IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF VEGETABLE FIBRES USED IN " TEXTILE MANUFACTURES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel of No 28 Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane in the county of Middlesex for an invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF VEGETABLE FIBRES USED IN
"
TEXTILE
MANUFACTURES ▲ communication from abroad by E. Frémy and Victor
Urbain both of Paris, France, Chemists
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th April 1882.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL of No 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane in
the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF VEGETABLE
FIBRES USED IN TEXTILE MANUFACTURES [A communication from abroad by
E. Frémy and Victor Urbain both of Paris, France, Chemists.]
33
Vegetable fibres are in themselves colorless, but in the plant they are united
together by cementitious matters which impart color to them and cause them to adhere
to the woody parts of the plant. If therefore the cementitious matters be dissolved,
the fibres are obtained in a separated and colorless condition, requiring no further
process to decolorize them. Various substances may be employed for dissolving the
Said cementitious matters, such as: nitric acid, chlorine, bromine, permanganate of
potash, oxigenated water, hypochlorites, and generally all oxidizing bodies. The
said matter is also dissolved by caustic alkalies and their carbonates, under the
action of heat and pressure.
This mode of treating the fibres in the plant dispenses with the ordinary retting
operation which is attendant with so many objections both from the sanatory and
economical point of view.
The agents that give the best result as solvents of the said cementitious matters
are the solutions of caustic soda and carbonate of soda acting under the presence
of heat and pressure. The fibres separated by this means are not only white but
also brilliant and silky in appearance, and are consequently applicable in lieu of silk.
This treatment may also be applied to the vegetable fibres, such as flax and

page_text: hemp, whatever be their condition, whether in the form of hards or tow, or as
separate fibre or even as woven fabrics, or waste material thereof, which may bo
utilised in certain industries such as for the manufacture of felts.
In carrying out the above described invention the fibrous stalks or rinds are
treated at ordinary pressure with a boiling concentrated solution of caustic soda,
which in a few minutes dissolves the cementitious matter and leaves the fibres
pure, white and silky, entirely separated from the woody matter, which can then
be readily removed, either by a combing process, or by a rapid current of water.
When this chemical retting process is effected by the action of alkaline carbonates
or lime, a closed vessel is employed into which the fibrous matter is introduced
together with a lyo consisting of ten parts of the carbonate, with about ninety
parts of water, and which is heated to about 130° Cent. for about four hours, a
small quantity of caustic soda being added if necessary. On removal from the
vessel the stalks are washed in pure water and then in water slightly acidulated,
and they are then dessicated. The fibres are then readily detached as before
described, being however still united together in bundles by the cement.
For imparting to the fibres the desired silky appearanco they are treated during
from 4 to 5 hours in a closed vessel under pressure with a solution of carbonate of
soda to which caustic soda is added if necessary, heated to about 130° Cent. The
fibres aro then washed in slightly acidulated water and then in pure water; the
fibres are then of silky appearance and are completely separated froin each other,
resulting in a product which may be employed as a substitute for silk.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th October 1882.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL of No 28 Southampton Buildings Chancery Lane in
the County of Middlesex "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF VEGETABLE
FIBRES USED IN TEXTILE MANUFACTURES A communication from abroad by
E. Frémy and Victor Urbain both of Paris, France, Chemists
Vegetable fibres are in themselves colorless, but in the plant they are united
together by cementitious matters which impart color to them and cause them to
adhere to the woody parts of the plant. If therefore the cementitious matters be
dissolved, the fibres are obtained in a separated and colorless condition, requiring
no further process to decolorize them. Various substances may be employed for
dissolving the said cementitious matters, such as: nitric acid, chlorine, bromine,
permanganate of potash, oxygenated water, hypochlorites, and generally all
oxidising bodies. The said matter is also dissolved by caustic alkalies and their
carbonates, under the action of heat and pressure.
This mode of treating the fibres in the plant dispenses with the ordinary retting
operation which is attendant with so many objections both from the sanatory and
economical point of view.
The agents that give the best result as solvents of the said cementitious matters
are the solutions of caustic soda and carbonate of soda acting under the presence
of heat and pressure. The fibres separated by this means are not only white but
also brilliant and silky in appearance, and are consequently applicable in lieu of
silk.
This treatment may also be applied to the vegetable fibres, such as flax and
hemp, whatever be their condition, whether in the form of hards or tow, or as
separate fibre or even as woven fabrics, or waste material thereof, which may be
utilised in certain industries such as for the manufacture of felts.
In carrying out the above described invention the fibrous stalks or rinds are
treated at ordinary pressure with a boiling concentrated solution of caustic soda,
which in a few minutes dissolves the cementitious matter and leaves the fibres
pure, white and silky, entirely separated from the woody inatter, which can then
be readily removed, either by a combing process, or by a rapid current of water.
When this chemical retting process is effected by the action of alkaline carbonates
or lime, a closed vessel is employed into which the fibrous matter is introduced
together with a lye consisting of ten parts of the carbonate, with about ninety
parts of water, and which is heated to about 130° Cent. for about four hours, a
small quantity of caustic soda being added if necessary. On removal from the
vessel the stalks are washed in pure water and in then in water slightly acidulated,
and they are then dessicated. The fibres are then readily detached as before
described by combing or otherwise, being of considerable length, strong and of
brilliant appearance; they are however still united together to a certain extent in
bundles by the vegetable cement.
For imparting to the fibres the desired perfectly silky appearance they are
treated during from 4 to 5 hours in a closed vessel under pressure with a solution
of carbonate of soda to which caustic soda is added if necessary, heated to about
130° Cent. The fibres are then washed in slightly acidulated water and then in
pure water; when they will be found to be of a silky appearance and completely
separated from each other, resulting in a product which may be employed as a
substitute for silk and which for the sake of distinction is termed Linisoie,

page_text: Having thus described the nature of the said invention and in what manner tho
same is to be performed as communicated to me by my foreign correspnodents, I
clain:
First. The method herein described of subjecting vegetable fibres such as flax,
hemp, ramie and the like whether in their natural state or in the form of tissues or
waste products to the action of hot solutions of caustic alkalies or of alkaline
carbonates or of lime or of mixtures of these either under atmospheric or higher
pressures, whereby the vegetable cement that binds the fibres together is dissolved
and the fibres are separated from the woody parts.
Second. In combination with the process for treating vegetable fibre referred to
in the preceding claim, the further treatment of the fibre when separated from the
woody parts with solutions of caustic alkalies, or of alkaline carbonatos or of lime,
whereby the vegetable cement that binds the fibres together is dissolved and tho
separated fibres rendered pure, white and silky substantially as herein described.
Third. The herein described improved manufacture of vegetable fibro termed
Linisoie resulting from the treatment of vegetable fibres such as flax, hemp, ramie
and the like, with alkaline solutions which reinove the vegetable cement and
render the fibre of silky appearance.
In Witness whereof I the said Charles Denton Abel have hereunto set my
hand and seal this seventeenth day of October in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.