CERTAIN IMPROVED APPARATUS AND PROCESSES FOR PREPARING PHORMIUM TENAX, OR NEW. ZEALAND FLAX, SO AS TO RENDER IT APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MURDOCH, of Staple Inn, Mechanical Draftesman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Second day of April, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Murdoch, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said James Murdoch, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said James Murdoch, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVED APPARATUS AND PROCESSES
FOR PREPARING PHORMIUM TENAX, OR NEW. ZEALAND FLAX, SO AS TO RENDER IT
APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES," communicated to me by a certain
Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said James Murdoch, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Murdoch, do hereby declare that the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say
The object of the present Invention is, by several processes to be afterwards
described, to operate upon phormium tenax, and to convert it into a fit state to
be used for purposes where flax, hemp, and other fibrous substances are now
used.
Second, to convert the products so as to imitate silk, wool, horsehair.
Third, to manufacture it into pulp to be employed in making paper in
place of rags; also to obtain from the plant an oily gummy product, which
may be used as varnish.
The phormium tenax may, according to this Invention, be treated, first, in
a green state, and, secondly, in a dry state. The modes of treating it I will
now describe :-
The mode of treating the phormium tenax in the green state to get it into a
fit state for spinning.-The plant having attained its maturity, is taken in a
fresh state and submitted to the following process:-The fibre which runs
through the middle of the plant having been removed with a cutting
instrument, and the edges of the leaf having been cut off, the leaves are split
in two longitudinal pieces. They are then submitted to a process of beating
and washing, which macerates and separates the fibres, and also the gummy
resinous matters which are on the surface of the plant. The apparatus for
beating and washing is as follows:-In this apparatus the moving power works
two similar arrangements of machinery. In the arrangements shewn, the
main shaft carries at each end a large toothed wheel of seven feet eight inches
diameter, having 136 teeth. These wheels give motion to the smaller wheels
of two feet diameter, with 46 teeth. To the smaller wheels are adapted
shafts, which, in their rotary movement, raise the wooden beaters by means of
cams or projections. The apparatus is divided in four divisions or chambers
of two yards each, which are so arranged as to perfectly clean it. These
beaters fall into a continuous spout of about eight inches in width and ten
inches in depth. A tube is fixed to the upper reservoir through which the
water runs into the spout. This water passes first into the chamber No. 4,
where the material is nearly cleaned, and then into the chambers 3,2, and 1,
from whence it runs away. The beaters of the No. 1 division are connected
by joints to the level of the first cross piece; as they act upon the raw plant,
a considerable degree of force may be employed. In this division the number

page_text: of beaters is ten; in the No. 2 division there are only nine; the beaters are
seventeen inches high. In the No. 3 division there are only eight beaters,
and in the No. 4 there are only six beaters of. These last beaters, of one foot
by eight inches, act upon the fibrous materials strongly saturated with water.
The action of either division may be stopped by means of a horizontal piece of
wood z placed at each end in the groove, cut in the upright and passing under
the projection of each of the beaters. This piece of wood z may be raised by
two pullies, by means of a catch handle. It is by the successive action of the
beaters, the one rising while the other falls, that the material is always kept
in the spout without being drawn out with the water. All the beaters have,
at their under part, horizontal grooves cut in the wood. The workman, in
placing the material into the different divisions, should at each operation
withdraw the filaments and wash them before they are placed in the next
division. After having been submitted to the process of beating and washing,
the fibres are laid out to dry, and when thoroughly dry, are in a fit state for
the next operation.
I will now describe the mode of treating the phormium tenax in a dry state.
The Drawing No. 2 shews an apparatus for removing the skin from the
fibre. Figure 1 is a lateral clevation of the side, shewing the wheelwork that
transmits the motion to the disc. Figure 2 is an external view of the Figure 1.
The Figures from 4 to 7 represent different positions of the discs or blades,
which operate upon the material submitted to the action of the apparatus.
Figures 8 and 9 shew the detail of the construction of one of these discs or
blades. Figures 10 and 11 show the different views of the pinchers or holders;
and Figure 12 shews a detail of the ratchet wheel, with its catch. In these
Figures the same parts are marked with the same letters. The working parts
of this machine consist in the arrangement of a series of blades or arms a, b,
fixed by one of their ends upon the metal plates A, B, and to which is given a
rotary motion, more or less rapid, as required. This movement being given
contrary ways, the blades successively cross each other in such manner that a
handful of phormium tenax may be pressed between them, which is alternately
pressed against, bent, and drawn through by these blades, so that it is
completely deprived of any bark or rind, or woody particles that may
remain in it.
In the Drawing No. 2, Figure 4 represents the position of a blade of each
plate at the time when they are all near; they seem as if they would strike
one another, but as they are adjusted upon discs of different axes, and which
have the same rotary motion, besides as the distance of the centre of these
discs is properly calculated, they will approach close to each other without

page_text: striking. Figure 5 represents another position of the same blades after their
discs have made further movement; it will be seen by that position that
the material has been forced to change its direction; the material is bent and
bruised by the form of the blades which act against it, and tend to remove the
rind or peel which cover it. Figures 6 and 7 shew other positions of the
same blades which continue to work with their disc. It will be seen that the
fibres are again bent and bruised in the contrary way. The other blades
equally operate upon the fibrous substances which, during the rotation of the
discs, are brought slowly into action by the moveable holders C and D, which
are made to descend upon an inclined table E. The movement is given to
the machine by two axes which give motion to two blades turning the contrary
way. The same power drives both these axes, also the pinchers or holders,
the working of which is as follows:-The material under operation is pinched
between two angular toothed pinchers, one of which made of metal C, and the
other of wood D, each covered with a skin or other substance which allows
them to press closely upon the material without cutting it. These two
pinchers are kept together by means of screw bolts, as will be seen by
examining Figures 10 and 11 of the Drawings, where the details are shewn.
The metal pinchers are adjusted in grooves between two uprights attached to
the sides of the wooden inclined plane E, and can be regulated as required by
means of the metal bracket M bolted upon the two sides of the framing. The
material under operation, held by the pincher, descends slowly in proportion as
the blade carriers rotate by means of tooth wheels and pullies, arranged by a
simple plan, shewn, to work the roller, to which is fixed the pincher, and
consequently the descent of the machine is in proportion to the speed of the
blades, but much slower. When it is required to raise up the pinchers to
withdraw the material after it has been operated upon, or to change the end
after it has been operated upon, it will be sufficient to turn the axes of the
roller N the contrary way to what had been given by the wheelwork, which is
done by a handle fixed to the end of the axes. Care must be taken to
disengage the catch of the wheel, in order that the wheel O should not by this
movement be put into work. After this treatment, the material is next
subject to the operation of beating, the object of which is to finish the removal
of all the gummy matter without reducing the strength of the thread; it is
effected by means of the apparatus now to be described. The apparatus is
constructed of the same dimensions as the heating apparatus before described.
These beaters are divided into four divisions, of six feet each, marked from the
end of the shaft 5, 6, 7, 8. They fall upon a bottom of stone or hard wood,
with two wooden sides, the one fixed opposite to the side where the workman

page_text: fixes the plant, the other moveable, attached to a jointed piece, which enables
the workman to turn and return the plant placed all the length of the plant.
When the beaters have sufficiently acted upon it, the workman should have a
sufficient quantity of the material bundled together, so as to bear the pressure
from the weight of the beaters. The divisions 5, 6, are of the same kind, but
divided into ten and twelve beaters, composed of planks of hard wood, of eight
feet high; each division has about six feet of surface. The cams or projections
are fixed spirally, and work into the two divisions in such manner as to keep
up a continual working. The beaters No. 7 and 8 are not so heavy. These
beaters consist of planks of seven feet by three inches thick. There are
about ten and twelve of them, and the same axes works into these two
divisions of beaters as into No. 1 and 2. The machine may be stopped, one
division at a time, by means of a lever arm z¹, which raises a cross piece,
which is fixed by two iron ties to the two horizontal pieces y, which keep the
beaters in the proper position. The projections fixed to the upper part of the
beaters are laid hold of and raised by this piece y. These levers are strong
pieces of wood, and the workman can by his own weight raise the beaters
No. 7 and 8. It would require a great effort to raise the beaters No. 5 and 6,
but this is facilitated by means of a crank handle and windlass x. This
machine is capable of two operations: first, the beating and the reducing the
material into a state of tow or pulp, of which I shall afterwards speak. The
beaters No. 5 and 6 are only necessary for the beating operations, but the
whole system is required to reduce it to the pulpy state. The combing of the
material may be performed by hand, or by any of the machinery that is well
known for combing fibrous substances. The brushing process, hereafter
described, is to give to the material a finish, in order to render it suitable for
the manufacture of fabrics of the first quality. This is effected by the following
machine: The workman will place the quantity of material prepared as above
described upon a bed or surface of the form shewn at E, E, covered with a
skin of chammy or other suitable material, and of the length of the brush.
There are four flyers of about one foot high by eighteen inches, the spaces of
which are filled up by sheets of parchment, at the end of which is fixed a
horsehair brush, of about an inch long and about an inch in width, the surface
of which is uneven and irregular. These revolve two turns in a second on an
axis, and come in contact with the fibrous material on the rounded surface E.
This machine is applicable to the finest description of materials by having
means of adjustment, as shewn.
Mode of preparing the phormium tenax in a green state for tow and for
pulp. The waste that comes from the cleaning of the plant in preparing it for

