IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING THE TT MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND HOT BINE AND RENDERING IT APPLICABLE BEE TO THE MANUFAC OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Barling, of 7, High Street, Maidstone, in the
County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING THE
TT
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND
HOT BINE AND RENDERING IT APPLICABLE
BEE TO THE MANUFAC
OTHER ARTICLES."
Sealed the 4th August 1854, and dated the 27th April 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Barling at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
April 1854.
I, JOSEPH BARLING, of 7, High Street, Maidstone, in the County of Kent,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING
THE HOP BINE AND RENDERING IT APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
AND OTHER ARTICLES" to be as follows:-
My process for converting hop bine into a material for making paper, &c.
consists in dissolving (by boiling in alkali, &c., as below described,) the gummy
or resinous matter which binds or holds together the filaments of which it
(the said bine) is composed. The bark is composed of long fibres, held together
by said gummy, or resinous substance, which long fibres can be separated by
dissolving the said gummy or resinous matter, either naturally, by steeping in
water, in a manner similar to that practised on flax, and known by the term
water retting, or by exposing the same to the action of the dew and air, and
known by the term dew retting; or other plans as commonly practised upon

page_text: flax for the separating the fibrous from the woody portion. Now, the centre
or woody core of hop bine is composed of numerous cells or tubes, like a
bundle of pipes, held together by a gummy or resinous cement, and which
said tubes or parts of them are composed of short fibrous material. Now, my
principle in converting the said material to the purpose of paper making is
the same as before described, and consists in dissolving the said gum or resin
by means of alkaline solvents; and for the assisting of which solvents I first
split or break the said hop bine, by placing the said bine under rollers, either
plain or fluted, or under leather, by the mechanical action of which the said
bine (composed both of bark and woody centre) is split or separated, that the
alkaline solvents, being able to act on a larger surface than they could but for
such splitting or separation, effect in a less time the solution of the gummy or
resinous matter, which, when sufficiently dissolved and washed out from the
said bine, admits of a solution of chloride of lime or other bleaching liquor,
to discharge part of the color remaining in the said bine; after which bleach-
ing, if the color is not white enough, I submit the bine to another alkaline
bath, and repeat the operation of bleaching by chloride of lime; after which I
also place the said bine in a bath of water, in which a portion of sulphuric
acid has been added, for the purpose of still further bleaching, and also for
the purpose of separating still more the fibrous material of the said bine.
I afterwards press out and wash the said fibrous material to separate the
chlorine, which washing may be either in water only, or in water in which
soap has been dissolved, or any other means now used for neutralizing the said.
chlorine. The fibrous material may then be dried and packed, or taken at
once, and by the usual process converted into paper.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Barling in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BARLING, of 7, High Street, Maidstone, in the County of Kent,-send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Barling, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Barling, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Barling, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree

page_text: 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 TREATING THE
HOP BINE AND RENDERING IT APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND OTHER
ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Barling,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Joseph Barling, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say):-
My process for treating the bine or stalk of the hop plant for converting
the same into a material for making paper, pasteboard, mill-board, or other
kind of boards and paper, and for separating therefrom (i. e. from said bine
or stalk) other useful material, viz, fibre for making yarn, cordage, and textile
fabrics, will be best understood from a description of the composition and
qualities of the said bine or stalk of the hop plant.
The bine or stalk of the hop plant is a long stem, varying in length and size,
dependent on the kind of hop, and its age and cultivation. It is longest and
largest in the variety of hop known or called the Golding hop, and reaches
frequently over twenty feet in length and half an inch in diameter. The bine
or stalk of other varieties is smaller and of a different colour. The bine or
stalk of all the varieties are hollow, except at the joints, which are several
inches, sometimes more than a foot apart, and are filled with a short plug
of pith.
The stalk or bine is composed of three distinct arrangements of parts, viz.,
a thin pellicle or skin, under which is a thick bark, composed of a net-work
of very fine fibres interlaced, and running the length of the stalk, and
cemented together by a gummy, glutinous, or mucilaginous substance. Under
this bark is the hollow woody stem, composed of a series of capillary tubes,
like a bundle of reeds; these tubes are bound together by said mucilage or
gum, but in much smaller quantity than is in the bark, before described; the
walls of these tubes or pipes being composed of short fibres, enclosed in cells
by a substance-differing from the said mucilage or gummy matter."
When the stalk or bine has been recently cut from the plant, the said

