Year: 1886

page_text: I JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169 Fleet Street in the City of London, Fellow
of the Institute of Patent Agents do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
In order to separate the central portion (wood or boon) from the cortical
portion (fibres) of dycotiledonous plants (flax, hemp, jute, ramic &c.) so as to
obtain filamentous material or filasse suitable for spinning three processes have
hitherto been usually employed, viz-first; retting, second, breaking, and third,
scutching The retting consists in causing the stalks to ferment in water or in
exposing them on the ground for a length of time until the resino-gummy matter
with which the filaments are impregnated has undergone a chemical transformation
which facilitates the other two operations. The breaking consists in crushing or
bruising the stalks between fluted rollers. The scutching consists in eliminating
from the crushed or broken stalks by vertical beating the woody matter or boon
that has been reduced to fragments by the breaking operation. This treatment is
attended with the following objections: The breaking, while crushing the woody
matter, breaks a considerable part of the filaments which are consequently
eliminated with the boon' in the scutching operation, this causes a first waste
amounting to about 20 per cent of the weight of the filamentous material in the
stalks. This breaking of the filaments occasions a further waste during the
backling. The scutching requires experienced workers who can scutch only a
limited quantity of material a day; this considerably increases the expense while
the work being manual is never uniformly effected.
Now by means of the improved machinery which forms the subject of the present
invention these operations are superseded and a single worker, even inexperienced,
can, without producing waste, treat a quantity of material 25 times as great as a
good scutcher; the whole of the material is uniformly prepared and free from boon
or woody matter, and the result is superior to that obtained by hackling because
the fibre is not broken and is made perfectly parallel and supple.
The same machine will treat unretted material which is well dried and has
arrived at maturity, flax, hemp, ramie, jute and other dycotiledonous plants and

page_text: will extract the fibres contained in the leaves of monocotiledonous plants such as
aloes, phormium tenax, agaves, the pine apple plant &c, but in order to obtain a
perfect cleansing of these leaves it is necessary to submit them previously to
retting or fermentation in water or to the action of steam or hot water until the
pulp that they contain is decomposed.
The improved machinery is composed mainly of:-
1. A first pair of plain rollers of iron or other metal which by means of powerful
springs flatten the stalks and convert the mass into a ribband or sheet of uniform
thickness; or these rollers may be of elastic material.
2. A second pair of rollers one of which is of india rubber or other elastic
material and the other of iron or metal slightly fluted or they may both be of
elastic material or both of a hard material. These rollers serve to hold the sheet
presented by the first pair of flattening rollers and to deliver it to the third pair of
rollers hereinafter referred to. The surface speeds of the two first pairs of rollers
should be the same.
3. A third pair of rollers fitted with friction blades or plates of iron or other
metal or bard material, the blades on the one roller entering the spaces between
those of the other roller (but without contact) to a greater or less extent according
to the greater or less flexibility of the matter to be expelled (boon, woody matter
or pulp) and of the matter to be retained (fibres or filaments). The surface speed
of this third pair of rollers is at least 10 times that of the preceding rollers and can
be varied by means of suitable gearing according to the degree of flexibility of the
matters to be expelled and those to be retained. In order to provide for a greater
or less penetration of the blades the shafts of the rollers which support them are
connected together by screws at their bearings so that the distance between them
can be regulated. There are also at one of the ends of the shafts of these rollers
pinions gearing with each other so as to guarantee the blades against coming
'together during work as this would cut the material. The blades are fixed or
movable and their number and form nay vary according to the material under
treatment. For ramie, hemp and jute, there should be fewer blades than for flax
for the same circumference of roller, that is to say the curve necessary for the
elimination of the woody matter from flax is more accentuated than for the
elimination from hemp, ramie or jute. The top or outer edge of the blades is un-
'dulated and this undulation is greater or less according to the thickness of the sheet
.of fibre produced by the flattening rollers and to the nature of the material under
treatment. The object of the undulations is to submit to friction all the parts of
the fibre which cannot be done with plain or straight blades. Plain or straight
blades would only act on the surface of the fibrous sheet and would effect only a
partial cleansing, while the crowns of the undulations by entering the core of the
sheet displace the surface and the friction is thus distributed over all parts. The
undulations should be more or less numerous according to the fineness of the stalks.
For badly retted flax, and for leaves I substitute for one or more of the blades a
comb with blunt teeth. These teeth will be more or less numerous, that is to say-
more or less close together according to the greater or less adherence of the fibres
to the matters to be eliminated by friction, that is to say, more teeth for greater
adherence. The undulating blades or combs may be used in combination with
plain blades, or brushes can be used in place of one or more of the blades.
For flax specially, and to obtain a perfect cleansing equivalent to hackling,
I combine with the first two pairs of rollers a pair of goffering (not breaking)
rollers placed immediately after the Hattening rollers. These rollers have undu-
lating or straight blades arranged so that there is sufficient space between them to
prevent the crushing of the material drawn by their rotation and so that when the
material is engaged between these two rollers it shall be possible to withdraw it
without the least strain; this is not the case with breaking rollers which crush the
material between their surfaces and hold it in a way that makes it impossible to
withdraw the material. The simple goffering does not injure the fibre but facilitates
the separation of the woody matter from the filaments.

