CERTAIN MACHINERY AND PROCESS FOR BREAKING, CLEANING, AND PREPAIRING FLAX AND HEMP FOR USE, AND WHICH IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER VEGETABLE FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1819

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LEE, formerly of Old Ford, in the County of Middlesex, and late of Merton,
in the County of Surry, but now of Kirby Street, Hatton Garden, in the
said County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Third, by His Letters
Patent, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirteenth day of December, in
the sixtieth year of His reign, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, did give and grant unto me, the said James
Lee, my executors, administrators, and assigns, special licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, for the term of years therein expressed, to make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my
Invention of "CERTAIN MACHINERY AND PROCESS FOR BREAKING, CLEANING, AND
PREPAIRING FLAX AND HEMP FOR USE, AND WHICH IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER
VEGETABLE FIBROUS SUBSTANCES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso, obliging me, the said James Lee, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of
my Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, as in and

page_text: by the said Letters Patent, relation being thereunto had, may more fully and
at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Lee, in compliance with the
said proviso, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner of making and using the same, is particularly described in the
Plans and Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following description thereof,
that is to say-
My Invention or improvement in the mode of breaking, cleaning, and
preparing flax and hemp for use, and which is also applicable to other
vegetable fibrous substances, consists of four parts, that is to say:-
First, in breaking or separating the fibres from the boon or woody parts of
flax, hemp, and other vegetable fibrous substances, either before or after it has
undergone the process of dew rotting or water steeping.
Secondly, in discharging the colored matter out of unsteeped flax, hemp,
and other vegetable fibrous substances, and bringing them into a fine soft and
white state.
Thirdly, in separating and dividing flax, hemp, and other vegetable fibrous
substances into their respective lengths, so that each length may be distinctly
operated upon with greater facility by the roving machinery already in use,
whereby very high or fine numbers may be spun upon machinery.
Fourthly, in drawing flax, hemp, and other vegetable fibrous substances
into a state which may be spun upon machinery sufficiently fine for the fabri-
cation of cambric, lace, or other equally fine articles. .
The first part of my Invention, that is to say, for breaking, consists of
machinery of several descriptions, of which Figure 1 in the annexed Plan: or
Drawing represents. the section of a. mill bed, and Figure 2 a plan of the
same. The bed of the mill is to be constructed of cast iron (or other fit mate-
rial) raised on masonery or brickwork, or by any other eligible mode of
setting. This bed ls to be cast or cut into grooves, flutes, notches, or teeth,.
which I prefer to stand in a radiant direction from the centre. Into or upon
this bed I place one or more rollers with grooves, flutes, notches;. or teeth
corresponding to those of the bed, which rollers are to be of very great weight
(perhaps a ton each), and to revolve round the bed by means of their axles.
being connected to machinery similar to that of the ordinary construction of
mills, and moved by any of the usual powers applied to those purposes. The
flax; hemp, and other vegetable fibrous substances are to be made perfectly
drý, and in the raw state to be laid in or upon the bed,' and submitted to
bruising and crimping by the pressure of the rollers, which are to pass over
:
:.

page_text: the flax, hemp, or other vegetable fibrous substances several times, until the
woody particles are separated from the fibre. This is the first mode which I
propose, but although I have described a circular bed, yet the same operation
and effect may be produced upon the flax, hemp, and other vegetable fibrous
substances if the bed with it's indentations was straight, and the rollers made
to traverse backward and forward, which mode, or any such adaptation of this
contrivance for breaking, I shall consider, as an infringement of my Invention
and patent right. It will also be found, that if the bed as above described
be made plain, that the effect of breaking may be produced; but not with
equal advantage and facility. Another mode of breaking, which I claim as
my Invention, may be seen in Figure 3, a side view of the machine, 'where
a, a, is the bed with indentations, as before described, and b, b, rollers (of which
there may be several) with teeth correspondent to those of the bed. The axis
of these rollers: is attached to a box, and intended to carry a considerable
weight, and the flax, hemp, and other vegetable fibrous. substances to be laid
in the bed are operated upon by the box and rollers..traversing over it and
producing the effect of breaking the woody parts from the fibre. Here it
will be seen that when the box has travelled to one end of the bed, the flax,
hemp, or other vegetable fibrous substances may be removed from the other
end after being broken, and replenished with a fresh supply. The nature and
mode of action of this last machine must be obvious when I say that the con-
trivance of an alternate motion, already, known and applied to Baker's hori-
zontal mangle, will, when applied to the box of this machine, produce the
alternate and traversing motion of the rollers required. Figure 4 is an end
view of the same machine, shewing two beds; if desired, several beds may be
constructed with their respective pairs of rollers. The dimensions of this last
machine I produce to be about six feet six inches long in the bed, calculated
to hold two lengths of flax at a time, so that when the box and rollers are at
one end the flax may be removed at the other, and fresh flax placed ready for
the rollers in returning to operate upon, but in cases of hemp, or other
vegetable fibrous substances longer than the usual length of flax, one end only
may be operated upon at a time, and then the requite change made. The
rollers I prepose to make from eight to fourteen inches in length, and their
diameter not less than four inches: the dimensions I have stated as in my
opinion eligible, but by no means intend to confine myself to them. The
process of scraping off the woody particles I perform by means of a machine
which I call my scraper, already described in the Specification of my former
Patent, dated the Fifth day of December, One thousand eight hundred and
sixteen..

