IMPROVEMENTS IN PROCESSES AND MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING FIBRES SUITABLE FOR BEING SPUN FROM RAGS OR REMNANTS OF WOVEN OR OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS MADE OF SILK, WOOL, COTTON, OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Ernest Gilles, of 39, Old Broad Street, in
the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROCESSES
AND MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING FIBRES SUITABLE FOR BEING SPUN FROM
RAGS OR REMNANTS OF WOVEN OR OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS MADE OF SILK,
WOOL, COTTON, OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS."
Sealed the 15th March 1867, and dated the 27th September 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Ernest Gilles at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th September 1866.
I, HENRY ERNEST GILLES, of 39, Old Broad Street, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PROCESSES AND MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING FIBRES SUITABLE FOR BEING SPUN
FROM RAGS OR REMNANTS OF WOVEN OR OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS MADE OF SILK,
WOOL, COTTON, OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the processess and machinery
for which a Patent was granted to me, bearing date July 19th, 1865,
No. 1881, for treating and operating upon rags or remnants of woven fabrics
to obtain fibres therefrom suitable for being re-spun; and in the first place
I would remark that the method of cleansing and preparing the rags or
remnants to be operated upon, described in the Specification of the Patent

page_text: above referred to, is only necessary when operating upon silk fabrics; such
prepartory processes not being in all cases required for rags or remnants com
posed wholly or partially of wool, cotton, or flax, or mixtures of these materials,
or some of them, although in some cases it may be necessary to wash them when
very foul or dirty. Rags or remnants of cotton or wool, or their mixtures,
simply require to be cut into strips, and may be operated upon to separate
the threads and fibres, either in a wet or dry condition, by machinery such as
described in the Specification before referred to, but I prefer to employ
machinery for this purpose such as herein-after described, arranged and con-
structed according to my present improvements. For this purpose, in place
of employing a brush surface in the form of a table or platform to move to
and fro, as described in the Specification before referred to, I employ a series
of brushes either made up in the form of an endless band moving in suitable
guides, or by preference the brushes may be disconnected and arranged so as
to travel in suitable guides by means of toothed wheels taking into toothed
racks fixed on the under side of the travelling brushes. Each brush or set of
brushes is furnished with a row of vertical or nearly vertical pins along its
back edge, upon which the ends of the strips of woven fabric are placed to be
operated upon as the brushes travel in succession under the rotating toothed
drum or roller, the points of the holders upon the brushes being so arranged
as to pass between the rows of pins upon the operating drum or roller. A
revolving brush is placed near to the toothed drum in order to retain the stripes
of fabric upon the surface of the brush or brushes, and thus aid in keeping
them in a correct position to be operated upon by the rotating pointed
surface. The teeth of the drum may, if desired, be slightly bent or curved, and
a revolving brush may be employed to strip the fibres from off the toothed
drum, if desired.
I find that in operating upon fabrics composed of woollen weft and cotton
warp, or vice versa, that the operation of the machinery arranged according to my
Invention has the effect of separating the two descriptions of fibres, the wool
being conducted into a separate receiver from that of the cotton. The
travelling brushes I prefer to construct so that they can be readily separated
from the metal frame on which they are mounted, and each end is furnished
with a friction roller in order to reduce friction in working. The framing of
the machine is also so arranged that the brushes and other parts can be
readily removed and replaced when required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent; filed
by the said Henry Ernest Gilles in the Great Seal Patent Office on.
the 27th March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ERNEST GILLES, of 39, Old Broad Street, in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Ernest Gilles, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Ernest
Gilles, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Ernest Gilles, 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 "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN PROCESSES AND MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING FIBRES SUITABLE FOR
BEING SPUN FROM RAGS OR REMNANTS OF WOVEN OR OTHER TEXTILE FARRICS
MADE OF SILK, WOOL, COTTON, OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Ernest Gilles, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 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 Henry Ernest Gilles, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to improvements in the processes and machinery for
which a Patent was granted to me, bearing date July 19th, 1865, No. 1881,"
for treating and operating upon rags or remnants of woven fabrics to obtain
fibres therefrom suitable for being re-spun; and in the first place I would
remark that the method of cleansing and preparing the rags or remnants to be

