IMPROVEMENTS IN FINISHING YARNS AND THREADS USED FOR WEAVING AND SEWING PURPOSES."
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Blain, of the City of Manchester; in the
County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FINISHING
YARNS AND THREADS USED FOR WEAVING AND SEWING PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Blain at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
October 1866.
I, JAMES BLAIN, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FINISHING YARNS AND THREADS USED FOR WEAVING AND SEWING PURPOSES," to be
as follows:-
I give the necessary finish to yarn or thread, whether the same be cotton,
linen, silk woollen, jute, or other fibrous substance by passing it over or through
hard soap in the cold state; the harder and purer the soap is the better will be
the finish.
The application of. the soap to the yarn and thread may be arranged and
varied according to circumstances, but I prefer placing the soap in a shallow
trough, so that the soap will be bigher than the sides of the trough, and pass.
the yarn or thread over it, either by hand or power, by which process the
yarn or thread will sink a little into the soap, and lay the loose fibres all in

page_text: one direction, and give the yarn or thread a beautiful silky finish, and if found
necessary the process may be repeated.
.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Blain in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th
April 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BLAIN, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Blain, Her special license that I, the said James Blain, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Blain, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN FINISHING YARNS
AND THREADS USED FOR WEAVING AND SEWING PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Blain, my executors or adıministrators,
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 James Blain, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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 (that is to say):-
This Invention consists in improved modes of finishing yarns or threads,
whether the same be of cotton, linen, silk, wool, jute, or other fibrous material.
To finish boiled yarns for band or power looms I pass the yarns through a
solid or hard piece of saponaceous mixture by means of a machine especially
made for the purpose; the yarns are made to cut into the mixture at a speed
of about thirty yards per minute for medium numbers, and at a speed of twenty.
yards for coarse inmbers: This operation makes the yarn exceedingly smooth,.

page_text: silky, and pliable, without any heating or drying processes being required, and
also adds considerably to the strength of the yarn, and the finish thus given
cannot be disturbed by the reed or heddles.
To finish unboiled yarns for hand or power looms I pass them through a
solid piece of saponaceous mixture, but instead of passing through one piece
this kind of yarn must pass through- two-pieces- placed-about-twelve inches.
apart, and the taking-up motion must not be greater than from. twenty to
twenty-five yards per minute according to the nature of the material to be
finished. And I also use a square, hexagon, or octagon shaped polisher of
hard wood or a covered roller to be driven at great speed to remove the
superfluous mixture which may adhere to the
yarn.
To finish linen and other yarns or threads for hand and power looms I use
the saponaceous mixture melted by steam.. The superfluous mixture being
squeezed out of the yarn by heavy rollers and then the yarns are frozen by fans
and polished. I adopt the same arrangement as at present used for the flour
paste in dressing machines, but I prefer the finishing by the cold and solid
system to that of the heated and fluid. ⚫
To finish linen threads for sewing machines I pass the threads-through the
solid mixture during the process of winding the thread on to the large spools
or during the process of spooling. The taking up motion must not be quicker
than thirty yards or so per minute, and the thread must not pass through slower
than thirty yards per minute.
To finish hank threads it will be necessary to dye the threads made up in
one or two ounce skeins, and when dried to be re-reeled, during which operation
the friction finish can be applied and also skeined. The purer the mixture
the better will be the finish. If pure it cannot injure the most delicate fibre,
nor will it injure brown goods if kept in that state, but effectually prevent
mildew; where goods require to be bleached it will be an assistant, the
mixture being made of the purest materials used in the manufacture of oil
soaps. The portions of the mixture which remain unused after being cut into
by the yarn can be melted by steam, and remoulded for further use.
The friction finishing of linen yarns will be found to be of great importance
to manufacturers of all branches of linen and other manufactures, as it
produces a smooth silky surface on the yarns with a large amount of pliability
which must save much driving power in the weaving; and as it adds
considerably to the strength of the yarns it should speedily displace the present
clumsy mode of finishing.
·
The machine for applying the mixture is simple in construction, will be.
easily attended to, and not expensive.

page_text: Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim as my Invention, the system of finishing yarns
and threads by means of friction through solid saponaceous compounds
however made or however applied, and finishing yarns and threads by melting
saponaceous compounds, and then freezing and polishing them as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Blain, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven..
JAMES BLAIN. (L.S.)