page_text: mucilage or gummy matter is in a soft state, and soluble in part in boiling
water; but after the said bine or stalk has been some time cut and exposed to
the air and light, the said mucilage or gum hardens, and is but little acted on
by boiling water, but is soluble in the alkaline solutions; by preference I use
soda, made caustic in the usual way by lime.
The said mucilage or gummy matter is, however, decomposed by steeping or
fermentation, as practised in similar operations on flax and hemp.
When requiring to make brown or coarse papers, mill-board, or other kinds
of paper or boards not requiring to be bleached white, I make use of means
to dissolve the said mucilage or gum; but when requiring to make a matérial
for papers, card-board, or other materials to be bleached, I prefer to use means
to decompose the said mucilage or gum.
By dissolving, I mean the rendering fluid of the said mucilagenous or
gummy substance, but capable upon its being dried of resuming its former
hard or gummy state.
By decomposing the said mucilage or gummy matter, I mean so altering it
that upon being dried it does not assume its former condition, but is ren-
dered a pulverent substance, capable in part of being beaten or washed away
from the fibre it had before cemented together.
To the bine or stalk of the hop intended to be stored for use, that is to
say, to be used some time after the said bine is cut from the plant, I employ a
particular arrangement of harvesting and packing, viz. -I strip off the leaves
and small twigs or branches as soon as convenient after the hops are picked,
and bind up the stalk in bundles or sheaves, the stems arranged all one way,
that is to say, running parallel to each other. These sheaves may be of any
convenient length, four or five feet, or the whole length of the bine, as
may be most convenient, and must be bound together in two or more places
as tightly as possible; the object of the said harvesting and packing being in
part to exclude the light and air, so that the bine may dry tough and of
lighter colour, by which the mucilage or gummy matter is rendered more easy
to be acted on in the processes herein-after described; the-said-packing-also
enabling a greater weight of bine to be placed in a given space, by which its
carriage is rendered cheaper; and the same object being in part obtainable by
compressing the said bine by hand or machine in bundles or trusses while
in a green state. By green, I mean but recently cut from the plant, and
without the particular arrangement with reference to the stalks of the bine
being all laid in one direction, as above described; it being essential, how-
ever, when the intention is to convert the fibre of the said bine into yarn,
cordage, or textile purposes, that the bine should be arranged as first de-

page_text: scribed, that is to say, with the stems running parallel to each other; by
parallel, I mean in one direction.
My object in separating the twigs and branches from the main stem or bine
of the hop plant is, that some of the branches are of much harder and more
woody character than the main stalk or bine; and I prefer to operate on either
part separately, except in the case of preparing a material from the said bine,
for coarse papers, mill-board, card or composition boards not requiring to be
bleached white.
Now, my Invention for making a material from the said stalk or bine of the
hop plant, fit for making into brown or coarse paper, mill-board, card.or_com=
position board, or other papers or boards not requiring to be bleached white, is
as follows, viz:-I first cut the said stalk or bine with the branches, as before
explained, into short lengths; from half inch to an inch I prefer; this I do by
hand or machine. By preference I use a rotary chaff-cutting machine, moved
by any power suitable or proportioned to the quantity to be acted on, either
hand power, horse power, water power, or steam power, &c.
The bine so cut is made to fall into a trough or channel, by which it is led
to fall between two cylinders or rollers made of steel, iron, or other hard metal,
having their surfaces slightly grooved in a spiral direction, and made to revolve
by water, steam, horse, or other power, proportioned to the amount of bine to
be acted on, one of the said cylinders or rollers by suitable gearing being made
to revolve faster than the other; about a third answers very well, so as to pro-
luce a tearing and brushing action on the said bine in its passage between the
said cylinders or rollers, the said cylinders or rollers being so placed that their
axes are nearly in the same plane, and made to press together by weighted
levers, so that the amount of pressure be adjustable to the state of the bine, its
quantity or the degree of brushing and tearing required; the use of the said
cutting, crushing, and tearing being to lay open the matter of the said bine
to the action of the (said) solvents herein-after described.
The crushed bine is passed from the cylinders or rollers to a vessel in which
it is to be boiled. This vessel may be a boiler of the ordinary construction, or a
keer, or any other sort of boiler. In the former, the bine is boiled in conjunction
with the solvent; in the latter, the solvent, after being heated in a separate
vessel, is made to spread over the said bine and percolate through it, then
withdrawn, reheated, and the same operation repeated at pleasure, in manner
well known.
"
When the bine is new, wat
water alone, heated as above described, will be
sufficient to soften the gummy or mucilagenous matter (before described), soft
water being best. When the bine is old, water will but slowly act on it, and

page_text: in that case I use a solution of alkali, by preference, soda made caustic by lime,
in the usual well-known manner; the strength of the alkaline solution being
adjusted to the age and state of the bine, and upon the speed or time required
to perform the operation in. The bine is sufficiently boiled when the gum or
mucilage in the bark of the said bine feels soft and slippery. The excess of
alkaline solution may be drained or washed off, and the bine conveyed into the
usual beating or rag engine, and beaten into pulp in the usual way, and made
into brown or coarse papers, card, mill-board, or other kinds of paper or boards
not requiring to be bleached white.
For making the said bine or stalk of the hop plant into material for making
white paper, card, or other kinds of paper or board requiring to be bleached,
I use the process before described, viz., cutting, crushing, tearing, and
boiling, only in this case the mucilagenous or gummy matter must not only be
dissolved, but discharged; this I effect by alternating the boiling, as above
named in an alkaline solution, and washing in water; this washing may be
performed in the same vessel in which the boiling takes place, or it may be
performed in the usual engine or vat used for washing rags, the said alternate
boiling and washing being continued till the fibre of the bine is in most part
freed from the said mucilage or gum; after which the bine may be bleached by
any of the methods usually adopted for bleaching rags or pulp. Or the said
boiling and washing may be alternated with the bleaching, that is to say, after
the bine has been boiled in the alkaline solution, drained, and washed there-
from, it is to be passed into the bleaching vat or engine, and therein submitted
to the usual bleaching process; it is then to be washed and again submitted to
the boiling in the alkaline solution, washed therefrom, and again bleached;
these processes continuing till the desired color be obtained. I prefer to finish
the bleaching process by passing the bine (after it has been bleached in a
solution of-chloride of lime or other bleaching agent) into a bath of water,
warm or cold, hot water being preferred, to which so much sulphuric acid
has-been-added-as-to-cause it to taste tart or sour, like lemon juice; not more
than one-hundredth part of acid should be added to the water, as too much
causes part of the woody bine to become yellow.. The purpose of this bath is
to perfect the whiteness of the bine, and is not necessary when that has been
sufficiently obtained by the previous bleaching. In preparing from the said
bine or stalk of the hop plant a material to make white paper, card-board, or
other papers or boards requiring to be bleached white, I prefer the following
process as being cheaper, being founded on the principle, as before explained,
of decomposing the mucilage or gummy matter, which substance is the chief
hindrance to the bleaching. For this purpose I perform the operations of

page_text: cutting, crushing, and tearing the bine by the means before described; the
crushed bine being, however, conveyed from the said rollers into an engine,
such as is used to wash rags, or into a vat or tank with a false bottom of wood,
stone, wire, or such like material, pierced with holes or meshes, to allow the
sand and dirt which the bine has on it from the fields, &c. to fall through in
the engine or tank, as above. The bine is to be agitated or beaten in water to
separate therefrom the sand or dirt, as above described; a few minutes beating
or agitating will be sufficient for this purpose. From the said washing, the bine
is to be placed or run off into a tank.or reservoir. This tank or reservoir may
be of wood, stone, or other substance suitable to hold water; stone answers
well for this purpose. The bine being placed in the said vat is to be pressed
down by a lid of wood, slate, or wire, pierced with numerous holes; à strong
lattice-wooded lid answers very well. This must be secured by a firm bar or
other fastenings, so as to prevent the bine raising it up. This tank or reservoir
being thus filled and the lid secured, soft water is to be let on to it, until it
stands three or four inches above the latticed work or pierced lid. In this tank
or reservoir the bine is to lay and steep or ferment. The time necessary for this
operation to be completed depends on the age and condition of the bine and
the temperature. It may be known when the bine is steeped or fermented
enough by the bark parting freely from the woody centre or core of the bine,
and from the fibres being set free from the gummy matter or mucilage; the
bark of the bine feels soft and slippery when it is steeped enough. The tem-
perature best suited for steeping is from sixty to ninety degrees Fahrenheit,
but should be kept as equal as possible.
The bine being sufficiently steeped or fermented, is to be thoroughly washed
to free it from the adhering mucilage or gummy matter; this may be done in
the usual rag-washing engine, if the bine has not been well crushed and torn
in passing through the crushing rollers in the first case. I now pass it through
them again, for the purpose of further laying open the grain or substance of the
bine, that the mucilage or gummy matter may be the easier discharged in the
washing which follows; after this thorough washing the bine may at once be
passed to the bleaching vat or engine. Where, however, a more perfect color
is required, it is best to convey the bine after it is washed into a boiler or keer,
or similar vessel, where it is to be treated with the alkaline solution before
described, in whicli it is to be boiled for about two or three hours, and then
washed either in the said boiler or kier, or in the washing engine, as before
described. After such washing the bine is
ne is ready for bleaching.
For bleaching the bine or stalk of the hop, prepared as before described, I
use a solution of chloride of lime, as is common in bleaching rags, except that