page_text: spinning, and also the parts which may not be considered capable of being
usefully employed, I can, by the following process, employ them both for
spinning and for making paper. This machine is essentially the same as the
one before described for beating the fibres, when beating the fibres in a dry
state, the only difference being the employment of a trough, in which water
flows to moisten the plant. This water is let in by a cock, and passes first
from the division of beaters No. 4 upon the matter almost purified, then
successively upon No. 3, 2, 1, from whence it runs away after each operation;
the workman should withdraw the fibrous materials, and wash them well in
water. These operations are the same as those described before, when giving
a description of the beating machine for the treatment of the fibres in a green
state. If after this process there should remain any gummy matter, that may
be easily removed when thoroughly dry by putting them in bags and slightly
beating them.
When this material is intended for spinning, after it is
thoroughly dry it is to be subjected to a further slight beating, in order to
render it soft and supple. When it is intended to be used a pulp for paper,
or substitute for the rags now used, the leaves must be chosen according to
the quality of the paper to be made. When of the first quality, greater care
must be observed in the cleaning it, and also in seeing that the damaged or
speckled parts are not used, nor the woody parts, and the edges of the leaf.
If any gummy matter should still continue in the material, by leaving it some
days in the water and then drying it thoroughly, it will be readily removed by
beating them in bags; it is then converted into pulp by a powerful system by
beating and washing acting simultaneously. This pulp may be bleached
by any of the ordinary well known means, and can then be used in the
manufacture of paper.
I will now describe the mode of converting the dry phormium tenax into
pulp for making paper from the rough material which comes from the comb-
ing of the dry tenax that has been prepared for spinning. I obtain a pulp
that may be bleached by any of the ordinary means, and will be suitable for
the manufacture of paper; the tow or paste then kept in water sufficiently long
to felt, when it is afterwards subjected to a powerful beating. In order to get
from the phormium tenax a material resembling silk, the finest kinds of
leaves must be selected, and by preference those which grow in the plantations
of New Zealand. They are then subjected to with great care the action of
the rotary tearer, and afterwards to the rotatory brush, when the products will
be found to be suitable for the silk and lace workers. In order to get the
phormium tenax to appear like horsehair, I first put it into water for some
hours, then submit it to the tearing process after it is thoroughly dry, and

