IMPROVE- MENTS IN OBTAINING RAW SILK, WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO FIBRES WORKED IN A WET STATE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN OBTAINING RAW SILK, WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO FIBRES
WORKED IN A WET STATE "A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald Brooman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th September 1855.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING RAW SILK, WHICH ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO
FIBRES WORKED IN A WET STATE," (communicated to me by a foreigner residing
abroad,) to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in neutralizing the sticky effect of the gum or
gummy matter produced in the winding of silk from the cocoon in a wet or
damp state, and in treating other fibres, such as flax, in a wet or damp state.
When applied to the cocoon, the fibres can be directly wound upon bobbins or
other required carriers without causing adhesion between them, or of one layer
to another. And the substances which I employ are neutral fatty matters, oils,
and especially resinous oils, and glycerine and oils mixed with ox gall. The
neutralizing agent may be applied in the water in which the cocoons are first
prepared, in the water in which they are placed for the silk to be drawn off
from them; or it may be applied on a bar, covered with flannel or other like
suitable material, over which the silk is carried prior to being wound upon the

page_text: bobbin; or instead of a simple bar the silk may be made to pass between a pair
of rollers covered with cloth, leather, or other suitable material, and made to
revolve in a trough containing the neutralizing agent. These rollers are to be
placed between the vessel containing the cocoons and the bobbin. The
neutralizing agent may be applied in all or either of the situations herein-before
mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING RAW SILK, WHICH
ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO FIBRES WORKED IN A WET STATE," communicated to
me by a foreigner residing abroad, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in neutralizing the sticky effect of the gum or

page_text: gummy matter produced in the winding of silk from the cocoon in a wet or
damp state, and in the working of other fibres, such as flax, in a wet or damp
state. When applied to the cocoon, the fibres can be directly wound upon
bobbins, winders, or other carriers without causing adhesion between them, or
between one layer and another. And the substances which I employ for the
purposes of this Invention are alcohol, essences, carburets of hydrogen, neutral
fatty matters, oils, and especially resinous oils, and glycerine and oils mixed
with ox gall, emulsions of oils, water, and ox gall, or a mixture of oils or fats
with the substances before mentioned. The neutralizing agent may be applied
in the water in which the cocoons are first prepared, in the water in which they
are placed for the silk to be drawn off from them; or it may be applied on a
bar or bars covered with flannel or other like suitable material, over or between
which the silk is carried prior to being wound upon the bobbin or winder; or
the silk may be made to pass between a pair of rollers covered with cloth,
leather, or other suitable material, and made to revolve in a trough containing
the neutralizing agent, or the neutralizing agent may be made to drop thereon,
or may be otherwise supplied thereto. These bars or rollers are to be placed
between the vessel containing the cocoons and the bobbin or winder. The
neutralizing agent may be applied in all or either of the situations herein-before
mentioned. The bars or rollers must be arranged so as to produce a tension
in the fibres, to prevent them looping or curling, or the forming therein of nips
and knots. The mode of spinning wet and neutralizing the gummy matter
causes the friction of the bars or rollers to have a good effect, and imparts to
the silk a bright and lustrous character.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as the improve-
ments in obtaining raw silk, the applying to the fibre some neutralizing agent
or agents which will prevent the fibres sticking together when wound in a wet
state on a bobbin or winder.
I also claim the application of one or other of the agents herein-before
named to flax and other vegetable fibres worked in a wet state.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-six.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)