An Improved Manufacture of Cocoa-fibre Brushes for Painting and similar Purposes.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 5th Jan., 1895
[Communicated from abroad by JOHANN GEORG ROTH, 12, Karlsstrasse,
Ravensburg, Wurttemburg, in the Empire of Germany, Paint Brush
Manufacturer.]
An Improved Manufacture of Cocoa-fibre Brushes for Painting and
similar Purposes.
I WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E. of The Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 31, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, 6, Lord
Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster,
and Lower Temple Street, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
This invention relates to an improved manufacture of brushes for painting and
similar purposes.
The condition of cocoa-fibre which is to be used for household brushes and
brooms is essentially different from that required for painters' brushes and the like
since in brooms and household brushes the fibres must be of uniform thickness and
must possess a certain degree of stiffness, and in paint brushes and the like the
fibre must be in the highest degree elastic besides being required to taper towards
the end to a fine point, as otherwise it would be useless for this purpose. These
two qualities, viz.: elasticity and a taper point, are only partly possessed by natural
cocoa-fibre, and must be developed by special treatment.
According to this invention the improved process for preparing cocoa-fibre is as
follows: The raw fibre is first steeped in water for two days, it is then infused
with a hot solution of about 10% of soda and 90% of water, in which it is left for
about 24 hours. The fibre is then washed free from the solution during which
process the dirt is removed, the outer coating peels off, and the fibre becomes
elastic and soft. While the fibre is still wet it is wrapped up in bundles which are
then put into hot water and boiled for about half an hour, and after this they are
dried by means of a drying stove or kiln. Subsequently, the fibres are brought
down with their pointed ends upon a plane surface so as to level the ends, and are
cut off in proper lengths according to the size and kind of brush they are required
for. The opposite ends of the fibres are subsequently levelled and cut off in the
same way. The intermediate portion of fibre, between the two ends cut off is
useless for paint brushes, as it has not pointed ends. The fibre-ends thus obtained
are then combed with a special comb, which has steel teeth placed at intervals with
a clear width of about one-fiftieth of an inch, whereby any fibres which are too
thick or are crooked, knotty, or affected with excrescences, are eliminated. If
after this combing there are any fibres left in the bundles which are devoid of
taper points such fibres must be picked out by the hand, although this entails
considerable labour. The bundle of fibres is then drawn through a hackle until
the whole presents a uniform appearance; it is then combed again with the fine
comb, and any unsuitable fibres still present are once more carefully picked out and
removed.
The portion of fibres left after cutting off the pointed ends cannot be used for
paint brushes and the like, as hereinabove stated, but only for ordinary brooms and
household brushes. The taper-pointed cocoa-fibre-ends can alone be used for

page_text: painters' brushes, etc., either in their natural colour, or dyed, and either with or
without a surrounding layer of bristles, or intermixed or not with bristles or hairs
and the like.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The improved process for preparing cocoa-fibres for the purpose of adapting
them for use as a substitute for bristles in making painters' brushes and the like,
which consists in steeping the raw fibres in water to soften them, and infusing them
with a hot solution of water and soda, then washing them free from the solution
and wrapping them up in bundles, boiling them in hot water and drying them in a
drying stove or kiln, bringing down their pointed ends on a surface in order to level
the points and cutting them off in the desired lengths, repeating the same operation
at the other end of the bundle combing the fibre-ends thus obtained with a fine
steel-toothed comb, and picking out by hand any fibres devoid of taper-points, the
pointed fibre-ends being then tied up in bundles, drawn through a hackle and again
combed.
2nd. An improved brush made of cocoa-fibre prepared substantially as herein-
before described, either in its natural colour or dyed, and with or without an outer
layer or admixture of bristles, hairs, or the like.
Dated this 4th day of December 1894.
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents.