Improvements relating to the Drying and Carbonizing of Wool and to Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 15th June, 1887.
Specification Accepted, 16th Aug., 1887.
[Communicated from abroad by CHARLES SCHREBLER, of Methuen, Massachusetts,
United States of America, Mill Superintendent.]
Improvements relating to the Drying and Carbonizing of Wool
and to Apparatus therefor.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
My invention relates to those modes or processes of, and means for, treating wool
for the removal of burrs and other vegetable substances, involving the use of chemicals,
and in which the foreign vegetable matter is carbonized and subsequently granulated
or pulverized and blown out of the wool.
It is the object of my invention to produce a machine in which wool, saturated
with a chemical solution for the purpose of assisting in the destruction of vegetable
substances therein, may be dried and the vegetable matter carbonized without
affecting the character, changing the position, or otherwise disturbing the wool, after
it is once placed in the machine thus saving much time and labor.
It is also the object of my invention to so improve the treatment of wool for the
purpose of destroying vegetable matter therein, as to expel the injurious gases
generated from the chemicals used, and prevent the sweating of the wool, thus
obviating difficulties met with in dyeing and otherwise treating or using wool
chemically freed from burrs.
It is also the object of my invention to so improve the treatment of wool for the
purpose of destroying vegetable matter therein, as that the work may be done
expeditiously, and the mass of wool acted upon may be subjected to the same uniform
treatment, without any damage to the wool, and with the result of thoroughly car-
bonizing all foreign vegetable matter therein.
It is also the object of my invention to provide other improvements in the
method and means of treating wool, as I will now proceed to describe and claim,
reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference

page_text: marked thereon, forming a part of this Specification, the same letters indicating the
same parts wherever they occur.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 represents a front view of the machine employed in carrying out my
improved method of carbonizing foreign vegetable matter in wool.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view thereof.
Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the line y, y Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a vertical section on the line x, x, Figure 1.
In carrying out my invention, I construct, a closed casing a forming at one end
thereof a chamber b, extending from the top to the bottom. In the main chamber c,
near the top thereof, I arrange a series or bed of pipes d, adapted to have steam or
hot air passed therethrough, or circulated therein, which pipes are placed quite closely
together, though not so as that air may not pass between any two of them.
e, e indicate drawers, provided with foraminous bottoms f, which drawers are
arranged below the pipes d, and are adapted to be drawn out in front of the casing to
receive the wool to be treated, and then slid into place in the machine.
gindicates a suction fan, supported on a rotary shaft provided with suitable
bearings i, said fan being arranged in an aperture; made in the partition k, separating
chamber b from main chamber c, at a point below the drawers e.
7 indicates a port or aperture made in the casing a, above pipes d and adapted to be
closed or opened by a slide or valve m; n is a slide or valve in chamber b, above fan g,
adapted to be closed to cut off circulation of air in said chamber between the upper
and lower portions thereof, or to be opened, and so permit free circulation of air
therein. o indicates a slide or valve in chamber'b, preferably on the same level as
fan g, and below slide n for the purpose by the opening or withdrawing of said slide of
permitting the air in said chamber to be forced out therefrom or by the closing the
slide to prevent such operation. represents a port or an aperture in partition k
above pipes d and opposite port or aperture l, for a purpose to be presently explained.
Shaft and its attached fan g may be rotated by any suitable means, a pulley r,
being in the present instance shown as employed for that purpose.
The wool to be treated, after being subjected to a chemical solution for the
purpose of assisting to destroy the vegetable matter therein, is placed evenly in the
withdrawn drawers e, which drawers are afterward slid into place in the machine,
the casing a above the tops of the drawers preventing the latter from being filled
more than even full, which is about the amount they should contain, since said
portions of the casing would scrape off any part or portion of the wool extending
above the tops of the boxes as they were pushed into place. Steam or hot air
being now admitted to pipes d; I close slide-valve n open slide valves m and o, and
rotate suction-fan g with the result of drawing the fresh cool air into the machine
through port or aperture 1, and through the bed of heated pipes d; by which the
air is heated to a temperature of 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit, whence it is sucked
or drawn through the wool by fan g and discharged through the port or aperture
made by the raising of slide-valve o. This operation is kept up for, say-one hour and
a half and effects a thorough drying of the wool, and at the same time the discharge
therefrom of all gases having a damaging effect on the wool, and avoids a possibility
of a sweating of the material being treated.
After the wool has been completely dried, as aforesaid, I close slide-valve o, open
slide-valve n, and close valve m about three quarters of the way, when suction-fan g
is rotated with the effect of drawing the air in chamber c down through the bed of
heated pipes d and through the wool, and sending it up through chamber band
out through port or aperture p into chamber c to be again re-heated on its passage
through the bed of pipes d. In this way I can quickly run the air thus revolved in
the machine up to a temperature of 175 to 180 Fahrenheit, which is sufficient to effect
a thorough and complote combonization of all vegetable matter in the wool in about
one-half hour.
It will be understood that this operation of revolving the heated air in the machine
is kept up until the wool is discharged from the drawers e.

