IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY FOR PREPARING FLAX, HEMP, JUTE, CHINA GRASS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS VEGETABLE FIBRES FOR SPINNING
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Hill Dickson, of Great Dover Street, in the
Borough of Southwark, Flax Machinery Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY FOR
PREPARING FLAX, HEMP, JUTE, CHINA GRASS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS VEGETABLE
FIBRES FOR SPINNING."
Sealed the 17th April 1866, and dated the 21st October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Hill Dickson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
October 1865.
I, JAMES HILL DICKSON of Great Dover Street, in the Borough of
Southwark, Flax Machinery Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY
FOR PREPARING FLAX, HEMP, JUTE, CHINA GRASS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS VEGETABLE
FIBRES FOR SPINNING," to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention relates to a novel mode of removing the husks,
seed pods, or vessels from the straw of flax, hemp, and other fibre-yielding
plants. The ordinary operation for effecting this object consists in drawing
the straw over points, pins, or knives, which will catch hold of and retain the
seed pods, so that by forcibly pulling the straw through the pins or points
the pods will be pulled off from the ends of the stalks. In so doing sometimes
pieces of the straw are pulled off with the pods, and a loss of fibre thereby
Price 8d.1

page_text: tanes prace.
projecting fluted roller round which two or more
arranged and kept in contact by springs or weights.
of one 1
smaller ones are
The seed end
of the straw is laid longitudinally between these rollers, and as
they rotate the seed pods or vessels will be crushed and will fall down on to
the floor without the risk of pulling off the ends of the stalks or injuring the
fibres.
The next part of the Invention relates to a novel mode of cleaning the
straw and detaching the woody and gummy parts from the valuable fibres
contained in flax, hemp, jute, China grass, phormium tenax, and other fibre-
yielding plants of that class, so as to leave the fibres in a state for hackling.
To this end the straw or stalks, either retted or unretted, are submitted to
the action of travelling fluted surfaces, between which the straw is passed
in order to break and detach the woody and gummy parts of the plant.
The part of the machine which I employ for this purpose consists of a recipro-
cating travelling bed plate with a fluted surface, on which the straw is placed
longitudinally, and is passed under a fluted roller which is driven by friction
of contact with the travelling bed. As the straw passes to and fro under the
fluted roller the teeth or projecting parts thereof take into the flutes of the
travelling bed, and thereby crush the straw between the surfaces. The action
of the parts produces a kind of grinding action, which greatly
facilitates the detaching of the woody and gummy parts from the
fibres. The flutes or interstices between the projecting parts of the recipro-
cating bed plate are open, so as to allow the woody dust or gummy parts to
fall through when detached from the fibres. If it be desired to use water or
any chemical solution with the machine, the bed plate must be provided beneath
with a pan or close chamber to hold the liquid, which is supplied from a vessel
placed above the fluted roller, so that it may run on to the fibres as they pass
to and fro beneath the vessel. The flax as taken green from the field when
made dry can be rendered soft, fine, and ready for being spun in
twenty minutes from its being first operated on. When the fibres
have been sufficiently washed and dried they are removed to another
part of the machine, where they are subjected to a combing action, for the
purpose of combing out the boom or woody matter that has been loosened
from the fibres by the previous operations. The apparatus or machine for
effecting this object consists of a series of combs attached to a wheel or drum,
which is rotated on its axis by hand or by any suitable mechanism. The fibres
are secured in holders, from which more than half their length project. These
holders are fed forward on an endless band actuated by the hand of the operative

