AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND SOLUTION FOR THE TREATMENT OF FLAX, SILK AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS TO EXTRACT THE GUM THEREFROM AND FOR " OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the firm of Haseltine Lake
and Co. Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London for an Invention of
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND SOLUTION FOR THE TREATMENT OF FLAX, SILK
AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS TO EXTRACT THE GUM THEREFROM AND FOR
"
OTHER PURPOSES communicated to him from abroad by Gabriel Marie
François Foret of Paris, France, Merchant.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th April 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co Patents Agents
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND SOLUTION FOR
Southampton Buildings London
THE TREATMENT OF FLAX, SILK AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS TO EXTRACT
THE GUM THEREFROM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," [a communication to him from
abroad by Gabriel Marie François Foret of Paris, France, Merchant.]
This invention relates partly to an improved process for watering or steeping
flax at the spinning mill without the application of heat, and for extracting the
gum from, and facilitating the spinning of, silk, wool, hemp, china-grass, and
other animal or vegetable textile materials, by means of an improved solution
hereinafter described, which solution is also comprised in the said Invention.
In the art of spinning flax and silk and other textile materials mechanically, one
of the greatest difficulties experienced is to find means for dissolving the gummy
and gelatinous matters which cause the threads to adhere to one another; and to
be able to spin the said materials and extract the gum from them without the
application of heat.
It has hitherto been necessary to employ for silk, as well as for flax, water,
heated to from 80 to 100 degrees centigrade in order to dissolve these matters
which are more or less inherent in the fibres or threads, and then by the aid of
soda and white soap it has been customary to completely extract the gum from

page_text: 155 k. hydrochloric acid
50 k. carbonates and phosphates of lime well purified.
120 k. aluminiferous earths and stones rich in carbonates and magnesia say
60 k. of each kind.
I also apply the said invention as hereinafter described, which is a simplification,
in certain cases, for the treatment, of some materials, of the process above
described.
I cause the threads of flax to pass into a trough with three or four compartments
in juxtaposition. The first compartment contains a solution of chlorine or chloride
of calcium. The second compartment contains bydrochloric acid in combination
with carbonates and phosphates of lime. The third compartment contains water
and alum. And the fourth compartment, when such is employed, contains a
solution of soda and white soap.
In these processes I sometimes employ gratings of enamelled metal, glass, or
other suitable material, with rollers capable of being raised upon hinges or of being
lowered into the trough with from three to four metres of thread upon the rollers;
I thus obtain the softening and the thread becomes first white and afterwards a
yellow straw color. It is then bleached by solutions of permanganate of potash
and sulphuric acid or of soda and white soap according to custom.
I also apply the said invention to the different treatments of wool, for washing

page_text: in grease, for combing, in the extraction of the gum from the thread or from the
raw material, for obtaining a thread free from gummy or gelatinous matter arising
from parasites of the wool, eggs, insects or other matters inherent in the wool, for
ensuring homogeneity of the tints or shades, and for giving more elasticity and
better quality to the fibres and at the same time more softness to the wool than
has heretofore been practicable, while preventing marbling.
I also apply the said invention to the moistening and washing of wools, the
extraction of the gum from woven materials and treatment of the latter in such a
manner as to decompose and precipitate all the gummy, gelatinous and calcareous
matters, or reduce them to carbonic acid gas and afterwards, by employing a second
bath in the proportions above stated of aluminiferous, calcareous or silicious
substances mixed with a solution of carbonate and phosphate well purified treated
as above described with the same quantity of hydro-chloric acid, with the addition
of soda or potash varying in quantity according to the nature of the wool; less for
Australian wool, and more for La Plata and other wools; the degree of scum
determines the quantity of soap which should vary according to the quality of the
same and of the products.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th October 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND SOLUTION FOR
THE TREATMENT OF FLAX, SILK AND OTHER TEXTILE MATERIALS TO EXTRACT
THE GUM THEREFROM AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. A communication to me from
abroad by Gabriel Marie François Foret, of Paris, France, Merchant,
This invention relates partly to an improved process for watering or steeping
flax at the spinning mill, without the application of heat; and for extracting the
gum from, and facilitating the spinning of, silk, wool, hemp, china-grass and other
animal or vegetable textile materials, by means of an improved solution (to which
I have applied the term "creio-fileur ") hereinafter described, which solution is also
comprised in the said invention.
In the art of spinning flax, silk and other textile materials mechanically, one of
the greatest difficulties experienced is to find means for dissolving the gummy and
gelatinous matters which cause the threads to adhere to one another; and to be
able to spin the said materials and extract the gum therefrom without the
application of heat.
It has hitherto been necessary to employ for silk as well as for flax, water
heated to from 80 to 100 degrees Centigrade, in order to dissolve these matters
which are more or less inherent in the fibres or threads, and then, by the aid of
soda and white soap, it has been customary to completely extract the gum from
them. There is often risk of impairing the strength of the flax and the nerf and
strength of the silk.
The object of this invention is to overcome these difficulties, that is to say, to
provide means for spinning, while cold, flax, silk or the like, without injuring the
textile material, and without affecting the nerf and elasticity of the silk. To
render spiuning factories more healthy than heretofore, and prevent, as far as
possible, the work-people from being attacked by diseases, including many chest
diseases and particularly phthisis, inherent in the mode of spinning hitherto
carried on, and to which so many of them have succumbed; the said diseases being
mainly caused by the sudden passage from the heated atmosphere of the factory
to the cooler atmosphere of the exterior. To prevent the decomposition and
rotting of the walls of the said factories, and the fever-carrying and deleterious
miasmas. To effect considerable economy as regards heating, and to give to the
threads of pale or brown flax a yellow straw-colored tiut, while favoring the
action of the spinner, and permitting of spinning to the finest numbers; advantages
which have never been obtained by means of steam and water heated to 80 or
100 degrees.
In carrying the said invention into practice I proceed as follows, that is to
Bay I employ a chemical compound or colourless liquid which without the
application of heat presents the advantages hereinbefore enumerated.
I prepare this liquid or solution in the following manner, that is to say;-I take
distilled water or rain water, and mix therewith hydrochloric acid and phosphates
and carbonates of lime well purified. I leave this mixture in suitable vessels, for
fifteen days and then filter it. The residues are afterwards taken and mixed with
aluminiferous earths and with jurassic stones rich in magnesia, which are treated
by the liquid already obtained by the first operation. For five consecutive days
the liquid is agitated by suitable mechanism or by stirrers fitted in the said

