CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING TEXTILE FABRICS OR SUBSTANCES FOR SEPARATING COTTON OR OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES FROM WOOL, SILK, AND OTHER ANIMAL PRODUCTS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Felix Leloup, Engineer, of Paris, Town in the
French Empire, for, the Invention, of.. "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
TREATING TEXTILE FABRICS OR SUBSTANCES FOR SEPARATING COTTON OR OTHER
VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES FROM WOOL, SILK, AND OTHER ANIMAL PRODUCTS."-A
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Felix Leloup at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th June
1855.
I, FELIX LELOUP, Engineer, of Paris, Town in the French Empire, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
TREATING TEXTILE FABRICS OR SUBSTANCES FOR SEPARATING COTTON OR OTHER
VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES PROM WOOL, SILK, AND OTHER ANIMAL PRODUCTS," commu-
nicated to me from abroad, to be as follows:
The Invention consists in submitting tissues or fabrics composed of wool
and cotton, silk and cotton, or of a mixture of animal and vegetable fibres, to a
bath containing hydrochloric acid, or a weak dose of other acid, in which the
tissue is to be boiled for from half an hour to an hour, more or less. The acid
destroys the vegetable matters, and after the boiling the animal matters may
be collected in filaments, which are to be saturated with an alkali, and beaten
in one or more vats, or in a current of clean water; they are then dried, and
may be again used in, the manufacture of tissues or fabrics.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Felix Leloup in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FELIX
LELOUP, Engineer, of Paris, Town in the French Empire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Felix Leloup, Her special licence that I, the said Felix Leloup, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Felix
Leloup, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TREAT-
ING TEXTILE FABRICS OR SUBSTANCES FOR SEPARATING COTTON OR OTHER VEGETABLE
SUBSTANCES FROM WOOL, SILK, AND OTHER ANIMAL PRODUCTS," (communicated to
me by a foreigner residing abroad,) upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Felix Leloup, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Felix Leloup, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
The present improvements have for their object the treating of fabrics or
products composed of a mixture of animal and vegetable fibres in such manner
as to destroy the vegetable fibres, and so separate the animal fibres therefrom,
in order that the animal fibres may by subsequent treatment be again rendered
serviceable.
The Invention consists in subjecting tissues, fabrics, or products composed of
wool and cotton, silk and cotton, or of any other mixture of animal and
vegetable fibres, to immersion in a bath containing a weak solution of hydro-
chloric or other suitable acid in water heated to near boiling point, in which
the fabric or product is boiled for from 20 minutes to an hour, more or less,

page_text: until the whole of the vegetable matter contained in it is destroyed by the
action of the acid. The animal matter left is then collected, and the liquid
having been pressed out from it, it is saturated with an alkaline solution,
washed in a running stream of water, then in lukewarm soap and water, and
finally dried..
The manner in which the Invention is carried into effect is as follows:-
A bath containing a solution of about one part of hydrochloric or other
suitable acid to 3 or 4 parts of water, more or less, is placed in a vat or vessel.
If hydrochloric acid be employed, or any other acid exerting an injurious effect
on metals, the vessel must be made of wood, so as to resist the action of the
acid. The bath is then raised, by means of steam introduced into a jacket
surrounding the vessel or otherwise, to a temperature of 194° Fahrenheit, and
the steam or other heating medium employed is regulated to keep the contents
of the vessel from passing the boiling point; the materials to be treated are
now immersed in, the bath, and kept there for about 25 minutes, more or less,
or until the vegetable portions are destroyed, and the animal fibres are in such
a condition that they may be easily separated or parted asunder without
employing force. They are then immediately removed from the acid bath and
subjected to pressure, to squeeze or press out the liquid, which is collected in a
receiver, and may be poured back into the bath and be used again. The fibrous
substances are now immersed in an alkaline bath and completely saturated
with the solution. They are next placed in a wooden vat, through which a
running stream of water is kept flowing, and in which they are stirred by
agitators worked by hand or otherwise. In a very short time the fibres may
be removed, quite freed from dirt and extraneous matters, and in lengths;
they are next immersed in a lukewarm soap and water bath to soften them,
and are finally dried in a drying chamber or otherwise.
By this improved method of separating animal from vegetable fibres, many
of the disadvantages of the plans hitherto in use are avoided; for example,
according to the old system, the fabrics to be treated had first to be dried by
spreading each piece of fabric separately in a drying chamber, a troublesome
and expensive operation, as 12 lbs. of old material only yielded 5 lbs. of
serviceable fibre. Now, by the present improvements the preliminary drying
process is dispensed with; all the vegetable fibres contained in a fabric are
destroyed at a single operation, and a large amount of serviceable fibre
obtained.
The method adopted for subjecting the matters under treatment to heat
just below or at boiling point constitutes the chief feature of this Invention.
No injury is done to the fibres by this moderate temperature, and while the

page_text: heating goes on, the hydrochloric acid is continually acting; but as the tempera-
ture of the bath becomes gradually lowered, the acid ceases to exert any action
except on the matter for which it has affinity, that is to say, for the vegetable
fibre, which gradually disappears under its influence.
The hydrochloric acid is employed in the bath by preference, but other. acids,
and especially mineral acids, answer the purpose well: Three parts water to
one part hydrochloric acid are good proportions, but they may be varied,
according to circumstances. Instead of steam to heat the acid bath, gas or
other heating medium may be employed.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the separating of
cotton or other vegetable substances from wool, silk, and other animal products
by submitting the same to an acid bath kept just below or not allowed to
exceed boiling point, in the manner herein-before described. I also claim
subjecting the animal fibres resulting from the acid bath to the further treat-
ment herein-before described, to render thein fit to be again used in the
manufacture of tissues or fabrics.
In witness whereof, I, the said Felix Leloup, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD, Ing* Civil,
6, Rue Filles du Calvaire, à Paris.,,.
F. LELOUP, ING. (L.S.)
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