Improvements in the Treatment of Samples of Orude Wool for Estimating Purposes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 9th July, 1891-Accepted, 15th Aug.,
1891
Improvements in the Treatment of Samples of Orude Wool for
Estimating Purposes.
.1' AUGUSTE FRAYSSE of Rue Cassiers, Anvers, Belgium, Manufacturer, 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:-
.
Hitherto the yield from crude wool has been ascertained by judging at sight
samples taken from the bales, and the quantities of woolly matter, thistles, grains,
grease, sand and other foreign matter which were contained therein were only
ascertained approximatively. This approximate valuation was sometimes completed
by washing of the samples, but it was nevertheless requisite to gauge the proportion
of inert material which was left mixed therewith, so that such valuation was
seldom correct and frequently gave rise to errors that made bargains often a
source of loss instead of gain to the purchaser.
My invention for improvements in the treatment of samples of crude wool for
estimating purposes has for its object to ascertain quickly and correctly the exact
yield of pure and dry wool of any given sample and so remedy the above described
defects and consists in subjecting the sample of wool to the action of a machine
capable of removing therefrom all foreign substances such as thistles, grain, sand,.
straw and the like without any single fibre of wool being lost in such an operation,
and in subsequently subjecting upon the same machine the amount of wool collected
to the action of a number of baths sufficient to thoroughly deprive it of its grease
and then to forthwith dry this pure wool to absolute dryness and to weigh it in
that state in order to ascertain the absolute yield of pure wool.
The treatment of samples is carried on by means of two special apparatus
operating successively and the first of which has for its particular object to free
the wool from the thistles as well as from all other foreign substances by rinsing
and carding operations with cold water effected upon the machine itself and
simultaneously with the removal of the thistles: while the second apparatus is of
peculiar construction and constitutes at the same time an alternating washing
machine, capable of subjecting the carded and washed sample to the action of a
suitable number of boiling baths or lye washes successively to remove the grease,
and a drying machine capable of freeing the wool from all moisture and allowing
of its being weighed in a stato of absolute dryness, the whole with a view to effect
the careful preparation of the sample within a minimum time..
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 shows in longitudinal section a diagrammatic view of the carding and
rinsing machine and
Fig. 2 is a similar view of the washing and drying machine.
The sample of crude wool of known weight is placed on the apron A. and fed
to the feeding rollers B B which seize and deliver it in a divided condition to the
eccentric conveyer D, the teeth of which project, beyond the smooth envelope. D
on the side of the feed rollers only retiring on the contrary within the envelope D
on the other side. Immediately above. the feed roller is arranged a roller E
provided with blades which cause the wool to enter as far as the envelope D.
At this point a suitable pipe T discharges a sheet of water under pressure upon
the wool and thoroughly rinses it and removes all the grains sand and. other
granular impurities which are carried away by the water to the sheet iron gutter R.
The wool after being rinsed is conveyed upon the smooth envelope D, the teeth
being withdrawn by the eccentric motion, to the carding cylinder E which removes
the wool from the conveyer and carries it under the carding rollers F which rotate at

page_text: a slower rate than the cylinder E, between the teeth of which they compel the wool
to pass so as to subject it to a perfect. carding operation by undoing all knots and
drawing the wool into parallel fibres, in such a manner that the tliistles, straw and
the like remain stuck upon the points of the teeth of the cylinder E between which
teeth there is thus formed a uniform woollen band or strip composed of parallel
fibres, and absolutely freed from all foreign substances with the exception of
grease.
In order to subsequently remove the thistles and the like from the outer surface
or points of the teeth, they revolve against a series of combs G G¹ arranged one
after the other so as to gradually graze the points of the carding cylinder E
tangentially and alternately, that is to say that by means of mechanism provided
with a counterweight II' and of the cams K K' the combs are intermittently raised
for the purpose of being freed from the thistles straws and the like which they
have removed while in their tangential position from the carding cylinder. To
this end, the cams K K are caused to press upon a smooth circle Li of the carding
cylinder. E in order to keep them in a tangential position, by the counterweights 11°
and tend to raise the combs and to subject them to the action of rotary brushes H H¹
which clean them and throw the residuum into sheet iron vessels arranged in any
suitable manner.