page_text: when the gummy matter is removed from it, is submitted to a washing of
sulphuric acid and water; afterwards it is washed in a bath containing yeast
of beer and chloride of lime and water. The effect of this process will be to
produce a material resembling white horsehair, which may be dyed and used
for any suitable purpose. To convert the phormium tenax into a material
resembling wool:-After the tow or pulp has been crushed, I lay it out on
hurdles and beat it in bags; it is then to be subject to a carding engine; and
when required of any particular color, it may be dyed by any of the ordinary
means, and submitted to a second carding process, when the fibres will be
found to be suitable for spinning in all its applications.
The Inventor has discovered that there is an oily matter contained in the
phormium tenax, which may be extracted according to the ordinary process of
obtaining oils. The gummy matter which is removed from the surface of the
leaves in the process of manufacture may be collected, and, by combining it
with an alcoholic solution, may be converted into a varnish; when mixed with
water can be employed to keep out the damp from walls, and other purposes.
DESCRIPTION OF THE MACHINE FOR TEARING THE PHORMIUM TENAX, shewn
in the Drawing No. 2.
The machine is shewn in different views. Figure 1 shews a lateral
elevation of the side of the machine, shewing the wheelwork that transmits
the movement to the discs which carry the blades. Figure 2 is a front view;
Figure 3 is a vertical section. The Figures 4 to 7 inclusive represent
different positions of the blades which act upon the fibrous material submitted
to the action of the machine. Figures 8 and 9 shew the construction of the
blade carriers in detail. Figures 10 and 11 represent different views of the
pinchers or holders; and Figure 12 shews in detail a view of the ratchet
wheel with its catch. In all these Figures the same letters represent the
same parts wherever they occur. It will be seen by the different Figures in
the Drawings that the essential part, the working part of the machine,
consists in the arrangement of a series of blades of metal a, b, each fixed at
one of its ends to a disc A or B, to which discs rotatory movement is given
more or less rapid, as required. This movement being given in opposite
directions, the blades present themselves in such a manner that if a portion of
the phormium tenax is passed among them it is alternately beaten, bent, and
drawn by these blades, so that it is completely deprived of the bark or portions
of woody parts that are upon the surface of the plant. In order to make
clear the nature of this process, it is necessary to represent in different Figures
the various positions of these blades with regard to each other, at the time

page_text: when they approach each other, when they cross, and when they quit each
other. Figure 4 represents the position of one of the blades at the time when
they are near to each other. It would be supposed that they would strike
against each other; but as they are adjusted upon discs of different diameter,
and of the same rotatory speed, this is prevented; besides, the distance of the
centre of these discs is properly calculated, so that they can approach
sufficiently near without touching. The fibrous material h, being forced to
pass between these two blades, is necessarily obliged to follow the direction
indicated at Figure 4. Figure 5 represents a second position of these same
blades. It will be seen in this new direction that the fibrous material has
been forced to change its position; it is bent, and in this position has been
bruised by the blades which rub against and remove the bark or the woody
fibre which covers the surface. The Figures 6 and 7 show two other positions
of the same blades when they continue to work with their discs which draw the
fibre. It will be seen that the fibres are again bent and bruised in another
direction, from whence it results that in the rapid action that it has, that the
part acted on by the blades is so beaten and bruised that it is impossible but
that all the exterior surface should be removed. The other blades act equally
upon the other parts of the fibrous material, which, during the rotation of the
discs, is slowly brought to their action by the moveable pinchers C, D, which
are caused to descend on an inclined wooden table E.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CONSTRUCTION AND ACTION OF THE BLADE CARRIERS.
any
The two discs A, B, are hollowed out to make them light, and are fixed
by suitable means to wrought iron shafts c, d, which turn in different directions.
The lower shaft turns in bearings at e, attached to the side frame fixed to the
framing F of the machine, and which are tied together by means of the metal
bars L. This shaft has motion given to it by means of one of the two pullies
G, G. These pullies may be worked by hand, by turning the handle H or by
other power; but when the machine is worked by the handle H, in order
that the requisite speed may be given to the discs, a wheel I may be placed
upon the axes of the handle, and which would take into and drive a pinion J
upon the end of the upper shaft d. The upper shaft is carried in moveable
bearings f, adjusted in angular sliding pieces arranged in the metal framings F.
They are regulated and kept in their position by means of set screws g.
Whatever means are employed to give motion to either of these shafts, it is
communicated to the other by means of the toothed wheels K, K¹, which are
of the same size and the same number of teeth fixed in the side of the axes
opposite to the pullies G, G.