page_text: indicates a thermometer placed within the casing behind a glass, to allow any
one to watch the temperature to which the air in the machine is heated in the
carbonizing process, the degree of such heating being regulated by the position of
slide-valve m in aperture 7, which governs the amount of cool air let into the
chamber c.
All of the damaging gases and dampness in the wool are thoroughly driven out
before the operation of carbonizing the vegetable substances in the wool is begun, and
the highly heated air being used for such a short time, the wool is left in its
natural state of softness and strength, which is not the case when the old and common
processes are employed, in which the wool is left for a long time in the dry-room
under a temperature of 200 to 250 Fahrenheit, resulting in a sweating of the material,
and the generation of gases, which renders the wool harsh and brittle to say nothing
of the damage thereto which prevents it from properly taking dyo.
The wire gauze or foraminous bottoms in drawers e, and the uniform amount of
material placed in the drawers, together with the fact that the air is drawn through
the entire body of wool, ensures a uniform treatment of the mass, and renders it
unnecessary to stir or otherwise disturb the wool from the time it is placed in the
machine until the vegetable matter therein is completely carbonized, and it is ready to
be removed and subjected to any process for crushing the burrs &c., and blowing or
otherwise "dusting" them out of the mass.
s represents a door by which access may be gained to the chamber c; and t, a door
for a like purpose in chamber b.
By my improved process the foulest burr wool can be easily treated and thoroughly
freed from vegetable substances without damage to the fleece in any way.
Although I have been particular to describe the form and arrangement of the
several parts or elements of the invention as here shown, it is obvious that these may
be varied without departing from the nature and spirit of the invention and that some
of the parts may be used without the presence of others.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign Correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
First. The improvement in the treatment of wool for the purpose of destroying or
carbonizing the vegetable substances therein, which consists in first drawing or forcing
a warm current of air through the entire mass or body of the wool, and discharging
such air in order to dry the wool and free it from damaging gases and subsequently
subjecting the entire mass to a current of hot air to carbonize the vegetable matter in
the mass, substantially as set forth.
Second. The improvement in the treatment of wool for the purpose of carbonizing
or destroying the vegetable substances therein, which consists in spreading the wool
evenly upon a foraminous support and subjecting the entire mass to a current of air
warmed to a temperature of about 75° or 80° Fahrenheit, to expel dampness and gases
from the wool, and subsequently subjecting the mass to a current of air heated to a
temperature of about 175 or 180° Fahrenheit, to destroy or carbonize the vegetable
matter in the wool, substantially as set forth.
Third. A wool drying and carbonizing machine, having a foraminous support for the
material to be treated, means for heating the air, an inlet aperture, a discharge
aperture and a suction-fan or equivalent means to create a current in the heated air,
substantially as set forth.
Fourth. In a wool drying and carbonizing machine, a drawer or drawers provided
with foraminous bottoms for the reception and support of the wool, means above the
drawer or drawers for heating the air, and means below the drawer or drawers for
drawing or sucking the heated air through the wool in the drawer or drawers as set
forth.
Fifth. A wool drying and carbonizing machine, provided with inlet and outlet ports
or apertures, slides for opening and closing said ports, a support for the wool, and a
suction-fan for inducing a circulation of air in the machine, as set forth.

page_text: Sixth. A wool drying and carbonizing machine, having a main chamber or
apartment c, a sub-chamber b, an aperture or port providing a means of air
communication between the two chambers, a suction-fan for drawing the air from one
chamber to the other, and forcing it through said communicating port or aperture, as
set forth.
Seventh. In a wool drying and carbonizing machine, the combination with an inlet
and outlet port, slides for opening and closing said ports, a bed of heating pipes, a
series of drawers provided with foraminous bottoms for supporting the wool, and an
exhaust or suction fan as set forth.
Eighth. A wool drying and carbonizing machine, having inlet and outlet ports,
slides for opening and closing said ports, chambers b, c, port p in the partition between
said chambers, exhaust or suction-fan g, also the partition between said chambers, slide-
valve n in chamber a bed of pipes d, and a series of drawers e, provided with
foraminous bottoms f, as set forth.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant.