IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF ANIMAL FIBROUS SUBSTANCES AND FABRICS OF MIXED VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES, AND OF UTILIZING THE WASTE PRODUCTS THERE- FROM
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Watson Burton, of Leeds, in the County of
York, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR THE
TREATMENT OF ANIMAL FIBROUS SUBSTANCES AND FABRICS OF MIXED VEGETABLE
AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES, AND OF UTILIZING THE WASTE PRODUCTS THERE-
FROM."
Sealed the 24th October 1866, and dated the 25th April 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Watson Burton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th April 1866.
I, JOHN WATSON BURTON, of Leeds, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS
FOR THE TREATMENT OF ANIMAL FIBROUS SUBSTANCES AND FABRICS OF MIXED
VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES, AND OF UTILIZING THE WASTE PRODUCTS
THEREFROM," to be as follows:-
The first object of this Invention is the treatment of animal fibrous substances
shoddy
containing burrs and other vegetable refuse, woollen rags, woollen or
waste, and other animal fibrous substances containing objectionable vegetable
matter or impurities, so as to render the animal fibrous substances clean and

page_text: better adapted for the manufacture of fabrics and for other purposes. To
effect this I dip the material to be operated upon into an acid solution of
catechine, dilute sulphuric, nitric, hydrochloric, or mimstannic acid; I then
wash the material in a bath of tannin, but if the fibrous substance be greasy
or saturated with oil instead of the tannin bath I boil it in a solution of
carbonate of soda. These operations being effected the fibrous substance is
dried by heat and then placed in a suitable machine for removing the burrs
or other vegetable refuse. This machine is a spieces of enclosed "willey,"
consisting by preference of three "swifts" furnished with rows of teeth at
suitable distances on their peripheries and revolving at varying speeds, the first
one of the series being the slowest, and the third the quickest. The first
swift being fed the fibrous substances pass on to the second and third swifts,
and in consequence of the high speed of the latter are thrown by centrifugal
force back to the first swift until the burrs and other vegetable substances and
refuse are detached from the animal fibres and passed through gratings on
the under part of the machine. The animal fibres are then steeped in dilute
ammonia to recover their original strength and quality and to remove any
injurious effects arising from their treatment with the acid solutions. When
animal fibres are intended to be mixed or woven into fabrics combined with
vegetable fibrous substances in order to effect a better combination of such
fabrics when woven in the milling, stocking, or felting process I wash the
fabrics in a solution of catechine or tannin, and afterwards steep them in
dilute ammonia. This method economises the use of soap.
The second part of my Invention consists in utilizing the seeds contained
in the burrs and other vegetable refuse which hitherto have had no commercial
value. For this purpose I grind or crush them by means of any existing
machine used for the like purpose, and use them for food for animals. The
seeds so ground or crushed are likewise capable of conversion into vegetable
size and "stiffening" by the ordinary methods.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed 30
by the said John Watson Burton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WATSON BURTON, of Leeds, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 85
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord One

page_text: 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 me, the said
John Watson Burton, Her special licence that I, the said John Watson
Burton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, .or such others as I, the
said John Watson Burton, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVED MEANS AND
APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF ANIMAL FIBROUS SUBSTANCES AND FABRICS OF
MIXED VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES, AND OF UTILIZING THE WASTE PRODUCTS:
THEREFROM," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Watson
Burton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or oue 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 Watson Burton, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention is to treat or prepare animal fibrous substances
in a manner to render them more usefully applicable for the manufacture of.
fabrics and other purposes herein described, and by the use of improved
means and apparatus to produce better results in the fabrication of fabrics
containing animal fibrous substances, and mixed animal and vegetable
substances, and also to utilize products which hitherto have been wasted.
My method of proceeding is thus:-I take wool containing burrs and subject it
to the action of an acid for the purpose of destroying those parts which give
adhesion to the wool (a process well known). For this purpose I use dilute
sulphuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids; but I claim as new. mimotannic acid
being an acid obtained from a tannin substauce, either in a hot or a cold state.
and I also use an acid solution of catechine, when sulphuric, nitric,. or hydro-
chloric acids have been used; I rinse or wash the wool in a bath of tannin to.
remove the acids from the wool and to prevent injury to the fibres during the.
drying, and I sometiines wash or rinse in dilute aumonia for this purpose,:
after which I dry the wool either by heat in the ordinary way, or L.place it
when wet in an apparatus, which I will now describe for the purpose of.