page_text: In order to ensure the complete elimination of the boon or woody matter and
also to allow a single attendant to do all the work without shifting his position the
feeding rollers deliver to the friction rollers continuously only two thirds or three.
fourths of the length of the stalks or leaves operated on after which by a return
movement the material is withdrawn by the two sets of feed rollers which for this
purpose turn in the reverse direction while the friction rollers always turn in the
same direction. The first portion of the stalks thus submitted in two directions to
the action of the friction blades is quite cleansed. The friction on the return
movement is much more rapid than in the forward movement and consequently the
more adherent woody matter which may have resisted the first friction is expelled
by the second; this progressive treatment is one of the advantages of the improved
machine.
The central portion (or wood) of the stalks being always less flexible than the
cortical part (the filaments) is thus reduced and ejected by the blades while the
more flexible filaments remain, without getting broken, in the spaces between the.
blades yielding to the sinuosities of the blades which the less supple woody matter
cannot do.
The pair of rollers with friction blades as herein before described may take the
place of the first set of hackles in a hackling machine. The blades of each of the
two rollers enter more or less into the spaces between the blades of the other roller
as already described and are caused to rotate more or less quickly according to the
difficulty of extracting the matter to be eliminated; this speed should as already
stated be at least 10 times that of the feed and can be increased at will.
Dated this 29th day of January 1886

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Extracting the Fibres from
Fibrous Plants.
I JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169 Fleet Street, in the City of London, Fellow
<of the Institute of Patent Agents do hereby declare the nature of this invention
(a communication from abroad by Ernest Lepage of Lille, France) and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
In order to separate the central portion (wood or boon) from the cortical portion
(fibres) of dycotiledonous plants (flax, hemp, jute, ramie &c.) so as to obtain
filamentous material or filasse suitable for spinning, three processes have hitherto
been usually employed viz: first, retting, second, breaking, and third, scutching.
The retting consists in causing the stalks to ferment in water or in exposing them
on the ground for a length of time until. the resino-gummy matter with which the
filaments are impregnated has undergone a chemical transformation which facili-
tates the other two operations. The breaking consists in crushing or bruising the
stalks between fluted rollers. The scutching consists in eliminating from the
crushed or broken stalks by vertical beating the woody matter or boon that has
been reduced to fragments by the breaking operation. This treatment is attended
with the following objections:-The breaking, while crushing the woody matter,
breaks a considerable part of the filaments which are consequently eliminated with
the boon in the scatching operation; this causes a first waste amounting to about
20 per cent of the weight of the filamentous material in the stalks This breaking
of the filaments occasions a further waste during the hackling. The scutching
requires experienced workers who can scutch only a limited quantity of material
a day; this considerably increases the expense while the work being manual is
never uniformly effected.
Now by means of the improved machinery which forms the subject of the
present invention these operations are superseded and a single worker, even inex-
perienced, can, without producing waste, treat a quantity of material 25 times as
great as a good scutcher; the whole of the material is uniformly prepared and
freed from boon or woody matter, and the result is superior to that obtained by
hackling because the fibre is not broken and is made perfectly parallel and
supple.
The same machine will treat unretted material which is well dried and has
arrived at maturity, Hax, hemp, ramie, jute and other dycotiledonous plants, and
will extract the fibres contained in the leaves of monocotiledonous plants such as
aloes, phormium tenax, agaves, the pine apple plant, &c. but in order to obtain a
perfect cleansing of these leaves it is necessary to submit them previously to retting
or fermentation in water or to the action of steam or hot water until the pulp
that they contain is decomposed.
The improved machinery is composed mainly of:-
1. A first pair of plain rollers (such as represented at a, b in the annexed
drawing) of iron or other metal which by means of powerful springs flatten the
stalks and convert the mass into a riband or sheet of uniform thickness; or these
rollers may be of elastic material.

