IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING JUTE AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR HACKLING, TEASING, SPINNING, AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Ferrier, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar,
in that part of the United Kingdom called Scotland, Flax Inspector, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING JUTE AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES FOR HACKLING, TEASING, SPINNING, AND OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 1st August 1864, and dated the 11th April 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Ferrier at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th April 1864.
I, JOSEPH FERRIEB, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, in that part of the
United Kingdom called Scotland, Flax Inspector, do hereby declare the nature
of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING JUTE AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES FOR HACKLING, TEASING, SPINNING, AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
In the preparation of jute, hemp, and other fibrous substances for hackling,
teasing, or spinning, it has been usual to batch, that is, lay the fibres in layers,
or otherwise, and pour or sprinkle oil, or oil and water, or oil, water, and soda,
upon and over the fibres until the whole is sufficiently damped and softened,
and thereby rendered more fitted for the purposes above mentioned.
This Invention consists in dispensing with the oil, or oil and soda, and in
employing soap and water, or the constituents of soap or saponaceous matter

page_text: mixed with water, whereby the fibrous substances are rendered more fit for
hackling, teasing, spinning, or other purposes to which they are to be
applied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Ferrier, in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the
11th October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
FERRIER, of Dundee, in the County of Forfar, in that part of the United
Kingdom called Scotland, Flax Inspector, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her, Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in. the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Ferrier, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Ferrier,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Ferrier, 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 make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PREPARING JUTE AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR HACKLING, TEASING,
SPINNING, AND OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Joseph Ferrier, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti-
cularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Ferrier, 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 consists in employing soap or saponaceous matter mixed
with water (warm soft water at a temperature of about 100 to 120 degrees
of Fahrenheit being most suitable) in the proportions of from 1 to 12 pounds
of soap in about 4 to about 6 gallons of water, for the purpose of batching

page_text: one bale of jute, which ordinarily weighs about 300 lbs. I spread out the
bale of jute in layers of suitable thickness according to the ordinary process of
batching, and pour or sprinkle the mixture upon and over the fibres in such
layers. The heap or batch of jute should be suffered to remain, after it has
been so treated, for about the space of 24 hours, which will give time for the
solution to act on the whole quantity, particularly the root and crop ends, at
the end of which time the whole mass will be sufficiently softened, and rendered
more fitted for hackling, teasing, spinning, or other purposes to. which it is to
be applied, than by any other method hitherto employed, and at a much less
expense. The quantity of soap to be used should not exceed 12 lbs. nor be less
than 1 lb. per bale of jute of 800 lbs. ; but the quantity to be used on each
bale necessarily depends on the nature of the jute; for instance, hard and
harsh jute with heavy roots and hard crop ends, and jute of a gummy nature,
will require a stronger solution than soft and clean jute; but the standard
quality of jute is so irregular, and the kinds of yarn into which jute may be
spun are so various, that the strength and quantity of the mixture within the
above limits must be tempered by the parties using it according to circumi-
stances. By passing the jute through rollers or other suitable machinery for
softening it, the action of the solution upon the jute will be assisted, and the
quantity of the solution and the time for the jute being subjected to it may be
diminished. I find that hard soap is the best adapted for the purposes above
mentioned, and that the best and readiest mode of preparing the solution is to
cut the soap into small pieces, and dissolve it in water, nearly boiling, in the
proportion of about 1 lb. of soap to about 2 quarts of water, and after it has
somewhat cooled to mix such preparation with water, so that the total quantity
of the solution shall be from about 4 to about 6 gallons for each bale, at the tem-
perature of about 100 to 120 degrees of Fahrenheit, the quantity and strength
of solution for each bale to be in accordance with the quality of the jute, or
the purposes for which it is to be used, as jute will require less softening when
preparing for spinning coarse heavy yarns than when preparing for spinning
fine yarns. The proportions above set forth are adequate and effectual for the
purpose; but it will be obvious that they may be varied so as to produce
substantially the same effect, in accordance with the principle of my
Invention.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the preparing jute and
other fibrous substances of that class for hackling, teasing, spinning, and other
purposes, by means of soap (that is to say, the chemical combination of a fatty

page_text: acid with an alkali, either when hardened in the usual manner for sale, or
whilst in a soft state after saponification has taken place), in solution with
water, as herein-before described, instead of oil, or oil and water, or oil,
water, and soda, or other mixtures or methods hitherto employed in such
preparation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Ferrier, have hereunto 'set my'
hand and seal, this Eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JOSEPH FERRIER. (LS.)