IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS REQUIRING LIKE TREATMENT
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Samuel, of No. 21, Finsbury Square, in the
City of London, and Samuel Millbourn, of No. 42, Oxford Street East,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR PREPARING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
REQUIRING LIKE TREATMENT."
Sealed the 5th September 1865, and dated the 10th March 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Samuel and
Samuel Milbourn at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 10th March 1865.
We, JOSEPH SAMUEL, of No. 21, Finsbury Square, in the City of London,
and SAMUEL MILLBOURN, of No. 42, Oxford Street East, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PREPARING FLAX. HEMP, AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
REQUIRING LIKE TREATMENT," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for prepar-
ing flax, hemp, and other fibrous materials requiring like treatment.
In constructing machinery according to this Invention pairs of crushing
rollers are used, which may be plain, grooved, or roughed on the surfaces, or
some may be in one condition whilst others are in other conditions. In order
[Price 8d.]

page_text: to give motion to these pairs of rollers,each pair is geared together by toothed
wheels at one end. The upper roller of each pair is weighted in the usual
manner of weighting like crushing rollers. The crushing rollers are hollow, in
order to allow of the use of steam or other means of heating being employed.
Three pairs of such crushing rollers is a convenient number, but the number
of pairs of crushing rollers used in a machine may be varied. The crushing
rollers are caused to receive a quick and very short reciprocating endway
motion in addition to the rotatory motion given thereto, in order that the flax,
hemp, or other fibrous substance may be rubbed between the surfaces of the
pairs of crushing rollers, and this quick reciprocating endway motion is
communicated to each pair of rollers by means of a lever which has its fulcrum
on the framing of the machine between the top and bottom rollers, and the
bearings or brasses of the axes of the two rollers of a pair are connected
respectively to the lever above and below the axis or fulcrum of the lever, by
which when the lever is caused to move to and fro on its axis or fulcrum
motion will be given to the bearings or brasses of the two rollers, and con-
sequently to the rollers themselves in opposite directions, and to facilitate this
short to-and-fro motion rollers are applied to the brasses or bearings of the
axes of the rollers. The flax, hemp, or other vegetable substance is fed up to
these crushing rollers, and is by them crushed and rubbed, and as the fibrous
material progressively protrudes beyond and passes from the crushing rollers
it is acted on by beaters constructed in the following manner:-Each beater
is a bar by preference of a circular section, and one, two, or more of such
beaters is mounted on a revolving block or shaft, to which it or they is or are
attached by flexible elastic straps or connecting arms, which are by preference
formed of vulcanized india-rubber. In some cases, in addition to the beaters,
brushes composed of bristles, wire, or other suitable material are formed on
or carried by the block or axis, so as to brush the beaten fibres. The axis or
shaft carrying these beaters and brushes is caused to revolve at a high velocity
as compared with the speed at which the fibrous substance is moved forward
by the crushing rollers. The fibrous substances may be acted on by this
combined arrangement of machinery in the dry state or moist state, or when
the rollers and beaters or the rollers only are submerged in water or other
moistening liquid.
Another form of rubber which is sometimes employed consists in the use
of two parallel metal plates, which may be hollow when desired, in order that
they may be heated by steam or otherwise, and the fibrous substance may be
dry or moist, or submerged with the plates in water or other fluid. The
surfaces of these plates are grooved or roughed, and they receive a quick

page_text: motion, so as to rub the fibrous substance between their surfaces. One of
these plates is arranged to be capable of being moved up and down, or to and
from the other. The areas of these plates are such as to admit the whole
length of the flax, hemp, or other fibrous substance between them, so that the
whole length will be crushed and rubbed at the same time. A considerable
quantity of the fibrous substance is placed between the plates before putting
them in motion, and as the material is reduced to the fibrous state the plates
come closer together, but they are prevented coming actually in contact.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Samuel and Samuel Millbourn in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 9th September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
SAMUEL, of No. 21, Finsbury Square, in the City of London, and SAMUEL
MILLBOURN, of No. 42, Oxford Street, East in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One:
thousand eight hundred and sixty-fixe, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Joseph Samuel and Samuel Millbourn, Her special licence that we,
the said Joseph Samuel and Samuel Millbourn, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Joseph Samuel and Samuel
Millbourn, 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 Chaunel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR PREPARING FLAX, HEMP. AND OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS REQUIRING
LIKE TREATMENT," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Joseph Samuel and Samuel Millbourn, 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 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Samuel, on behalf of myself and
the said Samuel Millbourn, 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 machinery for pre-
paring flax, hemp, and other fibrous materials requiring like treatment.
Jn constructing machinery according to this Invention pairs of crushing
rollers are used, which may be plain, grooved, or roughed on the surfaces, or
some may be in one condition whilst others are in other conditions. In order
to give motion to these pairs of rollers, each pair is geared together by
toothed wheels at one end. The upper roller of each pair is weighted in
the usual manner of weighting like crushing rollers. The crushing rollers are
hollow, in order to allow of steam or other means of heating being employed.
Three pairs of such crushing rollers is a convenient number, but the number
of pairs of crushing rollers used in a machine may be varied.
One or more
of the pairs of crushing rollers are caused to receive a quick and very short
reciprocating endway motion in addition to the rotatory motion given thereto,
in order that the flax, hemp, or other fibrous substance may rubbed between
the surfaces of the pairs of crushing rollers, and this quick reciprocating end-
way motion is communicated to each pair of rollers by means of a lever
which has its fulcrum on the framing of the machine between the top and
bottom rollers, and the bearings or brasses of the axes of the two rollers of a
pair are connected respectively to the lever above and below the axis or
fulcrum of the lever, by which when the lever is caused to move to and fro on
its axis or fulcrum motion will be given to the bearings or brasses of the two
rollers, and consequently to the rollers themselves in opposite directions, and
to facilitate this short to-and-fro motion rollers are applied to the brasses or
bearings of the axes of the rollers. The flax, hemp, or other vegetable sub-
stance is fed up to these reciprocating crushing rollers, and is by them crushed
and rubbed, and as the fibrous material progressively protrudes beyond and
passes from the crushing rollers it is acted on by beaters constructed in the
following manner :-Each beater is a bar, by preference of a circular section
and one, two, or more ofsuch beaters is mounted on a revolving block or shaft
to which it or they is or are attached_by flexible elastic straps or connecting
arms, which are by preference formed of vulcanized india-rubber. In some
cases, in addition to the beaters, brushes composed of bristles, wire, or other
suitable material are formed on or carried by the blocks or axes, so as to
brush the beaten fibres. The axis or shaft carrying these beaters and brushes
is caused to revolve at a high velocity as compared with the speed at which

