IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN EXOTIC PLANTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A FIBROUS SUBSTANCE KNOWN IN COMMERCE BY THE NAME OF VEGETABLE SILK
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine Moreau,
of the English and Foreign Patent Office, 4, South Street, Fins-
bury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, France, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN EXOTIC PLANTS
FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A FIBROUS SUBSTANCE KNOWN IN COMMERCE
BY THE NAME OF VEGETABLE SILK."A communication.
Sealed the 22nd March 1854, and dated the 80th September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand Le
Comte de Fontaine Moreau at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th September 1858.
1, PETER ARMAND LE COMTE. DE FONTAINEMOREAU, of the English and
Foreign Patent Office, 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue
de l'Echiquier, Paris, France, do hereby declare that the nature of the
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS. IN TREATING CERTAIN -EXOTIC PLANTS FOR
THE PRODUCTION OF A FIBROUS SUBSTANCE KNOWN IN COMMERCE BY THE
NAME OF VEGETABLE SILE" to be as follows:-
The Invention communicated to me consists in processes and appa-
ratus for treating the fibres of the agava, fornium tenax, and abaca or
mosa textilis.

page_text: in
I plunge the fibres of these plants taken in a dry state into luke-
warm or cold water, where I leave them until they have become
softened, and then submit them to the rolling machine shewn in the
Drawing. After the fibres have been submitted to the above opera-
tion I again dip them two or three times in water to disengage their
gum; I agitate them in the open air or press them with the hand, or
any other suitable manner, submitting them each time to the rolling
machine. The fibres are now left to dry, and when dried are for the
last time submitted to pressure, which completes the process. The
matters are now ready to be carded, after which a fibrous product is
obtained similar to silk in its brilliancy, to cotton from its softness, and
to linen by its strength, and can be spun and wove. Machines in
ordinary use can be employed for these purposes.
plate. It is optional to pass the cylinder on the plate, or vice versa.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine Moreau
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
PETER ARMAND LE COMTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of the English and
Foreign Patent Office, 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue
de l'Echiquier, Paris, France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Peter Armand Le Comte de
Fontaine Moreau, Her special licence that I, the said Peter Armand
Le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter Armand Le Comte de

page_text: Fontaine Moreau, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, front time to time and at
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
awfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United King-
lom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man; an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN EXOTIC
PLANTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF A FIBROUS SUBSTANCE KNOWN IN COMMERCE
BY THE NAME OF VEGETABLE SILK," Communicated to me from a foreigner
residing abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and scal, 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 Peter Armand Le Comte de
Fontaine Moreau, 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 in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the Drawing hereto annexed, and to the figures
and letters marked thereon, that is to say:
The Invention communicated to me consists in a process and appa-
ratus for separating the gummy and adhesive matters from the agava
foetida, abaca, phormium tenax and other textile plants, but princi-
pally the agava, and obtaining therefrom a product applicable to the
manufacture of stuffs of great fineness capable of replacing silk. To
obtain the best result from the agava its fibres must be extracted from
the leaves of the agava plant with care, and completely disengaged of
the ligneous matter surrounding them by any suitable means, and then
dried. When dry the fibres are slightly and briskly shaken, and
rubbed several times between the hands, and the fibrous matter is
placed in a metallic basin of convenient dimensions, which is after-
wards filled with pure water. The water in the basin is heated by a
stove placed underneath to a temperature of about 110 degrees to 120
degrees Fahrenheit, which must be kept up and the matter left in the

page_text: bath until it has lost its stiffness and natural resistance, when it is
placed under the machine represented on the annexed Drawing, which
effects the disengagement and separation of its fibres.
Figures 1, 2, 3, are on a scale of one tenth of the actual dimensions;
and Figures 4, 5, and 6, are drawn full size. A, A', Figure 1, is a
fluted metallic plate provided with teeth, each fluting and tooth being
formed at an angle shewn between the parallel lines P, P, P¹, P¹, in
Figure 4, by rounding the same angle at a given point, so as to finish
in a semicircle. The raised and hollow parts are similarly shaped, and
of the same dimensions.
Figure 4, shews the dimensions and arrangement of the teeth and
flutings, and the mode of determining the same. The cylinder C,
Figures 2, and 6, is provided with teeth of the same form as the
flutings of the plate, Figure 4, the periphery of the cylinder having
a polygonal form. The teeth of the plate and cylinder are equal, but
the hollow parts are unequal, and their difference effects the disengage-
ment required.
Figure 6, shews the cylinder cogging with the plate, and working on
it with a right and left motion. The teeth of the cylinder C, loosens
and separates the fibrous matter, and the heavy pressure of the cylinder
forces out the gum from the fibres.
The left sides of the cylinder teeth exert a progressive rubbing
action and pressure on the right sides of those on the plate, whilst
the upper surfaces of the last act as bearings, by which their action is
rendered more powerful and efficient; by this means the elementary
fibres constituting each thread of the fibrous matter being freed from
the gum which unites them are made to pass over one another and
get detached. The fluted part A, A¹, Figures 1, and 2, is set hori-
zontally upon a trestle. The cylinder C, is set upon an iron axis pro-
jecting about two inches on either side, and is made to travel to and
fro over the plate by any suitable contrivance. To each side of the
cylinder a strong iron ring is fixed, to which are adapted two iron bars
terminating under the plate, and to the lower extremity of which a
box or basket is set, within which lead, stones, or other heavy bodies
are placed to form a suitable weight upon the cylinder. This box is

