AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR COMBINING SILK WITH OTHER TEXTILE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marc Antoine François Mennons, of the British and
Foreign Patent Offices, 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of
France, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR COMBINING SILK
WITH OTHER TEXTILE SUBSTANCES."-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marc Antoine François
Menuons at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 28th April 1858.
I, MARC ANTOINE FRANÇOIS MENNONS, of the British and Foreign Patent
Offices, 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby
declare the suature of, the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR
COMBINING SILK WITH OTHER TEXTILE SUBSTANCES," a communication, to be as
follows:
The Invention consists in an improved process for combining silk with flax,
cotton, wool, or other.textile substances. To effect this 1 adapt to the vessels
in which the winding-off of the silk cocoons is performed one or several
tubes, in which are passed the filaments to be combined with the silk. One
of these filaments is then spun off with the thread of several cocoons, placed
on the water of the operating vessel round each tube, and a thread is thus
produced possessing all the external appearance of pure silk.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Marc Antoine François Mennons in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 26th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARC
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS MENNONS, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices,
39, Rue de l'Echiquier, l'aris, in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, Her special licence that
I, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said-Marc Antoine François Mennons,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others; from time to timeand at all times'thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully right make, use, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR COMBINING SILK WITH
OTHER TEXTILE SUBSTANCES," a communication from a foreigner residing abroad;
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Marc Antoine François
Mennons, 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 Marc Antoine François Merinons, 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, reference being had to the Drawing herëto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:
The Invention communicated to me relates to the preparation of a thread
having the appearance and answering the purpose of silk thread, whereby a
great economy of silk, time, and labor is effected, and consists,―
First, in covering or combining a thread of cotton or other textile material
with silk direct from the cocoons and by a single operation.
Secondly, in the arrangement of apparatus employed therefor.

page_text: The process for carrying out the Invention is as follows:-I employ a basin
or vessel containing water,and provided with a pipe or tube for conducting the
cotton thread, the upper end of which pipe passes out above the level of the
water, directly underneath or perpendicular to a guide for the thread. The
cotton thread is unwound from a bobbin placed underneath the pipe and basin.
It passes through the pipe, and enters the middle of, and is joined to the
cocoon threads as it ascends through the hole in the guide, the cocoons
untwisting round the pipe and the thread. At the same time that the cocoons
untwist the bobbin unwinds, and the cotton and silk threads rise together, and
are wound on a bobbin or winder. Instead of a pipe, a wire or glass guide
may be used for conducting the cotton thread. In order to envelope
the cotton or other thread with silk in a more regular manner, the bobbin
under the basin may be made to revolve. in order to twist or untwist the
cotton thread, and in this way the cotton thread to which the silk threads
are joined twists them round itself by being turned on its axis. The object
of twisting or untwisting the cotton thread is to have a silk thread more or
less twisted, the untwist serving for the weft, and the twist for the warp.
In this manner tram. and organzine can be obtained at option. The silk
from the cocoons, may also be twisted round the cotton threads by the
apparatus which I will now proceed to describe, and which I prefer.
In order that the Invention may be better understood, I will now proceed
to describe the Drawing hereto annexed, in which-the same letters represent
corresponding parts.
Figure represents a side, and Figure 2 an end elevation, both in partial
section, of the apparatus. A is the basin or vessel, set in brick work or other
support A'. This basin contains water, in which the cocoons B, B, are placed.
The silk threads from the cocoons wind round a thread C, of cotton, flax, wool,
or other fibrous substance, placed on a bobbin in front of the vessel. The
thread enters the water and passes out through the middle of the cocoons,
being guided by: an iron wire D, placed in a horizontal position in the
water. A:hook E: is formed on the wire to keep the thread perpendicular
with the guide F, fixed to the support F¹. Instead of the wire guide D, a
tube may be employed for the same purpose. The thread C, when it has been
joined by the cocoon threads, as represented by G, passes through the guide F,
formed of glass or other material, and while it winds on the bobbin [is twisted
by receiving a rotatory motion. This motion is obtained by the following
mechanical arrangement:-J is a hollow cylinder or spindle put in motion by
a-strap or band, which sets in motion several spindles, as in the ordinary