page_text: turning a handle, so as to bring the fibres under the action of
the rotating combs, which are placed tangentially or
or nearly so to
the circumference of their drum or wheel. By this means a comb-
ing action takes place, and knocks out from the strick all the
woody and gummy matters which have been detached or loosened by the pre-
vious operation. These extraneous or waste matters will fall down or be
blown away by the current of air caused by the rotation of the drum, and the
fibres will be left clean. If it be intended to use the flax or other analogous
fibres in combination with cotton, silk, wool, alpaca, or other short staple
fibres, the flax must be cut up into lengths corresponding to the length of the
fibres with which it is intended to be mixed. The machine for
cutting up the flax or other
other long fibres consists mainly of a series
of circular knives or cutters mounted on an axle and arranged at
slightly different distances apart, so that the fibres when cut up may not be
all of precisely the same length. The bundle or strick of flax or other fibres
to be operated upon is placed transversely on a travelling bed
plate, and is carried under or between the cutters in a holder
between two rollers, and is thereby cut up into the required lengths. The
short fibres may then be pased through a devilling machine, where the short
and long lengths will be mixed, and cotton or any other fibre may be also
mixed with them, and carded and spun on the ordinary cotton, woollen, or silk
machinery.
I
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Hill Dickson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES HILL
DICKSON, of Great Dover Street, in the Borough of Southwark, Flax Machinery
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Hill Dickson, Her special licence that I, the said James Hill
Dickson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Hill Dickson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no
time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and law-

page_text: fully 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY FOR PREPARING FLAX,
HEMP, JUTE, CHINA GRASS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS VEGETABLE FIBRES FOR
SPINNING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Hill
Dickson, 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 James Hill Dickson, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The first part of my Invention relates to a novel mode of removing the husks,
seed pods, or vessels from the straw of flax, hemp, and other fibre-yielding
plants. The ordinary operation for effecting this object consists in drawing
the straw over points, pins, or knives, which will catch hold of and retain the
seed pods, so that by forcibly pulling the straw through the pins or points
the pods will be pulled off from the ends of the stalks. In so doing sometimes
pieces of the straw are pulled off with the pods, and a loss of fibre thereby
takes place. My new machine for removing the seeds and seed pods from
the stalks of flax, hemp, or other plants is shewn in the Sheet I.
of the accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side
elevation
of a breaking machine with the seeding apparatus adapted thereto;
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. The seeding apparatus con-
sists of one large projecting fluted roller a, round which two or more smaller
ones b, b, are arranged and kept in contact by the spring c. To this end
the axles of the rollers b, b, turn in bearings in the short arms of the levers
d, d, to the other ends of which the spring c is attached, as shewn in Fig. 1.
The seed end of the straw is laid longitudinally between the rollers a and b,
and as they rotate the seed pods or vessels will be crushed between the teeth
of the rollers, and will fall down on to the floor without the risk of pulling off
the ends of the stalks or injuring the fibres.
The next part of the Invention, which is also shewn in Figures 1 and 2,
relates to a novel mode of cleaning the straw and detaching the woody and
gummy parts from the valuable fibres contained in flax, hemp, jute, China grass,

page_text: phormium tenax, and other fibre-yielding plants of that class so as to leave
the fibres in a state for hackling. To this end the straw or stalks, either retted
or unretted, are submitted to the action of travelling fluted surfaces, between
which the straw is passed in order to break and detach the woody and gummy
parts of the plant. The part of the machine which I employ for this purpose
consists of a reciprocating travelling bed plate-e with a fluted surface, on
which the straw is placed longitudinally and is passed under fluted
rollers, f, which are driven by friction of contact with the travel-
ling bed. I prefer to divide the travelling bed and also the fluted rollers
into three sections, the teeth of which shall be of different pitch as shewn
in the Drawing, and as the straw passes to and fro under the fluted rollers
t, f, the teeth or projecting parts thereof take into the flutes of the travel-
ling bed e, and thereby crush the straw between the surfaces.
The fluted rollers f, f, are mounted in separate frames, which turn on one
common shaft g as their centre, but are separately weighted, as at h, h, h,
so that each roller may be weighted to the amount required.
The depth
to which the flutes of the rollers will enter between the flutes of the travelling
bed may also be regulated by the adjusting nuts i, i. The to-and-fro motion
of the travelling bed under the fluted rollers f, f, produces a kind of grinding
action, which greatly facilitates the detaching of the woody and
gummy parts from the fibres. The flutes or intersuces between
the projecting parts of the reciprocating bed plate e are open, SO
as to allow the woody dust or gummy parts to fall through when detached
from the fibres, as seen in section at Fig. 3. If it be desired to use water or
any chemical solution with the machine, the bed plate e must be provided
beneath with a pan or close chamber to hold the liquid, which is supplied
from a vessel placed above the fluted rollers, so that it may run on to the
fibres, as they pass to and fro beneath the vessel. The flax as taken green
from the field when made dry can be rendered soft, fine, and ready for being
spun in twenty minutes from its being first operated on.
The travelling bed e is provided underneath with V rollers or pullies which
run on the longitudinal guides j, and motion is communicated to it from the
main driving shaft of the machine by means of the connecting rod e, which
is jointed at its other end to the vibrating lever m, connected by a link to the
under side of the travelling bed. When the fibres have been sufficiently washed
and dried they are removed to another machine, where they are
subjected to a combing action, for the purpose of combing out the
boom or woody matter that has been loosened from the fibres by
the previous operations. The apparatus or machine for effecting this

