Iм- PROVEMENTS IN PREPARING FIBRE FROM BAMBOO OR CANE FOR THE MANU- FACTURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Maurice Sautter, of Ruc de la Chaussée d'Antin,
No. 50, Paris, in the Empire of France, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN PREPARING FIBRE FROM BAMBOO OR CANE FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS."-A communication from Louis Robbins,
residing at New York, and John Southmayd, residing at New Jersey,
United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Maurice Sautter at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd October 1868.
I, MAURICE SAUTTER, of Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, No. 50, Paris, in
5 the Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING FIBRE FROM BAMBOO OR CANE FOR
MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in preparing fibre from
bamboo or cane for the manufacture of textile fabrics.

page_text: In operating the present Invention I, in the first place, remove the
knots or joints, and then split the bamboo longitudinally into strips by
means of sharp-edged instruments arranged for the purpose. After
removing the knots or joints and splitting the bamboo as aforesaid the
lower and tougher portions of the bamboo are separated from the
remainder, since the hard and tenacious fibre that grows nearer the
ground requires a treatment which for the present purpose would be
injurious to the upper and more tender parts. The bamboo is then
boiled in caustic alkali of about six degrees (6°) Beaumé in an open kettle
until the siliceous and gummy matter is softened; this operation requires
from six to ten hours according to the age and quality of the bamboo. In
this part of the process the time occupied will depend upon the character
of the lignin, the tougher and more tenacious portions requiring the
more vigorous treatment. The next stago in the process is to press the
bamboo while hot for the purpose of expelling the water and so much of
the siliceous and resinous matter as may be held in solution or combined
with the bamboo; also to prepare it for the subsequent boiling and
cleansing processes. The bamboo is then again boiled in a weak solution
of caustic soda for about three hours, and afterwards for about two hours
in soap and water, which cleanses and softens the fibre without. reducing
it to a pulpy condition or impairing its strength, which would be the
result if longer boiled in caustic alkali. The bamboo is then washed in
hot water until all the foreign substances are removed from the fibre,
when it is prepared for carding by passing it through a machine hackle;
it is next subjected to strong cards which reduce the fibre to a proper
condition for spinning. It is necessary that the fibre be in a moist.
state during the operation of carding, but if water is employed for that
purpose the fibre is weakened and will be destroyed while passing through
the cards, the fibre is therefore saturated with oleaginous vapors which
renders it pliable and lubricates it without impairing its strength; it
can then be carded with facility, and a length of fibre retained of
sufficient length and strength to be applicable to and valuable for textile
manufactures and purposes. The fibre may be used either separately or
in combination with other substances for the purposes stated.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Maurice Sautter in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MAURICE-
SAUTTER, of Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, No. 50, Paris, in the Empire
of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Maurice Sautter, Her special
licence that I, the said Maurice 'Sautter, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Maurice Sautter, 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 FREPARING
FIBRE FROM BAMBOO OR CANE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS," a com-
munication from Louis Robbins, a person resident at New York, and John
Southmayd, a person resident at New Jersey, United States of America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Maurice Sautter, my
exccutors 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 be filed in the Great Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Maurice Sautter, 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 has for its object.improvements in preparing fibre from
bamboo or cane for the manufacture of textile fabrics.
In operating the present Invention I, in the first place, remove the
knots or joints and then split the bamboo longitudinally into strips by

page_text: means of sharp-edged instruments arranged for the purpose. After
removing the knots or joints and splitting the bamboo as aforesaid, the
lower and tougher portions of the bamboo are separated from the
remainder, since the hard and tenacious fibre that grows nearer the
ground requires a treatment which for the present purpose would be
injurious to the upper and more tender parts. The bamboo is then
boiled in caustic alkali of about six degrees (6°) Beaumé in an open kettle
until the siliceous and gummy matter is softened; this operation requires
from six to ten hours, according to the age and quality of the bamboo.
In this part of the process the time occupied will depend upon the
character of the lignin, the tougher and more tenacious portions requiring
the more vigorous treatment. The next stage in the process is to press
the bamboo while hot for the purpose of expelling the water and so
much of the siliceous and resinous matter as may be held in solution or
combined with the bamboo; also to prepare it for the subsequent boiling
and cleansing processes. The bamboo is then again boiled in a weak
solution of caustic soda for about three hours, and afterwards for about
two hours in soap and water, which cleanses and softens the fibre without
reducing it to a pulpy condition or impairing its strength, which would
be the result if longer boiled in caustic alkali. The bamboo is then
washed in hot water until all the foreign substances are removed from
the fibre, when it is prepared for carding by passing it through a machine
hackle; it is next subjected to strong cards which reduce the fibre to a
proper condition for spinning. It is necessary that the fibre be in a
moist state during the operation of carding, but if water is employed for
that purpose the fibre is weakened and will be destroyed while passing
through the cards, the fibre is therefore saturated with oleaginous vapors
which renders it pliable and lubricates it without impairing its strength;
it can then be carded with facilty and a length of fibre retained of
sufficient length and strength to be applicable to and valuable for textile
manufactures and purposes. The fibre may be used either separately or
in combination with other substances for the purposes stated. The said
process is also applicable to the manufacture of flock from cane or
bamboo.
It is well known that large quantities of what is commonly known as
flock is used in the manufacture of woollen goods, and that the article is
obtained from the cropping or shearing of cloth or woollen rags, which
are first ground and reduced by a suitable machine to a short fibre. Now

page_text: it has been ascertained by repeated experiments that flock of superior
quality can be prepared from the fibre of cane or bamboo, and at a
trifling cost as compared with that produced from any previously known
article. The cane or bamboo undergoes the same process as that above
described in reference to the preparation of fibre for textile fabrics, and
this additional application offers this advantage, that such part of the
fibre obtained that does not answer fully the purpose for producing a
good yarn may serve for the preparation of flock. In this case such part
of the fibres that has been put aside for making flock, or the whole of the
fibres produced if flock only is to be prepared, is placed, after the boiling
in caustic alkali has been completed and when ready for washing, into a
rag engine provided with revolving knives and so arranged that while
the cleansing process is being performed the fibre is gradually brought
into a suitable condition for the purpose specified. It is next dried and
passed through a machine provided with pickers which open and separate
the fibre and prepare it for the principal operation of flocking.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that what I
claim is, the treatment of bamboo and cane to obtain fibre therefrom in
the manner substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Maurice Sautter, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
MAURICE SAUTTER. (L.S.)