Improvements relating to the Manufacture of Textile Fabrics.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Nov., 1896-Accepted, 23rd Oct., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to the Manufacture of Textile Fabrics.
I, VALERIO BONA, of Carignano near Turin, in the Kingdom of Italy, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
The present invention consists in the use for manufacturing cheap woollen
fabrics, of a textile fibre (silk floss) not used hitherto for said purpose, mixed in
different proportions with natural wool or with artificial wool also known as
"shoddy," whereby great strength is given to said textile fabrics which feel fine
but at the same time is strong.
All these qualities cannot be obtained by using cotton-threads as is done now
under similar conditions. This silk-floss (which in Italy is commonly called
Spelaia ") is the silky stuff which is removed from the cocoons before the latter
are treated to obtain silk-threads, and it is this silk-floss which forms kind of spider-
web which the silk-worm spins on the stem on which he is going to make his
cocoon as well as round the latter before it is completely formed. It will be
easily understood from the very fact that this silk-floss is destined to support
and to maintain the cocoon, that it is constituted by long, very strong and
resisting, although at the same time very fine fibres.
وو
This substance, the use of which is an essential feature of the present inven-
tion, has nothing in common with the inferior products or even with the waste
obtained when cocoon is spun (refuse or waste or even
"tram
or "frisons")
commonly called in Italian "Pettinuzzo" or "Cascami di seta "). These different
secondary products consist of short fibres, in most cases all entangled and inter-
twined with each other and as a rule containing a large quantity of small knots
or noils constituted by different intertwined fibres which are so to say tied into.
a knot. In consequence of the fact of being waste they are by far less strong
than the silk-floss ("Spelaia"). The same products have already been used in
the manufacture of rough fabrics commonly known as knicker-bocker goods,
that is to say fabrics with numerous small knots or raised points resembling
grains of rice.
But the object of the present invention is totally different from the above; the
nature of the textile fabric obtained is diametrically opposite to the above-
mentioned; and finally, the material used is, as has been already said, quite
different. In fact, the object of the present invention is to facilitate obtaining
very high "numbers" and strong thread, which is impossible to realise with the
secondary products of spinning; and the fabric obtained is smooth and not
rough.
By proceeding according to the present invention, that is to say, by adding
to the mixture of shoddy and natural wool the silky material suggested (the silk-
Hoss-" Spelaia "), a more uniform and strong thread is obtained, and-in
accordance with the proportion of silk floss used-a thread may be obtained, the
ize or "number" of which exceeds by 50 or even 100 % that of the thread

page_text: obtained from the same mixture of the two kinds of wool, but without addtiion
of silk-floss. The inventor has obtained during his experiments a thread,
7500 mtrs of which weighed one kilogramme, by mixing 75 parts of shoddy wool
and 10 parts of natural wool; by adding to the above mixture 15 parts of cleaned
or purified silk-floss, be easily succeeded in obtaining a very good and uniform
thread, 15000 mtrs of which weighed one kilogramme.
It is quite easy to account for these results if the following is taken into con-
sideration; That the 15 parts of silk-floss.contain a quantity of. fibres probably
equal to that contained in the 85 parts of wool; and that it has been proved that
the facility of rapidly and easily obtaining a thread of a high "number" depends
on the greatest fineness and strength of the fibres from which this thread is to
be spun. These reasons have induced the inventor to suitably utilise the length,
the fineness and the strength of the fibres constituting silk-floss ("Spelaia"),
which enveloping and, so to say, tying together in the formation of the thread,
other less valuable fibres of natural wool and especially of shoddy wool, enable a
thread to be obtained, which is very uniform and round, has a fine number and
at the same time is very strong. The textile fabric woven with such a thread
is therefore rapidly produced and at the same time very remunerative for the
workman, is very fine in consequence of the high number of the thread from
which it is produced, feels firm, and not shaggy as would have been the case, if
no silk-floss were used.
Before being mixed with wool, the silk-floss must be suitably prepared, which
is done in the following manner: It is first boiled in soap-suds in order to free
it from all foreign matter, especially from resinous substances that it may contain
(washing); then it is dried and afterwards carded on a carding machine pro-
ducing the "ribbon" or fleece (" ribbon-machine"); finally it is passed through
a combing machine in order to free it either from vegetable substances (from the
tree where, the cocoon has been formed) which it may contain or from the noils
or entangled and inter-twisted fibres which are commonly called "pettinuzzo" in
Italian and "frisons" in French. Then it is quite ready for use.
The "mixed" textile fabrics or "nouveautes" are manufactured in the following
manner: Having chosen the desired colours or combinations, the natural or
artificial wool or shoddy required is dyed by any well-known suitable process,
and on the other hand the silk-floss is dyed by any desired suitable process, such
processes being preferably chosen, which resist best in the fulling and in other
operations which the woollen fabrics have to undergo. Then desired mixtures
or combinations or plain colours are formed, silk-floss being taken in the propor
tion of 15% which proportion has been found to be the best; care must be taken
in case of mixed fabrics to make the silk-floss of the predominating colour, that
is to say of the colour which enters in greatest proportion in the composition of
the mixed colour, so that the silk-floss may remain so to say absorbed and hidden
as much as possible in the mass of the fabric, as it is the object of the present
invention to impart to the fabric "body" and strength, and not the apparent
effect of silk, which on the contrary is to be avoided. Then the mixture is trans-
ferred to the carding machines exactly in the same way as if it were pure wool,
the only difference being that oiling is effected by addition of 5% of Taranto
oil or oil of olive from Taranto Italy.
The fabrics which are to be dyed when ready woven, may be dyed either only
the dyeing process for wool or by both processes for wool and for silk. 1st
case having chosen the desired colours, they are classed according to their
affinity and tints or shades and mixtures of the fibrous materials are formed in
such manner, that the assortment of each colour (brown colours, for instance)
contains 15% of silk-floss of a medium shade of the same colour (in this case,
brown); the same applies of course to all other shades or tinta, lead, iron-grey,
chestnut. Then the work is proceeded with, the fabric is manufactured and com-
pleted and finally dyed by the process used for wool, the colour of the silk-floss

page_text: having already been obtained before being added to the wool; thus the desired
final colour will be obtained. 2nd case: Very often, in order to utilize the
residues and waste from preparing such mixtures or combinations, it is found
expedient to manufacture fabrics with a dark ground and which can be sold at a
very moderate price; then a suitable quantity of natural wool and of silk-floss
is added to these residual products; the whole is mixed together, and a thread
is spun from it, from which a fabric is woven, which has "greyish" colour; after
it is completed, it is dyed first by the process for wool and then by process used
for dyeing silk.
The said mixtures or combinations are fabrics made with variously coloured
threads, so that it is necessary to dye all the waste in a single colour preferably
brown for utilizing the same for a new fabric.
The aforesaid residue on waste consists of the unutilized threads from the
manufacture of the said fabrics and the trimmings of the same.
These dyeing processes do not form part of the present invention, and they are
not therefore herein described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
In the spinning and weaving of woollen cloths and stuffs of all kinds and
weights and for all seasons, of any pattern and colour, plain or of any design
the combination and novel use, for spinning the thread with which the fabric is
woven, of silk-floss or outer fibres (called in Italian "spelaia") with natural and
artificial wool or shoddy, substantially as described and for the purpose of
obtaining cheap fabrics having different hereinbefore specified advantages.
Dated this 11th day of November 1896.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.