IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER BY THE EMPLOYEES OF smsMז הנחה מהמחסה A FDDR WAM " PROMENT A FIBRE NOT HITHERTO USED IN
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Larkin, of 6, Torriano Cottages, Leighton
Road, N.W., and Robert Purkis, of Cheam, in the County of Surrey,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER BY
THE EMPLOYEES OF
smsMז הנחה מהמחסה A FDDR WAM
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Larkin and
Robert Purkis at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 2nd February 1866.
We, HENRY LARKIN, of 6, Torriano Cottages, Leighton Road, N. W., and
ROBERT PURKIS, of Cheam, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
PAPER BY THE EMPLOYMENT OF A FIBRE NOT HITHERTO USED IN THIS MANUFACTURE,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of paper
by the employment of a fibre not hitherto used in this manufacture. We
take the roots of the mallow, called botanically the malva sylvestris, or the
althaea officinalis, and having crushed them or either of them in their whole
length, we then boil them in water for a sufficient time to loosen the fibres
from the surrounding mass which binds them together. When thus boiled
the fibres are next stripped from the woody axis of the root. The fibré is

page_text: then passed between rollers or otherwise bruised in a quantity of water, and
so washed clear of the refuse. In order more effectually to disintegrate the
primitive fibres the whole mass of fibres is then boiled either in plain water
or in a solution of soda or other suitable substance, by which means it is
reduced to a condition fit for pulping by the use of any suitable pulping
machinery, the pulp thus obtained can be made into paper by the processes
employed in making paper from pulp obtained from rags.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Larkin and Robert Purkis in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 2nd August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE. PRESENTS SHALL COME, we HENRY
LARIN, of 6, Torriano Cottages, Leighton Road, N.W., and ROBERT PURKIS,
of Cheam, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Henry Larkin and Robert Purkis, Her special licence that we, the
said Henry Larkin and Robert Purkis, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Henry Larkin and Robert Purkis,
our 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 THE MANUFACTURE
OP PAPER BY THE EMPLOYMENT OF A FIBRE NOT HITHERTO USED IN THIS MANU-
FACTURE, upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Henry
Larkin and Robert Purkis, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal
of one of us or them, 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 we, the said Henry Larkin and Robert
Purkis, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of paper
by the employment of a fibre not hitherto used in this manufacture. We
take the roots of the mallow, called botanically malva sylvestris, also known
as the common mallow, and having crushed them in their whole length, we
then boil them in water for a sufficient time to loosen the fibres from the
surrounding mass which binds them together. When thus boiled the fibres
are next stripped from the woody axis of the root. The fibre is then passed
between rollers or otherwise bruised in a quantity of water, and so washed
clear of the refuse. In order more effectually to disintegrate the primitive
fibres the whole mass of fibres is then boiled either in plain water or in a
solution of soda or other suitable substance, by which means it is reduced
to a condition fit for pulping by the use of any suitable pulping machinery ;
the pulp.thus obtained can be made into paper by the processes employed in
making paper from pulp obtained, from rags.
:
And in order that our said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect we will proceed to describe the manner in which
we prefer to conduct the process. The plants of the common mallow are to
be found in large quantities growing wild, and they may also be obtained by
cultivation; they may be pulled as soon as ripe seed is to be found upon
them; the green upper part of the plant is first cut off; the roots are
then washed, and we prefer using them at once, but if desirable they may be
dried and stored till they are required. The first operation is to pass tho
roots between gun metal or other suitable rollers, the upper one of which is
weighted so as to bear it down towards the lower roller to an extent
sufficient thoroughly to bruise or crush open the outer or fibrous portion of
the roots. The roots are then thrown into boiling water and boiled for an
hour or thereabouts until sufficiently soft, and then when they are cool the
outer portion of each root, having become thus softened by boiling, is by
hand labour readily stripped from the interior woody core, which is rejected
as containing no fibre worth separating. The outer portions of the root are
then washed with water, and immediately passed between rollers, by preference
of gun metal, which are heavily weighted so as to press out as completely as
possible the mucilaginous liquid with which fibre will now be found to be
mixed. After being thus pressed the fibre is again washed in water and
again passed through the rollers, and so on until the rollers separate nothing
but clear water. When the fibre is in this state it may be considered ready
for the paper maker; and it should be prepared for the pulping engine by

page_text: boiling it with a weak solution of alkali, and afterwards bleaching it if a very
white paper be required; we prefer to employ one pound of soda dissolved
in sixteen gallons of water to eight pounds of dry fibre, and we boil the fibre
in this solution for about two or three hours. If a very fine paper be desired
the quantity of alkali may be somewhat increased, or the boiling may be
continued longer or under pressure at a higher temperature than the ordinary
boiling point; or on the other hand to make a stronger but somewhat
coarser paper the quantity of alkali may be decreased or the time of boiling
shortened; afterward the fibre is washed and bleached by means of chloride
of lime applied in the usual manner, and as is well understood by paper
makers.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, we would have it understood that we do not confine
ourselves to the exact details described, but what we claim is, the manufacture
of paper from fibre obtained from the roots of the malva sylvestris or common
mallow, and the preparing the fibre for the said manufacture by subjecting
the said roots to the processes of crushing, boiling, stripping, washing, and
squeezing, as herein described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Henry Larkin and Robert Purkis,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirty-first day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
ROBERT PURKIS.
(LS.)
וזמי
(*9*7)