An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Treating Wool in the Batting and Carding Processes Preparatory to Spinning.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Dec., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 10th Sept., 1890-Accepted, 11th Oct., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Treating Wool in the
Batting and Carding Processes Preparatory to Spinning.
I, ALBERT JOSEPH PILARD, of 23 Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris, France,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object the manufacture of threads from carded wool which
shall be of peculiar purity owing to tho total or almost total absence of all fatty
matter such as was heretofore employed for oiling the wool prior to carding.
My invention consists in substituting water for the fatty matter in the pre-
paration of wool, for which purpose 1 subject it to a moistening process not only
after the batting operation but also during the entire carding process up to the
spinning operation.
My process consequently economises the oil heretofore employed, and it leaves the
wool with its full length of fibre in consequence of the constant moistening to which
it is subjected while being carded.
The thread produced therefrom is also more glazed and more regular, as the
carding is effected more readily and in a more complete manner than when the wool
is oiled.
The threads from carded wool thus produced, not containing any fatty matter, may
be used in the same manner as threads from combed wool, and the woven fabric does
not require to be subjected to any cleansing operation.
It retains all its brightness and has the same appearance as fabrics from combed
wool, the threads being very round and swelled. By my invention also, all waste
resulting from the operations which oiled wool has to be subjected to in the process
of weaving is avoided.
For the purpose of moistening the wool according to my invention, in the first
place, all parts of the machinery employed are treated with red lead in order to
prevent the rusting of the parts that are of iron or steel, and the warping of parts
that are of wood. The teeth of the cards must also be protected against oxidation
and for this purpose I make them either of tinned steel or of aluminium bronze.
The other parts are protected firstly, by a coating of caoutchouc applied to the
cylinders and rollers of the machine, secondly, several layers of cotton fabric, thirdly,
by a second layer of caoutchouc, and fourthly by a covering of wool. By this means all
action of moisture is prevented.
In order to effect the moistening of the wool as uniformly and perfectly as possible,
it is advantageous to subject it to two batting processes.
The wool to be treated is
weighed, and before it is passed through the batting machine there is spread over it
pure water to the extent of about one half the weight of the wool. The weighed
quantity of wool is then placed in a galvanized iron tank which is closed in by a
cover, and in like manner the tank is charged with other weighed and moistened
quantities until it is full.
The wool is left in this tank for about 48 hours for bringing it to the condition
required for carding.
This operation is then carried out in the usual way, the fleece produced being
introduced into the moistening apparatus for maintaining it in the required moist
condition. For this purpose either water spray or vapour may be employed; an
arrangement which I have found advantageous for this purpose consists in leading the
fleece over a guide roller on to a large cylinder with double bottom, between which
are placed layers of the moistened wool.
Above this cylinder is arranged a water-tank into which dips a revolving metallic
brush which by its rotation distributes the water over the layer of wool on the

page_text: cylinder, so as to keep it uniformly moist, the quantity of water distributed being
regulated by causing the brush to dip more or less into the tank, and also by
varying its speed.
The brush may consist of a cylinder covered with card surface of tinned steel wire
or of aluminium bronze, or it may be of ordinary brush material not affected by
water.
The brush is enclosed by a circular sliding cover, which is more or less opened
according as the water supply requires to he greater or less.
The water tank is supplied from a larger receptacle at the bottom of the
machine, which is charged with water neutralized by a little soda if the water supply
is of a hard nature. In the bottom of this receptacle is immersed a pump which
may consist of a helical blade within a casing, to the shaft of which rotary motion is
imparted, so that the water entering the casing through an opening at one end, is
forced from the other end up a pipe to the tank containing the brush. This tank has
an overflow pipe leading down to the vessel below, the supply being in excess of the
expenditure so as to maintain a constant level.
In front of the point where the water spray is delivered by the brush on to the
cylinder, a roller is made to bear upon the latter so as to assist in distributing the
water all over its surface.
In place of a rotary brush, any other suitable apparatus such as the well known
spraying tubes with compressed air may be used.
For certain hard wools the addition of steam may be necessary, in which case
the steam would be introduced through a perforated pipe at the underside of the
cylinder.
