IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BREAKING AND SCUTCHING FLAX, HEMP, AND SUCH LIKE FIBRES
Year: 1873

page_text: Scaled the 11th November 1873, and dated the 29th May 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th May 1873.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declaro the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR BREAKING AND SCUTCHING FLAX, HEMP, AND SUCH LIKE FIBRES," to be as
11
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th May 1873.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
FOR BREAKING AND SCUTCHING FLAX, HEMP, AND SUCH LIKE FIBRES," to be as
follows.
This Invention relates to improved machinery for simultaneously
breaking and scutching flax, hemp, and such like fibres, the essential

page_text: feature of which consists of an arrangement whereby the flax is forced
by a blade or plate into an angular groove with sharp lateral edges so as
to be bent sharply into the groove, and while so bent the flax is drawn
through in a direction transversely to the groove, by which continuous
flexure the flax is broken at every point of its length instead of only
at intervals as heretofore, while at the same time the scraping action
exercised by the lateral edges of the groove and the edge of the plate
effects the scutching or removal of the wood or boon from the fibre.
This operation might be effected by drawing the flax through the groove
and plate, these being stationary, but by preference it is effected by
drawing the groove and plate along the flax which is held stationary.
For operating according to the last described method the machine is
constructed as follows:-Upon a boss on a rotating shaft inside a casing
are fixed a number of thin flat radial arms, which are reduced in
strength at points near their inner ends so as to enable them to spring
laterally at such points. To the flat faces of these arms are secured
lengths of angle iron constituting the before mentioned angular grooves
in a radial direction into which the flax is pressed, and in front of these
are broad plates fixed to the before mentioned central boss in such
manner that the edges of the plates are situated in the grooves of the
angle iron near the bottom thereof. The outer ends of the angle irons
are curved outwards away from the said plates, the outer ends of which
are rounded off so as to offer a gradually widening space between the
angle iron and the plate for the flax to enter between them, and the
angle irons and plates are also curved forward at their outer ends in the
direction in which they rotate.
The flax is inserted lengthwise through a hole in the casing so as to
project into the same, the outer end being held by the attendant. The
shaft with the radial arms, angle irons, and plates being made to revolve
rapidly the flax is caught between the outer ends of the angle irons and
plates, and by the rotation of these it is first caused to pass down to the
point where the plate fits closely into the angle iron so as to be bent
sharply into the groove of the latter, and then by the continued motion
of the angle iron and plate these are drawn over the entire length of
the flax, whereby this is broken at every point and the wood is at the a
same time stripped off it as above described.
Each radial arm with its angle iron and plate operates consecutively

page_text: in the above manner upon the same handful of flax until the length of
it within their range is effectually scutched, whereupon the other end of
the handful is inserted and operated on in like manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Denton Abel, Her
special license that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Denton Abel, my executors, administrators, and 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR BREAKING AND SCUTCHING
FLAX, HEMP, AND SUCH LIKE FIBRES," a communication to me from abroad
by Woldemar Von Loewis, of Menar, of Paten, Livonia, in the Russian
Empire, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Denton Abel, 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 calender months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, 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

page_text: in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings and to the figures and lotters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to improved machinery for simultaneously
breaking and scutching flax, hemp, and such like fibres, the essential
feature of which consists of an arrangement whereby the flax is forced
by a blade or plate into an angular groove with rounded lateral edges so
as to be bent sharply into the groove, and while so bent the flax is drawn
through in a direction transversely to the groove, by which continuous
flexure the flax is broken at every point of its length instead of only at
intervals as heretofore, while at the same time the stripping action
exercised by the lateral edges of the groove and the edge of the plate
effects the scutching or removal of the wood or boon from the fibre.
This operation might be effected by drawing the flax through the groove
or plate, these being stationary, but by preference it is effected by
drawing the groove and plate along the flax which is held stationary.
For operating according to the last described method the machine is
constructed as shewn on the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1
sliews a vertical section of the machine; Fig. 2 shows a sectional plan;
Fig. 3 shews a side clevation to a smaller scale; Fig. 4 shews a section
on line X, X, Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 shews a sectional side view of one of
the plates e.
On the boss b, fixed on the rotating shaft a inside the casing A, are
fixed a number of thin flat radial arms c, which may be made of wood,
and are reduced in strength at m in order to enable them to spring
laterally at these points. To the flat faces of these arms are secured
lengths of angle iron d, preferably of the form shewn in the transverse
section at Fig. 4, constituting the before mentioned angular grooves into
which the flax is pressed, and in front of these are broad plates e fixed
to the boss b in such manner that their edges are situated in the grooves
of d, as shewn in Figs. 2 and 4. The plate e is so formed that its edge
gradually recedes from the groove in the direction from the inner
towards the outer end thereof, and the outer end of the edge of e is
rounded off, while the outer end of the angle iron d is curved away from
the plate e so as to offer a gradually widening space between the angle
iron and the plate, as shewn, for facilitating the entrance of the flax
between them. The outer ends of the angle iron and plate are also

page_text: curved forward in the direction in which they rotate, as shewn at Figs. 1
and 5.
The flax is inserted lengthwise through a slit A¹ in the casing A so as
to project into the same, as indicated at Fig. 1, the outer end being held
by the attendant. The shaft a with the radial arms c, angle iron
grooves d, and plates e being made to revolve rapidly in the direction of
the arrow, Fig. 1, the flax is caught between the outer ends of the angle
irons and plates, and by the rotation of these it is caused to pass gradually
down from the outer to the inner end of the groove, whereby the flax is
bent sharply into the groove by the plate e, and as at the same time the
groove and plate are drawn over the entire length of the flax this is
broken at every point of its length, while at the same time the wood is
stripped off from the fibre by the action of edges of the groove and
plate.
Each of the radial arms with its groove and plate operates consecu- .
tively in the above described manner upon the same handful of flax
until the length of it within their range is effectually scutched by the
combined breaking and stripping action above described, any beating
action such as takes place in machines of present construction being
entirely avoided; the other end of the handful is then inserted and
operated on in like manner. By the spring action of the arms c the
flax in being drawn down the gradually narrowing space between the
plate and the groove can force the latter away from the former somewhat
so as to prevent any excessive pressure being exerted on the flax.
By making the angle iron and plate with rounded edges, as shewn, no
injurious scraping of the fibre can take place, their action being merely
sufficient to strip the wood off the fibre effectively. The plate e may be
strengthened by one or more ribs e¹, as shown at Fig. 5. The extent to
which the flax requires to be subjected to the action of the machine will
depend upon the quality of the flax. A suitable speed for the revolving
arms is about 300 revolutions per minute, whereby with eight arms, as
shewn on the Drawing, the flax will be subjected to the breaking and
stripping action 2,400 times in one minute. The casing A is made with
a circular cover, fitting nearly to the periphery of the revolving arms,
and opening on a hinge at A³.
Although the above described machine will effect the simultaneous

page_text: requiring any previous preparation thereof, yet it might be advantageous
for accelerating the process to crush the flax stalks somewhat before
subjecting them to the action of the machine, in order to render them
more pliable when passing through the breaking and stripping instru-
ments. For this purpose a pair of crushing rollers may conveniently
be attached to the machine, as shewn at Fig. 3, where the roller f is
fixed on an extension of the shaft a of the machine, while the roller g
can slide vertically in guides on the framing h, and is pressed down by
springs or weights upon the flax passed between the rollers. I do not
claim the use of such crushing rollers as part of the present Invention.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I claim,-
First. The use of machinery for breaking and scutching flax, hemp,
and such like fibres wherein the flax or other fibre is subjected to a
combined breaking and stripping action by being passed transversely
between the surfaces of a groove and the edge of a plate entering such
groove, arranged and operating substantially as herein described.
Second. In machinery for breaking and scutching flax, hemp, and
such like fibres, the combination of the revolving spring arms c,
grooves d, and plates e, arranged and operating substantially as and for
the purposes herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy
three.