page_text: The fibrous material to be operated upon by the tearing machine is pinched
between two angular toothed holders, the one of which C is of metal and the
other wood, each covered with skin or other suitable material to prevent the
fibres being cut or torn when undergoing great pressure. These two holders
are held together by two screw bolts, as will be seen by examining the Draw-
ings. The holders move in grooves between two cheeks attached to the sides
of the wooden inclined plate E, which is kept in the required position by the
metal brackets M, bolted upon the two sides of the framing. In order that
the fibrous material to be operated upon should descend slowly in proportion
as the blade carriers rotate, a pincher or holder, supplied with a portion of the
material, is attached by a small chain or cord i to a wooden roller N, on an axis
which runs the whole width of the machine, and moves freely in bearings on
the top of the metal brackets M, M. At one end of this axis, outside of the
bracket M, there is a toothed wheel O, which is capable of moving freely upon
it, and a ratchet wheel P which is fixed on the axis, and by a click or stop P',
the wheel O is secured to the ratchet wheel P. The toothed wheel O may
receive motion from a small pinion k attached to the pulley . This pulley 7 is
driven by a band or strap P, which receives motion from a pulley affixed on
the axis C of the lower blade carrier. In this manner the working of the
roller N, and, consequently, the descent of the holders, is in proportion to the
rotatory speed of the blades. When it is required to raise the holders C, D,
either to withdraw the fibrous material under operation or to change the end
after the first part has been properly worked, it will only be necessary to turn
them the contrary way of the movement which is given to it by the wheel-
work by means of a handle n, care being observed that the catch p¹ of the
ratchet wheel P is released, so that the wheel O should not be driven round
in this operation. It is evident that the proportions of this machine may be
varied from those shewn in the Drawing, according to the power required to
be exercised and the quantity of material to be operated upon at one time.
The speed of the blade carriers may also be varied.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BRUSHING MACHINE FOR RENDERING THE FIBRES PARALLEL,
shewn in the Drawing No. 8.
Figure 1 represents an external front view of the machine. Figure 2
represents a lateral elevation taken lengthways. Figure 3, vertical section
taken through the middle of the apparatus, according to the dotted line 1, 2,
of the Figure 2. In all these Figures the same letters indicate the same parts

page_text: wherever they occur, and the Drawings are made to a scale of one fifth of their
natural size. This machine is of a very simple construction. It consists of
an horizontal axis, on which are fixed four arms that carry at their extremities
four horsehair brushes, as are shown in the different Figures in the Drawings.
Motion may be given to the axis by the handle C, which is fixed on to one of
its ends, or by any suitable means, by the aid of a band and pulley D, which
transmits a more or less rapid speed, according to the work to be done. The
brushes are intended to rub against, in their rotatory movement, all the fibres
of the material submitted to their action, and which are placed for this pur-
pose upon a fixed surface E, which is of a suitable bent form. In this
operation it is easy to perceive that all the fibres are made straight and cleaned.
To regulate with certainty the distance between the brushes and the surface
of the bed E, their axes is mounted with moveable bearings, which, by means
of a screw, may be adjusted, and the distance may be varied as required. These
bearings are adjusted in a metal plate F connected to the plates G, which are
firmly bolted to the upright wooden pieces H. There are slots or openings
formed in the plates G in which the screw bolts of the bearing can be moved,
and there secured by their nuts; there are projections in the plate G through
which the adjusting screw I passes, by which the bearings F can be adjusted
to any desired position. The two uprights H are fixed firmly together to cross
pieces by means of pins or bolts. The surface E is made of several flat plates
slightly bent, and nailed into the surface of the wooden arch J, which is
attached to the vertical beams K, and connected together by cross pieces, as
shewn in the Drawing.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood, that I do not confine myself
to the precise details of the machines herein described, so long as the cha-
racter of the Invention be retained, but what I claim is,―
First, the mode of manufacturing materials from phormium tenax suitable
for spinning and for paper making, by treating phormium tenax when in a s
green state.
Secondly, the mode of arranging apparatus for beating and operating upon
phormium tenax, as described in respect to the Drawing No. 1.
Thirdly, I claim the means of arranging the rotatory apparatus for tearing
or separating the fibres, and removing the skin and other matters, as described 3
in Drawing No. 2. And also the brushing apparatus, as described in Drawing
No. 3.
Fourthly, I claim the extracting an oily matter from the phormium tenax.
I also claim the preparing varnish from the residue of gummy matter obtained

page_text: from the leaves of the plants, as before explained. And I also claim the pre-
paring the fibres of the phormium tenax in such manner as to give them the
appearance of horsehair, silk, and wool, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Murdoch, hath hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.