IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING HORNY AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ANIMAL SUBSTANCES FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONVERTING THEM INTO AN ELASTIC SUBSTANCE TO BE USED IN PLACE OF WHALEBONE, BRISTLES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH SUCH ELASTIC SUBSTANCE MAY BE APPLICABLE.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Birch, of Penrose Street, Walworth
Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING HORNY
AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ANIMAL SUBSTANCES FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONVERTING
THEM INTO AN ELASTIC SUBSTANCE TO BE USED IN PLACE OF WHALEBONE,
BRISTLES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH SUCH ELASTIC SUBSTANCE MAY
BE APPLICABLE.
"
Sealed the 14th January 1873, and dated the 22nd November 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Birch at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd November 1872.
I, WILLIAM BIROH, of Penrose Street, Walworth Road, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING
HORNY AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ANIMAL SUBSTANCES FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONVERTING
THEM INTO AN ELASTIC SUBSTANCE TO BE USED IN PLACE OF WHALEBONE, BRISTLES,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH SUCH ELASTIC SUBSTANCE MAY BE APPLICABLE,'
to be as follows:-
"
My Invention has for its object to produce from the horns and hoofs
ahstance rÅR abli whalebone in annearance
le a hard elastic

page_text: flexibility, and elasticity, and some other of its characteristics. I am
also enabled by slightly modifying the process to produce from such
horny substances filaments resembling bristles, which may be used for
the manufacture of brushes, brooms, and other articles which are usually
made of bristles.
The treatment to which the horny substance is subjected (to effect the
object of my Invention) is a combination of a chemical and mechanical
process. The chemical process is used to soften the substance, and the
subsequent mechanical operation is either to flatten, roll out, and extend
or mould the softened horny matter, or to disintegrate it into thread-like
fibres or filaments.
Various chemical agents will soften the horny substance so as to pre-
pare it for the after mechanical process, but the agents I prefer to use
for this purpose are vegetable infusions which possess this property. An
infusion of sage or plants of that class will give very satisfactory results,
and in carrying out my Invention I make an infusion or decoction of
sage leaves in boiling water.
The horny substances to be operated upon (say bullocks' or buffaloes'
horns) are first split or cut up longitudinally and then steeped in this
solution, heated to considerably above the boiling point of water, until the
horny substance has become soft enough to be manipulated by the
mechanical process, which is simply a rolling or pressing operation. By
passing the softened horn between the rollers it may not only be flattened
but also rolled out and elongated and converted either into sheets of any
desired thickness, or made into bars or sticks according to the shape of
the rollers and the purpose for which the prepared substance is to be
used.
If it be desired to produce thin filaments to be used in the place of
bristles the softened horny substance is to be rolled down into such thin
sheets that the fibres of the horn will be separated laterally from each
other or will only be feebly held together by the gelatinous matter con-
tained in the horn. The thin fibres may then be easily detached by
hand or by washing away the gelatinous matter.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Birch in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BIRCH, of Penrose Street, Walworth Road, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Birch, Her special
licence that I, the said William Birch, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Birch, 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 MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING HORNY AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ANIMAL
SUBSTANCES FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONVERTING THEM INTO AN ELASTIC SUBSTANCE TO
BE USED IN PLACE OF WHALEBONE, BRISTLES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH
SUCH ELASTIC SUBSTANCES MAY BE APPLICABLE,' "
upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Birch, 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 William Birch, 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):
"
My Invention has for its object to produce from the horns and hoofs
of animals a hard elastic substance resembling whalebone in appearance,