page_text: removing the burrs and wholly or partially drying the fibres and cleansing them
from all objectionable matter. When I dry the wool by the ordinary means
I subject it to the cleansing action of the apparatus to get rid of the burrs
and other vegetable matter.
Figures 1 and 2 represent longitudinal section and plan of my willeying
apparatus for detaching and throwing out the burrs and other refuse. A is
the framework upon which are mounted three swifts B, C, and D, clothed
with cards or teeth and actuated by belting in the usual manner, enclosed by
casing E on the upper side and furnished with gratings F on the under side,
such swifts being driven at varying speeds, the one B being the slowest, and D
the fastest belts from the driving shaft x being used as usual, the material
being fed to swift B through an aperture G provided in the casing, which is
furnished with clearing teeth g at its hinge g', it is carried to the swift D, and
returned by centrifugal force to the swift B, the operation being repeated as often
as desired, and the burrs and other refuse thrown out through the grates F
underneath the swifts. In the use of the willeying machine when the fibres
are put in wet we dry them inside the machine by means of steam piping
within the framework. After the removal of the objectionable vegetable matter
I steep the animal fibrous substance in ammonia, and I use about half a pound
of ammonia to every pound of wool, the ammonia being sufficiently diluted
with water to enable me to thoroughly steep the wool and maintain a black wet
state for some time, say twelve hours, more or less, until the wool has parted
with any acid still remaining in the fibres, and has acquired its former strength
and quality. My object also in maintaining this long ammoniacal steep is to
give the wool or animal fibrous substances a better milling, fulling, or felting
property when made into fabrics, and to render such fabrics more susceptible
of receiving in the finishing process a, softer, handle and a more permanent
face, and which also greatly facilitates the mixing of animal fibrous substances
with other fibrous substances having little or no milling property. I sometimes
use the ammonia in a heated state and at a pressure of two or more atmo-
spheres for the purpose of economizing the ammonia, and the time occupied in
the ammoniacal steep.; I then dry and cleanse the animal fibrous substances by
means of the above apparatus or in the ordinary way in which such fibres are
dried and cleansed. I also take rags of different kinds containing animal
fibrous substances, and which having been sorted those rags which consist of
a woollen weft and a cotton warp, or a mixture of wool and cotton, I treat for
the purpose of separating the objectionable vegetable matter from the animal
fibrous substances by the means and apparatus (above described) which I use
for the treatment of animal fibrous substances containing burrs and other

page_text: objectionable vegetable matter, but I do not in all cases of treating animal
fibres from rags use the tannin bath, but I increase the strength of the
ammonia and prefer to use about one pound of ammonia to, say, one pound of
animal fibres divested of their objectionable vegetable matter, and increase or
diminish the duration of the steeping, either hot or cold, as the case may be.
Rags consisting of alpaca weft or mohair weft with a cotton warp or other-
wise containing a mixture of vegetable matter with alpaca and mohair, I
subject to the same means and apparatus as I use for treating rags containing,
a woollen weft and a cotton warp, but as these fibrous substances are intended
chiefly to be. made into a fabric which I call "Leeds alpaca cloth" in order
that I may produce a better milling or fulling effect, and also a soft and
permanent face upon such fabric or "Leeds alpaca cloth" by the means and
apparatus for treating fabrics berein-after described, or by the ordinary modes
of fabrication. I prefer to lengthen the time of steeping in the ammonia
when cold from 12 to 24 hours, more or less (if heated less time will do),
until those fibrous substances have acquired a degree of softness and freedom
from the harshness peculiar to these fibres, thereby rendering them especially
suited for mixing with short wool and spinning on short wool machinery for
the
purpose of fabricating my "Leeds alpaca cloth" and other alpaca and
mohair mixtures requiring the like treatment. Sometimes in treating animal
fibrous substances containing objectionable vegetable matter I simply dys
them with dyes which require the animal fibrous substances to be steeped in
acids before dyeing, or with dyes strongly charged with the above aeids, and
in all other respects I use the means and apparatus herein-before described.
Woollen rags consisting of animal fibrous substances which having been
previously made into cloth have lost to some extent their milling or felting
property, I treat these fibrous substances for the purpose of rendering them
more suited for mixing with other animal fibrous substances intended to be
fabricated into cloth, or for the fabrication of such fibrous substances into
cloth or fabrics by washing them in a bath of tannin, if the rags are foul
either from partial decomposition or contact with objectionable matter; but if
the rags are sound and clean I do not wash them in tannin, but I steep them
in a strong solution of ammonia until by saturation they acquire a slippery
soapy feel, I then grind them into mungo or otherwise tear them up into
fibres either in a wet state, or I previously dry them before grinding, but I
sometimes grind or tear them into mungo, and I then steep the fibres in
dilute ammonia, by which means I restore the original quality of the animal
fibrous substances, and the colours they have previously been dyed giving them
a softer and kinder handle, and rendering them more suitable for mixing with

page_text: new wool, and for manufacturing into new fabrics.
When I treat such rags
or animal fibrous substances with heated ammonia I prefer to use it at a
pressure of about 2 to 6 atmospheres, and instead of washing the steam I
condense it in cold water, and by this means I recover the ammonia for
future use.
Shoddy or woollen waste being waste from the fabrication of woollen,
mohair, alpacca, and silk fabrics, is generally greasy or dirty, these animal
fibrous substances I place in a suitable vessel, and after adding sufficient water
I raise to boiling, when I add a little carbonate of soda to loosen or soften the
grease or dirt; when the filth rises to the surface I remove it, and after
agitating the fibres for a short time in the water I change the water by
running in clean water, and when at a temperature of about 150° Fahrenheit
add any of the above acids until the fibres have parted with the grease and
have acquired a red colour; I then run off the acid water, and after allowing
the fibres to dreep I again boil them in a solution of carbonate of soda until
the red colour is removed and they have become clean, which I ascertain by
pressing a portion of the fibres between the finger and thumb. I utilize the
grease or oil by running it into a separate vessel and purify it in the ordinary
way, and to render the fibres suitable for spinning or felting purposes I steep
them in dilute ammonia, and in either a dry or a wet state I clean them by
means of the apparatus herein-before described for cleansing animal fibrous
substances; the fibres having undergone this process I use them for flock or
felting purposes, either in the state of fibre or dust, and effect the separation
of the different lengths of staple by means of the cleansing apparatus, which
I fit up with suitable wire grating for the purpose. I sometimes separate the
.long fibres from the short and do not treat these by the acid and soda process,
but I simply steep them in dilute ammonia and then cleanse and dry them by
the apparatus herein-before described.
Silk rags being an auimal fibrous substance I steep or gently boil them
when mixed with vegetable matter in a solution of mimotannic or other acids;
I then remove the vegetable matter from the silk either by washing in hot or
cold water, or I use the apparatus herein-before described for cleansing animal
fibrous substances, and I then steep the silk in dilute ammonia heated or cold,
and use the means and appartus I use in treating other animal fibrous
substances. This silk I use for making silk fabrics, or mix it with wool
alpaca, mohair, or any fibrous substances suitable for fabricating a fabric
capable of being milled and finished or otherwise treated like ordinary wooller
cloths and fabrics, and which I sometimes call "glove cloth," owing to it
softness, durability, and warmth, such fabric I use for the purpose of manu

