IMPROVED MODIFICATIONS AND NOVEL APPLICATIONS OF KNOWN MACHINERY AND PROCESSES TO THE PURPOSE OF CLEANING, SOPTENING, DIVIDING, AND PREPARING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER VEGETABLE FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourteenth day of August, in the ninth year of Her reign,.
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said.
William Newton, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said William Newton, my executors, adññors, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said William Newton, my executors, adñiors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man,.
an Invention of "IMPROVED MODIFICATIONS AND NOVEL APPLICATIONS OF KNOWN
MACHINERY AND PROCESSES TO THE PURPOSE OF CLEANING, SOPTENING, DIVIDING,
AND PREPARING FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER VEGETABLE FIBROUS MATERIALS," being.
a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said William Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
The Invention for which I have obtained Her Majesty's Royal Letters
Patent as aforesaid, and which has been communicated to me by my Foreign
Correspondent, consists in the novel application of an apparatus constructed
upon the principle of the fulling stock, to the purpose of operating upon
certain raw materials, such as flax, hemp, jute, abaoca, phormium tenax,
aloes, and other plants of the genus known under the name of textile plants,
containing filaments capable of being converted into yarns or threads, which
novel application of machinery and process constitutes the Invention for
which I have obtained the Patent as aforesaid. The Inventor claims the
novelty of its application principally to the class of textile plants called
monocotyledons, the filaments of which are obtained from the interior fibres
of their leaves, and are consequently covered with a parachyma (or pulpy
covering), and impregnated with a gummy resinous substance, which renders
them hard and tough. These plants may either be operated upon in their
natural state or after they have undergone any of the ordinary preparations.
The machinery above mentioned, and the process necessary for carrying the
improved operation into effect, are as follows:
First, the plants must be firmly twisted together in bundles of about a
pound each, in order to prevent their fibres becoming entangled when operated
upon in the machine. The plants must also be cleaned and deprived of all
gummy and other extraneous matters adhering to them, and then softened
by being beaten or pressed. A quantity of about eighty pounds weight of
the plants, twisted up in bundles as before mentioned, is laid in a trough or
bed (hereafter described), and submitted to the action of two beaters acting
alternately. The form, dimensions, use, and operation of the apparatus
will be best seen and understood by reference to the accompanying Drawing,
in which Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of the apparatus, the side of the
bed or trough in which the substances to be operated upon are placed being
removed. This bed or trough may be made of cast iron, copper, or other
metal suitable for applying heat for softening the plants.
Fig. 2 is a plan or bird's-eye view of the machine. The face of the internal
surface of the trough or bed is formed by three curves, as will be best seen
upon referring to Fig. 3, which represents a sectional view of the bed or

page_text: trough detached. The first curve is that in front, about two feet in length,
which is a segment of a circle formed by a radius of about ten feet, which
will be the length of the arms that carry the beaters. The second curve is
also the segment of a circle forming the bottom of the trough, about ten
inches in length, and having a radius of about ten inches. The third curve
is about nineteen inches in length, and has a radius of nearly twenty-one
inches. The width of the trough at top is about twenty-four inches. These
are the proportions which the Inventor prefers, and which have been found
to answer the purpose in a satisfactory manner; but I do not intend to con-
fine myself precisely to these dimensions. The wooden beaters or hammers
are of equal size, one of which is shewn detached at Fig. 4, and they are
lifted by rotary tappets or cams, and fall alternately upon the substances
placed in the bed; they are about four hundred pounds in weight, and fall a
distance of about two feet. Their weight and the extent of their fall may
however be varied, according to the degree of hardness and resistance offered
by the plant. These beaters are furnished with five teeth at that part which
operates upon the materials. The front tooth a projects about half an inch
beyond the two following or intermediate teeth, and is two inches and a half
in thickness. The two intermediate teeth b, b, between the first and fourth
teeth, are constructed by describing for each of them an arc of a circle,
having a radius of one inch. These two intermediate teeth are each two
inches thick. The fourth tooth c, is about two and a half inches longer than
the first; it is one inch and a quarter in thickness. A space is formed between
this last-mentioned tooth and the fifth tooth, of two and a half inches. The
fifth and last tooth d, is four and a half inches in thickness, and it projects
downwards nearly seven inches. The upper face of the beater is perpendi-
cular with the first tooth, and its under side is curved according to the shape
of the trough or bed, being intended in its operation to move up and down
as close as possible to the inner surface of the trough, without actually touch-
ing it. The teeth of the beaters may be covered with sheet copper or other
suitable metal to protect their form and prevent abrasion, and the arms of the
beaters are to be mounted in such a manner as to vibrate in an arc concentric
with the curve of the front part of the trough. The operation of beating
the fibrous materials is intended to be carried on for a greater or less
duration, in proportion to the quality of the plant and the resistance it
offers; generally, it will be sufficient if continued about four hours. The
following is the action and effect of the beaters upon the plant, in order to
convert it into separate fibres or filaments. The alternate action of the.
beaters turns the plant over and over in a regular and uniform manner, com--
pressing it at the same time forcibly against the sides of the bed, and thereby.

page_text: causing the fibres to rub against each other at every stroke of the beaters.
The outer covering or woody portion of the plant is first broken and then
removed. This is effected principally by the peculiar shape of the teeth of
the beaters, which break, soften, and beat out all the substances adhering to
the plant. After a certain time the outer covering and ligneous matter being
broken off, the filaments are separated and the plant is gently heated, which
facilitates the removal of the gummy matters, and all parts of the plant
become completely softened. After this operation, and a suitable cleansing
in water, the fibres may be operated upon in the ordinary manuer. It is
almost unnecessary to remark, that the cams or tappets e, e, which raise the
beaters, are fixed upon a shaft f, which may be worked by a steam engine
or water wheel, or other convenient power; this, however, constitutes no part
of the Invention, as it is the ordinary mode of actuating this description of
machinery. The matters which adhere to the phormium tenax as it arrives
in Europe, after undergoing some preparation in the islands of the Pacific
Ocean, are composed of a parenchyma or outer covering, and an invisible
gum inside the plant. It is for the purpose of separating these extraneous
substances from the fibres or filaments of the plant that the above-described
process is applicable and is intended to be employed; it may also be used for
.all other analogous textile plants. Phormium tenax may also be operated
upon in the green state.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me
by my Foreign Correspondent, and also the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be particularly understood, that I do not claim as new the
construction of the apparatus shewn in the Drawing, except as applied to the
purpose before mentioned. But that which I claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before recited Letters Patent is,―
Firstly, the employment generally of an apparatus constructed in a similar
manner to the ordinary fulling stock, and particularly such as that above
shewn and described, for the purpose of beating, breaking, or operating upon
textile plants of all descriptions.
Secondly, I claim constructing the beaters and trough or bed of the stocks,
in the manner above shewn and described, whereby the apparatus is rendered
more effective.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Newton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
WILLIAM (L.S.) NEWTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Eleventh day of February,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Newton came before
our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Fourteenth day of February, in the year above written.