CONVERTING CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES INTO FIBROUS MATERIAL FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, TEXTILE, AND OTHER FABRICS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Lichtenstadt, of No. 1, Henry Cottages,,
Park Road, Peckham, in the County of Surrey, Chemist, for the Inven-
tion of "CONVERTING CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES INTO FIBROUS MATERIAL
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, TEXTILE, AND OTHER FABRICS."
Sealed the 22nd August 1859, and dated the 1st March 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Lichtenstadt at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st March 1859.
I, DAVID LICHTENSTADT, of No. 1, Henry Cottages, Park Road, Peckham,
in the County of Surrey, Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CONVERTING CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES INTO FIBROUS
MATERIAL FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, TEXTILE, AND OTHER FABRICS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention consists in the conversion of the plant or plants of the
genus bambusa and bambusa arundinacea, which I effect by the following
process: I take the plant or plants, and cut away the knots or joints, and put
the pieces which have been severed from the knots in bundles into a boiling
caustic solution, and force this solution into the pores of the material by
steam or other pressure, and after a sufficient time I take out the bundles
and press them between rollers so as to break up the same, and bring out.

page_text: flattened fibrous material; after this I wash the material in dilute sulphuric
acid or other suitable acid, and then I again boil the whole in a saponaceous
solution in order to liberate the fibrous material from all vegetable glue and
albumen. After all it is to be washed in clean hot water, and may be treated
in the usual way of treating fibrous material for manufacturing paper or other
manufacturing purposes. The knots may be treated separately as above
described for the production of an inferior article useful for various purposes.
To convert the plant, if old and very strong, I divide it as before described,
and leave it in a caustic lime solution for several weeks, according to age,
after which I treat the material in the before-mentioned manner, and this
material is more suitable for paper making and such like purposes.
The above is a descript" of this Invention which may probably be varied
in practice as regards its details.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Lichtenstadt in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
LICHTENSTADT, of Henry Cottages, Park Road, Peckham, in the County of
Surrey, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of March, in the year of our Lord One-
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
David Lichtenstadt, Her special licence that I, the said David Lichtenstadt,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said David
Lichtenstadt, 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
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CONVERTING
CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES INTO FIBROUS MATERIAL FOR THE MANUFACTURE
OF PAPER, TEXTILE, AND OTHER FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said David Lichtenstadt, 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

page_text: 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 David Lichtenstadt, do hereby declaré
the nature of my said 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 consists in the conversion of the plant or plants of the genus
bambusa and bambusa arundinacea which I effect by the following process:―
I take the plant or plants and cut away the knots or joints by presenting the
plants to the edges of two circular saws arranged at such distance from each
other as shall correspond with the width or extent of the said knots or joints.
After this I put the pieces which have been severed from the knots or joints
into a boiling caustic solution, which I prefer to make of carbonate of soda
known in commerce as soda "soda ashes," and quicklime mixed with boiling
water in the proportions of 2 soda, 1 lime, and 15 water, and after this is dissolved
or clarified by standing, the pieces are placed in this liquor, and must be boiled
therein for 10 or 12 hours, but if I wish to shorten the time of operation, I
can do so by applying 3 or 4 atmospheres pressure of steam, closing and
keeping the boiling yessel steamtight so as to force the liquor into the pores,
by such means reducing the time of operation. After the pieces have passed
through this boiling operation with success, I take them out and press them
between pairs of plain rollers running at equal speeds, so as to crush the
pieces and cause the fibre to assume the form of broad bands; then I wash the
pieces thus crushed or flattened in dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid (muriatic
acid being preferred), in the proportion of one part of acid to 20 parts of
water; and when the pieces are free from any remains of caustic solution, this
acid liquor is strained off, and the fibre is boiled in saponaceous solution for
about two hours, in order to free it from all vegetable glue and albumen.
This saponaceous solution is composed of 10 lbs. common yellow soap dissolved
in 100 parts of hot water. After all this, the fibre is washed in clean hot
water, and then in cold water, and is pressed in a hydraulic press to press out.
all moisture, and it may be carded or treated in the usual way of treating
fibrous materials for making textile fabrics, or for the manufacture of paper,
though for this latter it will be more economical to use only the refuse.
If the plant is young or green, I lay it for 3 or 4 weeks in a solution of
soft soap, viz., 100 lbs. of the plant, and 5 lbs. of soap, and as much water as
will cover it; in 3 or 4 days fermentation begins, and after a fortnight or
three weeks, according to thickness of the stuff, it is taken out and passed
through the process herein-before described.

page_text: The knots and the leaves, after they are separated from the plant are
treated with the same caustic solution, and go through the same process as
the other portions of the plant as, herein described, and will produce an
inferior article adapted for brown paper, millboard, papier maché, &c.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the Invention of
the converting the vegetable substances known as the bambusa and bambusa
arundinacea into fibrous material, as herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Lichtenstadt, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Signed and sealed in my presence,
DAVID LICHTENSTADT. (LS.)
F. W. CAMPIN, Patent Agent,
156, Strand.