page_text: facturing gloves and other purposes where applicable. Silk rags free
from vegetable matter I treat for the like purpose by steeping in dilute
ammonia, either heated or cold, and when sufficiently softened and expanded
I tear them up into silk fibres, rendering them suitable for manufacturing
purposes.
Having described the means and apparatus for treating animal fibrous
substances, I will now describe the means and apparatus for treating fabrics.
By fabrics containing mixed animal and vegetable substances I mean such
fabrics as contain animal fibrous substances mixed with other fibres which
bave no milling or felting property, such as cotton, silk, mungo, shoddy, and
fibres having gone through processes which have destroyed wholly or in part
their milling, fulling, or felting properties and rendering them analogous to
vegetable fibrous substances in the fabrication of fabrics requiring to be
milled. When silk is combined with other animal fibrous substances I wash or
steep the fabric in a solution of tannin, and afterwards steep in dilute ammonia
previous to milling, and during the milling I add the soap in a uniform quantity and
at a uniform temperature by means of suitable apparatus herein-after described
for treating fabrics containing animal fibrous substances, by which means I
effect a great economy in the use of soap. In treating fabrics in which silk does not
form an integral part I do not use tannin, but I adopt the following means
and apparatus, viz., I steep such fabrics for several hours in dilute ammonia;
the strength of the ammonia and the duration of the steeping I regulate by
the nature of the fabrics and the temperature of the ammonia, whether hot or
cold, fabrics containing new wool and free from other fibrous substances I
steep a shorter time and use a weaker ammonia than for fabrics containing a
mixture of fibrous substances. After steeping the fabric in either hot or cold
ammonia or otherwise during the process of milling, fulling, or felting, I
supply the soap in a hot or a cold state kept at about a uniform temperature
and in uniform quantities throughout the fabric by means of apparatus herein-
after described, by which means and apparatus I effect a great economy in the
use of soap, and a better result in the milling and fulling of the fabric, but on
account of the volatile character of ammonia and the difficulty to confine it in
the fabric during the milling or fulling process, in order to remedy this and to
effect a more even and effective saturation of the fabric with the ammonia
and to render myself less dependent upon the attention, care, and skill required
of the person in charge of the milling process, and also to shorten the time
usually occupied in milling (due in part to the arrangement of rollers),
and thereby economizing the waste in milling woollen fabrics. I use the
following apparatus which I will now describe, by which means, I control

page_text: both the use of the ammonia and soap, and I produce also a better,
'quicker, safer, and more even milling effect, whether the soap be used hot or
cold. The oil required for the fabrication of animal fibrous substances into
fabrics I do not always scour out or remove before the milling, but I some-
times by means of the ammonia or a fixed alkali convert the oil into soap
during the milling, which in some cases I find to be sufficient to mill the
fabric, and by this means I economize the whole or nearly the whole of the
soap, which otherwise would be required to mill the fabric milling machine.
Referring to accompanying Drawing for my milling or fulling apparatus
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same, Figure 4 being a plan.
A is the covered box, within which as is customary the milling rollers are
placed, my preferred arrangement being that shown in dotted lines, as are the
other internal parts, viz., three rollers of ordinary width placed one over
the other, the upper and lower ones a, b, being without flanges and in centres
free to move vertically, whilst the centre one c is furnished with flanges (the
roller c itself working on fixed centres) within which the top or bottom
rollers a, b, work. Or I use two, four, five, or six rollers arranged as
desirable if required, the greater numbers named being desirable for some
classes of fabrics. Ordinary springs d (Figure 3) are placed on the axis of the
top roller a, and under that of the bottom roller b, connected together by tie
rods. Two on either outside of the machine keep both upper and under
rollers a, b, pressed towards the centre roller c; E is the throat through
which pass the fabrics to be milled into the receiving trough F, by which they
are conveyed to the point and passed between rollers a and c, thence by
guard g between the rollers c and 6 through the spout h which rests on the
arm . This arm is secured to the axis of the roller b and consequently
accommodates the receiving spout h to the varying width between the rollers c, b.
In communication with the receiving trough F is the cistern J which contains
the ammonia or fixed alkali as also the cistern K (fitted with steam jacket K),
which contains the soap, and I regulate the quantities of each to be admitted
during the process of milling by means of cocks on the connecting pipes, the
steam jacket serving the double purpose of keeping the soap heated, as well
as (by an injection pipe, if preferred) the fabrics under operation. In other
respects the usual mechanical appliances for milling machines are used. I
sometimes defer the use of the ammonia until after the fabric has been milled
and. undergone further processes in the fabrication of the fabric, in order to
obtain a better influence upon the fabric by the use of ammonia, either hot or
cold, and I then use it in the following manner :-I steep the fabric in dilute
ammonia cold until it becomes black, wet, and thoroughly impregnated with

