AN IMPROVED MODE OF UTILIZING COTTON WASTE AND OTHER REFUSE FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR CLEANING MACHINERY
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting En-
gincer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF UTILIZING COTTON
WASTE AND OTHER REFUSE FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR CLEANING MACHINERY."
-A communication from abroad by Anthony Peple, of East
Billerica, Massachusetts, United States of America.
-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th April 1870.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
5 Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OP UTILIZING

page_text: COTTON WASTE AND OTHER REFUSE FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR CLEANING MACHINERY,"
a communication, to be as follows:--
65
It is well known that a certain kind of cotton waste, or that called
yarn waste," that is the waste thread from cops and the like, is used
to a great extent in machine shops, and in many other localities for i
absorbing or removing excess of oil, dirt, iron filings, and other substances
from machinery.
A considerable portion of cotton waste, or that containing little if any
thread, such as "sweepings" and card strippings has heretofore been
considered worthless-for-the-above-mentioned_purposes owing to the 1
lint separating from the mass and clinging to the machinery or other
object with which it comes in contact, as well as the general non-
cohesiveness of the material, although it has been admitted that it
contains much greater absorbing qualities than the yarn waste.
To utilize this cotton waste is the object of my Invention, and to effect 1
this purpose I envelope a quantity of the same in a woven or porous bag
or envelope, which while allowing the waste to come in contact with
and absorb oil and dirt yet confines it in a mass and entirely prevents
separation and deposit of lint from it. The said bag or envelope should
be of a cheap material and may be provided with a mouth to be closed 2
by an elastic ring or equivalent device, in order that when the mass-
of waste within it becomes saturated with oil and dirt it may be
removed and a fresh supply substituted, so that one bag or envelope
will last for a considerable time.
Although I have more particularly mentioned the use of cotton waste 2
as the absorbent material, it will doubless be found that other substances
or materials may be utilized with equal advantages.
I may form the bag or envelope for containing the waste of elastic
threads to prevent fracture or tearing away of the same as would perhaps
be the case with woven or fibrous materials through contact with screws a
or other sharp or irregular projections of machinery.
An envelope filled with waste as described will be found more con-
venient than the yarn waste as it is contained in closer condition and
not liable to separation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 3rd October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," Southampton
Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
any
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert
Lake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at time
agree with, and no others from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for AN IMPROVED MODE OF UTILIZING COTTON WASTE AND OTHER REFUSE
FIBROUS MATERIALS FOR CLEANING MACHINERY," a communication to me from
abroad by Anthony Peple, of East Billerica, Massachusetts, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Robert Lake, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 William Robert Lake, 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:-
"
It is well known that a certain kind of cotton waste, or that called
' yarn waste," that is, the waste thread from cops and the like, is used
to a great extent in machine shops, and in many other localities for

page_text: absorbing or removing excess of oil, dirt, iron filings, and other substances
from machinery.
A considerable portion of cotton waste, or that containing little, if any,
thread, such as "sweepings" and card strippings has heretofore been
considered worthless for the above-mentioned purposes, owing to the
lint separating from the mass and clinging to the machinery or other
object with which it comes in contact, as well as the general non-
cohesiveness of the material although it has been admitted that it
contains much greater absorbing qualities than the yarn wasto.
To utilize this cotton waste is the object of my Invention, and to effect
this purpose I-envelope-a-quantity-of-the-same-in-a-woven-or porous-bag-
or envelope, which while allowing the waste to come in contact withi
and absorb oil and dirt, yet confines it in a mass and entirely prevents
separation and deposit of lint from it. The said bag or envelope should
be of a cheap material and may be provided with a mouth to be closed
by an clastic ring or equivalent device in order that when the mass of
waste within it becomes saturated with oil and dirt it may be removed
and a fresh supply substituted, so that one bag or envelope will last for
a considerable time.
I may form the bag or envelope for containing the waste of elastic
threads to prevent fracture or tearing away of the same as would perhaps
be the case with woven or fibrous materials through contact with screws
or other sharp or irregular projections of machinery.
An envelope filled with waste as described will be found more con-
venient than the yarn waste, as it is contained in closer condition and
not liable to separation.
Instead of using a bag made as above I sometimes form the envelope
by stitching or quilting the waste or other absorbent material between
sheets of woven, knit, or porous fabric.
This modification of my Invention is advantageous for the following
reasons: First, when the waste is made into sheets or layers it may be
cut into pieces of any required size or shape; for instance, it may be
desirable to cut a very narrow strip for use in places where strips of a
greater width could not be used; secondly, the construction is simpler.
Still, another advantage in having the absorbent material stitched or
quilted is that it is less liable to get out of place by matting together
and forming into.balls.

page_text: To effect my purpose I place one or more layers of waste batting, lapping,
or wadding, made cither by hand or machinery of suitable thickness
between two sheets of woven, knit, or porous fabric; I then pass stitches
through the waste or other absorbent material and the said two sheets,
or quilt them together either by hand or machinery. The waste will
come in contact with and absorb and remove oil and dirt, while at the
same time it is kept in a mass, and the separation thereof and the
deposit of lint are prevented. The mass of waste between the sheets
when it becomes saturated with oil and dirt may be washed without
separating it from the said sheets
To effect my purpose I place one or more layers of waste batting, lapping,
or wadding, made cither by hand or machinery of suitable thickness
between two sheets of woven, knit, or porous fabric; I then pass stitches
through the waste or other absorbent material and the said two sheets,
or quilt them together either by hand or machinery. The waste will
come in contact with and absorb and remove oil and dirt, while at the
same time it is kept in a mass, and the separation thereof and the
deposit of lint are prevented. The mass of waste between the sheets
when it becomes saturated with oil and dirt may be washed without
separating it from the said sheets
I do not confine myself to the use of cotton waste as an absorbent
material as various other substances or materials may be used suc-
cessfully.
Nor do I confine myself to the method of stitching or quilting
cotton waste or other absorbent material between the two sheets,
for the same result may be accomplished by stitching, quilting, or
fastening by means of threads or their equivalent layers of the absorbent
material on one or both sides of a single sheet, or by merely stitching,
quilting, or fastening together layers of the absorbent material.
Nor do I confine myself to the ways herein-before mentioned of
producing cohesiveness, or of preventing or lessening the separation of
the fibres or particles of the absorbent materials for cleaning machinery,
as other ways may be adopted to produce the same results with
advantage; as, for instance, by winding around or surrounding wholly
or partially, or connecting the said absorbent material with thread,
yarn, or twine, or its equivalent, or by forming the said absorbent
material into sheets by felting, or into roping, or roving, or its equivalent,
and making the same into a fabric, or the roving may be strengthened
by being covered with sizing or by being connected with thread, yarn,
twine, or its equivalent, so that the said roping or roving may be formed
into a fabric.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim, the
utilization of cotton waste or other absorbent fibrous material by
enclosing it in a bag or envelope, or otherwise confining the same,

page_text: :
or preventing the separation of the fibres, or fibrous particles, sub-
stantially as herein described for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Third day of October, in
.
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)