Improvements in or relating to the Degumming or Bleaching of Rhea Fibre.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Degumming or Bleaching of Rhea
Fibre.
I, JAMES LONGMORE, of 34, Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
-
This invention relates to the degumming or bleaching of rhea fibre and has for
its object to enable the fibre to be bleached or degummed in the same manner and
by the same process as cotton or linen cloth and with the same facility.
The hanks of raw fibre are fed to the desired thickness on an endless travelling
belt or table with press rollers at the end, these condense the fibre which on
emerging from the rolls is bound with twine or the like laid on in spirals by one
or two revolving bobbins as may be desired. A rope of fibre of any length may
be thus made and treated in the ordinary cloth or other bleaching machinery.
Before running the rope to the bleach house it may be passed through a liquor
ath, and then through one or more pairs of squeezing rollers.
Dated this 10th day of January 1898.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in or relating to the Degumming or Bleaching of Rhea
Fibre.
I, JAMES LONGMORE, of 34, Leadenhall Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
'
This invention relates to the degumming or bleaching of rhea fibre and has for
its object to enable the fibre to be bleached or degummed in the same manner and
by the same process as cotton or linen cloth and with the same facility.
The hanks of raw fibre or bunches of fibre overlapped end for end are fed to
the desired thickness on an endless travelling belt or table with press rollers at
the end, these condense the fibre which on emerging from the rolls is bound with
twine or the like, laid on in spirals by one or two revolving bobbins as may be desired.
A "rope" of fibre of any length may be thus made and treated in the ordinary cloth
or other bleaching machinery. Fibre other than rhea if of a similar nature can
be treated according to this invention. Instead of the feed table a coarse gill
drawing machine of ordinary construction may be used in a manner which will be
01

page_text: readily understood. The hanks of raw fibre are first drafted into a continuous
but coarse and open sliver and then bound spirally. The use of the gill drawing
machine amalgamates the fibre better and produces a more even and regular rope
than binding the hanks, and also facilitates the after working.
The accompanying drawing is a side elevation showing diagrammatically and
by way of example one construction of apparatus according to this invention.
A is an endless travelling belt, which conveys the fibre B to press rollers C.
Upon leaving the rollers C the fibre passes through a winding device D which
comprises a stand D' carrying two dises 12 each free to revolve in a bearing 13 and
driven as by the gear wheel D6. Each disc D2 carries a bobbin D which rotates
freely upon a spindle D5 and is filled with twine or other binding material. The
fibre passes through central holes d in the discs D' and the latter as they revolve
cause the twine from the bobbins D* to be laid spirally round the fibre. The
discs I preferably revolve in opposite directions so that the spiral bindings cross
one another and thus increase the tenacity of the rope. The rope thus made may
be bleached in the ordinary manner. The fibre may be passed through a tapered
cone or condensing funnel E between the rollers Cand the winding device D.
Before running the rope to the bleach house it may be passed through a liquor
bath, and then through one or more pairs of squeezing rollers.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is —
1. In the preparation of fibre for bleaching or degumming the method of pro-
ducing a fibre "rope" by aggregating fibre into a densified sliver with the aid of
pressure rollers and laying a winding round that sliver substantially as described.
2. In the preparation of fibre for bleaching or degumming the combination
of a gill drawing machine or spreader and a winding device for binding the sliver
substantially as described.
3. In the preparation of fibre for bleaching or degumming the combination
of a travelling belt or table, pressure rollers and a winding device, substantially
as and for the purpose described.
Dated this 10th day of October 1898.
JAMES
LONGMORE.
Boult & Wade,
Agents for the Applicant.