page_text: ammonia. Iu this state I pass it over a brush to brush the fibres level and
smooth on the face. I then wrap it round the usual boiling roller and boil
the fabric in the usual way in which woollen fabrics are boiled to produce a
face; by this means I effect a better absorption of the ammonia by the fabric
and impart in consequence a soft kind and full handle to the fabric with a
permanent and bright face; but fabrics containing animal fibrous substances
are seriously injured both in quality and strength by the ordinary process of
boiling, and especially fabrics containing mixed fibrous substances and animal,
fibrous substances which have undergone an acid process, either in dyeing or
otherwise in their treatment, either, as fibres or fabrics. In order to avoid
this injury to fabrics containing animal fibrous substances by boiling I adopt.,
the following means and apparatus for the purpose of producing a face upon
the fabric without boiling, by which means and apparatus I obtain the
necessary pressure for facing the fabric by means of cold water, the fabric
being impregnated with ammonia during this operation. This apparatus
consists of a suitable vessel for bearing pressure, which after the fabrics have,
been put in I fill with cold water by means of a pump, and continue pumping"
until I obtain the necessary pressure, the vessel being air and water tight, and of
a strength sufficient to resist a pressure of two or more, atmosphères. The
duration of pressure will vary according to the effects of the ammonia on the
fabrics. This apparatus I also use in a dry state, that is, without any water™
by simply heating the air contained in the apparatus after it has been made
air-tight, the heated air giving the necessary pressure to the wet fabrics to
face them, whether the fabrics have or have not been previously steeped in
dilute ammonia: I use either the wet or dry process as judgment may
suggest, but when I obtain the pressure by means of superheated steam for
facing I always impregnate the fabric with ammonia for the purpose of pro-
tecting the animal fibrous substances from injury, and to obtain other beneficial
results therefrom. In some cases I treat the animal fibrous substances and
fabrics by using, instead of ammonia, urine, either hot or cold, in the manner
and for the purpose herein described for the use of ammonia.
The second part of my Invention consists in utilizing the seeds from burrs
which hitherto have been treated as a waste product and possessed of no
commercial value. For this purpose I crush the seeds by means of any
suitable existing machine, and use them either alone or mixed with other
substances for food for animals, and also use such seeds for making vegetable
size, starch, and stiffening by the usual methods for converting similar vege.
table substances into size, starch, and stiffening.
Having now described my Invention, and explained the means of carrying

page_text: the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in
part recited Letters Patent I claim,
Firstly, the use of ammonia for the purpose and in the manner herein;
described.'
Secondly, the use of tannin, mimotannic acid, catechine, and urine, also in
the manner and for the purpose herein described.
Thirdly, the use and arrangement of the apparatus herein described for
the purpose of effecting the improvements in the treatment of animal fibrous
substances and fabrics requiring the like treatment.
Fourthly, the utilization of the seeds of burrs for the purposes herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Watson Burton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
PHILIP H. SHARP,
18, East Parade,
Leeds.
JOHN WATSON BURTON. (L.S.)