IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE METHOD OF CLEANSING WOOL AND OF RECOVERING THE PRODUCTS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Ford, of 19, Blandford Square, in the
Coy. of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE METHOD OF CLEANSING WOOL AND OF RECOVERING THE
PRODUCTS."
Sealed the 18th February 1876, and dated the 2nd December 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Ford at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd December 1875.
I, ALFRED FORD, of 19, Blandford Square, in the Cōy. of
5. Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF CLEANSING WOOL, AND OF
RECOVERING THE PRODUCTS," to be as follows:--
The object of this Invention is to obtain from wool by the act of
cleansing the grease and other matters which it contains in their natural

page_text: b
state unaltered by chemical action, and immediately applicable to the
purposes for which they are respectively fitted, and at the same time, to
effectually cleanse the wool without in any way injuring its staple; and
I obtain these results in the following manner :-I take oil or spirit of
turpentine, as known in commerce, and free it from the resin it
contains by re-distilling it either alone or in combination with certain
carbonaceous or fibrous or other matters, such as charcoal, coal, straw,
paper, &c., which when placed in the stile assist by absorbing its
impurities, and I thus get a pure rectified oil, such as is known in
commerce as camphine; I then mix with this oil for the purpose of
reducing its evaporating point and of rendering it a more efficient
cleanser, about 5% of heavy oil; I prefer mineral oil as being
cheapest, and having so mixed it I raise the temperature of such
mixture to about 100° Fah' and place in it in a suitable vessel the
wool I design to clean, and subject such wool for a short time to
some one of the well known means of agitation, whereby it is effectually
freed from the grease and other matter which it contains, the grease
remaining in solution, and the other matters being precipitated; the
wool is then passed through rollers for the purpose of expressing all the
fluid it has absorbed; this part of my process, viz., the cleansing in the
camphine fluid and squeezing I carry on in as nearly as possible closed
vessels, so as to avoid loss by evaporation. I continue to use this
cleansing fluid in cleaning the wool until such time as it has become so
charged with grease as to be no longer available for that purpose, when
I allow it to rest and deposit the insoluble matters it has acquired from
the wool; I then run off the clear supernatant liquor which is highly
charged with grease, and either distil over the camphine or wash the
liquor by agitating it with water either alone or containing some well
known chemical agent capable of separating the grease from the
camphine, which can then be reused and the grease be stored in casks for
sale. The insoluble matters before referred to are then washed in pure
camphine to free them from any grease they may retain, and are
dried in a closed chamber by heat, care being taken to condense the
vapour and collect the spirit, and when so dried are to be stored as
manure.

page_text: temperature of the atmosphere, or I may employ petroleum spirit,
naptha, or any other liquid hydrocarbon mixed or not with oil as
described, and at a raised temperature, or at the ordinary temperature
of the atmosphere, only I prefer the camphine prepared, mixed, and
heated, as stated.
The novelty of this Invention consists,—
1st. In washing wool in liquid hydrocarbons, and especially in
camphine prepared as described, and at a raised temperature.
2ndly. In obtaining from the wool by these means and without the
intervention of water or steam all the valuable materials contained
therein, unaffected by chemical action, which were water employed
previous to their elimination from the wool would be impossible. The
water as will be observed in my process only being used after the extrac-
tion of the grease and other matters have been accomplished.