, and then take out by hand the twist which holds the strands together.
When the strands are thus separated, the fibres are still tenaciously held
together by the combined action of the pitchy or resinous matter contained in
the rope and the twist which still remains in the strands.
Now, the object of this Invention is so to operate upon the untwisted
strands, that without discharging the pitchy or resinous substance from the
strands (the presence of which in the oakum is very desirable), the fibres com:
posing the same, shall readily separate under a picking or carding action. To
this end I immerse the strands in water at or near the boiling point, and keep
them in constant agitation until by the action of the moist heat the binding
effect of the resinous matter contained in the strands is neutralized. This will
in general take from five to fifteen minutes, according to the nature of the
material acted upon and the temperature employed.
In carrying out this operation, I prefer to employ the apparatus shewn in
the accompanying Drawing, and which I will now describe.
Fig. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus, a portion of the cover being removed
to shew the interior, and Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken in the line 1, 2,
of Fig. 1.
A, A, is a closed vessel of an oval or oblong form with rounded ends and
fitted with an inner periphery, so as to form therewith an endless closed trough
somewhat similar to the vessel in which paper makers reduce their rags to
pulp. Across a straight portion of this trough a paddle wheel B is mounted in
suitable bearings, and by means of a cover C both the wheel and the trough are
closed in. A door D is, however, provided in the cover for the purpose of
charging the closed vessel with the material to be operated upon, and to allow
of its being removed therefrom when the steeping or macerating operation
is completed. E is a pipe for admitting water to the vessel A, and F is
a pipe for blowing steam into the water to heat it and keep it at a
temperature approaching the boiling point. When commencing to operate
with this apparatus I run in water sufficient to fill the vessel about two-thirds
full, and I then throw in about three-quarters of a hundredweight of the rope,
prepared by having been cut up into short pieces and separated by hand into
strands, as above explained. I then give rotary motion to the paddle wheel,
for the purpose of keeping up a continuous circulation through the vessel,
admitting at the same time steam for raising or maintaining (as the case may

page_text: be) the heat of the water. The fibres will thus float round in the current, and
be effectually presented to the macerating action of the hot water. When they
are judged to have been sufficiently long exposed to this action to destroy the
adhesive property of the resinous matters contained in the rope (the necessary
duration of which action will depend upon the quality of the material under
treatment), they are to be removed from the trough and dried, after which
they will be in a proper condition to undergo the ordinary picking or carding
process to complete the separation of the fibres. This last operation will be
found to be greatly facilitated by reason of the fibres having been subjected to
the preparatory treatment above explained, which not only dissolves the resin-
ous matter contained in the rope, but takes out the greater portion of the twist
in the strands and also in the yarn of which they are composed.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "An Improved Mode
of and Apparatus for converting Rope into Oakum," and explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I claim; macerating cut untwisted rope in
the manner and for the purpose above explained, and effecting such operation
by the aid of the apparatus above described. .
In witness whereof, I, the said John Webber, junior, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JNO. WEBBER, JR. (L.B.)