AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PREPARING WOOL OR OTHER ANIMAL FIBRE FOR CARDING OR COMBING
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Whitaker and James Ashworth, both
of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PREPARING WOOL OR OTHER ANIMAL FIBRE FOR
CARDING OR COMBING."
Sealed the 17th September 1872, and dated the 26th June 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Whitaker and
James Ashworth at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 26th June 1872.
We, GEORGE WHITAKER and JAMES ASHWORTH, both of Rochdale,
in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PREPARING WOOL OR OTHER ANIMAL
FIBRE FOR CARDING OR COMBING," to be as follows:-
This improved process relates to a method of preparing wool after it
has been scoured by the ordinary or other alkaline process, such improved
process being chiefly designed to restore the wool to a more natural
state, and to prevent the said alkali from acting deleteriously upon the
oil which is used subsequently, and at the same time to effect a con-
siderable saving of oil by this preparation for carding, or combing, and..

page_text: .
spinning. It also effects a great saving in the wear and tear of the cards,
and reduces the amount of dressing required.
.
The Invention consists of a dilution of sulphuric or other suitable acid
or acids in hot or cold water, into a vessel containing which the wool,
after it has been scoured as above named, is to be immersed. After
remaining in this a sufficient length of time to produce the desired effect,
it is then washed in hot or cold water to remove the free acid, after which
it is to be dried in any ordinary manner. It is then ready for oiling, and
carding, or combing in the usual way, and will only require about half
the amount of oil ordinarily employed for that purpose:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Whitaker and James Ashworth in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
WHITAKER and JAMES ASHWORTH, both of Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said George Whitaker and James Ash-
worth, Her special license that we, the said George Whitaker and James
Ashworth, our exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said George Whitaker and James Ashworth, 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 FOR
PREPARING WOOL OR OTHER ANIMAL FIBRE FOR CARDING OR COMBING," upon
the condition, amongst others, that we, the said George Whitaker
and James Ashworth, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and
seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be

page_text: 1
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said George Whitaker and James
Ashworth, 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 following statement thereof, that is
to say:
•
"This Invention has for its object improvements in preparing wool or
other animal fibre for carding or combing.
In order to remove the natural grease which wool contains it is usual
to scour it in an alkaline bath. Urine and other alkalies are very
commonly-used for this purpose, and the wool is afterwards washed in
water, and dried.
In the further treatment of the wool it is necessary to oil it to prepare
it for carding, or combing, and spinning.
Now we have discovered that a great economy in oil is effected by
treating the wool with weak acid after it has been scoured. By this
means we prevent the alkali from acting deleteriously on the oil, and
the wear of the cards is also lessened.
We prefer to operate in the following manner :-We take the wool
after it has been scoured and washed, and, without drying it, we placo it
in a bath of water rendered acid by the addition of 3 lbs. of commercial
sulphuric acid to 200 gallons of water. This bath we use warm (say, at
a temperature of 95 Fahrenheit), and the wool is turned over and
worked for one minute. The quantity of acid above stated is usually
sufficient for the treatment of 200 lbs. of wool; but this, and also the
time required for the completion of the process varies to some extent
with the quality of the wool, and the quantity of alkali used in the
scouring process. Sufficient acid should, in all cases, be used to keep
the bath acid throughout the operation. The quality of the wool will
not be injured by allowing it to remain in the bath somewhat longer
than the time which is mentioned above. The wool, after it is taken out
of the acid bath, is thoroughly washed in water, and it is then dried. In
oiling wool thus treated, preparatory to carding or combing, about one-
half the quantity of oil usually employed will suffice.

page_text: We would remark that in place of using sulphuric acid, as above
described, muriatic acid, or other acid or substance containing acid in a
form available to combine with alkali, may be substituted for sulphuric
acid; but as this acid is both efficacious and cheap we prefer it before
all others.
What we claim is, the method herein described of treating wool by
means of acid applied to the wool after it has been scoured (by so doing
neutralizing the effects of alkalies which have been used) and preparatory
to oiling it, to fit it to be carded or combed.
In witness whereof, the said George Whitaker and James Ashworth,
✓ have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-seventh
day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-two..