IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MODE OF CLEANSING COTTON WASTE, AND IN UTILIZING THE FLUIDS EMPLOYED THEREIN.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Ford, of No. 20, Russell Square, Brighton,
in the Cōy of Sussex, Gentleman, for the Invention of “IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MODE OF CLEANSING COTTON WASTE, AND IN UTILIZING THE
FLUIDS EMPLOYED THEREIN.
"
Scaled the 17th July 1874, and dated the 22nd January 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Ford at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd January 1874.
I, ALFRED FORD, of No. 20, Russell Square, Brighton, in the Cōy of
Sussex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF CLEANSING COTTON WASTE, AND IN UTILIZING
THE FLUIDS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
―
The object of this Invention is to render cotton waste after it has been
used as "
wipings" and saturated with oil and dirt as clean and useful
as it was before, by cleansing it thoroughly from all grease and grit
'without injuring the fibre, in a manner not attainable by any of the
existing methods. I place the waste in a vessel holding a sufficienţ

page_text: quantity of turpentine, mineral naptha, or petroleum spirit, or some of
their products, separately or mixed, and allow it to remain for one hour,
more or less, until it has become thoroughly saturated; and I then apply
dollys or other convenient means of washing, and when I think it
sufficiently cleansed I raise the waste out of the fluid on to a strainer
placed over the tank, and when drained transfer it to a hydraulic or
screw press provided with suitable vessels to catch the expressed fluid,
and subject it to pressure so as to squeeze out as much of the liquid it
has absorbed as possible. I then repeat this process by immersing the
partly cleansed waste in another tank containing a like fluid, strain and
press it as before. I then transfer it to a stoving chamber to dry.
When the spirit has become so charged with oil and dirt as to be no
longer available for cleansing I set it aside for some time to deposit its
grosser parts. I then have a darkly coloured fluid containing protoxide
of iron, which has got into the waste off the machinery, for wiping
which it is for the most part used. I first throw this down by means of
a dilute mineral acid, I prefer sulphuric acid, which unites with the iron
and forms a salt of that metal. Having done this, and separated the
salt, I mix caustic alkali either in solution or otherwise by some suitable
means so as to convert the oil and grease held in solution by the fluid
and acquired from the waste into soap; I separate this by straining or
otherwise, and the liquid can then be re-used for cleansing, or if
necessary I redistil.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Ford in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th July 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
FORD, late of No. 20, Russell Sqr., Brighton, in the Cōy of Sussex,
and now of 21, Woburn Square, in the Oōy of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Ford, Her special

page_text: licence that I, the said Alfred Ford, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Ford, my executors, admini-
strators, 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 MODE OF
CLEANSING COTTON WASTE, AND IN UTILIZING THE FLUIDS EMPLOYED THEREIN,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Ford, my
executors 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
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 Alfred Ford, 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:—
I take cotton waste after it has fulfilled the purposes for which it is
usually employed and is charged with oil, grease, or dirt, and place it in
a suitable tank or vessell fitted with some one of the usual and approved
instruments for producing agitation, and also with a coil of metal or
carthenware pipe for the transmission of steam for heating purposes, or
with some other approved and usual means for heating bodies of fluid,
such tank having moreover a moveable cover to close in its contents, so
as to avoid loss by evaporation, and being connected in the usual manner
with a condenser and receiver so as to condense and collect any vapour
which might pass over during the process. I then put into this tank a
quantity of rectified oil of turpentine sufficient to completely cover
the said waste and raise the temperature of such turpentine to
150° Fah*. more or less. I then set the agitator in motion and continuo
such motion sufficiently long to wash out as effectually as possible in
the first instance the oil, grease, or dirt which it contained, this will
occupy about one hour. I then transfer this waste so washed to the bed
or tray of a hydraulic or other suitable press and squeeze out of it as
much as possible of the spirit it has absorbed together with the greasy
matter and dirt, taking care to collect the expressed fluid, and as

page_text: Specification for the purposes and in the manner herein generally
described.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my hand and seal, this
Twentieth day of July, Eighteen hundred and seventy-four.
ALFRED FORD. (L.8.)