IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBRES IN PROAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Garth Marshall, of Headingley, in the Parish
of Leeds, in the County of York, Flax Spinner, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBRES IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Garth Marshall
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd February 1861.
I, JAMES GARTH MARSHALL, of Headingley, in the Parish of Leeds, in the
County of York, Flax Spinner, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF FLAX. HEUP, AND OTHER
FIBRES IN VARIOUS STAGES OF PREPARATION AND MANUFACTURE," to be as
follows:-
My Invention of improvements in the treatment of flax, hemp, and other
fibres in various stages of preparation and manufacture. relates to a novel mode
of treating such fibres in the various processes in which saturation or macera-
tion of the fibres, or the separation of extraneous matter from them. is ormay
be required.

page_text: My Invention consists in placing the fibres, or fibrous material, or fabric in a
close vessel supplied with the liquid or chemical solution with which it is
intended to saturate or macerate the fibres or fabric, and then exhausting the
air from such closed vessel, so as to allow the liquid or chemical solution to
enter more freely into the fibres or fabrics. In addition to this I sometimes
inject liquid with considerable pressure by pumping or other suitable means,
so as to cause the liquid to thoroughly penetrate and macerate the fibres.
In wet spinning vegetable fibres the previous treatment of the fibres as
abovementioned, either in the form of a sliver or otherwise, will be found very
advantageous, and may be used either as a substitute for or in addition to the
water trough through which the fibres are usually passed in or previous to
wet spinning.
In applying the Invention to dissolving or separating extraneous matters
mixed with the fibres or fabrics pressure would be applied as above described
in combination with a liquid or chemical solution heated to a suitable tem-
perature.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Garth Marshall in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
GARTHI MARSHALL, of Headingley, in the Parish of Leeds, in the County of
York, Flax Spinner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Garth Marshall, Her special license that I, the said
James Garth Marshall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as 1, the said James Garth Marshall, 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 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER
FIBRES IN VARIOUS STAGES OF PREPARATION AND MANUFACTURE"
upon the

page_text: condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Garth Marshall, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Garth Marshall, 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 (that is to say)
My Invention of "Improvements in the Treatment of Flax, Henip, and
other Fibres in various Stages of Preparation and Manufacture," relates to a
novel inode of treating such fibres in certain stages of manufacture, in which
saturation or maceration of the fibres, or the separation of extraneous matter
from them is or may be required.
My Invention consists in placing the fibres or fibrous material in the form
of a sliver, speol, cop, or fabric, in a close vessel supplied with the liquid or
chemical solution with which it is intended to saturate or macerate the manu.
factured fibres or fabric, and then exhausting the air from such closed vessel,
so as to allow the liquid or chemical solution to enter more freely into the
fibres. The exhaustion of the air may be effected by any of the ordinary
methods of pumping air, but it is found in practice that the most efficient
method of exhaustion is by connecting the closed vessel with the condenser of
a steam engine, which may readily be made to actasan exhaust for this purpose.
This mode of treating flax, hemp, and other analogous fibres may be applied
at various stages of manufacture, for instance, it will be found advantageous
to treat flax, hemp, and other analogous vegetable fibres in this manner when
in the form of a sliver, and the process may be used either as a substitution
for or in addition to the water trough through which vegetable fibres are
usually passed in or previous to wet spinning. It has also been found that
the process is applicable to twisted rovings when wound on bobbins and
in a fit state to placed in the spinning frame. The process has also been
found to be available for the purpose of saturating the fibres of yarns or fabrics
in the several processes of dyeing, bleaching, and finishing. By means of the
process above described, complete saturation may be effected by the soaking of
the fibres of the slivers, yarns, or fabrics, and it has been found that by this
means the quality of the fibre or fabric has been improved, and that in dyeing
or bleaching a better or more uniform color has been obtained.

page_text: The second portion of the Invention consists in treating slivers, yarns, or
fabrics made from flax, hemp, and other analogous fibres by injecting water or
any chemical solution with considerable pressure and force by pumping or
other suitable means, so as to cause the liquid thoroughly to penetrate into the
interior and macerate the fibre.
The third portion of the Invention consists in dissolving or separating
extraneous matters, which may be mixed up with the fibres of the sliver, yarn,
or fabric, by employing a heated liquid or chemical solution, in conjunction
with either or both of the processes above described. This liquid or chemical
solution must be heated to a suitable temperature; for example, in the
treatment of flax rovings, according to this process, it is found by experiment
that a temperature of from one hundred and forty degrees to one hundred and
sixty degrees Fahrenheit is the best suited to effect the desired purpose. In
like manner the temperature suitable to any particular fibre or fabric must be
determined by experiment. In this process the water which may be used
should be as soft as possible, and if on trial it should found that the water
is not of sufficient softness, the ordinary chemical means must be used for the
purpose of rendering it soft. The heated liquid or chemical solution may be
used in conjunction with the partial vacuum referred to under the first head of
the Invention, or it may be injected or forced into the fibres by means of
pressure, as mentioned in the second head; it is necessary, however, that the
temperature of the liquid should be regulated according to the circumstances
of the case and nature of the fibres to be operated upon.
Having now described my Invention of Improvements in the Treatment
of Flax, Hemp, and other Fibres in various Stages of Preparation and
Manufacture," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I would observe that I am aware it has been heretofore proposed to
treat flax straw in the unmanufactured state with chemical solutions, the
operation of which has been facilitated by placing the flax in a close vessel and
partially exhausting the same; I am also aware that it has been proposed to
facilitate the sizing of woollen yarns by immersing the yarn in the form of
quills, spools, or cops in the sizing solution placed in a close vessel, and then
by the application of a slight hydrostatic or pneumatic pressure, causing the
sizing liquid to penetrate into the interior of the quill, spool, or cop, I do not
therefore mean or intend to claim the use or application of pneumatic pressure
to any such purposes; but that which I consider to be new in the above
described improvements, and therefore desire to claim as the Invention secured
to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, is, treating flax, hemp, and other

page_text: analogous vegetable fibres in a manufactured state (that is in the form of
sliver, spool, cop, or woven fabric) in the manner and for the purpose or
purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Garth Marshall, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the 30th day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
J. G. MARSHALL. (L.S.)