This raising motion is effected by means of an opening formed in the path L
and in which the cams descend under the action of the weights until the solid
part of the said path raises them again and lowers the combs. This opening is
arranged in such a manner that the rear comb may be lowered while the front
comb is raised and vice versa so that no part of the carding cylinder E can miss one
or the otlier comb. As it leaves this zone the woollen strip between the teeth of
the carding cylinder E is removed therefrom by another jet of water C" assisted
by the brushes M M' and falls upon the apron N which conveys the wool to the
washing and drying machine.
The washing machine consists chiefly of two tubs or tanks Z Z¹ of rectangular
shape and of a pressure or feeding apparatus arranged between them and provided
with two rollers V V so that this apparatus can alternately convey at will the
wool from one tub to the other. Each tub is furnished with a false bottom
which may be movable so as to be raised and lowered at will by any suitable and
practical outside mechanism if it is thought desirable. Below each tub is arranged
A gás or other suitable pipe F by means of which the lyes contained therein are
boiled. Below each perforated false bottom is arranged a tap G for the discharge
of the lyes soiled by the grease.
1.
Supposing that two lyes were needed for the sample under treatment, the first
being heated in the tub Z whilst the wool is passing through the rinsing and
carding devices and the other in the tub Z' whilst the wool boils in the first tub
until saturated. By means of a small fork the wool is transferred to the second
ye which has meanwhile come to the boiling point and frees the wool from its
last impurities. The washing water is now removed from the first tub or boiler Z
into which the wool is transferred back again from the first by the pressure
rollers V. V the latter tiib being emptied after this operation. The false
bottom yy is then raised up to the opening of the tub or if the false bottoms are
fixed, the two tubs are covered with a metallic wire gauge H2 upon which the
pure but wet wool is stretched in order to be dessicated upon the drying contrivance
thus formed and which is kept heated. When thus dried by contact with the air,
the whole of the wool collected from the crude sample is weighed, and a small
quantity thereof (200 grammes for instance) is removed from the remainder and
placed in the metallic gauze tray of a pair of scales K the pillar or upright of
which is fixed to one of the tubs so that the tray may dip therein completely in
order to keep the wool free from any trace of moisture or in other words to raise
it to absolute dryness and ascertain the accurate weight thereof ander these
conditions. This operation may be repeated several times by taking up from the
whole wool sample several lots of 200 grammes. When the absolute yield in wool

page_text: of one of these small quantities is known it is easy to calculate the proportion of
wool in the whole sample and thence in the whole bale.
Supposing for instance that a sample of crude wool of 5 kos. yields 2 kos. of
pure wool under the ordinary hygrometric conditions of the air and that an assay
with 200 grammes of this wool yields only 175 grammes when dried to absolute
dryness, it will be found that this loss will be at the rate of 250 grammes for
2 kos. so that the crude sample of 5 kos. will produce an absolute yield of
1,750 kos. It will thus be seen that the yield can be calculated for each fraction
up to a hundredth of the unit.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The process for the treatment of samples of crude wool to ascertain the
absolute yield of pure wool from a given weight of crude wool consisting in
forcing a jet of water under pressure upon the wool to free the same from all
granular substances while it is being fed to a carding device which removes.
therefrom all the substances intermingled therewith and delivers it in this state to
a washing machine capable of subjecting it immediately to a number of successive
hot baths in order to free it from grease and further capable of being converted
into a drying machine by the mere removal of the lyes in order to obtain on the
one hand the whole sample under the ordinary hygrometric conditions of the air
and on the other hand the weighing in a minimum amount of time of a determined
part of this sample dried to absolute dryness, the whole substantially as described.
2. In the rinsing device, the combination with the eccentric conveying
apparatus D of the water jet T for rinsing and freeing the wool from its granular
substances; and in the carding device the arrangement of combs alternately raised
and lowered by the mechanism I K L for the removal of foreign matter stuck or
pricked upon the teeth, the whole substantially as described.
3. In the washing machine, the combination with the two tubs Z Z¹ of the
pressure and feed rollers U U for the purpose of conveying the wool from one
tub to the other free from any lye of the bath. from which it issues and the
conversion of the washing into a drying machine by raising the false bottoms y y
or covering them with metallic gauze after the baths are run off; as well as its
combination with a pair of scales having a wire gauze tray for the absolute drying
of the wool and its weighing under these conditions, the whole substantially as
described.
4. The process and apparatus for the treatment of samples of crude wool for
estimating purposes arranged constructed and operating substantially as described
with reference to the drawings.
1001
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.