Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME OR BE
MADE KNOWN, I, WILLIAM WATT, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
and Kingdom of Scotland, Manufacturing Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-second day of May, in the fifteenth year of Her
said Majesty's reign, and in the year of our Lord Eighteen hundred and fifty-
two, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Watt, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her special license, full
power, sole privilege, and authority, that I, the said William Watt, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Watt,
my exors, adñors, or assigns, should from time to time or at all times agree
with, and no others, during the term of years therein expressed, (to wit,
fourteen years,) as pursuant to the Statute in that case made and provided,,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within Her said,
Majesty's Kingdom of England, Her Dominion of Wales, the Town of Berwick
upon Tweed, the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, as
also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention "FOR

page_text: IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND PREPARATION OF FLAX OR OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES, AND THE APPLICATION OF SOME OF THE PRODUCTS TO CERTAIN PURPOSES: "
And whereas in the Royal Letters Patent, herein-before mentioned, is contained
a clause, providing that I, the said William Watt, shall, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, cause a particular description of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, made, or carried
into practical effect, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
herein in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by, reference being had thereto,
will more fully and.at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Watt, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention of
"Improvements in the Treatment and Preparation of Flax or other Fibrous
Substances, and the Application of some of the Products to certain Purposes,"
is fully described, set forth, and illustrated in and by the following description
or specification thereof, reference being had to the illustrative Sheets of
Drawings annexed unto this my Specification.
My Invention consists in improvements in the preparing of flax and other
similar fibrous substances. by subjecting the straw of the flax or other plant, as
received from the grower, to a process or processes for the purpose of causing
certain volatile oils which are found in the plant to be carried off in a state
of vapour, removing the nitrogenous and other extractive matters, and
obtaining the fibre detached or rendering it capable of being detached from
the epidermis or outer skin and the pith or boon, and also from the root of
the plant, in a state fit for scutching in a more perfect, speedy, and economical
way than has hitherto been practicable. In performing my Invention I not
only avoid the ordinary steeping and fermenting processes, but I am also
enabled to dispense with the use of a vacuum, or of alkalies, acids, or other
similar chemical agents; I am also enabled to dispense with the tedious,
precarious, and expensive process of grassing. In performing my Invention
I procure as an incidental product a liquor of nutritious quality, which can be
advantageously used either for feeding cattle or for manuring land.
I
While the improvements which I am now about to describe are applicable
to the preparation not only of flax but of other similar fibrous substances, I
have in the following description, or many parts thereof, alluded to flax only, so
as to avoid prolixity. In performing my Invention I first take the flax plant
as I receive it from the grower; that is to say, after it has been dried and

page_text: harvested, and after seeding it in the usual way, I place it in a suitable vessel
or chamber, which when closed must be steam-tight or nearly so, and upon the
top of which I construct a tank, through which cold water is kept constantly
running, so that it may act as a refrigerator. A stratum of the straw made up
in sheaves is laid on a perforated floor, which is situated about eight inches
above the bottom of the steam vessel, and other similar strata of straw are
placed above it until the vessel is nearly full. The process begins by admitting
steam into the vessel through horizontal steam pipes perforated with holes,
which are placed between the perforated floor and the bottom; when the
steam, after rising up through the foor and through the flax straw, is con-
densed by coming in contact with the refrigerator, and the distilled water thus
formed falls in a continued shower on the top of the flax straw from a number
of small iron points on the lower surface of the tank bottom (which forms the
top of the steam vessel), and percolating the mass, finds its way into the space
between the floor and the bottom of the vessel.
At the commencement I turn on as much steam as will be sufficient, not
only for the above purpose, but to lift by its pressure a self-acting spindle valve
placed in the top of the steam vessel in a tube which rises up through the
water in the tank, and the steam being at a high temperature will disengage
from the flax the volatile oils or other volatile matters which it contains, and
the steam escaping from the valve will carry off those volatile matters, and in
passing off produce a perceptible odour. I find the removal of these oils or
other substances beneficial to the quality of the flax when prepared, as well as
important with a view to facilitate the subsequent parts of my process. As
soon, however, as I discover, from the diminution of the odour in the steam
thus escaping, that the volatile matters, or the greater part of them, have
been carried off, I diminish the supply of steam so that the spindle valve
shuts of itself. While this is in progress the condensed steam or hot water,
assisted by the great heat in the steam vessel, gradually dissolves, and re-
moves the nitrogenous and other extractive matters in the straw, and per-
colates to the bottom of the vessel. Still further to aid the process, I from
time to time, or continuously if necessary, force up a portion of the condensed
steam or hot water from the bottom of the vessel into an open cistern placed
above it, whence it runs off into a horizontal perforated pipe placed along the
ceiling of the steam vessel, and thence falls in a shower on the top of the flax
straw, and along with the water produced by condensation, percolates down
through the mass of flax. From time to time, as the condensed steam or hot.