page_text: I use the solution stronger, and allow the prepared bine to remain in it longer
than is usual with rags. The reason for this stronger bleaching, and the
longer time required to perform it, being, that the fibre of the woody part.of
the hop-bine is defended from the action of the bleaching liquor by the matter
forming the cells in which those fibres are confined, and the time required for
bleaching being governed by the perfectness with which the glutinous or
gummy matter has been discharged by the previous operations of steeping and
boiling, and the degree of openness to which the said bine has been brought
by the crushing and tearing, before described. The said bleaching may take
place in the usual bleaching engine, as is usual in bleaching rags, or in a
separate vessel. I prefer to pass the prepared bine into a tank or vessel of any
material fit to contain the bleaching liquor, in which bleaching liquor I allow the
prepared bine to remain to be partially bleached. The time necessary for the bine
to remain in this vessel is governed by the cleanness of the said bine, as before
described, and the strength of the bleaching liquor; about twelve hours is
generally sufficient. While in the said vessel, the bine should be occasionally
agitated, to expose it equally to the action of the bleaching liquor. From this
vessel the bine may be run into the usual bleaching engine, and treated with
fresh bleach, in the manner common in bleaching rags; after which the excess
of chlorine may be washed out, and the bine beaten into pulp, and made into
white paper, card-board, mill-board, or any kind of paper boards requiring to
be bleached white.
If, however, the said bine or stalk of the hop be well prepared by the
crushing, tearing, steeping, and boiling, it will be sufficient to pass it from the
last washing, after boiling), into the usual bleaching engine, and therein in
the usual way of bleaching rags with solution of chloride of lime to bleach the
same, the color of the same being improved by passing the bine through the
acid bath, as before described; taking care to wash out the acid therefrom.
My Invention for converting parts of the said bine or stalk of the hop plant
-into-a-material-useful for making yarn, cordage, or for textile purposes, is as
follows, viz:-
So soon after the hops have been picked I strip from the bine the branches
and leaves, cutting the bine into lengths of about four feet, and proceed to tie
up the bine into sheaves or bundles, about eight inches diameter. I bind these
sheaves with a band of hop bine or other material near each end of the
sheaf; I take care to sort the bines, and tie up together those of a sort and
size; that is to say, I tie up the large bine by itself and the small bine
separately; I also tie up the branches by themselves; also, I tie up together
the lower or foot part of the bine together, and the top part of the bine

page_text: separately; the reason of this separation and assorting being, that the fibrous
portion of the hop bine is richer or thicker at the lower part than at the top,
and the use of this arrangement is, that in the steeping or fermenting, com-
monly called retting, the different kinds and parts of the said bine should
be operated on separately, that is to say, that all of one sort or quality be
submitted to the retting at one time, so that one part be not over-retted
before the other is finished.
After the bine is so tied up, I stand up the bundles or sheaves for three or
four days, if the weather is fine, that it may partially dry or harvest, after which
it is ready to be-carried to the barn to be stored or placed in a stack; if
placed in a stack, the bundles to be so arranged that the ends only are exposed-
to the weather, and the stack must be covered or thatched, to keep out the wet
from the barn or stack. The sheaves or bundles can be taken at any time
to be steeped or 'retted in the manner as applied to the steeping or retting
hemp or flax.
The said steeping may take place in rivers, ponds, tanks, or streams, or
by means of any patented plan or invention, for the purpose of fermenting,
steeping, or retting fibrous plants. For converting parts of the bine or stalk
of the hop plant into a useful material for making yarn, cordage, or for textile
purposes, I use also the following means, videlicit:-I take the bundles or
sheaves, as before described, and place them regularly in a boiler or vessel, to
which heat may be applied by means of pipes conveying steam, or by any
other means. The boiler or vessel being loaded, as now described, I fasten the
bundles or sheaves down by means of a lattice lid, or bars of wood, iron, or
other means, to prevent the said bundles or sheaves rising up; I then let
into the vessel or boiler water, either heated or cold (hot water I prefer),
to which water, either before or after it enters the boiler or vessel, about.
one quarter of a lb. of soft soap to be added to each gallon of water, less
soap being enough when the bine is nearly new, and more being required
when the bine is old, or has not been well stored. In this solution the
bine is to be boiled till the bark strips easily from the woody centre or core;
or the said solution may be made to pass through the said bine by any
suitable contrivance; or the said bine may be made to rotate in any suitable
vessel, and pass into and out of the said solution, or by any arrangement
by which the bark of the said bine or stalk of the hop is softened, so as
to separate easily from the woody part or core of the said bine. The bundles
or sheaves may then be withdrawn, as required, for the purpose of peeling
-or-stripping the bark therefrom. The bark being so stripped-is tied up
in hanks or bundles, and may be conveyed at once to the river, stream,

