IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF FLAX, LINE, GRASSES, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joshua Farrar, of Marsden, in the County of
York, Mill Owner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
TREATMENT OF FLAX, LINE, GRASSES, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 29th September 1853, and dated the 8th April 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joshua Farrar
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the Sth April 1853.
I, JOSHUA FARRAR, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF FLAX, LINE, GRASSES, AND
OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of facilitating the preparation of
flax and other fibres containing gummy or resinous matters for the
operations of drawing and spinning. To separate the fibres in the flax
[Price 8d.1

page_text: stalk, it is usual to steep it in water, or otherwise submit it to
moisture, to dissolve the glutinous matter which binds the fibres
together. When the flax or other fibre has been thus acted upon,
or suitably treated to dissolve the gluten, I propose to submit it to the
action of two or more pairs of rollers to express the gummy matter
therefrom; and, in order the more effectually to attain this end, I cause
the fibre, which is carried from one pair of rollers to another by an
endless band of lattice work or other analogous contrivance, to be sub-
mitted (while so passing from one pair of rollers to the other) to a
rincing process, either by the application of a shower of water (acidn-
lated or otherwise), or by conducting it through a stream or through a
bath of water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joshua Farrar, in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 8th October 1853,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOSHUA FARRAR, of Marsden, in the County of York, Mill Owner,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joshua Farrar Her special licence
that I, the said Joshua Farrar, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Joshua Farrar, 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, LINE, GRASSES, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB-

page_text: STANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joshua
Farrar, 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 Joshua Farrar, 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, reference being had to the drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
This Invention of improvements in the treatment of flax, line,
grasses, and other fibrous substances, relates to a mode of facilitating
the preparation offlax and other vegetable fibrous substances containing
gummy or resinous matters, in order to render them suitable for the
operations of drawing and spinning.
In order to separate the fibres in the flax stalk it is usual to steep
the plant in water, or otherwise submit it to moisture, for the purpose
of dissolving the glutinous matter which binds the fibres together.
When the flax or other fibre has been thus acted upon, or suitably
treated to dissolve the gluten, I propose to submit it to the action of
two or more pairs of rollers, in order to express the gummy matter
therefrom; and, in order the more effectually to attain this end, I
cause the fibre, which is carried from one pair of rollers to another by
an endless band of lattice work, or an inclined guide board, or other
analogous contrivance, to be submitted (while so passing from one pair
of rollers to the other) to a rinsing process, either by the application of
a shower of water (acidulated or otherwise), or by conducting it through
a shower or through a bath of water.
The figure in the accompanying drawing is a side elevation of the
machine intended to carry out the object of my Invention. The flax or
other vegetable fibre, after it has been "retted" or steeped, as aforesaid,
is placed upon the table a, a, and fed between the two rollers b, b,
into the machine. The water and gummy matters are, by means of

page_text: the
upper roller (which is weighted), expressed out of the plant; and
the fibres are conducted, by means of the endless chain or apron c, c
to a second pair of pressing rollers d, d. During the passage of the
fibres from the rollers b, b, to the second pair of rollers d, d, the
fibres are submitted to the action of a shower of water, which is
made to fall from the vessel e, e, above. In addition to the shower
from above, I find it advantageous to throw a jet of water on to the
plant just before it enters between the pressing rollers, as shewn
at 9, 9, 9.
The fibres, being saturated a second time, are passed,
as aforesaid, between the second set of rollers d, d, where a further
portion of the gummy or resinous matters is expressed. From thence
the fibres are conducted, by means of the second endless chain or
apron c*, c*, to a third pair of expressing rollers ff. But during
their passage to the last pair of rollers f,, .the fibres are a second time
submitted to the action of a shower of water, as before, from a vessel
e, and the jet g; and the fibres are alternately delivered at the right-
hand end of the machine in a cleaned state, the gummy or resinous
parts having been removed by the alternate washing and pressing
processes.
If desired, the endless chains c, c, may be dispensed with, and
inclined bands used in place thereof, down which the fibres will be
conveyed with facility to the several pairs of rollers.
Having now described my Invention of improvements in the treat-
ment of flax, line, grasses, and other fibrous substances, I would
observe, in conclusion, that although I have shewn and described the
best arrangement of machinery with which I am at present acquainted
for carrying my improvements into effect, I do not mean or intend to
confine myself rigidly to the precise arrangement or construction of
parts herein shewn and described, as the same may doubtless be varied
without departing from the nature and object of my Invention; but
that which I consider to be new in the above-described improvements,
and therefore wish to claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid, is treating flax or other similar vegetable fibres,
for the purpose of removing the gummy or resinous parts from the

page_text: plant by alternately saturating the fibres with water or other liquid,
and submitting the fibres to pressure, so as to express or force out the
refuse and useless matters, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Farrar, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
JOSHUA FARRAR. (L.S.)
Witness, J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane, London.