IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OR UTILIZATION OF THE WASTE ARISING FROM THE SPINNING OF FLAX AND Tow
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Clayton Mowburn, of 169, Fleet Street, in
the City of London, Patent Agent and Consulting Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OR UTILIZATION OF THE
WASTE ARISING FROM THE SPINNING OF FLAX AND Tow."-A communication
from abroad by Jules Lang and Ernest Desjardins, both of Lille,
France.
Scaled the 19th November 1875, and dated the 2nd June 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Clayton Mewburn
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd June 1875.
I, JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169, Flect Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent and Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OR
UTILIZATION OF THE WASTE ARISING FROM THE SPINNING OF FLAX AND Tow," to
be as follows :-
:-
In the spinning of flax and tow a waste is produced in the form of
entangled yarn or thread; this waste owing to its state of entanglement

page_text: and want of cleanliness has hitherto only been employed for the manu-
facture of paper, and it is therefore of very limited value. Some
manufacturers thinking that this material could be better utilized havo
made attempts to improve it, and with this object they cleaned it by lyo
washing and washing in water, and submitted it to the action of a tow
breaking machine, but here their experiments stopped; the product
remained in its first state more or less fit for spinning, but from one
cause or another they did not make yarn from it.
The filaments produced by the processes above described are not
suitable for spinning on account of the difficulty of separating the fibres,
and of the very great inequality in length.
Now according to the present Invention this textile material is
improved for the purpose of spinning by submitting it after the lye
washing to a slight chlorine action, which disaggregates and decolorizes
the material; it is then washed in a bath of soap or of glycerine, after
which it is slightly rinsed and dried. The soap or glycerine washing
followed by imperfect rinsing. leaves a little soap or glycerine on the
flax, which keeps the fibres in an unctuous state, and this much facilitates
the drawing operations. They are afterwards submitted not to the
action of a tow breaking machine but to that of a tearing machine or
"devil," in which only the speeds of feed are modified. There is
obtained on leaving this machine a textile material which is very
homogeneous, well disaggregated, and perfectly adapted for spinning,
provided however that for the final operations machines are employed
which experience has shewn will produce the desired results.
The trials conducted have shown that flax yarn can be made in a
practical manner by employing, 1st, a set of machines such as are used
in spinning cotton; or 2nd, a set of machines such as are used in
spinning mixed wool, called carded and combed (cardé-peigné); or 3rd,
a set of machines such as are used in the spinning of carded wool; or
4th, a set of machines suitable for spinning floss silk.
Wool or cotton may be mixed with the disaggregated flax or tow
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page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Clayton Mewburn in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th November 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent and Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Clayton Mewburn, Her special
licence that I, the said John Clayton Mewburn, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Clayton Mewburn,
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 "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN THE TREATMENT OR UTILIZATION OF THE WASTE ARISING FROM THE
SPINNING OF FLAX AND Tow," (a communication to me from abroad by
Jules Lang and Ernest Desjardins, both of Lille, France), upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Clayton Mewburn, 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 John Clayton Mewburn, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say:-
In the spinning of flax and tow a waste is produced in the form of
entangled yarn or thread; this waste owing to its state of entanglement
and want of cleanliness has hitherto only been employed for the manu-

page_text: Somo
facture of paper, and it is therefore of very limited value.
manufacturers thinking that this material could be better utilized have
made attempts to improve it, and with this object they cleaned it by lye
washing and washing in water, and submitted it to the action of a tow
breaking machine, but here their experiments stopped; the product
remained in its first state more or less fit for spinning, but from one
cause or another they did not make yarn from it.
The filaments produced by the processes above described are not
suitable for spinning on account of the difficulty of separating the fibres,
and of the very great inequality in length.
Now according to the present Invention this textile material is-
disaggregated and cleansed; then washed, rinsed, and dried, fullers'
earth or other material which will keep the fibres in an unctuous state
and thereby facilitate the drawing operations being used at some stage
of the process; the fibres are then opened and separated, afterwards
carded, and finally spun into yarn.
The manner in which the Invention can be best carried into effect is
as follows: The textile material is first worked up in an apparatus or
mill having stones on horizontal axes with the addition of fullers' earth
or other material possessing the property of cleansing, disaggregating, and
bruising the mass of filamentous material; it is then washed and rinsed
in water in suitable machines, and afterwards dried; foreign matters are
then picked out; it is next submitted to the action of a "devil" or drum
armed with points to open or separate the agglomerated or twisted
parts; then to a ravelling machine (effilocheuse) which finishes the
opening and dividing of the agglomerated parts; afterwards to an
opener or beater similar to those employed in treating cotton, with the
object of softening the fibres which still preserve their stiffness and
hardness, and at the same time to remove dust and heavy foreign
matters; it is then submitted to one or more carding operations, the last
of which makes slivers as in the spinning of carded or waste cotton,
which slivers are placed directly in the spinning machine.
The last operation is spinning on a continuous machine of the kind
which has latterly been employed in spinning carded wool. This
machine may be on Sykes' system, or Martin's, Bede's, or others. A
sectional Drawing of this kind of machine is annexed, shewing the
course of the yarn, a is the cylinder containing the slivers of carded

page_text: flax waste; b, b, are the giving out rollers; c is the retaining roller;
d, the beating and twisting tube; e, e, the drawing cylinders; f, the ring
and flyer.
The cylinder a may be replaced by small cans containing the slivers.
The roller c may be dispensed with, and the tube d be replaced by a
simple twister, a special beater being employed.
The material may be bleached or dyed before spinning, after the
rinsing by ordinary processes.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, treating
and utilizing the waste arising from the spinning of flax and tow, sub-
stantially in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Clayton Mewburn, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of November,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
T A
MEWRURN
J. C. MEWBURN. (L.S.)