IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF YARNS, AND IN THE MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE PREPARATION OF CERTAIN FIBRES TO BE THUS MANU. FACTURED INTO YARNS
Year: 1859

page_text: hithe, in the County of Surrey, Machine Maker, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF YARNS, AND IN THE MACHINERY TO
BE EMPLOYED IN THE PREPARATION OF CERTAIN FIBRES TO BE THUS MANU.
FACTURED INTO YARNS."
Sealed the 8th June 1860, and dated the 13th December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Hill Dickson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 13th December 1859.
I, JAMES HILL DICKSON, of Commercial Street, Rotherhithe, in the County
of Surrey, Machine Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention.
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF YARNS, AND IN THE MACHINERY TO
BE EMPLOYED IN THE PREPARATION OF CERTAIN FIBRES TO BE THUS MANUFACTURED
INTO YARNS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the treatment of certain resin bound fibres for the
purpose of rendering them fit for being mixed with animal fibres for making
yarns. Hitherto it has been considered impracticable to mix these fibres with
wool or silk, by reason of the difficulties attendant on spinning the same, but
chiefly from the fact of silk and wool requiring treatment inapplicable to the
vegetable fibres in order to prepare them for the dye vat. With the view of
preparing the vegetable fibres, hereafter mentioned, and fitting them for being
77

page_text: manufactured in admixture with wool and silk into yarn, I subject them to the
patented process of James Joseph Cregeen (dated June 16th 1858, No. 1363),
whereby a silky and woolly material suitable for spinning is obtained. This
process which consists, as far as the main object of this Invention is concerned,
(viz., mixing the product with wool and silk), in subjecting the fibres to animal
or vegetable oil mixed with liquid ammónia or its carbonate, will, I find, so
operate upon the fibres, as not only to soften them and prepare them for spin-
ning, but also render them capable of receiving dye liquor when combined with
wool and silk, and it is this hitherto unknown property of which I avail myself
in order to produce mixed yarns. The fibre which I propose to treat with the
oiling process for the purpose of admixture with animal fibres are the plants
commonly known as rhea, Assam and China grass, plantain, aloe, Adam's
needle, common dagger silk grass leaves, pine apple, Banana and American
aloe. For the breaking and scutching of the harder of these fibres I subject
them subsequently to the oiling process to suitable breaking and scutching
machinery for the purpose of removing the husk therefrom. I next submit
these fibres to a bath composed of dilute sulphuric or muriatic acid mixed with
barilla or potash or pearlash, to which is added, when the fibres are required to
be bleached, a compound of soap and chloride of lime. By this means the
fibres are softened and prepared for the finishing or combing operation. This
operation is effected by a modified arrangement of the machine for which I
obtained Letters Patent, dated June 16th 1858 (No. 1364).
My improvement consists in applying to the shaft which carries the beaters
and brushes two sets of side beaters, which beaters are severally fitted with a
row of pins. The fibres are fed to these beaters by cylinders or rollers set at
the opposite sides of the machine, and the fibres are thus simultaneously beaten
and combed out, and made fit for the after processes of drawing and spinning.
The fibres prepared as above described, I draw in sliver, and mix the same
in this state with slivers of silk or wool, or I mix the fibres on the feed apron
of a combing machine and draw the mixed fibres into a sliver.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Hill Dickson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HILL DICKSON, of Commercial Street, Rotherhithe, in the County of Surrey,
Machine Maker, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Hill Dickson, Her special license that I, the said
James Hill Dickson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said James Hill Dickson, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF YARNS, AND IN THE
MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE PREPARATION OF CERTAIN FIBRES TO BE THUS
MANUFACTURED INTO YARNS," upon the condition (amongst others) that 1, the
said James Hill Dickson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 Hill Dickson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
11
This Invention relates to the treatment of certain resin bound fibres for the
purpose of rendering them fit for being mixed with animal fibres for making
yarns. Hitherto it has been considered impracticable to mix these fibres with
wool or silk by reason of the difficulties attendant on spinning the same, but
chiefly from the fact of silk and wool requiring treatment inapplicable to the
vegetable fibres in order to prepare them for the dye vat. With the view of
preparing the vegetable fibres, hereafter mentioned, and fitting them for being
manufactured in admixture with wool and silk into yarn, 1 subject them to the
patented process of James Joseph Cregreen (dated June Sixteenth One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-eight, Number 1363), whereby a silky and
woolly material suitable for spinning is obtained. This process which consists,
as far as the main object of this Invention is concerned (videlicit, mixing the
product with wool and silk) in subjecting the fibres to animal or vegetable oil
mixed with liquid ammonia or its carbonate, will, I find, so operate upon the
fibres as not only to soften them and prepare them for spinning, but also

page_text: render them capable of receiving dye liquor when combined with wool and
silk; and it is this hitherto unknown property of which 1 avail myself in order
to produce mixed yarns. The fibres which I propose to treat with the oiling
process for the purpose of admixture with animal fibres are the plants, com-
monly known as rhea, Assam and China grass, plantain, aloe, Adam's needle,
common dagger silk grass leaves, pine apple, Banana and American aloe.
These fibres I take in the state in which they are imported, and first subject
them to the action of a breaker and scutcher to get rid of the boon or woody
fibre; I then submit the cleaned fibres to the saponaceous mixture which is
composed of oil of any kind, whether animal or vegetable, fixed or essential,
combined with water and ammonia or its carbonate; the oil may be used either
hot or cold, according to the quality of fibre to be produced, and to the nature
of the plant operated upon, the fineness of the fibre being in proportion to the
penetration of the liquor into the plant. The proportions which I have found
most efficient in practice are four gallons of oil to one hundredweight of fibre
with just sufficient ammonia or its carbonate added thereto to render the oil
saponaceous. The fibre is held suspended in the vat containing the sapona-
ceous mixture by suitably constructed galvanized iron holders, furnished with
teeth for penetrating the fibres, and hot water is distributed as evenly as possible
over the fibres by pouring the same through a perforated strainer or rose jet;
the vat is kept closed by a suitable lid or cover, and the supply of hot water
is continued until the suspended fibres are completely immersed: The fibres
should remain in this saponaceous mixture for the space of about two hours
when they may be withdrawn by the holders.
If proper care be taken to have the fibres of India or China grass, pine
apple, and other fibrous plants of this class, thoroughly well broken and cleaned
before immersion in, this mixture, they will, after being taken out, yield and
split as fine as silk under the action of the combing machine, and will be
altogether free or nearly so from the hard ends or dead fibres which exist
under the ordinary processes which have hitherto unfitted these fibres for
general use in yarn spinning. The steeping vats should be supplied with
steam pipes arranged beneath a perforated false bottom of galvanized iron for
the purpose of keeping up the mixture to a temperature of from eighty
degrees to ninety degrees Fahrenheit during the time the fibres are immersed
therein. For producing yarn of middle numbers where strength and greater
length of fibre is preferred to fibre of a fine quality, which is always shorter,
I find that an excellent result will be obtained by steeping the fibres for the
space of twelve hours in the mixture of oil and ammonia after having been
mixed with water in a boiling state, the whole being then allowed to cool

page_text: down under a closed cover. From the fact of the fibres being only a short
time under the influence of water there is no liability of their becoming
decomposed, the oil on the contrary acting on the fibre as a preservative
or antiseptic. The ammonia is evaporated, and leaves the oil behind to
lubricate and impregnate the fibre, and cause it to run smoothly through the
combs with the production of comparatively speaking very little tow or waste,
the only loss being that of the resinous and woody matter which may be still
adhering to the fibre. After this steeping process the fibres are thoroughly
well washed and treated with hot or cold water, whereby any remaining woody
or resinous matter is finally removed therefrom. The fibres are then carried
to a centrifugal or other drying machine, where they are finally wrung and
dried in a rapid manner; they are then ready to undergo the preparing or
combing operation, for which purpose they are submitted to the combing
machine, shewn in several views in the accompanying Drawing, which is an
improved arrangement of the machine for which I obtained Letters Patent,
bearing date Sixteenth June, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
When operating upon the harder kinds of these fibres, as plaintain and aloe,
I find it advisable to subject them subsequently to the oiling process above
described, to any suitable breaking and scutching machinery for the purpose
of removing any husk that may still adhere to the fine fibres; and I next
submit these fibres to a bath composed of sulphuric or muriatic acid of
commerce, one part to seven parts of water mixed with, say from one pound
to two pounds of barilla or potash or pearlash to every gallon of sulphuric or
muriatic acid, to which I add, when the fibres are required to be bleached, of
soap two pounds and chloride of lime one pound for every twenty-eight pounds
of fibres operated upon. The fibres are thus softened and prepared for the
combing operation, which is carried on by the machine which I will now
describe.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation, and Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of
the combing, preparing, or dressing machine, which is constructed and operates
on the same principle as that secured to me under the above-mentioned
Patent, the difference between the two being that, by the present arrange-
ment I am enabled, by reason of certain additions to the machine, to operate
on short as well as long fibre with great facility. On the shaft A, which
carries a set of beaters and also a set of brushes arranged radially around it, I
mount at opposite sides of the machine a set of beaters B, and a set of
brushes C, the operating surfaces of which are in the plane of their rotation.
The beaters are furnished with chisel edges and comb teeth (see the detached
enlarged view, Fig. 3), and the brushes are made of bristles or other suitable

page_text: elastic fibres, and fitted with clearers for removing the tow, &c., therefrom.
These clearers are formed of parallel blades, which are placed between the
rows of bristles, and are thrown forwards by springs at their back to force the
tow off the points of the bristles. At the rear edge of the brushes a row of
steel pins is set at a receding angle for the purpose of combing the fibres
preparatory to the entrance therein of the following brushes. These beaters
and brushes are mounted on their respective sides of the machine so as to
revolve close to openings made in the casing to permit of the fibres being
submitted to the beaters and brushes B and C. In front of each of these
openings a cylinder D is mounted for presenting the fibres to the action of the
machine. The fibres are introduced by hand between the cylinder D and a
nipping roller D*, which it carries, and which is operated by a binding screw.
A rocking motion by means of an internal segment rack and a pinion is given
to the cylinder to pass the fibres forward under the action of the beaters, which
commence to operate on the fibres near the nip, and gradually work down-
wards by reason of the cylinder being rocked to bring up the pendent ends.
When these ends have been sufliciently worked the cylinder is drawn back by
a screw (the cylinder being mounted in sliding bearings for that purpose), and
the other ends are exposed in like manner to the action of the beaters.
After being thus operated upon, the fibres are handed over to an attendant at
the other side of the machine, by whom they are introduced to the action of
the brushes through the instrumentality of a similar cylinder and nipping or
retaining roller. Simultaneously with these operations other fibres may be
brought under the operation of the other beaters E and brushes F by other
attendants on the machine, these beaters and brushes being used to prepare
the fibres for undergoing the above described oiling process. After under-
going this dressing, which is a combination of beating, combing, and brushing,
the fibres are now fitted for being converted into sliver. When drawn into
sliver by any suitable arrangement of machinery I mix the same in the
drawing frame with slivers of silk or wool; or I mix the fibres in the desired
proportions on the feed apron of a combing machine, and draw the mixed
fibres into a sliver.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in the
Manufacture of Yarns and in the Machinery to be employed in the Prepa-
ration of certain Fibres to be thus Manufactured into Yarns," and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that, under
the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim,-
First, treating the resin-bound fibres above mentioned for the production of
mixed yarns, as above described.

page_text: And, secondly, the arrangement of machinery above described for dressing
he fibres preparatory to drawing the same into sliver.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Hill Dickson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
JAMES HILL DICKSON. (L.S.)