IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY FOR CLEANING CHINA GRASS_AND_FLAX, AND_ REMOVING THEREFROM THE RESINOUS AND WOODY MATTERS THAT ADHERE TO THE USEFUL FIBRES OF THE PLANT
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Faren at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th August
1865.
I, JOSEPH FAREN, of Belfast, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Flax Spinner,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY FOR CLEANING CHINA GRASS_AND_FLAX, AND_
REMOVING THEREFROM THE RESINOUS AND WOODY MATTERS THAT ADHERE TO THE
USEFUL FIBRES OF THE PLANT," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to supersede the ordinary scutching
operation, whereby the woody and resinous matters are now removed from
the fine fibres of the plant. It is found in practice that during the
ordinary scutching operation a great deal of the finer portions of the fibres
are broken off and removed with the offal or waste woody matters and
are lost.
By operating upon the stalks or straw, according to my Invention, the woody
and resinous matters are detached from the fibres and removed without
breaking the fibres, and therefore a very considerable economy of flax is
effected.

page_text: In carrying out my Invention the stalks or straw are first passed between
crushing rollers for the purpose of breaking down and loosening the woody
and resinous parts. The crushed straw is then placed in clamps or holders
similar to those used in heckling machines. The pendent flax straw is then
passed through my improved machine, which consists mainly of sets of pins
or points like heckle pins, set horizontally in brasses attached to vibrating or
reciprocating bars, to which a to-and-fro motion is communicated by means
of cranks, excentrics, or other equivalent devices actuated from the main
driving shaft. The flax passes between two of these sets of pins, one set being
made to operate on one side, and the other set on the opposite side of the
flax.
The principle upon which the Invention is based consists in causing the
pins which are set pretty close together (say, about ten or twelve to the
lineal inch), to pierce the straw and thrust the loosened woody matter away
'from the fibres, so that it may fall down and leave the flax fibres clean. To
this end the pins have only a horizontal motion to and fro given to them, any
vertical motion being undesirable as tending to entangle or break the fibres,
and thereby cause a waste of flax. The pins make about 100 strokes
per minute, and in order to render the machine self-acting the holders are
made to move forward from time to time a short distance, so that by the time
they have travelled from one end of the machine to the other all the woody
and resinous matters will have been removed from the fine fibres, which will
pass out of the machine quite clean: As the pins work with great rapidity
it is not found convenient to move the flax forward while they are operating
upon it. The holders, therefore only move forward at intervals, say, after the
pins have made 15 or 20 strokes. At these times the pin bars are drawn
back a sufficient distance to allow the pendent straw to be moved forward the
required distance. After which the pins come into work again, and thus the
straw in its passage through the machine will be pierced through and through
an innumerable number of times, so as to effectually remove the woody matters
therefrom without tearing away or breaking the fibres. The opening or
receding motion of the pin bars (to allow the straw to travel forward) is effected
by means of a cam on the main driving shaft. The forward motion of the
straw holders is also effected by means of a similar device on the opposite end
of the driving shaft. The cam, in this instance, being made to act on a lever
connected at its upper end to a horizontal bar, which carries a number of
pawls or pushers which move forward the holders.
I do not, however, intend to confine myself to any precise mechanical
arrangements whereby these motions are to be effected, as the mechanism for

page_text: producing the required motions may be varied ad infinitum without departing
from the nature of my Invention. It will, of course, be evident that the
Invention is applicable for cleaning China grass, hemp, jute, and other
analogous fibre-producing plants.