page_text: The second part of my Invention, that is to say, that of discharging the
coloured matter out of the flax, hemp, and other vegetable fibrous substances,
I perform by means of either of the machines before described for breaking,
although I prefer the plain rollers, to effect the purpose of discharging the
colour out of unsteeped flax, hemp, and other vegetable fibrous substances.
After they have been broken and scraped free from the woody particles, I con-
duct a stream of water into the bed whereon they are laid, and putting the
rollers in action upon them, the coloured matter will be squeezed out. It
should be observed, that the sides of the bed must be raised so as to form a
trough in order to hold the water. I commence this operation with cold water,
and when that is drawn off, replenish with soap and water that is warm,
which may be supplied by a pipe from a boiler at hand; this may be continued
till the water is boiling hot, by which time the flax, hemp, and other vegetable
fibrous substances will have lost the coloured matter, and have become
perfectly soft and white; and after which last-mentioned operation the flax,
hemp, and other vegetable fibrous substances must be washed and made per-
fectly dry, and submitted to the action of the first-mentioned breaking machine,
or to that of the crimping machine mentioned or referred to in my before-
mentioned Letters Patent of the Fifth day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and sixteen, by which this part of the process will be completed.
The third part of my Invention consists of a mode of dividing flax, hemp, or
-other vegetable fibrous substances, when prepared as above, and carefully
hackled into equal lengths, so that each length may be operated upon with
greater advantage by the roving machinery now in use. In order to effect this
I provide a board eighteen inches long and five inches wide, seen lengthways
in Figure 5, and end view Figure 6; and at three or four inches apart I
place single rows of comb or hackle teeth across the board; upon this I lay
the flax, hemp, or other vegetable fibrous substances, and, placing small
weights to keep them flat, I draw out the longest ends by hand, laying them
in distinct parcels, according to their respective lengths. I then reverse the
picce of flax, hemp, or other vegetable fibrous substances operated upon, and
pursue the same course with the opposite end.
The fourth part of my Invention is to draw flax, hemp, and other vegetable
fibrous substances into a state which may be spun upon machinery sufficiently
fine for the fabrication of cambic lace and other equally fine articles. To
effect this object, I provide an apparatus similar to the last, only the teeth
must be still finer, and from the end of this I draw out a few fibres from the
flax, hemp, and other vegetable fibrous substances prepared as above, and
dipping my fingers in water, I wet the fibres and rub them together, which,

page_text: by the glutin remaining in the flax, hemp, and other vegetable fibrous sub-
stances, will cause them to adhere, and produce a fine and uniform appearance
of thread, which may be spun upon machinery.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lee, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifteenth day of December, One thousand eight hundred
and nineteen.
In Chancery. Charles Gardner, Clerk to Messrs Amory & Coles, of
Lothbury, in the City of London, Solicitors, maketh oath and saith, that
he (together with William Stratton, of Gutter Lane, Cheapside, in the said
City of London, Engineer) was present, and did see James Lee, formerly
of Old Ford, in the County of Middlesex, and late of Merton, in the County
of Surrey, but then of Kirby Street, Hatton Garden, in the said County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, the Grantee or Patentee mentioned in the Deed Poll
or Specification hereunto annexed, sign, seal, aud, as his act and deed in
due form of law, execute and deliver, the said annexed Deed Poll or Speci-
fication, and that the name or signature "James Lee," set and subscribed
thereto, is of the proper handwriting of the said James Lee. And this
Deponent further saith that the names or signatures "W. Stratton" and
"Charles Gardner," endorsed and signed on the said Deed Poll or Speci-
fication as the witnesses attesting the execution thereof, are of the proper
handswriting of the said William Stratton and this Deponent respectively.
And this Deponent further saith that the several erazures and interlineations
appearing to be made in the body of the said Deed Poll or Specification were

page_text: all made before the said James Lee signed, sealed, and executed the same
Deed Poll or Specification.