IMPROVE- MENTS IN PReparing RoviNGS AND VARNS OF WOOL"
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Smith, of Horton Dye Works, near
Bradford in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PReparing RoviNGS AND VARNS OF WOOL"
MENTS IN PREPAring Rovings anD VARNS OF WOOL"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Smith at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th December 1853.
I, SAMUEL SMITH, of Horton Dye Works, near Bradford, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING ROVINGS AND YARNS OF WOOL" to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists of winding rovings or yarns of wool, when
wet, on to a hollow cylinder perforated with numerous holes, and then
causing steam to pass through such rovings and
yarns.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
SAMUEL SMITH, of Horton Dye Works, near Bradford, in the County
of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in
the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Smith, Her
special licence that I, the said Samuel Smith, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Smith, 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 PREPARING ROVINGS AND YARNS OF WOOL," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Smith, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Samuel Smith, 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 (that is to say):-
This Invention consists of winding rovings or yarns of wool, when
wet, on to a hollow cylinder perforated with numerous holes, and then
causing steam to pass through such rovings and yarns.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed
to describe the manner of performing the same; I would, however, first

page_text: remark that I am aware that steam has before been used as a means
of setting wool; amongst others, a process for that purpose has been
practised in France, which has also been described in the Specification
of a Patent, granted on the Eighteenth July, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-nine, to Samuel Cunliffe Lister, of Bradford, and
George Edmund Donisthorpe, of Leeds, such process consisting of
taking the wool after it has been put into the form of a sliver, and
tightly winding it on to a perforated bobbin in a dry state (or the same
has been twisted into short ropes), and then subjected to steam in a
steam chest or on a steam tap for from one to twelve hours; and steam
has also been used in other ways, with and without vacuum and heated
air, to act on the fibres of wool to set them. I mention these processes
in order to state that I make no claim thereto, and also with a view
to aid me in more clearly pointing out the peculiar character of my In-
vention, which is applicable when using either combed or carded wool.
And, although the process is applicable to yarns of wool, still, as it is
more particularly applicable to rovings, I will first describe my Invention
applied to rovings of wool. The process is applicable both when the
wool is intended to be dyed before weaving, and also to wools which
are to be woven in their natural colors, such as alpaca. According to
my Invention I do not require any particular preparation of the wool;
it is taken in the ordinary state of rovings, and most convenient on
dandy" bobbins, and it requires no after cleansing process other than
what is brought about by my improvements. The hollow cylinders
which I employ are about six inches diameter and two feet long, and I
use steam of about 12 lbs. on the square inch in the boiler, but these
particulars may be varied. The cylinder is perforated all over with
small holes, and it is conveniently arranged to fix on to a steam pipe,
so that the steam may pass into the interior, and only escape through
the roving wound thereon. The cylinder is made with a flanch at each
end, of about three inches deep, and as the rovings pass from the
bobbins through an alkaline solution composed of phosphate of soda
2 lbs. to a gallon of soft water, or common soda with a little ammonia
may be used, the rovings are wound tightly and evenly on to the
cylinder, so as to fill it; when full three or four layers of woven fabric
66

page_text: (coarse cotton cloth) are wound tightly round, and the ends are tied.
The cylinder with the rovings in a wet state is then fixed to a steam
pipe or tube, and the steam is allowed to flow freely into the cylinder,
and from it through the rovings for about five minutes, which is
generally found to be sufficient to fix the fibre, and the same is now in
a state to be recled off for the dyer, or to be dried before being further
drawn out and spún. By thus treating wool in the state of rovings
not only is the fibre set and the felting properly removed, but the wool
is deprived of the oily and greasy matters, and is also rendered more
suitable for receiving dyes. The yarns subsequently produced there-
from will be better and more even than when pursuing the ordinary
processes. When applying my Invention to the preparation of yarns of
wool, whether from carded or combed wool, the yarns are to be passed
through an alkaline solution, and wound wet on the cylinder, and
treated as above described in regard to rovings or slubbings, and they
will then be ready, when reeled into hanks, to be dyed or to be woven
when dry.
.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the details herein described. But what I claim is,
the subjecting rovings and yarns of wool, in a wet state and wound
on to a surface, to the action of steam.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Smith, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
S. CARPMABL.
SAM SMITH. (L.S.)