A NEW PROCESS FOR TREATING COTTON SEED FOR THE PURPOSE OF AND PREVIOUS TO THE OBTAINING OF OIL FROM IT
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Rudolph Schramm, of 6, Warwick Crescent, Harrow
Road, Paddington, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A
NEW PROCESS FOR TREATING COTTON SEED FOR THE PURPOSE OF AND PREVIOUS
TO THE OBTAINING OF OIL FROM IT."-A communication.
Sealed the 26th February 1856, and dated the 31st August 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Rudolph Schramm at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st
August 1855.
I, RUDOLPH SCHRAMM, of 6, Warwick Crescent, Harrow Road, Paddington
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
PROCESE FOR TREATING COTTON SEED FOR THE PURPOSE OF AND PREVIOUS TO THE
OBTAINING OF OIL FROM IT" to be as follows:-
The cotton seed when it comes from the cotton gin is wrapped in or coated
with a quantity of fibre firmly adhering to it; this fibre forms the principal
obstacle to an easy and profitable extraction of oil.
In a reservoir of suitable material one pours a quantity of sulphuric acid
(oil or vitriol), and in this one throws and presses so much cotton seed as will
be moistened by the acid. The acid soon destroys the cotton fibre. A new
quantity of seed can then be added and mixed with the former untill all the
acid is absorbed; then water is poured into the mixture, and a cock opened at
the bottom of the reservoir, by which the liquid containing the carbonized fibre
Price r

page_text: and the acidulated water is made to run of the seed.
Fresh water is let in
and washed over the seed till all acidity is gone from it. One finds the fibre
efficaceously destroyed, the kernel with its cleansed peel remaining. If the
acid were to stay too long, it would destroy the peel first and then the inner
grain. The success of the operation is produced by the circumstance that the
acid destroys the fibre in a less time than the peel; therefore the washing of
the grain is to begin immediately after the perfect destruction of the fibre has
been effected. The process can be facilitated by raising the temperature of
the acid and of the seed to about 140 degrees Far. The cleansed and washed
seed is dried, and is then fit to be submitted to one of the usual operations of
extracting oil from seed, as pressing, stamping, etc. The oil obtained is of a
redish colour. It is the peel which gives to it this red colour. In order to
obtain oil of a clear colour, one must separate on a peeling mill the peel from
the grain before extracting the oil. The acidulated water may be used for the
manufacture of various manures, or the fabrication of various chemicals. The
cotton oil cake obtained is valuable for feeding cattle.
What I claim as the Invention is, the application of sulphuric acid (oil of
vitriol), or such other acids as possess the property of carbonizing cotton fibre,
to remove from the cotton seed as it comes from the cotton gin, the fibre
adhering to it previous to the extraction of oil from the seed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Rudolph Schramm in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th February 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RUDOLPH
SCHRAMM, of 6, Warwick Crescent, Harrow Road, Paddington, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Rudolph Schramm, Her special licence that I, the said Rudolph
Schramm, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Rudolph Schramm, 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

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for A NEW
PROCESS FOR TREATING COTTON SEED FOR THE PURPOSE OF AND PREVIOUS TO THE
OBTAINING OF OIL FROM IT," a communication, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Rudolph Schramm, by an instrument in writingunder
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the natureofthe
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 Rudolph Schramm, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement
The said Invention relates to a peculiar mode of treating cotton seeds
(which have hitherto been wasted to a great extent) for the purpose of and
previous to the obtainment of oil therefrom; and consists in destroying, by
means of sulphuric acid, the fibre or lint with which the most, if not all,
varieties of cotton seed arewrapped or coated to a greater or less extentwhen
they come from the cotton gin, this fibre or lint forming one of theprinciple
obstacles to an easy and profitable extraction of oil from such seeds.
In carrying out this Invention, I pour into a vessel of suitable material a
quantity of strong sulphuric acid, such as oil of vitrol of commerce, and in
this acid I immerse as much cotton seed as the acid will moisten, the seed
being stirred or agitated in order the more effectually to moisten it The
quantity of acid employed will depend in a great measure upon the nature of
the seed to be treated, and whether the fibre or lint covering the seed is more
or less close or dense. This process in a few minutes will effectually destroy
the fibre or lint covering the seed herein-before referred to, and at the same
time has a tendency to loosen the husk on the kernel of the seed. A fresh
supply of seed is then added and mixed with the former seed until all the acid
is absorbed. Water is then allowed to flow into the mixture, and a cock at
the bottom of the vessel opened, by which the liquid containingthecarbonized
or decomposed fibres is run or drained off, or the seed may be removed
from the liquid by any other convenient arrangement. The seed freed from
the fibre or lint is then well washed with fresh water, so as to remove
all the acid therefrom. After this process the fibre or lint will be found to be
destroyed, whilst the kernels with the husks remain in a clean state. It is
requisite that care be taken not to allow the acid to remain too long in contact
with the seed, as were that permitted the husk and the kernel would be
deteriorated or destroyed. As the success of the process is dependant upon

page_text: the fact that the acid destroys the fibre or lint in a less time than such acid
would destroy the kernel itself, the washing the seed and the removalof the
acid should be effected immediately after the destruction of the fibre or lint, or
after so much of it is destroyed as is found requisite or desirable. Thecleansed
and washed seed may then be dried in any suitable and convenient manner,
after which it will be fit for market, and may be submitted in a hulled or
unbulled state to any of the well-known processes and operations for ex-
tracting oil from seed. The dilute acid which is drawn off the seeds may
be concentrated by evaporation, and re-used for the same purpose, or maybe
employed for other useful purposes. The cotton oil cake remaining after the
manufacture of the oil is valuable as food for cattle. I may observe that for
this purpose nitric acid and chromic acid may also be employed, but I prefer
sulphuric acid, although I do not confine or restrict myself thereto.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner inwhich the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to
the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to ; but what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as
the Invention secured to me by thehereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent,
is, the treatment or preparation of cotton seeds by means of sulphuric,nitric,
or chromic acids, for the purpose of cleansing and preparing the same for
manufacture.
In witness whereof, I, the said Rudolph Schramm, have hereunto setmy
hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-six.
RUDOLPH SCHRAMM. (L.S.)