IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND APPLICATION OF VEGETABLE FIBRES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Werner Staufen, of 5, Barossa Place, Brompton,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentlenian, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND APPLICATION OF VEGETABLE FIBRES."
Sealed the 28th December 1866, and dated the 2nd July 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Werner Staufen at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd July 1866.
I, WERNER STAUFEN, of 5, Barossa Place, Brompton, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND APPLICATION OF VE ABLE FIBRES," to
be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the treatment and preparation of the vegetable
materials herein-after mentioned, whereby I obtain fibres applicable as a sub-
stitute for bristles or horse and other hair, which by reason of the treat-
ment undergone they much resemble.
In the Specification of a Patent No. 1279, dated April 30th 1862, granted
to me, I described a method of treating fibres, the produce of the tree known
as "arenga saccharifera,"apparentlysomewhat resembling my present improve-
ments, but which nevertheless differs in some important particulars. I take
[Priced 1

page_text: the vegetable materials in the state as they are imported, and boil them in an
alkaline solution for a longer or shorter period (say from half an hour to two
hours, as may be required, to remove the resinous, gummy, woody, or other
matter adhering to the fibres. The fibres when removed from the s.lution are
placed in a bath containing a mordant preparatory to dyeing. In dyeing these
fibres I mix with the dyeing solution a certain proportion of soapy matter,
using about 1 to 4 pound for every 100 pounds of material to be dyed. When
dyed the fibres are dried in the open air or by artificial means and then sub-
jected to the action of suitable machinery for opening, combing, straightening,
and polishing the fibres. The fibres are ultimately separated, sorted, and
selected for the purpose required If to be used as a substitute for bristles the
coarser fibres are selected and left straight, whereas if intended to be used as
stuffing for cushions and other articles in lieu of horsehair they are curled in
the same manner as in curling horsehair, after which they are steeped in
water till they become soft, and afterwards removed, and subjected to a high
degree of dry heat. The finer fibres are also suitable for weaving, making
ropes, yarn, covering telegraph cables, and other similar purposes, and if to
be so used are to be left straight.
The vegetable materials I employ are as follows:-Attalia fernifera,
Leopoldinia piassava, caryota ureus, agava Americana, arenga saccharifera,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Werner Staufen in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd January 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WERNER
STAUFEN, of 5, Barossa Place, Brompton, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the tirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Werner Staufen, Her special licence that I, the said Werner
Staufen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Werner Staufeu, my 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

page_text: make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND APPLICATION OF VEGETABLE FIBRES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Werner Staufen, my executors or
administrators, by an instruinent in writing under my, 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 I, the said Weiner Staufen, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to the treatment and preparation of the vegetable
materials herein-after mentioned, whereby I obtain fibres applicable as a
substitute for bristles, horse and other hair, which by reason of the treatment
undergone they much resemble. In the Specification of a Patent No. 1979,
dated April 30th 1862, granted to me, I described a method of treating fibres
the produce of a tree known as arenga saccharifera, apparently somewhat
resembling my present improvements, but which nevertheless differs in an
important particular. I take the vegetable materials in the state as they are
imported, and boil them in an alkaline solution for a longer or shorter period
(say from half an hour to two hours) as may be required to remove the
resinous, gummy, woody, or extraneous or other matter adhering to the
fibres. The fibres when removed from the solution are placed in a bath cou-
taining a mordant preparatory to dyeing. In dyeing these fibres I mix with
the dyeing solution a certain proportion of soapy matter, mixing about from
one to four pounds of oil soap in the solution for every hundred pounds of
material to be dyed. When dyed the fibres are dried in the open air or by
artificial means, and then subjected to the action of suitable machinery for
opening, combing, straightening, and polishing the fibres, as well understood
in flax dressing and other treatment of fibrcus matters; the fibres are ulti-
mately separated, sorted, and selected for the purpose required. If to be used
as a substitute for bristles in the manufacture of brushes the coarser fibres
are selected and left straight, whereas if intended to be used as stuffing for
cushions and other articles, in lieu of horsehair, they are curled in the same
manner as in curling horsehair, after which they are steeped in water till they
become soft. They are afterwards removed and subjected to a high degree of

page_text: dry heat, say from 140 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. The finer, as also the
coarser fibres, are suitable for weaving, as a substitute for human hair,
making of rope yarn, fishing lines, covering telegraph cables, and other
purposes,
and if to be so used are left straight. The vegetable materials I
employ areas follows:-Attalea funifera, Leopoldinia piassava, caryota urens,
agava Americana, arenga saccharifera, cocos nucifera, Tillandsia usneoides.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the use and application of
the fibres herein-before mentioned prepared and treated as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Werner Staufen, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
WERNER STAUFEN. (L.S.)