page_text: spinning machines. The hollow spindle J is attached to the frame K by nuts
vertical axis M, firmly
The axis M is furnished
and bolts L, and revolves with the frame on the
fixed to two beams or supports N, N', by nuts O, O'.
at one end with a worm or endless screw P, gearing with the worm wheel Q,
mounted on the axle R, working in bearings S. fixed to the frame K. At the
extremity of the axle R is a toothed wheel T, communicating motion by means
of intermediate gearing U, U¹, to a toothed wheel V, which transmit it to the
cylinder W on the same axle, and by the contact of this cylinder with the
bobbin I the latter is caused to revolve on its axis Y in the grooves Z, made
in the frame K, and thus wind the thread. To obtain a regular winding of
the thread over the whole surface of the bobbin, a hollow cylinder or tube a
is fixed by supports b to the frame K. A screw C, formed with a double
thread turned in opposite directions, is put in motion by the pinion gearing
with the toothed wheel V. The hollow cylinder a is provided with a small
groove, permitting the introduction of a runner or guide e, which takes into
the screw thread. When the screw turns, it has a tendency to draw the
runner or guide e with it, but being prevented from turning by the groove in
the cylinder, it is compelled to move in a longitudinal direction, and in this
manner it arrives at the extremity of the screw, when it stops; but as the
screw continues turning, the second screw thread takes hold of it, and causes
it to return back again. The bobbin I may be made of iron, and the cylinder
or roller W of wood. The bobbin, by its weight, presses on the cylinder, and
receives a regular rotative motion derived from the motive power. The
basin A should be raised about three feet above the ground for the convenience
of the attendant, and the bobbin should be about the same distance above the
basin. The cocoons are kept at about two and a half inches distance from
the pipe and thread, which is effected by means of a wooden or metallic ring
or hoop placed round the pipe. Wood is preferable for making the hoop, as it
admits of external cases being formed in it for receiving the cocoons. Care
should be taken to keep the cocoons apart, so that they may surround the
tube. Separations may be made in order that the cocoons in winding off may
not approach each other and always wind off at the same place. It is also
necessary that the thread guide F should not be more than about nine or ten
inches distant from the bobbin I, and that both the thread guide and bobbin
should be exactly above or perpendicular to the tube of the basin,to enable the
cotton thread to ascend in a perpendicular direction. The twisting must be
effected under the guide F,so that each end of the cocoon threads may be twisted
with the cotton thread before they adhere together. If the twist is made above

page_text: the thread guide after the cocoonthreads haveadhered together, theresultwould
be that the cotton thread would only be partiallycovered with the silk threads.
By employing the vertical pipe which passes through the basin or vessel, I can
spin and cover cotton or other thread with silk without wetting the cotton, and
the thread thus covered with silk will be sooner dry. If it be preferred that
the cotton thread should be wet to make it more even, and so that the down
may be more easily kept confined by the silk, I employ the wire guide, as
herein-before described. When the bobbin is sufficiently filled, it must be
wound off before the silk dries on the bobbin; it is then put into skeins by a
separate winding machine, unless it is desired to give it more twist, when it
must be submitted to a milling to give a second twist to the thread. The
spindles may be disposed like those of the silk mill termed an "oval." A
band passing over the spindles in a horizontal position causes them all to turn
at the same time. The basin should be of an oval shape, to correspond with
the form of the mill, and it is provided with a pipe for conveying cold water,
and another for steam to heat it in the ordinary manner. Woollen cashmere
thread may be manufactured by the improved process suitable for making
French cashmere shawls. To prepare this woollen warp thread, which should
be very fine, it is doubled with a thread of raw silk. The two threads are
twisted together, so that the silk should not appear, the silk thread being only
employed to give strength to the woollen thread to enable it to be wove.
To obtain this thread I place the cocoons together in a box or case, and
pass the two ends into a separate thread guide; the two threads will then
be twisted above the two thread guides.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish to observe that I do not confine myself
to the precise details of the process or apparatus herein-before laid down,
so long as the peculiar feature of the Invention be retained, nor do I claim
the apparatus except as employed for carrying out the process as herein set
forth; but what I claim as new, and desire to be protected by the herein-
before recited Letters Patent, is,—
First, the covering or combining a thread of cotton or other textile
material with silk direct from the cocoons and by a single operation, for the
manufacture of a thread having the appearance and answering the purpose
of silk thread, as herein-before described, and shown in the accompanying
Drawing.
Secondly, the arrangement and application of apparatus for covering or
combining a thread of cotton or other textile material with silk direct from

page_text: the cocoons, as herein-before described, and represented by the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, have
hereto set my hand and seal,-this Twenty-fifth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.