AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF YARN FROM WOOL OR OTHER FELTING MATERIAL
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexandre Tolhausen, of No. 7, Duke Street, Adelphi,
London, County of Middlesex, Sworn Interpreter at the Imperial Court
of Paris, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF YARN
FROM WOOL OR OTHER FELTING MATERIAL."-A communication from John
Henry Bloodgood, Rahnay, New Jersey, United States.
Sealed the 15th July 1856, and dated the 23rd January 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexandre Tolhausen at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd January 1856.
I, ALEXANDRE TOLHAUSEN, of No. 7, Duke St., Adelphi, London,
County of Middlesex, Sworn Interpreter at the Imperial Court of Paris, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MANU-
FACTURE OF YARN PROM WOOL OR OTHER FELTING MATERIAL," being a commu-
nication from John Henry Bloodgood, Rahnay, New Jersey, United States,
to be as follows:
This Invention consists in the manufacture of yarn from rovings of wool
or other suitable material, by the felting process, instead of by twisting or
spinning as formerly.
The Invention is performed in the following manner :-A roving of wool
or other material, either in the state in which it comes from the condenser of

page_text: the carding engine, or after having been drawn between rollers subsequently
to the carding & condensing operations, is conducted by suitable mechanism
between two rubbing surfaces of cloth, or other suitable material, applying at
the same time the necessary amount of lieat & moisture to effect the proper
felting of the roving; the rubbing motion being of course crosswise to the
fibre, & of sufficient extent to roll the roving into a uniform round thread.
This yarn, by reason of the extreme simplicity of the process of manufacture
& of the machinery to perform it, & also by reason of its being capable of
production from the shortest wool & poorest material, generally can be pro-
duced very cheaply; & for some purposes it possesses advantages over yarns
produced in any other way; for instance, it is more smooth & regular,
especially in large sizes, & on that account is better for soft filling; it also
possesses the advantage of having a nap raised upon it with greater facility.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexandre Tolhausen in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDRE
TOLHAUSEN, of No. 7, Duke Street, Adelphi, London, County of Middlesex,
Sworn Interpreter at the Imperial Court of Paris, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alexandre Tolhausen, Her special licence that I, the said Alexandre Tol-
hausen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alexandre Tolhausen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, froni 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 "AN IMPROVED
MANUFACTURE OF YARN FROM WOOL OR OTHER FELTING MATERIAL," a conimuni-
cation from John Henry Bloodgood, Rahnay, New Jersey, United States,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexandre Tolhausen,
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

page_text: 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, tho said. Alexandre Tolhausen, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same.is to be per-
formed; to be particularly described and ascertained in 'and by the following
statement:-.
This Invention consists in the manufacture of yarn from rovings of wool or
other suitable material, by the felting process, instead of by twisting or spinning
as formerly.
The Invention is performed in the following manner:-A roving of wool or
other material, either in the state in which it comes from the condenser of the
carding engine, or after having been drawn between rollers subsequently to
the carding and condensing operations, is conducted by suitable mechanism
between two rubbing surfaces of cloth or other suitable material, applying at
the same time the necessary amount of heat and moisture to effect the proper
felting of the roving; the rubbing motion being of course crosswise to the
fibre, and of sufficient extent to roll the roving into an uniform round thread.
The mechanism for performing the above process may be described as con-
sisting substantially of a frame, supporting at one end a drum or roller for the
delivery of the roving from a spool, as in the common spinning jack; and in
front of this, and moving in the same direction, is an endless apron stretched
upon two rollers, and kept tight by means of a weighted roller resting upon the
lower portion. Above this endless apron, a rubber or rubbers vibrate crosswise
very rapidly, with a stroke of about one inch; these rubbers consist each
simply of a square or oblong wooden frame, well braced, and having several
strips of wood running lengthwise, and upon the under surface, which is
slightly curved to compensate for the sag of the apron, is stretched a cotton
or linen cloth; the upper surface is covered with canvas and india-rubber or
with sheet metal. To the interior of the rubbers thus constructed, steam is
conveyed by a suitable pipe from a boiler, to escape through the bottom of the
cotton or linen cloth to effect the felting. The rubbers may be vibrated by any
convenient mechanism, and the yarns as they pass between them, being drawn
along by the endless apron, are felted and finally delivered upon a reel or spools
as desired. This yarn, by reason of the extreme simplicity of the process of
manufacture, and of the machinery to perform it, and also by reason of its
being capable of production from the shortest wool and poorest material,
generally can be produced very cheaply; and, for some purposes, it possesses
advantages over yarns produced in any other way; for instance, it is more

page_text: smooth and regular, especially in. large sizes, and on that account is more
soft for filling it also possesses the advantage of having a nap raised upon it
with greater facility.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of the said Invention as
communicated to me, I desire it to be understood that I neither: confine myself
to the employment of the particular machinery, nor to the particular mode
of conducting the process of manufacture as herein described, but have merely
described them as being what have been successfully used, and are considered
to be the best, and to enable others to use this Invention. But I claim
the manufacture of the yarn directly from the roving, by the process of
felting, substantially as herein described, independently of the machinery, or
peculiar manner of conducting the process by which it is effected.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexandre Tolhausen, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
A. TOLHAUSEN.
(L.S.)