page_text: рап
10, a one of which, is of mula ruvoer or other elastiC
material and the other of iron or metal slightly fluted, or they may both be of
elastic material or both of a hard material. These rollers serve to hold the sheet
presented by the first pair of flattening rollers and to deliver it to the third pair
of rollers hereinafter referred to. The surface speeds of the two first pairs of
rollers should be the same.
3. A third pair of rollers (e, f) cast with or having fixed to them friction blades
or plates of iron or other metal or hard matorial, the blades on the one roller
entering the spaces between those of the other roller (but without contact) to a
greater or less extent according to the greater or less flexibility of the matter to be
expelled (boon, woody matter or pulp) and of the matter to be retained (fibres or
filaments). The surface speed of this third pair of rollers is at least 10 times that
of the preceding rollers and can be varied by means of suitable gearing according
to the degree of flexibility of the matters to be expelled and those to be retained.
In order to provide for a greater or less penetration of the blades the shafts of the
rollers which support them are connected together by screws at their bearings so
that the distance between them can be regulated. There are also at one of the
ends of the shafts of these rollers pinions gearing with each other so as to guarantee
the blades against coming together during work as this would cut the material.
The blades are fixed or movable and their number and form may vary according to the
material under treatment. For ramie, hemp and jute there should be fewer blades
than for flax for the same circumference of roller, that is to say-the curve
necessary for the elimination of the woody matter from flax is more accentuated
than for the elimination from hemp, ramie or jute. The top or outer edge of the
blades is undulated and this undulation should be greater or less according to the
thickness of the sheet of fibre produced by the flattening rollers and to the nature
of the material under treatment. The object of the undulations is to submit to
friction all the parts of the fibre which cannot be done with plain or straight
blades. Plain or straight blades would only act on the surface of the fibrous sheet.
and would effect only a partial cleansing, while the crowns of the undulations by
entering the core of the sheet displace the surface and the friction is thus dis-
tributed over all parts. The undulations should be more or less numerous according
to the fineness of the stalks. For badly retted flax and for leaves I substitute for
one or more of the blades a comb with blunt teeth. These teeth will be more or
less numerous, that is to say-more or less close together according to the greater
or less adherence of the fibres to the matters to be eliminated by friction, that is to
say more teeth for greater adherence. The undulating blades or combs may be
used in combination with plain blades, or brushes can be used in place of one or
more of the blades.
For flax, and to obtain a perfect cleansing equivalent to hackling, I combine with
the first two pairs of rollers a pair of goffering (not breaking) rollers placed
immediately after the flattening rollers. These rollers have undulating or straight
blades arranged so that there is sufficient space between them to prevent the
crushing of the material drawn by their rotation and so that when the material
is engaged between these two rollers it shall be possible to withdraw it without
the least strain; this is not the case with breaking rollers which crush the material
between their surfaces and hold it in a way that makes it impossible to withdraw
the material. The simple goffering does not injure the fibre but facilitates the
separation of the woody matter from the filaments.
In order to ensure the complete elimination of the boon or woody matter and
also to allow a single attendant to do all the work without shifting his position
the feeding rollers deliver to the friction rollers continuously only two thirds or
three fourths of the length of the stalks or leaves operated on, after which by a
return movement the material is withdrawn by the two sets of feed rollers which
for this purpose turn in the reverse direction while the friction rollers always turn
in the same direction. The first portion of the stalks thus submitted in two
directions to the action of the friction blades is quite cleansed. The friction on the

page_text: return movement is much more rapid than in the forward movement and con-
sequently the more adherent woody matter which may have resisted the first
friction is expelled by the second; this progressive treatment is one of the
advantages of the improved machine.
The central portion (or wood) of the stalks being always less flexible than the
cortical part (the filaments) is thus reduced and ejected by the blades while the
inore flexible filaments remain, without getting broken, in the spaces between
the blades yielding to the sinuosities of the blades which the less supple woody
matter cannot do.
The pair of rollers (e. f) with friction blades as hereinbefore described may take
the place of the first set of hackles in a hackling machine. The blades of each
of the two rollers enter more less into the spaces between the blades of the other
roller, as already explained, and are caused to rotate more or less quickly according
to the difficulty of extracting the matter to be eliminated; this speed should, as
already stated, be at least 10 times that of the feed and can be increased at will.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me, I declare that what I claim, in respect of machinery for extracting fibres from
fibrous plants, is :-
1. The combination of three pairs of rollers such as those hereinbefore described
and represented respectively at a and b, c and d, and e and f of the annexed
drawing and arranged and working substantially as set forth.
2. The combination with three pairs of rollers such as those referred to in claim 1
of a pair of goffering rollers constructed and working substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
3. The combination with a hackling machine, substantially as set forth, of a pair
of rollers constructed and working in the manner of those marked e, f in the
drawing and hereinbefore described.