page_text: operated upon, by treating them with chemical agents, as described in the
Specification of the Patent above referred to, is specially intended to be
employed for silk fabrics, and is not required for rags or remnants composed
wholly or partially of wool, cotton, or flax, which may be prepared by simply
washing them. Rags or remnants of the latter description simply require to
be cut into strips, and may be operated upon to separate the threads and
fibres, either in a wet or dry condition, by machinery such as described in the
Specification above referred to; but I prefer to employ machinery for this
purpose such as herein-after described, arranged and constructed according to
my present improvements. For this purpose in place of employing a brush
surface in the form of a table or platform to move to and fro, as described in
the Specification before referred to, I employ a series of brushes either made
up in the form of an endless band moving in suitable guides, or by preference
the brushes may be disconnected and arranged to travel in suitable guides by
means of toothed wheels taking into toothed racks fixed on the under side of
the travelling brushes. Each brush or set of brushes is furnished with a set
of vertical or nearly vertical pins along its back edge; upon which the ends of
the strips of woven fabrics are placed. to be operated upon as the brushes
travel in succession under the rotating toothed drum or roller, the points of
the holders upon the brushes being so arranged as to pass between the rows
of pins upon the operating drum or roller. A revolving brush is placed near
to the toothed drum in order to retain the strips of fabric upon the surface of
the brush or brushes, and thus aid in keeping them in a correct position to be
operated upon by the rotating pointed surface. The teeth of the drum may,
if desired, be slightly bent or curved, and a revolving brush may be employed
to strip the fibre from off the toothed drum, if desired.
In operating upon fabrics composed of woollen weft and cotton warp, or
cotton weft and woollen warp, the machinery arranged according to my Inven-
tion is made to separate the two descriptions of fibres, and the wool being
separated from the cotton is conducted into a separate receiver. The travelling
brushes I construct in such a manner that they can be readily separated from
the metal frame in which they are mounted, and each end is furnished with a
friction roller in order to reduce friction in working. The framing of the
machine is also so arranged that the brushes can be readily removed and
replaced when required.
And in order that my improvements may be more fully understood and
readily performed or carried into practice I will proceed to describe the
Drawings hereunto annexed.

page_text: Figure 1 shows a side view, partly in section, and Figure 2 a plan (having,
some of the parts removed) of a machine constructed and arranged to work in
accordance with my improvements.
a, a, are a series of bushes fixed by screws or other convenient means to
the links a', a¹, furnished with cogs or teeth, as shown. The links a¹, a¹, are
jointed or connected by rods or axes a³, a", to other toothed links a³, a², thus
forming an endless chain of brushes a, a, with toothed racks combined there-.
with, for the purpose of imparting a continuous motion to such endless chain;
of brushes by means of a train of toothed wheels and pinions, which receive
motion from the main driving shaft or axis of the machine, actuated by a
steam engine or other motive power, as will be clearly understood on examining
the Drawings. The ends of the axes a³ carry friction rollers a, a, which
travel in fixed guides a³ fixed to or forming part of the framing of the machine.
I would here remark that in place of actuating the endless chain of brushes
by means of toothed racks, as previously described, it may be driven by chain
wheels at each end formed with recesses to receive projections upon the endless
chain which carries the series of brushes a, a, as will be readily understood by
any competent mechanic. The brushes a, a, in the arrangement shown in the
Drawings form a continuous flat brush surface as they travel towards and
under the revolving brush b and pointed revolving surface c; at the same time
spaces may be left between each or several of such brushes a, a, if preferred.
The brushes or series of brushes are furnished with a row of points a*, upon
which the ends of the narrow strips of fabric (prepared as previously described)
are placed; and as the free ends approach the revolving brush 6 they are held
down between it and the travelling brush surface a, a, so as to be presented
to the action of the revolving pointed surface of the roller c.
The points
which hold the ends of the strips of fabric on coming to the roller c pass
between the teeth thereon, the holding points being set opposite the spaces
between the teeth of the roller c for this purpose; d is a revolving brush
driven at a higher speed than the roller c for the purpose of clearing the fibres
therefrom as they are separated from the strips of fabric under operation. It
will be found when the transverse threads of the strips of fabric are wool, and
the longitudinal or warp threads are cotton, that the two descriptions of fibre
are readily separated by the operation of the machine, the woollen threads
being thrown off by the roller and brush d, whilst the warp or cotton threads
are carried forward on the surface of the brushes, from which they are removed,
-

page_text: and thus collected and separated from the woollen fibres. A similar result is
obtained when the transverse threads are of cotton and the longitudinal threads
of wool.
Having thus described the nature of my improvements, and the manner of
performing the same, what I claim is, the use of the apparatus, consisting of
á series of travelling brushes and a revolving brush combined with the other
parts of the machine, for disintegrating fabrics composed of one material, as
herein described, and the application of such apparatus to compound fabrics,.
and the separation of the different descriptions of fibres of which such fabrics
are composed, in the manner above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Ernest Gilles, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
HENRY ERNEST GILLES. (L.S.)
Witness,
J. G. TONGUE,
34, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, W.C.