page_text: the fibrous substance is moved forward by the crushing rollers. The fibrous
substances may be acted on by this combined arrangement of machinery in
the dry state or moist state.
And in order that our said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the Drawings here-
unto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of a machine constructed according to our Invention,
and Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the same.
a, a, is the framing of the machine, it supports a table b, on which the fibre
to be treated is laid evenly by the attendant, who pushes it forward to the nip
of the rollers c, c, the surfaces of which we prefer to be plain or smooth, and
from these it passes son to the rollers d,'d, 'which, as the Drawings show, are
slightly grooved. Afterwards it is taken between the rollers e, e, which have
projections on their surfaces resulting from corrugating it, as the Drawing
shows, both longitudinally and circumferentially, and these rollers have an
endway or rubbing motion given to them, as will be presently described.
From the rubbing rollers the fibre passes on to other smooth rollers f, f. and
whilst it is held by these it is struck by the beaters g,g, which are mounted on
an axis g' revolving at a high velocity, and which also carries the brushes h,h,
and after being submitted to this beating and brushing process the fibre passes
from the machine and falls down in a heap. The several parts are driven in
the following manner :-i is the main shaft, on which is a pulley k, round
which a driving belt passes. On this axis is a bevilled pinion 1, gearing with
a similar pinion m on an axis n, which passes across the machine through the
lower roller f, and at its further end it carries a pinion o, and thus it drives the
spur wheel p on the axis of the upper roller e. On the same axis there is
a pinion gearing with a corresponding pinion on the lower roller e, and also
with intermediate pinions q, q, which by corresponding pinions communicate
the motion to the upper rollers of the pairs d and f, and from these the lower
rollers are driven, as is shown in the case of the lower roller f; the pinion is
mounted on a tubular stud or axis formed on the roller, through which the
axis u passes. By another intermediate pinion the rollers c, c,are similarly
driven, thus all the rollers are driven at the same surface speed. The rollers
c, d, e, and are pressed together in pairs by the screws s, s, which act on
springs formed by placing alternately discs of india-rubber and metal plates,
as is shown, and the lower ends of these springs rest on the bearings of the
upper rollers, The longitudinal motion is given to the rollers e, e, by means

page_text: of the eccentric t on the main axis i; its eccentric rod is connected with a
lever u, which is centered to the frame at u',and the bearings of the rollers e, e,
are jointed to the lever u at u,u². The bearings, as is shown clearly at Figure 3,
are furnished with friction rollers v,v; those of the bottom bearings of the
lower rollers run upon properly prepared courses on the frame; the top bear-
_ingof the lower rollers is also similarly fitted with friction rollers, and these
run on the under side of the lower bearing of the upper rollers, which bear-
ings are for the purpose made flat underneath, whilst the friction rollers of the
top bearings of the upper rollers rest on plates which are pressed downwards
by the screws and springs above. All the rollers with the exception of the
lower roller fare heated with steam; and for this purpose their axes are made
hollow at one end, and are connected with steam pipes, as is shown at Figure 3.
The beaters g and brushes are driven by means of a bevilled pinion won
their axis gearing with a corresponding pinion on the main axis.
The beaters shown in the Drawing are cylindrical metal or wood bars
mounted on blades of steel.
In some cases we give a longitudinal motion to two or more of the pairs
of rollers, and this may be done by means of a single eccentric by causing
it to give motion to a slide, and prolonging the levers u so that they may
pass through holes in the slide.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Samuel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JOSEPH SAMUEL. (L.s.)