page_text: flexibility, and elasticity, and some other of its characteristics. I am
also enabled by slightly modifying the process to produce from such
horny substances filaments resembling bristles, which may be used for
the manufacture of brushes, brooms, and other articles which are usually
made of bristles.
The treatment to which the horny substance is subjected (to effect the
objects of my Invention) is a combination of chemical and mechanical
processes. The chemical process is used to soften the substance, and the
subsequent mechanical operation is employed either to consolidate,
flatten, roll out, and extend or mould the softened horny matter, or to
disintegrate it into thread-like fibres or filaments.
Various chemical agents will soften the horny substance so as to pre-
pare it for the after mechanical process, but the agents I prefer to use for
this
purpose are certain vegetable infusions which possess this property in
an eminent degree. An infusion of sage or plants of that class in hot
water will give very satisfactory results, and in carrying out my Invention
I make an infusion or decoction of sage leaves by steeping the vegetable
substance in boiling water in the proportion of eight pounds of sage
leaves and stalks to twenty gallons of water, in which is dissolved six
ounces of potash or other suitable alkali. The vegetable substances may
remain in the boiling water for ten hours, or until all the vegetable
extract has been drawn out.
The horny substances to be operated upon (say bullocks', buffaloes',
or any other horn) are first softened to such an extent as will admit of
them being consolidated or straightened in a screw, hydraulic, or other
press provided with suitable dies.
If it be desired only to consolidate or solidify the hollow horn the
latter is softened in the manner hereafter explained, and then simply sub-
jected to pressure so as to form a solid substance of considerable
thickness, which if desired may be afterwards cut up into bars or bands
of
any sectional area.
Straightening the curved or crooked horns is found advantageous, as
the horns can then be more conveniently split or cut up longitudinally
into strips of suitable size for the subsequent processes. The splitting
or dividing operation is most conveniently done by means of a circular
saw, but other means may be employed if preferred. The wide strips of
horn thus produced may either be cut up at once into narrower strips, or

page_text: "
they may be steeped a second time in the vegetable solution, which must
be heated to considerably above the boiling point of water, to which end
the softening operation must be carried on in a close vessel properly
secured, so that a suitable amount of steam pressure may be obtained.
I have found that a pressure of about five pounds on the square inch
will give very good results, but occasionally a stronger pressure is
required. If the horny matters are subjected to the action of the
vegetable infusions at this pressure, they will in the course of about
three hours become soft enough to be operated upon by the mechanical
processes hereafter described.
For the convenience of manipulation in the softening process I place
the horny substances in a perforated vessel, which is capable of being
lifted in and out of the close boiler, so that the vessel can be charged
and discharged of its contents with facility.
The use of a separate and moveable vessel to receive the horny sub-
stances will moreover prevent the latter from adhering to the bottom or
sides of the boiler and being burnt or charred by the heat. When the
horny strips are in a sufficiently soft state they are subjected whilst hot
to a rolling operation in the machine shewn in the accompanying
Drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine complete,
Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same, and Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical
section. It will be seen that the machine consists mainly of three
hollow metal rolls, two of which, a, a, have plain surfaces, while the
other a¹ is grooved. By passing the softened strips of horn between the
upper and middle rollers they may not only be flattened but also rolled
out and elongated, and as they will he subjected to very great pressure
the end of one strip may be so securely and effectually joined on to the
next that no joint will be observable, and a strong and perfect joint will
be made. By passing a number of strips between the two plain
rollers a, a, they will be rolled out and converted into sheets of any
desired width and thickness. Two or more strips may by the pressure
to which they will be subjected be joined together laterally as well as
longitudinally. The horny strips may be converted either into sheets or
made into bars or sticks according to the shape of the rollers and the
purpose for which the prepared substance is to be used.
If it be desired to produce thin filaments to be used in the place of
bristles the strips of softened horny substances are to be rolled down into

page_text: such thin sheets that the fibres of the horn will be separated laterally
from each other or will only be feebly held together by the gelatinous
matter contained in the horn, and may therefore be easily detached.
As separate pieces of the horny substances will not adhere together
even when subjected to great pressure unless they are in a soft and
heated state, it is necessary that the horny strips should be passed
through the rolling machine immediately they are taken from the
softening boiler; and in order to prevent them from being chilled when
brought into contact with the surfaces of the metal rollers, these latter
are heated by steam admitted into them from the steam pipes 6, 6, through
their hollow axles. The condensed steam is removed from the interior
of the rollers a, a, a¹, by means of the scoops c, c, Fig. 3, which will
convey the water to the hollow axles at the opposite ends of the rollers,
so that it may run away. A slow rotary motion is imparted to the
rollers a, a, a¹, by means of the toothed gearing shewn at Fig. 2, and 1
the top and bottom rollers are adjustable in their bearings so that they
may be raised or lowered according to the thickness to which it may be
desired to reduce the horny substance.
Having now described my Invention, and having explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention 2
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, subjecting horny sub-
stances to a combination of chemical and mechanical processes for the
purpose of first softening and then pressing, consolidating, rolling out;
or otherwise treating the same as and for the purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Birch, have hereunto set 2
my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of March, in the
year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.