page_text: 100 k. nydrochloric acid
50 k. Carbonates and phosphates of lime well purified,―and
120 k. aluminiferous earths and stones rich in carbonates and magnesia (say
60 k. of each kind).
I also apply the said invention as hereinafter described, which is a simplification,
in certain cases (for the treatment of some materials) of the process above described.
I cause the threads of flax to pass into a trough with three or four compartments
in juxtaposition. The first compartment contains a solution of chlorine or chloride
of calcium. The second compartment contains hydrochloric acid in combination
with carbonates and phosphates of lime. The third compartment contains water
and alum. And the fourth compartment, when such is employed, contains a
solution of soda and white soap.
In these processes I sometimes employ gratings of enamelled metal, glass or other
suitable material, with rollers, capable of being raised upon hinges or of being
lowered into the trough, with from three to four metres of thread upon the said
rollers; I thus obtain the softening; and the thread assumes a whitish hue, and
afterwards a yellow straw color. It is then bleached by solutions of permanganate
of potash and sulphurous acid or by solutions of soda and white soap according to
custom.
I also apply the said invention to the different treatments of wool, for washing
in grease, for combing, in the extraction of the gum from the thread or from the
raw material; for obtaining a thread free from gummy and gelatinous matter
arising from parasites, eggs, insects or other matters inherent to the wool; for
ensuring homogeneity of the tints or shades in dyeing and for giving more elasticity
and nerf to the wool, and at the same time rendering the said wool softer and more
supple than has heretofore been practicable, while giving to the wool an uniform
colour.
I also apply the said invention to the moistening and washing of wools, the
extraction of the gum from woven materials and treatment of the latter in such a
manner as to decompose and precipitate all the gummy, gelatinous and calcareous
matters, or reduce them by carbonic acid gas, and afterwards by employing a second
bath, in the proportions above stated, of aluminiferous, calcareous or silicious
substances, mixed with a solution of carbonate and phosphate well purified,
treated as above described with the same quantity of hydrochloric acid, with the
addition of soda or potash, varying in quantity according to the nature of the
wool; less for Australian wool and more for La Plata and other wools; the amount
of lather determines the quantity of soap required, which should vary according
to the quality of the wools and the place from whence the said wool comes.
The above described improved process besides possessing the advantage above
specified also presents the following advantages as compared with methods hitherto
employed, that is to say ;-There is less waste, causing a saving of from six to eight
per cent. The threads are stronger (the dynamometer marking 4 or 5 figures
higher) and have better spinning qualities, so that a thread one or two numbers
finer than a thread prepared by processes heretofore employed will be say five times
stronger than the latter,

page_text: There is about six per cent, more elasticity in the threads, and less breakage at
the spinning mill, because the gummy and gelatinous matters are removed whereas
the oleaginous matters present are left, thus effecting an economy in heating,
greasing and similar operations.
The removal of gum by this process is effected more completely, more uniformly,
more rapidly, and more simply, even subsequent to the ordinary weaving, than by
any process heretofore used.
Fabric woven with flax prepared as above described may be dyed more uniformly
and is also more supple and softer to the touch when dressed than has heretofore
been the case.
Another important advantage obtained by the use of this process
is the removal of the foetid odour retained by silk, woollen and other fabrics
prepared according to processes heretofore in use, the said odour being very
noticeable when the said fabrics are damp, and particularly when this dampness
is due to perspiration.
By means of this invention the thistles present in the wool are partially destroyed,
the said wool being in no way damaged thereby.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
Foreign Correspondent and the manner of performing the same I wish it understood
that I Claim :-
:-
The preparation and the employment of the solution berein-before described for
permitting the spinning of flax, silk, hemp, and other textile materials, whether
vegetable or animal, without the aid of heat, the said solution being applicable for
steeping and other operations, as set forth.
In Witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Tenth day of October in the year of Our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and eighty three..