When the fleece has been wound upon the cylinder to the required extent, it is
transferred to the second carding machine from which it passes to a second apparatus
similar to that above described, and on issuing from this, it is then subjected to the
final carding process before spinning.
This mode of preparation retains a sufficient degree of moisture to allow of the
slipping of the fibres in the spinning frame, an extension of from 1 to 3 being readily
obtained. The time during which the thread is exposed to the air in spinning is
sufficient to remove the moisture; should however the thread not be quite dry it may
be placed in a hot air chamber.
Although the above described operation can be carried on without the use of any oil
whatever, yet in some cases a small quantity of oil may be added.
Dated this 18th day of December 1889.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Treating Wool in the
Batting and Carding Processes Preparatory to Spinning.
I, ALBERT JOSEPH PILARD of 23 Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris, France,
Manufacturer, 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 :-
My invention relates to an improved method of treating wool in the carding
processes whereby the use of oil or other fatty matter in such processes such as was
heretofore employed is entirely or more or less entirely dispensed with.
My invention consists in substituting water for the fatty matter in the preparation
of wool, for which purpose I subject it to a moistening process not only after the
batting operation but also during the entire carding process up to the spinning opera-
tion. It is the essential peculiarity of my process that the moist condition of the
wool is maintained constant during the carding.
My process consequently economises the oil heretofore employed and it leaves

page_text: the wool with its full length of fibre in consequence of the constant moistening to
which it is subjected while being carded.
The thread produced therefrom is also more glazed and more regular, as the
carding is effected more readily and in a more complete manner than when the wool
is oiled. The threads from carded wool thus produced not containing any fatty
matter, may be used in the same manner as threads froin combed wool and the
woven fabric does not require to be subjected to any cleansing operation.
It retains all its brightness and has the same appearance as fabrics from combed
wool, the threads being very round and swelled. By my invention also, all waste
resulting from the operations which oiled wool has to be subjected to in the process
of weaving, is avoided.
For the purpose of moistening the wool according to my invention, in the first
place, all parts of the machinery employed are treated with red lead in order to
prevent the rusting of the parts that are of iron or steel, and the warping of parts
that are of wood. The teeth of the cards must also be protected against oxidation
and for this purpose I make them either of tinned steel or of aluminium bronze or
other bronze.
In order to effect the moistening of the wool as uniformly and perfectly as
possible, it is advantageous to subject it to two batting processes. The wool to be
treated is weighed, and before it is passed through the batting machine, there is
spread over it pure water to the extent of about one half the weight of the wool..
The weighed quantity of wool is then placed in a galvanized iron tank which is
closed in by a cover, and in like manner the tank is charged with other weighed and
inoistened quantities until it is full.
The wool is left in this tank for about 48 hours for bringing it to the condition
required for carding. The carding is then applied to it, but instead of allowing the
wool to pass as usual without any intermediate operation from the first to the second
and from the second to the third card in succession, the wool according to my,
process undergoes between each two cardings a regulated rational moistening,
which restores to it the moisture lost during the preceding carding,
Thus in my process the inoist wool passes to the first card where it is operated
on as usual. On issuing from the first card the fleece of wool is moistened by a
shower of water finely pulverised which restores to it all the moisture lost by
evaporation in the first carding operation. This shower is given by a spraying
apparatus placed at the passage from the first card, preferably above the drum on
which the wool is wound in ordinary carding machines. The moistening apparatus¿
may however be arranged in any suitable manner particularly at the delivery from
the doffing roller.
The wool fleece thus moistened enters the second card and on issuing from it,
a second moistening apparatus supplies it with the moisture which it lost in the
second carding operation, whereupon it enters the third card.
A third moistening apparatus may be applied at the entry to the third card, but
though in some cases useful it is not indispensable.
From the preceding it may be understood that my process consists essentially in.
giving to the wool and maintaining in it a constant regular degree of moisturo
during the whole of the carding operation since at brief intervals I restore to it
the amount of moisture which it has lost by evaporation in passing through the card
after the previous moistening. These moistenings rational, successive and graduated,
preserve for the wool the hygrometric condition which is acknowledged to be the.
best for the carding of all qualities of wool.
