IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OAKUM
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Theophilus Westhorp, of Manor House, Poplar, Ship
Chandler, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
OAKUM."
Sealed the 15th March 1861, and dated the 20th September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Theophilus Westhorp at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
September 1860.
I, THEOPHILUS WESTHORP, of Manor House, Poplar, Ship Chandler, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF OAKUM," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of oakum.
For these purposes the old rope yarn or cordage is cut up into short lengths
and is then subjected to the action of a beating engine, similar to a paper
engine, inasmuch as it is an oblong vessel divided in the middle and having a
paddle wheel near the middle on one side, the paddles of which pass nearly to
the bottom, which is level. Into this vessel the cuttings of rope yarn or
cordage are placed, together with water, tar, and tar oil, which are kept heated
to a boiling or nearly boiling state, and the beating is to be continued for some
minutes; then the pieces of beaten rope, cordage, or yarn are subjected to the

page_text: action of a centrifugal hydro-extractor, by which they are deprived for the most
part of the fluid. The product is then spread over a perforated floor or shelves,
and highly heated air is forced in streams through and amongst the fibres till
they are well dried; they are then subjected to the action of a devil or like
picking machine, and then the fibres are subjected to the action of a coarse
carding engine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Theophilus Westhorp in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THEOPHILUS
WESTHORP, of Manor House, Poplar, Ship Chandler, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Theophilus Westhorp, Her special licence that I, the said Theophilus
Westhorp, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Theophilus Westhorp, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OAKUM," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Theophilus Westhorp, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Theophilus Westhorp, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of oakum.

page_text: For these purposes the old rope, yarn, or cordage is cut up into short lengths,
and is then subjected to the action of a beating engine, similar to a paper
engine, inasmuch as is an oblong vessel divided in the middle and having a
paddle wheel near the middle on one side, the paddles of which pass nearly to
the bottom, which is level. Into this vessel, the cuttings of rope, yarn, or
cordage are placed, together with water, tar, and tar oil, which are kept heated
to a boiling or nearly boiling state, and the beating is to be continued for some
minutes; then the pieces of beaten rope, cordage, or yarn are subjected to the
action of a centrifugal hydro-extracter, by which they are deprived for the most
part of the fluid. The product is then spread over a perforated floor or shelves,
and highly heated air is forced in streams through and amongst the fibres till
they are well dried; they are then subjected to the action of a devil or like
picking machine, and then the fibres are subjected to the action of a coarse
carding engine.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention I will proceed more fully to
describe the manner of performing the same.
The rope is first cut up into short lengths, by preference in lengths of about
six or seven inches; but this may be varied, and such cutting of rope or
cordage into short lengths does not separately form any part of my Invention.
My improvements in the manufacture of oakum consist in subjecting the
fibrous material contained in old or waste ropes or cordage to the following
process: The pieces of rope or cordage are subjected to a beating process
whilst in a liquor, consisting of water, tar, and tar oil, and I generally employ
a mixture of about three-quarters of water and one quarter of tar and tar oil,
which latter are in equal proportions, but this may be varied. The beating
machine preferred to be used is similar in some respects to a paper engine;
the one employed by me is eleven feet long, six feet wide, and has a partition
in the middle about two feet wide, leaving a space or trough all round the par-
tition about two feet wide, in one part of which a beating wheel works, similar
to a paper engine; but the bottom of the elliptical or oblong trough is flat or
even; the beaters of the wheel, which are of wood, though they may be of other
material, generally working about six inches from the bottom, but the same is
capable of being varied. The liquor is to be kept in a boiling state in the
trough either by steam pipes or otherwise. The beating of the pieces of rope
or cordage is to be kept up till the pieces of rope or cordage are loosened out,
when they are to be removed from the trough or beater, and subjected to the
action of a centrifugal machine, in order to remove the water therefrom, in like
manner to that practised when separating water from fabrics and yarns or

page_text: other matters, and as is well understood; by this means the tar and tar oil will
for the most part remain in the fibres. The pieces of rope or cordage are then :
to be dried by currents of dry heated air, and they are then to be separated into
the fibrous state by a devil or like picking machine. The fibres are then
subjected to the action of a coarse carding engine, when the oakum will be fit
for use.
In witness whereof, I, the said Theophilus Westhorp, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.