AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING SILK FLOSS ADAPTED FOR BEING WOVEN AND SPUN INTO ARTICLES OF USE
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sidney Collins and Charles Collins, both of Broad
Street, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING SILK FLOSS ADAPTED FOR BEING WOVEN AND
SPUN INTO ARTICLES OF USE."
Sealed the 10th February 1865, and dated the 15th August 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sidney Collins and Charles
Collins at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 15th August 1864.
We, SIDNEY COLLINS and CHARLES COLLINS, both of Broad Street, Lambeth,
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING SILK FLOSS ADAPTED FOR BEING WOVEN
AND SPUN INTO ARTICLES OF USE," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in converting silk rags, cuttings of silk, and other
silk refuse or wasto, into silk floss adapted for being spun and woven, and for
all other purposes for which silk floss or raw silk is or may be used.
The following is an example of the means by which silk floss may be
produced according to this Invention:-I commence by separating the silk
rags, waste, or refuse according to their color, keeping each color distinct and
separate, or if desirable I work them mixed together; I then proceed to
place them in a brake for the purpose of shredding or tearing them asunder;

page_text: then operate upon them with a carding engine; afterwards bleach by any
convenient and suitable means, or dye the silk thus operated upon of any
desired color. By these means I utilize waste silk, which at present is nearly
useless, being principally used as a manure, and convert samo into a com-
mercially valuable article capable of being made into silk twist, silk for hats,
dresses, and various other useful purposes at a greatly reduced price; or tho
silk thus produced may be mixed with jute, cotton, wool, raw silk, and various
other fibrous substances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Sidney Collins and Charles Collins in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th February 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SIDNEY
COLLINS and CHARLES COLLINS, both of Broad Street, Lambeth, in the County
of Surroy, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Sidney Collins and Charles Collins, Her special licence that we, tho said
Sidney Collins and Charles Collins, our executors, administrators, and assigns
or such others as we, the said Sidney Collins and Charles Collins, our ex-
ecutors, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING SILK FLOSS
ADAPTED FOR BEING WOVEN AND SPUN INTO ARTICLES OF USE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Sidney Collins and Charles Collins, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 bo per-
formed, 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 we, the said Sidney Collins and Charles Collins, do
heroby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the sam:

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This Invention consists in converting silk rags, cuttings of silk, and other
silk refuse or waste, into silk floss adapted for being spun and woven, and for
all other purposes for which silk floss or raw silk is or may be used.
The following is an example of the means by which silk floss may be
produced according to this Invention :-We commence by separating the silk
rags, waste, or refuse according to their color, keeping each color distinct
and separate, or if desirable we work them mixed together; we then proceed
to place them in a brake for the purpose of shredding or tearing them asunder;
we then operate upon them with a carding engine; and afterwards bleach
them by any convenient and suitable means, or dye the silk thus operated
upon of any desired color. By these micans we utilise waste silk, which at
present is nearly useless, being principally used as a manure, and convert
same into a commercially valuable article capable of being made into silk
twist, silk for hats, dresses, and various other useful purposes at a greatly
reduced price; or the silk thus produced may be mixed with jute, cotton,
wool, raw silk, and various other fibrous substances.
Fig. 1 of the annexed Drawings represents a plan view, and Fig. 2 a sido
elevation of the machine, similar letters denoting corresponding parts in each
Figure.
a, a, is the body or frame of the machine or "brake;" b, b', are fast and
loose pullies set on the shaft c for the purpose of giving motion to the drum d,
the periphery of which is studded with spikes, pegs, or tearers e; f is the
upper grooved or fluted roller, and a similar roller gears underneath it; these
rollers derive a very slow motion in comparison with that of the drum d by
means of the pulley g, the strap h, the wheel and pulley i, the strap k, the
wheel and pinion 2, and the large toothed wheel m, all tending to reduce the
ultimate speed of the fluted rollers, on the upper shaft of which the wheel m
is keyed. At the other end of the upper roller is a pinion n which drives a
pinion on the lower roller; the lower pinion actuates the toothed wheel o,
which works the smooth roller p, carrying an endless band q passing round
the front roller p. The upper grooved roller is forced down by the pressure
of the weighted levers f'; r is a wire screen to receive the floss from the
drum; s is the outer casing enclosing the drum.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The waste or refuse silk rags,
being first properly cleaned by washing, and if necessary by an alkaline
solution to remove the grease, or otherwise treated as desired, are fed on to
the endless band 9, and are thus drawn into and between the grooved rollers,

page_text: which grasp them firmly and draw them through the toothed or tearing
drum d, the spikes of which, revolving at the rate of 1,000 revolutions (more
or less) per minute, soize hold of the edges of the silk and tear it into floss,
which falls down the slanting wire screen r, whence it may be removed as
desired. After which the floss may be treated by any known chemical means
for further cleansing, dyeing, or bleaching; or for the discharge of color, by
chlorine, sulphurous acid gas, or otherwise. It may then be carded by the
ordinary carding machinery and ultimately spun into silk thread, suitable for
any useful purpose to which silk thread is adapted; or it may be dyed, if
necessary, and used for paper hangings, or for embossed work on leather or
other materials, or for any purpose to which silk floss may be applicable. The
dotted line d', Fig. 2, shows the form of the wire screen.
Ilaving now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we would remark in conclusion that wo
do not limit ourselves to the preciso details and configuration of parts ex-
pressed and shewn, as the same may be varied or modified without in any way
departing from the principles thereof, but what we claim and desire to bo
secured to us by the herein in part recited Letters Patent is, the improved
method of producing silk floss from refuse silk rags adapted for being re-
manufactured into thread for various useful purposes, or of being used as a
floss for ornamenting paper hangings or other articles, and for other useful
purposes, substantially as herein specified.
In witness whereof, we, the said Sidney Collins and Charles Collins, havo
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fourteenth day of February, in
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
SIDNEY COLLINS. (LS.)
CHA. COLLINS.
(L.B.)