page_text: water at the bottom of the steam vessel becomes highly charged with extractive.
matters, I run it off either from the cistern or the lower part of the steam.
vessel; and this solution of extractive matters may be used for the purpose of
feeding cattle or manuring land. I continue this action of the steam and
water until I find, from the appearance of the straw in the vessel, and the
colour of the solution, that the nitrogenous and other extractive matters have.
been removed. During its progress the interior of the vessel is maintained at.
a high temperature; I prefer a heat of at least two hundred and twelve degrees
of Fahrenheit for expediting the process, and effecting the most beneficial.
results. The time required for the steaming and washing varies according to
the quality of the straw and other circumstances, but I find about twelve.
hours to be generally sufficient to remove all or as much as necessary of the
oleagenous, nitrogenous, and other extractive matters.
In order to enable me to remove the flax straw from the steam vessel
immediately after the completion of the process just described, I sometimes
pass cold water through it, by which the workmen are enabled. immediately
to remove the straw from the vessel. In the process which I have described,
I subject the flax straw to the action of steam, and also of currents of hot
water at a high temperature. The straw may, however, be subjected to the
action of streamis of hot water only; by means of which the extractive
matters, or as much as necessary of them, may be disengaged from the straw.
I prefer to employ a temperature at or near to the boiling point, but the tempe-
rature should always be above one hundred and fifty degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer. A stream or streams of hot water must be made to act upon the
straw of flax so as to obtain the benefit not only of the solvent power of the
hot water, but also of its mechanical action as a current impelled against
the straw to be operated upon. This operation upon the straw of flax may be
effected by introducing a current of hot water only into a vessel similar to that
herein-before mentioned, through the horizontal pipe running along the ceiling
of the vessel, as herein-after described, or in a boiler such as is generally used
by bleachers, with a throw pipe or vomiter, or in an open vessel by any other
convenient means. After the flax straw has been deprived of its volatile oils
and extractive matters in manner already described, it is taken out of the vessel
while still swollen and thoroughly saturated with water, and in a state to allow
of the fibre being easily separated from the outer skin and the pith; it may then
be subjected to any of the usual operations which follow the ordinary process of
steeping, but I deem it more advantageous to subject the flax straw (after

page_text: the sheaves have been opened) to mechanical pressure between two smooth
rollers, which act together at a uniform speed, and one subjected to a regu-
lated amount of pressure.
This operation: I repeat; if necessary, with the
same set of rollers or others of the like construction. The objects of this
rolling and crushing process are to accelerate the drying, to rub off or displace
the epidermis or outer skin, to crush and flatten the pith or boon; and split it
up longitudinally, so as to make it removeable more easily, and with less
violence to the fibre of the flax when subjected to the process of scutching,
and at the same time to obtain the fibre, especially at or near to the root, of
greater length and in larger quantity. The straw which has been prepared in
manner already described may: be thoroughly dried in any of the modes now
in general use. But I prefer to dry it by at once placing it in a stove, heated
to a temperature of from one hundred to one hundred and fifty degrees of
Fahrenheit, and having an artificial current of heated air passing. through it..
The flax straw which has been thus prepared and dried is then ready for. the
ordinary process of breaking and scutching, and so rapidly may the various
operations which I have described be performed, that within twenty-four
hours from the seeding of the flax, it may be subjected to my process
processes above described, and scutched. It will, however, be found generally
advisable to allow the straw. to remain a day or two after being dried before
being scutched.
'or
:
In the Drawings which are annexed to this Specification, I have shewn
apparatus convenient for carrying my Invention into effect, but which appa-
ratus may be varied. Figures 1, 2, 3, & 4, exhibit a plan and elevations of a
steam vessel or chamber, in which the steaming and washing process may be
carried on. It may be made of iron or wood, but if made of wood, the refri-
gerator and the perforated floor had better be of iron. The dimensions which
I have adopted and found to be convenient are about twelve feet long, six feet
broad, and six feet deep, but the size and dimensions are not material, except
that care should be taken that the perpendicular height of flax straw in the
vessel should not be so great as to prevent the free percolation of water down
through it, as before mentioned. A is the tank, upon and forming the top of
the steam vessel, and acting also as a refrigerator, and on the lower surface of
this refrigerator a number of iron points are cast. I have not thought it
necessary to shew the mode in which the cold water is introduced into or lead
away from this tank, as it may be done in any way adapted to the convenience
of the situation. B is the perforated iron floor on which the flax straw is