page_text: provided with wheels and guide rods adapted to the trestles to serve
for the box to travel on, which being supported by the cylinder is made
to follow its motion, and for this any motive power may be employed.
The following are the dimensions of a machine suitable for treating
five pounds to seven pounds of fibre :-.
Length of plate
Width
Thickness
Base of triangle
-
4 feet 10 inches.
-
10 inches.
-
8 inches.
-
4ths of an inch.
Elevation of triangle
The enclosing angle
Radius of semi-circle where rounded off
Diameter of the cylinder
Axis
-
Length of cylinder
about 1 inch.
-
39 degrees.
-
-
4th of an inch..
-
10 inches.
0
8 inches.
130
8 inches.
-
1 ton.
Weight to be applied
The machine can be constructed to operate on 6, 8, 10, or 12 pounds
of fibrous material at a time, for which purpose the size of the parts
would have to be proportionately increased. The teeth or flutings
would, however, be of the same dimensions as those in Figures 4, 5,
and 6, of the Drawing.
•
When the fibrous matter has been softened in the hot bath, as herein-
before described, it is disposed lengthways on the fluted plate, care
being taken that the fibres should not cross each other. To effect this
the fibrous matters must be taken out of the bath by one end, and
raised in a perpendicular position, and while the mass is kept hanging
perpendicular to the basin a quantity of hot water is poured slowly on
its upper part. The matter is then placed upon the plate, and suitably
arranged, and the cylinder put in motion. Whilst it is at work water is
passed from a small tube on to the fibrous matter, so as to wet without
lisplacing it.
When the cylinder has been rolled over the fibrous matter as many
imes as necessary to modify its original external appearance, viz.,
when the separate fibres are not so apparent, but appear mixed, the
natter is cautiously taken off the plate, and plunged into a bath of hot

page_text: water, as before, where it deposits the part of its gum freed by the
action of the machine; it is then replaced upon the plate, and sub-
mitted again to the action of the cylinder. This operation is repeated
several times, care being taken to change each time the water in the
basin until the fibres are entirely released, and the gum is completely
lisengaged.
After the last passage of the fibrous matter under the cylinder, as
above described, it is plunged into a second basin of water at about
140 degrees to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, where it is left during nearly
a quarter of an hour. It is then taken out, as before, and passed under
a machine of similar dimensions to that before described, except, how-
ever, that the base of the triangle from which are formed the teeth of
the cylinder and plate is half the size, and the angle opposite only 19
degrees.
The matter is worked under the second machine several times until
it presents no roughness to the touch, and when clear water is visible
through its fibres.
When the textile matter is thoroughly loosened it must be carefully
washed in lukewarm water, and laid out to dry in the open air or in
suitable stoves.
To finish the preparation of the textile matter after it has been
combed with care and envelopped in a thin compact cloth it is made
to pass under a pair of rollers or over smooth plates.
The abaca, phormium tenax, and other textile plants can also be
treated in the same manner, and produce a good textile matter, though
The
not equal in quality to that obtained from the agava foetida.
product of the agava is a fibre similar to silk, with which stuffs of great
fineness can be woven, and also mixed stuffs, as it is in many respects
similar to the silk of cocoons, which it can supersede with advantage.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood
that I do not confine imyself to the precise details of construction of the
machinery herein-before described, as they may be varied; but what I
claim is, the process and apparatus for separating the gummy and
adhesive matters from the agava foetida, abaca, phormium tenax, and

page_text: other textile plants, for the production of vegetable silk, as herein-before
described and referred to in the Figures of the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand Le Comte de
Fontaine Moreau, have hereto set my hand and seal, this
Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-four.
L'DE FONTAINEMOREAU. (L.S.)