page_text: tank, pond, or rettery, for the glutinous matter to be decomposed, by steeping
or fermentation, commonly called retting; or the said hanks or bundles may
be beaten by hand or machine, or made to pass through suitable rollers, for
the purpose of opening the fibre and freeing it in part from the glutinous
matter, before described; after which it may be steeped or retted. Or the said
bark may be dried either before or after it has undergone the said beating or
passing through rollers, and when so dried it may be packed for carriage
or stored in barns, stacks, or warehouses, ready to be submitted to retting,
boiling, or other operations.
Instead of soft soap, alkali, mild or caustic, or sulphurets of alkali, or lime,
may be used for this purpose; when the bine is quite new, hot water alone
will answer the
.
purpose.
I do not claim as new the use of hop bines for the purposes aforesaid; what
I claim as new and useful and as my Invention and discovery is, firstly, the
treatment of hop bines in the manner particularly described, for packing and
storing the same, and thereby preserving it in a condition best fitted to be
acted on in the processes before related, and facilitating the carriage thereof;
I also claim as new and useful, and as my discovery and Invention, the prin-
ciple of dissolving the gummy, mucilaginous, or resinous matter in the said
bine, in a manner to fit it to be converted with the other parts of the
said bines into paper, card, mill-boards, or other kinds of boards not requiring
to be bleached. I claim the use of this principle for the purposes aforesaid,
whether the said gummy, mucilaginous, or resinous matter be dissolved by the
means of caustic alkali, mild alkali, or by means of any combination of alkali,
or by a union of alkali and sulphur, known as alkaline sulphurets; or by
means of an alkali and fatty, oily, or other matters known as soft soap; or
by any other matter capable of dissolving the said gummy, mucilaginous,
or resinous matter; or by any other means, whether applied by the apparatus
herein mentioned, or in any-other-sort or kind of apparatus, boiler, kier, or
vessel whatsoever.
I claim also as new and useful, and as my Invention and discovery, the
principle of discharging the said gummy, mucilaginous, or resinous matter of
the said bine or stalk of the hop by the alternate action of the boiling in
alkali, and washing and bleaching, as before described, for the purpose of
preparing a material for making paper, card-board, or any sort of paper
or board requiring to be bleached.
I claim also as my Invention and discovery, and as new and useful, for
preparing a material to make paper, card-board, or any other kinds of paper
or boards requiring to be bleached, the principle of decomposing the said

page_text: gummy, mucilaginous, or resinous matter in the said bine or stalk of the hop
by means of steeping and fermentation, as before described, and that whether
the said bine or stalk of the hop plant be cut and crushed, or not cut and
crushed, or whether the said bine or stalk be cut and crushed by the means
before described, or by any other means whatever; what I claim as new, and
my Invention and discovery, being the decomposing the glutinous matter
of the said bine or stalk of the hop plant, for the purpose of paper-making, as
before described, by means of steeping and fermentation. I do also claim the
use of the bine or stalk of the hop plant for the purpose of making therefrom
by either of the processes herein-before described of a material fit for making
into paper, card-board, mill-board, or any kind of paper or board, whether the
said bine or stalk of the hop plant have been prepared, packed, and stored
as herein-before described, or whether they have not been so prepared, packed,
or stored.
I do not claim as new or my Invention, the use of the bine or stalk of the
hop plant as a material fit to form into yarn, cordage, or textile purposes; what
I claim as my Invention, and as new and useful, is the particular treatment
as to sorting, packing, and storeing the said bine or stalk of the hop plant, as
before described, for the purpose of fitting the same to be operated on for
making a material fit to be converted into yarn, cordage, or for textile
purposes.
I claim the use of the bine or stalk of the hop plant for making a material
to make into paper, card, mill-board, or other kinds of boards, whether the
same be used whole, that is, the bark and woody part or core, together or
either part separately, that is, of the bark alone, or of the woody part or core
of the said bine by itself.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Barling, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
THOMAS EMERY WALKER,
No. 1, Union Street,
Maidstone.
JOSEPH BARLING. (L.S.)