The above described process is also applicable to wool mixed with other fibres,
and to wool which has already been treated with oil, oleine or other fatty matter
usually employed, whereby a more perfect carding of the wool and the production
of a more regular thread can be effected while a considerable reduction of the
requisite quantity of oil is attained. As above stated any suitable moistening
apparatus may be employed to maintain the wool in a constant and regular state

page_text: of moisture. An apparatus giving good results is of the kind shewn by the
accompanying drawings Fig. 1 being a front view and Fig. 2 a side view.
A is the card drum, B the fly and C the doffing roller,
being the comb.
The sliver N guided by a roller a is received on a cylinder D mounted on a
frame F which carries a reservoir E of water supplying the revolving metal
brush G.
This constantly and uniformly moistens the sliver by showering on it water, the
quantity of which can be regulated by regulating the speed of the brush or the
extent of the immersion in the water. The brush G is a roller covered with ordinary
card with dents of tinned steel, aluminium bronze, or animal or vegetable .bristle,
indeed any material not subject to oxidation. This brush in revolving throws a very
fine shower froin the ends of its dents, which should be suited to the quality of the
wool treated and to the rapidity of the evaporation. A slide t opens or closes more or
less the delivery according to the amount of shower required.
The reservoir E is fed from a tank containing water which, when it contains
lime, should be mixed with a little soda. At the bottom of the tank H, which is
placed at the side of the carling machine, is a pump P by which the water is raised
to E through pipe x, the level in E being maintained by an overflow pipe b
returning the surplus water to the tank A.
The moistening process applied to the wool during the carding may be used
whatever be the operation to which the wool is afterwards subjected, whether combing
felting or others.
When the carded wool treated according to my process is to be subjected to the
combing process, several operations can be dispensed with, such as the removal of
grease from the sliver and the smoothing, which latter is a necessary consequence
of the removal of the grease, as it has for its main object to bring back into
a parallel position the fibres that have become displaced and crumpled in that
operation.
.
There results from this application a considerable decrease of noil or waste, and
consequently an increase of the combed wool. A further economy results from the
fact that little or no oil is used in the process.
A last advantage of my system consists in the suppression or considerable redac-
tion of the expensive installations for maintaining a sufficient hygrometric condition
of the atmosphere in the carding and combing shops. It would in fact seem a more
rational proceeding to effect the humidification on the material treated instead of in
the atmosphere.
Fig. 3 of the drawings shews by way of example a mode of carrying out my
invention in connection with a carding machine of ordinary construction.
At the feed side of the second carding stage I provide a moistening apparatus
consisting of a box L containing water in its lower part, and a smooth revolving
cylinder M which dips into the water and thus has its surface continuously coated
with a layer of water which is taken up by the brush O revolving in the direction of
the arrow. By this means a very fine spray of water is projected on to the layer of
wool as it passes in. If it should be found that the wool does not retain sufficient
moisture on arriving at the delivery end of the machine, a second moistening apparatus
of like kind may be applied at L.
It does not appear to be necessary to apply a moistening apparatus to the first drum
of the machine as the wool retains sufficient moisture from the water of the bath to
which it has been previously subjected for removing greaso.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described process for moistening wool in a regular and continuous
manner during the whole of the carding operation, by several successive wettings by
means of moistening apparatus arranged between or in combination with the cards

page_text: so that the wool receives from each moistener water equivalent to that lost by
evaporation during the previous carding.
2. The use of the process above referred to for obtaining carded yarns without
fatty matter and in a more supple regular and bright condition resembling that of
combed wool.
3. The application of the process for constant rational and methodic moistening of
wool during carding in preparing it for combing, felting or other operations, thus
dispensing with processes for removing grease, and smoothens, reducing the quantity
of waste and increasing the combed product.
4. The use, for moistening wool hetween the carding operations of any suitable
apparatus, whether revolving brush injector or pulveriser worked by steam compressed
air, or otherwise, and particularly of the apparatus described with reference to Figs. 1
and 2 or the apparatus in which the brush is combined with a moistened roller as
shewn in Fig. 3.
5. The arrangement of the moistening apparatus at the entering and leaving of
the second card as shewn in Fig. 3.
Dated this 10th day of September 1890.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.