IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF RAGS AND OTHER GOODS, FORMED PARTLY OF WOOL AND PARTLY OF VEGETABLE FIBRES, IN ORDER TO SEPARATE THE VEGETABLE FIBRES FROM THEM, AND OBTAIN THE WOOL IN ITS PURE STATE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Baptiste Edouard Rüttre, of Paris, Empire of
France, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
TREATMENT OF RAGS AND OTHER GOODS, FORMED PARTLY OF WOOL AND PARTLY
OF VEGETABLE FIBRES, IN ORDER TO SEPARATE THE VEGETABLE FIBRES FROM
THEM, AND OBTAIN THE WOOL IN ITS PURE STATE."
Sealed the 3rd August 1855, in pursuance of an Order of the Lord Chancellor,
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PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Baptiste Edouard
Rüttre at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th January 1855.
I, JEAN BAPTISTE EDOUARD RUTTRE, of Paris, Empire of France, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE TREATMENT OF RAGS AND OTHER GOODS, FORMED PARTLY OF WOOL AND PARTLY
OF VEGETABLE FIBRES, IN ORDER TO SEPARATE THE VEGETABLE FIBRES FROM THEM,
AND OBTAIN THE WOOL IN ITS PURE STATE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to remove by chemical. agency the
vegetable fibres from tissues or other goods formed partly of wool and partly
of vegetable fibres. I steep the goods in a bath of water, containing two
parts (by measure) of water, from 30 to 60 parts of ordinary sulphuric acid
of commerce, to which I prefer adding from 3 to 6 parts of alcohol; the
goods, having been thoroughly imbibed by the acidulated liquor, are then
5 removed from the bath, pressed and spread out to dry, care being taken not
to leave any folds in them, in which the acidulated liquor might accumulate.
By this means the vegetable fibres are sufficiently dissolved, and may be
entirely removed by proper beating and ventilating; whereas the wool remains

page_text: behind, and may be used for spinning or other purposes after the same has
been washed in pure water or proper alkaline solutions and dried. The above-
mentioned proportions for the dissolving bath may vary more or less, and
the dissolving action of the sulphuric acid on the vegetable fibres may be
enhanced, steadied, and regulated, either by the addition of alcohol or other
suitable substances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, and
of the above Order, filed by the said Jean Baptiste Edouard Rüttre in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
BAPTISTE EDOUARD RUTTRE, of Paris, Empire of France, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Jean Baptiste Edouard Rüttre, Her special licence that I, the said
Jean Baptiste Edouard Rüttre, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Jean Baptiste Edouard Rüttre, 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 ex-
pressed, 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 TREATMENT OF RAGS AND
OTHER GOODS, FORMED PARTLY OF WOOL AND PARTLY OF VEGETABLE FIBRES, IN ORDER
TO SEPARATE THE VEGETABLE FIBRES FROM THEM, AND OBTAIN THE WOOL IN ITS
PURE STATE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jean
Baptiste Edouard Rüttre, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office on or before the Third day
of August, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jean Baptiste Edouard Rüttre, 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 :-
My Invention applies to tissues or other fabrics (whether rags or pieces

page_text: of new goods) composed partly of wool and partly of vegetable fibres, and
consists in a mode of removing the vegetable from the woollen fibres, and
thereby obtain this latter in a suitable state for manufacturing purposes; the
same consequently offers an easy mode for removing the threads from rags
with which the seams, button holes, or other parts have been sewn. For
performing the same, I put the rags or other goods, after the same have been
cleaned to a certain extent by any of the known means, in an acid bath
(whether cold or suitably heated), containing one hundred parts (by measure)
of water, from four to five parts of common sulphuric acid of commerce, and
about one part of alcohol, in which bath I leave the goods as long as required
for disintegrating sufficiently the vegetable fibres. The goods are then
removed from the acid bath, after which the greatest part of the liquid is
pressed out, and the goods are then dried by any suitable means, taking care
to spread them out as evenly as possible. In order that the acid liquid that
would have remained in them may not accumulate more in some parts than
in others; the goods having been dried, they are submitted to a beating engine,
or any other contrivance, for depriving the woollen fibres from the partly
decomposed vegetable fibres that might have remained adhering to them; after
which the wool is to be thoroughly washed in water, or in a weak alkaline or
soap bath, in order to deprive the wool of any acid that might have been
adhering to the wool; which latter is then again dried, and in this state will be
ready to be prepared for spinning or other manufacturing purposes. I must
add, that the strength of the acid bath and the proportion of alcohol to be
put in may vary according to the nature of the goods.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the mode of
effecting the same, I wish it to be understood that what I claim as my
Invention consists of the mode of submitting tissues or other fabrics composed
partly of woollen and partly of vegetable fibres to a bath of diluted sulphuric
acid, to which a small portion of alcohol is added; by the action of which
bath and of the processes here above described, the vegetable fibres are readily
removed from the wool, and leave this latter in a state fit for being again
employed for spinning or other manufacturing purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Baptiste Edouard Rüttre, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JEAN BAPTISTE EDOUARD RUTTRE. (L.S.)