IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRE- PARATION OF FLAX, HEMP, CHINA GRASS, JUTE, OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES OF A SIMILAR NATURE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Moutgomery Jennings, of the City of Cork,
Ireland, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRE-
PARATION OF FLAX, HEMP, CHINA GRASS, JUTE, OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
OF A SIMILAR NATURE."
Sealed the 21st August 1866, and dated the 26th February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Montgomery
Jennings at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 26th February 1866.
I, FRANCIS MONTGOMERY JENNINGS, of the City of Cork, Ireland, Merchant,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PREPARATION OF FLAI, HEMP, CHINA GRASS, JUTE, OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
OF A SIMILAR NATURE," to be as follows:
I take flax, hemp, China grass, jute, or any other fibrous substances of a
similar nature.or character as they are in their original state, or in any other
partial stage of their preparation or manufacture, and I put them in a
solution of soap at about the rate of two ounces of soap dissolved in about a
quart of water to each pound of fibre, or a proportion nearly equivalent to an
ounce of oil or fat to each pound of fibre; I soak the fibre in this solution of

page_text: :
soap, which I prefer warm, say, from 90 to 212 degrees of Fahrenheit, but it
may be hotter or colder. As soon as it has absorbed part of the soapy
solution I put it through rollers, revolving either at the same rate or one
faster than the other, or on a flattish surface with a roller moving upon it, as
the same time I may send a stream of water upon the fibre as it passes under
the rollers or pressure to cleanse it better; I again soak the materials in the
soap and water, and roll them again, alternating the soaking and rolling; at
the last rolling I let a flow of water on the fibre to free it from the soap or
soak or wash it in water, and finally I prefer soaking it in a dilute acid, and
then washing or rolling it; or I may alternate any of the above processes
with an acid solution, that is, after soaking the fibres in the soapy solutions I
roll them, and then soak the fibre in an acid solution, such as dilute sulphuric,
muriatic, or acetic acid. I may use any soap of commerce, as silicia soap,
resinous soap, soap containing glycerine, or soap in a partial state of manu-
facture, as when oil is mixed with an alkali and partly saponified, or glycerine
by itself.
I prefer using good soap of commerce in which the fat or oil is thoroughly
united with the alkali, and which contains about from forty to sixty per cent.
of oil or fat, as I find this softens the fibres better than with an excess of
alkali in the soap. The object I desire to attain is such a softening of the
vegetable matters in the fibrous substance that when subjected to the pressure
of rollers some vegetable matters are squeezed out, being those that cement
the fibres together, so that when dry or nearly dry the fibres can be further
separated by the use of hackles or other mechanical process used for preparing
fibrous substances for spinning. I may mix bleaching liquors, as the chloride
or hypochlorite of soda or potash, with the soapy solutions.
"
Now, as oil or fat united in soap with alkali has this softening property on
fibrous substances, I also may use oil or fat dissolved in paraffin oil, hydro-
carbon oil, tar oil, or naptha, and soak the fibres in them to produce the
softening effect, which when they are subjected to the pressure of rollers will
produce an effect similar to that before described, namely, the squeezing out
of some vegetable matter. This effect will be produced in a more marked
manner by alternating the soaking of the fibres and the rolling of the fibrous
substances, and enable a greater or less portion of the vegetable matter that
cements the fibres to be squeezed out.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Montgomery Jennings in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
MONTGOMERY JENNINGS, of the City of Cork, Ireland, Merchant, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Francis Montgomery Jennings, Her special licence that I, the said
Francis Montgomery Jennings, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Francis Montgomery Jennings, 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 THE PREPARATION OF FLAX,
HEMP, CHINA GRASS, JUTE, OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES OF A SIMILAR NATURE,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis Montgomery
Jennings, my executors or administrators, by an instrument 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 Francis Montgomery Jennings, 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:-
I take flax, hemip, China grass, jutė, or any other fibrous substance of a
similar nature or character as they are in their original state, or in any other
partial stage of their preparation or manufacture, and I put them into a
solution of soap at about the rate of two ounces of soap dissolved in about a
quart of water to each pound of fibre, or a proportion nearly equivalent to
an ounce of oil or fat to each pound of fibre; I soak the fibre in this solution
of soap, which I prefer warm, say, from 90 to 212 degrees of Fahrenheit, but
it may be hotter or colder. As soon as it has absorbe part of the soapy
:

page_text: solution, say, in about half an hour's time if the temperature be about 200
degrees of Fahrenheit, I pass it through rollers. I prefer the rollers to be
smooth, and of iron, steel, or brass about 15 or 20 inches in diameter and
about 18 inches long, to be placed one over the other, and the upper one to
press with a weight of from one to two hundredweight for every foot in length
of the roller. The rollers I prefer to revolve about twenty times in a minute.
Through these rollers I put the flax, hemp, or other fibrous substance one,
two, or three times in parcels of about one pound each, and by the pressure
they are subjected to a portion of the vegetable 'matter is pressed out. If a
larger quantity of vegetable matter is required to be got rid of, that can be
accomplished by soaking in the warm soapy solution after the rolling and
alternating the rolling with the soaking in said solution. I find that Russian
hemp and the coarse flaxe's give better results by alternating the soaking, and
rolling, as above described, 3 or 4 times; but with a better and cleaner
description of material a good result is obtained from one soaking in the
solution and one, two, or three rollings. I prefer two or three rollings after
each soaking in the soapy solution, and a more thorough cleansing can be
given by letting a flow of water on the material whilst passing it through 'the
rollers, or as well by soaking the flax in water for a few minutes before
passing it through the rollers. I prefer thoroughly to wash out the soap, and
in preference afterwards to pass the flax through a very dilute solution of
acetic acid or vinegar, about one pound of the acetic acid of commerce (free
from sulphuric acid) to every 4 gallons of water gives a solution which makes
the flax or fibre when dipped in it slightly acid, by which means it dries in a
more silky manner than if alkaline from the soap; I however prefer to wash
and roll the material so as to get rid of all soap remaining in the fibres.
If any other acid be used in place of vinegar or acetic acid in preference after
using it, it ought to be removed by washing. The simplest way of washing
is to let the material soak in the water, which it does rapidly when immersed
in it, and then to pass it through the rollers, or by sending a stream of water
on it as it passes through the rollers; I may alternate the soap and acid
solutions with the rolling, as above described.
Any soap of commerce, as a silica soap, resinous soap, glycerine soap, or other
soap, may be used, but I prefer a good soap of commerce made with oil or fat,
and free from resin or silica, and in preference containing no excess of
alkali. Glycerine of commerce may be used alone in place of soap, but I
prefer when it is used that soap should be added to it.
In preference I use good soap of commerce in which the fat or oil is tho-
roughly united with the alkali, and which should contain from forty to sixty

page_text: per cent. of oil or fat, as I find this soap softens the fibres better, giving less
waste than soap with an excess of alkali. The object which I desire to attain
is such softening of the vegetable matters in the fibrous substances that when
they are subjected to the pressure of the rollers some of the vegetable matter
is squeezed out, and that after they lose, say, from one to ten per cent. of the
vegetable matter which, as it were, cements or causes the fibres to adhere;
the fibre when dry or nearly dry can be still further easily separated by the
use of hackles or other mechanical processes used for preparing fibrous sub-
stances for spinning. It facilitates the flax imbibing the soapy solution to use
it in the first instance about from 180 degrees Fahrenheit to that of boiling,
as liquors at those temperatures immediately enter into and between the fibres ;
after that any degree of heat may be used that keeps the soapy solution
liquid, but the higher the temperature the greater the softening effect, even to
the extent of using high pressure. If desirable the entire processes may be
finished except the drying within two hours, or even less time when soft fibres
are used.
In passing the fibrous substances between the rollers I find they act
better if one roller moves about, say, from five to ten per cent. faster than the
other. The rollers need not be one over the other, and if it be preferred one
roller will answer if it presses upon any flattish surface, the fibrous substances
lying between. I may add to the soapy substances an excess of oil or
oleogenous matter or of bleaching substances mixed with the soapy solutions,
as the chloride or hypochloride of soda, or potash, or carbonate, or caustic
alkalies. I can also produce a softening effect upon the fibre by mixing oil
or fat with any cheap bydrocarbon or paraffine oil, tar oil, or naptha, and
treating the fibre with the same. In preference from about one to ten per
cent. of oil or fat is used, and the fibres are pressed, as before described, to
free them from the vegetable matter and washed or not according to the
amount of oleogenous matter desired to remain behind, or the fibres may
be passed through the soapy solution after or before any of the bleaching or
hydrocarbon or paraffine solutions, so as to alternate the processes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Montgomery Jennings, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
FRANCIS MONTGOMERY JENNINGS. (Ls.)