page_text: laid. C, C, are the horizontal perforated steam pipes, about three inches in
diameter, into which steam is admitted through the valve and pipe D. E is a
self-acting spindle valve, fitted into the top of the steam vessel or bottom of
the tank A. F is a supply pipe through which the condensed water is forced
into the cistern H, which may be placed in any convenient position above the
vessel. G is an overflow pipe. K is a perforated horizontal pipe communi-
cating by means of the perpendicular pipe I with the cistern H. L is a
discharge cock for the purpose of running off the solution at pleasure, or for
conducting it to the cistern H through the pipe F. M, M, are doors, which
are used for the purpose of putting in and taking out the flax straw.
N is a
self-acting return or safety valve, the object of which is to admit air and
prevent the formation of a vacuum within the vessel. If the flax be subjected
to the action of hot water only, it may be introduced at the top of the vessel
by means of a perforated tube, such as shewn at K, K, Figures 1 & 2, in
which case steam pipes and refrigerator will be unnecessary.
purpose
Figures 5 and 6 represent an end and side view of the machine which I use
for rolling and crushing the flax straw after it has been deprived of its extrac-
tive matters. a, a, are two smooth cast iron rollers, which I prefer to be made
of about sixteen inches diameter, and revolving at about twenty to thirty revo-
lutions per minute; b, b, are two spur wheels which cause each of the rollers
to revolve at the same speed; c, c, are a wheel and pinion used for the
of giving a diminished motion to the rollers, and the better allowing the
machine to be driven by a belt and pullies of ordinary size; d is a fly wheel
regulating the uniformity of the motion; e, e, are compound levers regulating
the pressure of the one roller on the other, but capable of yielding to any.
irregularity in the thickness of the flax straw passing between the rollers; f,f,
are fast and loose pullies, to which motion is communicated from the moving
power by means of a belt; g is a feeding board upon which the sheaves of flax
straw are opened out and spread before they pass between the rollers; h is the
point at which the straw is received and taken away after it has passed through
the rollers.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the means of carrying
the same into effect, I hereby declare that I claim the application to flax straw,
and similar fibrous substances, of a current of steam and hot water, or hot
water alone, for the purposes of carrying off the volatile matters of such sub-
stances, and dissolving and removing their nitrogenous and other extractive
matters, in manner herein-before described, without the aid of fermentation,

page_text: acids, or alkalies; and also subjecting flax or other fibrous substances, treated
in the manner aforesaid, to the action of rolling pressure in manner and for
the purposes herein- before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Watt, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Eighteenth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-two.

page_text: DISCLAIMER proposed to be entered by the said William Watt with the
Clerk of the Patents of England, pursuant to an Act passed in the
fifth and sixth year of the reign of His late Majesty King William,
the Fourth, entituled "An Act to amend the Law touching Letters
Patent for Inventions."
I, the said WILLIAM WATT, by and with the leave of Sir Alexander James
Edmund Cockburn, Her Majesty's Attorney General, do hereby disclaim the
words, "and the application of some of the products to certain purposes,"
contained in the title of the said Invention. And I, the said William Watt,
do hereby state and declare that my reason for making such Disclaimer as
aforesaid is, that I have been advised that the part of my said Invention which
relates to such portion of the title as aforesaid is no necessary part of my said
Invention, but rather an application of or result arising from the same. And
I, the said William Watt, do farther declare that the above-written Disclaimer
is not intended to extend the exclusive right granted by the said Letters Patent,
and that these presents shall not extend the said exclusive right in any way
whatsoever.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Watt, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-three.
WILLIAM WATT. (LS.)

page_text: To the Clerk of the Patents of England.
This is to certify that William Watt, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Manufacturing Chemist, has applied to me for leave to enter
with you the within-written Disclaimer of a part of his title of a certain
Invention, for which Letters Patent were granted to him on the 22nd day of
May 1852, and to which the Specification was duly enrolled. And having
considered the said application, and no objection having been made to the
same, I have accordingly granted leave to the said William Watt to file his
said Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration, pursuant to the Statute
passed in the 5th & 6th years of the reign of His late Majesty King
William the 4th, entitled "An Act to amend the Law touching Letters
Patent for Inventions."
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1853, the aforesaid William Watt came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Disclaimer
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Disclaimer aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Second day of February, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-three.