Improvements in the Treatment of Rhea and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Nov., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 1st July, 1892-Accepted, 6th Aug., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Treatment of Rhea and in Apparatus therefor.
We, EMILE VIARENGO, of 45, Via St. Gulia, Turin, in the Kingdom of Italy,
Gentleman, and EDWARD CASPER, of No. 11, Queen Victoria Street, in the
City of London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Our invention relates to the treatment of rhea and to apparatus therefor, and it
comprises the improvements hereinafter described.
In carrying out our invention we take the stems as soon as possible after they
are cut and cut off the roots and the tops, and we then sort the stalks into different
classes according to their thickness in order that during the subsequent treatment
they may be uniformly acted upon. In practice we find it advantageous to sort
the stalks into three classes, viz., thick, medium and thin.
The stalks thus sorted are placed class by class in a vessel of wood, iron or other
suitable material and covered with water. In this vessel the stalks are boiled by
steam or otherwise for about an hour; at the end of which time, under ordinary
circumstances, the outer bark can be readily stripped from the stems. If, however,
the outer bark does not strip off easily (and this can be readily ascertained by
trying one or two stems) a longer boiling is essential.
After this boiling is complete we take the stems and by hand strip them of their
outer bark, the inner bark containing the fibres being carefully placed upon bars
ready for further treatment in a bath in which the said bars are supported so that
the fibrous material thereon is suspended in the liquid of the bath.
This bath is composed of the following ingredients in about the following pro-
portions, namely:-
:-
Water
Soda dissolved in water
Unpurified oleine
-
50 kilos.
1 kilo.
500 grammes.
When the fibres are placed in this bath the tank is closed and is subjected to
sufficient heat by steam or otherwise to raise the pressure in the tank to not less
than 75 lbs. per square inch. This pressure of 75 lbs. is maintained for about two
hours and during the whole time a cock on the apparatus is kept open, so that the
liquid is in a state of ebullition. At the end of about two hours the liquid of the
bath is driven out by the steam and passed through a filter containing animal
charcoal, so that the said liquid is purified and rendered fit for use for subsequent
baths after being raised to its previous strength.
By the treatinent in the bath under pressure as hereinbefore described the fibres
will be cleansed from practically all extraneous matter including the gum. We
now take the bars upon which the fibres hang and place them beneath a tank
having a perforated bottom and containing water, so that, as the water escapes
through the perforations, it will fall upon the fibres and remove therefrom any
When the fibres are
remaining particles of epidermis or other extraneous matter.
thoroughly cleansed we move the same over a tank containing glycerine and
carbonate of soda in the proportions of about one per cent. of glycerine to three
per cent. of carbonate of soda in water. This tank must be of sufficient depth to
allow the fibres to hang therein to their full length in order to prevent the
entangling of the different strips of fibre. The fibres are then immersed in the
tank either by lowering the frame or lifting the tank and after the fibres have been
thus dipped they are allowed to drain and then moved into the open air to dry.
In carrying out the process hereiubefore described we advantageously connect a

page_text: series of bars together to form a kind of grid, and we arrange a series of cylinders
into which the said grids with the fibres thereon are adapted to be placed in pairs.
These cylinders are all connected with a tank or reservoir containing the bath
liquid by a supply pipe, and by a discharge pipe through a filter so that the liquid
can be introduced into the cylinders and then returned through the filter to the
tank or reservoir.
The grids are introduced into and removed from the cylinders by suitable lifting
apparatus running upon a rail or rails so that, after the grids are lifted from the
cylinders, they may be carried beneath a perforated tank. This perforated tank is
of such size as to spray or rain water upon two or more grids simultaneously.
Beneath each grid is a tank or vessel for catching the water falling from the
perforated tank. These two vessels are arranged upon the two ends of a balanced
lever, by means of which they are alternately raised to immerse the fibres hanging
from the grids.
"The water which escapes from the said vessels, and preferably through cocks at
the bottom thereof falls into trays or the like from which it is returned to the
. perforated tank for further use. The balanced lever may be oscillated by hand or
power and the pump is also preferably operated from the said lever. After being
operated upon by the water, the grids are carried over the bath containing
glycerine into which they are dipped and are thence taken away to dry.