page_text: object is shewn in section at Fig. 4, Sheet II., and consists of a series of
combs n, n, n, and scrapers n' (shewn detached in Fig. 4*) attached to a
wheel or drum n², which is rotated on its axis by hand or by any suitable
mechanism.
ог
The fibres are secured in holders o, from which more than half their length
project. These holders are fed forward on an endless band p, actuated by
the hand of the operative turning a handle q, so as to bring the fibres gradually
under the action of the rotating combs n, n, and scrapers n', which are placed
tangentially nearly
ог
So to the circumference of their drum
wheel. By this means a combing scraping action takes place and
knocks out from the strick all the woody and gummy matters which have been
detached or loosened by the previous operation. These extraneous or waste
matters will fall down or be blown away by the current of air caused by the rota-
tion of the drum, and the fibres will be left clean. These rotary combs may
be combined with the machine shewn at Figures 1 and 2, or they may be
arranged as a separate machine. If it be intended to use
other analogous
fibres in combination with cotton, silk, wool,
alpaca, or other short staple fibres, the flax when cleaned must be
cut up into lengths corresponding to the length of the fibres with which it is
intended to be mixed.
ог
the flax
The machine for cutting up the flax or other long fibres is shewn in Sheet III.
of the Drawings, in which Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation, and Fig. 6 a plan
view of the machine, which consists mainly of a series of circular knives or
cutters r, T, T, mounted on axles, and are so arranged that they
that the
are capable of being set at different distances apart so
fibres may be cut up to any desired length. The bundle or strick of flax or
other fibres to be operated upon is placed transversely on a travelling bed
plates, s, and is carried under or between the cutters 7, r, and is thereby cut
up into the required lengths. Holding rollers t, t, are employed for holding
the flax and feeding it forward to the cutters. The short fibres
thus produced may then be passed through a devilling machine,
where they will be mixed, and cotton or any other fibre may be
also mixed with them, and carded and spun on the ordinary cotton, woollen, or
silk machinery.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Process of
and Machinery for Preparing Flax, Hemp, Jute, China Grass, and other
analogous Vegetable Fibres for Spinning," and having explained the maner
of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by
Letters Patent as aforesaid,-

page_text: First, the mode of and machinery for removing the seed pods or seeds from
fibre-yielding plants as herein set forth.
Second, I claim removing or loosening the boom or woody parts of the stalks
by means of fluted rollers in combination with a reciprocating bed plate as
herein set forth.
Third, the machine or apparatus herein shewn and described for combing
the fibres for the purposes of knocking out or removing the loosened
woody parts.
Fourth, I claim cutting up the fibres into short lengths and mixing with
other fibres of different character, such as cotton, wool, rhea, as herein set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Hill Dickson, have, hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
5
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
JAMES HILL DICKSON. (L.S.)