The rails upon which the lifting apparatus runs are endless and extend into the
shed or warehouse in which the fibres are to be stored, so that the grids carrying
the fibres can, after the latter have been completely treated, be taken to the
warehouse and then, with the lifting apparatus, be returned to be recharged.
Dated the 26th day of November 1891.
G. F. REDFERN.& Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Treatment of Rhea and in Apparatus therefor.
We, EMILE VIARENGO, of 45, Via St. Guilia; Turin; in the Kingdon of Italy,
Gentleman, and EDWARD CASPER, of No. 11, Queen Victoria Street, in the City
of London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
Our invention relates to the treatment of rhea and to apparatus. therefor, and it
"comprises the improvements hereinafter described.
In carrying out..our invention we take the stems or stalks as soon as possible
after they are cut and cut off the roots and the tops, and we then sort the stalks
into different classes according to their thickness in order that during the subsequent
treatment they may be uniformly acted upon. In practice we find it advantageous
to sort the stalks into three classes, viz., thick, medium and thin.
The stalks thus sorted are placed class by class in a vessel of wood, iron or other
suitable material and covered with water. In this vessel the stalks are boiled by
#steam or otherwise for about an hour; at the end of which time, under ordinary
circumstances, the outer bark can be readily stripped from the stems. If, however,
the outer bark does not strip off easily (and this can be readily ascertained by
trying one or two stems) a longer boiling is essential.
f
After this boiling is complete we take the stems and strip off their outer bark
which we hang upon barsior rods for further treatment in a closed boiler (in, which
the bars are supported), in a bath solution composed of the following ingredients in
about the following proportions, namely
"Water
50 kilos.

page_text: the solution being subjected to sufficient heat by steam or otherwise to raise the
pressure in the boiler to not less than 75 lbs. per square inch. This pressure of
75 lbs. is maintained for about two hours and during the whole time a cock on the
boiler is kept open, so that the liquid is in a state of ebullition. At the end of
about two hours the bath solution is driven out from the boiler by the steam and
passed through a filter containing animal charcoal or other filtering material, so
that the said liquid is purified and rendered fit for subsequent use after being raised
to its original strength.
By the treatment under pressure as hereinbefore described the bark or fibrous
material will be cleansed from practically all extraneous matter including the gum,
the fibres remaining upon the bars. We now remove the bars with the fibres thereon
from the boiler and place them beneath a tank having a perforated bottom and con-
tinuously supplied with water, so that, as the water escapes through the perforations,
it will fall upon the fibres and remove therefrom any remaining particles of
epidermis or other extraneous matter. When the fibres are thoroughly cleansed
we immerse them in a tank containing, glycerine,, carbonate of soda and water in
the proportions of about one per cent. of glycerine, three per cent. of carbonate of
soda and 96 per cent. of water, the. said, tank being, of sufficient depth. to allow, the
fibres.to hang, therein to their full length in order to prevent the entangling of the
different strips of fibre. The fibres after having been immersed, in, the tank are
allowed to drain and then moved into the open air to dry, or before drying they,
may in some cases be dipped- a second time and allowed to drain..
In carrying out our invention. as herein before described we advantageously make
use of apparatus or plant of the kind hereinafter described and illustrated. in. the
accompanying drawings, in which-
Figures and. 2 are a sectional elevation and plan respectively of the said plant:
Figures 3 to 10 are views drawn to a larger scale than Figures.1 and 2. illustrating
the construction of different parts of the apparatus; and,
Figures 11 and 12 are views illustrating a modification of our invention.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.
a, a are the bars upon which the bark is hung after removal from the stems,, a
series of such bars being preferably united to a ring or frame to. form. what we
term a grid c, as shewn in Figures 3 and 4 which are respectively a plan and side
elevation of the said grid.
d, dare egg-ended boilers placed vertically and cach designed to receive two
grids with the fibrous material thereon, the said grids being supported upon
flanges e, el, the lower of which e¹ is broader than the upper in order that it may
support the lower grid which is made smaller than the upper one as it has to
pass the flange e upon which the said upper grid is supported. These boilers,
the construction of which is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 (Figure 5 shewing
two cylinders, one in elevation and the other in section, and Figure 6 being an
elevation at right angles to Figure 5) are each made with one end removable
to form a cover which is secured by pivot-bolts g, y, shewn most clearly in
Figures 7, 8 and 9 (which are respectively an elevation, a vertical section and
a sectional plan of a portion of a boiler and its cover together with one of the
pivot-bolts g) or by other suitable means. The boilers d, d are all connected to a
reservoir h, for containing the bath solution, by means of a pipe i through which
the solution flows from the reservoir into the boilers and by a pipe j through
which the liquid is returned from the boilers to the reservoir. ¹, are openings
to which pipes are connected for the admission of steam for raising the pressure in
the boilers.
k is a filter introduced into the pipe through which the liquid passes as it is
discharged, the said filter serving to retain any solid particles in suspension in the
bath solution..
The grids c, and the covers f,fare provided with eyes 1, to which the hooks of a
lifting chain m running over a pulley n may be attached for lifting the covers of

page_text: the boilers and removing the grids with the fibres which they carry from the said
boilers. In practice we employ a number of lifting chains, the pulley n for each
chain being carried by a carriage o running upon a rail p fixed above the boiler
and the various vessels in which the fibres are treated so that the said fibres may
be transferred from one to the other without difficulty. One of the carriages o is
shewn most clearly in Figure 10 which represents the carriage in elevation and
the rail upon which it runs in section.
7 indicates the perforated tank beneath which the grids with the fibres thereon are
carried to undergo the washing operation. This tank is supplied with water from
the cock and below this perforated tank 7 is a reservoirs into which the water
from the said tank drops. Above this reservoir s is an oscillating beam t adapted
to be operated by means of a crank u and handle and having at its ends
chains, by means of which the grids carrying the fibres are suspended during
the washing operation. It will be readily understood by this arrangement that,
when the beam is oscillated, the fibres will be alternately dipped in the water in
the reservoirs and subjected to the rain falling from the perforated tank q, whereby
a thorough washing will be effected.
In order that the water in the tanks shall constantly change and carry away
with it the impurities from the fibres, we make one end of the reservoir s perforated,
as shewn in Figure 1, so that the whole body of water therein will be kept in
motion.
is a drain into which the water flowing from the reservoirs escapes through a
sluice or valve v¹ and which is arranged in conjunction with a filter if the water is
to be used again.
In order that the chains m which carry the grids may be moved into position over
the ends of the beam t so that the grids may he readily disconnected from the
chains m and attached to the chains t, and vice versa, the tank g is provided with
slots or openings g1, Figure 2, which allow the chains to be brought immediately
over the ends of the beam t.
In order to render it unnecessary to detach the grids from the chains m during
the washing operation we sometimes employ two independent tanks or vessels s, s
which are carried upon the ends of an oscillating beam, as shewn in elevation and
plan respectively in Figures 11 and 12 whereby, instead of alternately dropping
the grids with the fibres into the liquid and then withdrawing them, the tanks are
alternately lifted to immerse the fibre and then lowered.
2 is the tank for containing the bath of glycerine and carbonate of soda and
into which the fibres are dipped before being allowed to dry. After the fibres are
thoroughly dried they are removed from the grids and the latter are again supplied
with untreated fibre and again introduced into the boilers and so on.
w, wanda, a indicate water and steam gauges respectively with which the boilers
are provided.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
same,
1. The method or process of treating rhea stems consisting in first boiling the
then stripping off the outer bark or fibrous material, then immersing this bark
or fibrous material in a bath solution composed of water, soda and unpurified oleine
and raising the pressure to not less than 75 lbs. per square inch, then treating the
fibrous with pure water, then dipping it in a bath of glycerine and carbonate of
soda and then allowing it to dry, all substantially as described.
2. In the treatment of rhea, the use of a bath composed of water, soda and
unpurified oleine in substantially the proportion stated.
3. The use in the treatment of rhea of a bath composed of glycerine, carbonate
of soda and water in substantially the proportions stated.
4. In the treatment of rhea by the process hereinbefore described the use of

page_text: apparatus constructed and arranged substantially in the manner hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings and operating as, and for
the purposes, set forth.
Dated this 1st day of July 1892
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.