AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE HARD WASTE OF FLAX, HEMP, AND Tow INTO THREAD OR YARN
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jonas Brown, of Gildersome, near Leeds, in the
County of York, Flax Spinner, for the Invention of" AN IMPROVED
PROCESS FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE HARD WASTE OF FLAX, HEMP, AND Tow
INTO THREAD OR YARN."
Sealed the 26th July 1870, and dated the 18th February 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jonas Brown at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1870.
I, JONAS BROWN, of Gildersome, near Leeds, in the County of York,
Flax Spinner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE HARD WASTE OF FLAX,
HEMP, AND TOW INTO THREAD OR YARN," to be as follows:-
:—
Hard waste from flax, hemp, and tow is a substance well known to
flax spinners as the waste produced during wet spinning, and it has up
to the present time been of comparatively little value. The use to

page_text: which this substance has hitherto been commonly applied is. the manu-
facture of paper..
Now the object of my Invention is to work up this waste fibre by an
economical process into yarn or thread, and thus to convert it into a
valuable product. To this end I dry the wet waste in a stove or by any
other convenient means, and I then soften it by subjecting it to pressure,
or beating, or rolling, or stamping, preferring however the employment
of a scutcher or blowing machine which will open out and soften and
disentangle the fibres. The fibres thus softened I submit to the action
of a carding engine which is furnished with steel pointed clothing. The
rollers which feed the fibres to the carder are fluted' and made to grip
the fibres tightly, and being thus gripped is subjected to the action of
the pins or points of the carding engine, and thereby be opened out and
straightened, combed, hackled, or carded. The fibres are delivered from
the doffer of the carding engine in the form of a sheet sliver which is
converted into a roping sliver by being drawn in the usual manner
through a trumpet-mouthed conductor. In case of need the doffer of
the carding engine can be made to deliver one or more than one sheet
sliver, thus to be converted into one or more than one such roping
slivers, or the sheet sliver or slivers can be rolled into card bobbins, or
doubled into laps and recarded, or the doffer can be allowed to drop the
carded fibres on the floor or into boxes, baskets, or bags for the purpose of
being respread upon a feed sheet or stored away for use at another time.
The next operation is to draw the sliver which can either be done
on a drawing frame or may be effected on the slubbing, roving, or
spinning frame, or all or any of them if thought desirable. The various
processes of carding, slubbing, roving, and spinning may be made
available for doubling in the usual manner with the view of attaining
greater uniformity of thickness.
The varieties of length of fibre sometimes found in the carded pro-
duct present great difficulties to the spinner, but I have discovered
that by the use of a peculiar arrangement of the drawing and intermediate
rollers, which I will now describe, the short fibres may be kept in their
proper places or retarded in their progress and prevented from riding
upon or overriding the long fibres (which riding upon or overriding
would form unequal thicknesses of sliver, slubbing, roving, or yarn).
My peculiar arrangement of the drawing and intermediate rollers is
that I mount the intermediate rollers on sliding cap bars to admit of

page_text: their being adjusted or set nearer to or further from the front or back
drawing rollers as may be best suited to the length and quality of the
fibres under treatment. In like manner. I sometimes mount the back
and front drawing rollers (either one or both) upon sliding cap bars to
admit of their being adjusted so as to alter the reach to suit the length
and quality of the fibres under treatment. These drawing rollers may
be arranged in pairs or in groups of three or more, and the intermediate
group. I leave unweighted, weighting the others as usual. The result of
tlius leaving the intermediate rollers unweighted is that the long fibres
can be drawn from under them and the short ones be prevented from
riding upon or overriding them and retained or kept in their places
until the proper time arrives for them to pass under the front drawing
rollers, and thus I ensure their being drawn in a manner which will
produce an uniform sliver, or. slubbing, or roving, or yarn. The carded
sliver may be delivered into cans as usual or may be balled or made into
laps and afterwards drawn upon a drawing frame, and then slubbed,
roved, and spun. But it will often be found advantageous, according to
the length and quality of the fibres under treatment or according to the
thickness and quality of the yarn being made, to omit some or even all
the processes of drawing, slubbing, and roving, and carry the card slivers
direct to the spinning frame without the intervention of all or any of the
processes of drawing, slubbing, and roving.
The several processes herein-before described are equally applicable
to hard waste, whether in the gray or bleached, or chemiced or dyed
state.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jonas Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JONAS
BROWN, of Gildersome, near Leeds, in the County of York, Flax
Spinner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give

page_text: and grant unto me, the said Jonas Brown, Her special licence that
I, the said Jonas Brown, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Jonas Brown, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thercafter 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 PROCESS FOR THE CON-
VERSION OF THE HARD WASTE OF FLAX, HEMP, AND TOW INTO YARN OR THREAD,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jonas Brown, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jonas Brown, 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) :--
Hard waste from flax, hemp, and tow is a substance well known to
flax spinners as the waste produced during wet spinning, and it has up
to the present time been of comparatively little value. The use to which
this substance has hitherto been commonly applied is the manufacture
of paper.
Now I have discovered by a series of experiments that the hard waste
after it has been softened and carded or combed and the matted and
entangled fibres separated and laid parallel to each other may be readily
drawn and spun into yarn or thread and thereby be converted into a
valuable product. To this end I dry the wet waste in a stove or by
any other convenient means, and treat the fibre after the manner
described in the Specification of my Patent of February Twelfth One
thousand eight hundred and seventy, No. 420, for utilizing dried or
hard waste (that is to say), I take the dried hard waste and soften it by
subjecting it to pressure, or beating, or rolling, or stamping, preferring
however the employment of a scutcher or blowing machine which will
open out and soften and disentangle the fibres.

page_text: In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings a common form of this
machine is shown in side elevation, a portion of it being in section to
exhibit the internal construction of the working parts. It will be
unnecessary here to enter into a detailed description of this well-known
machine, but it will suffice to say that the hard waste is fed up to the
rotary beaters A. contained in an iron casing B (furnished with a curved
grid for the discharge of dust, &c.) by feed rolls C, C. After under-
going the opening action of the beaters it passes on through a trunk D
connected with an exhaust fan. The bottom of this trunk is formed of
an endless travelling apron E, which leads the fibre to delivery rolls F,
the fibre being first laid by a rotating wire cylinder or cage G placed.
at the end of the trunk. In this cylinder a partial vacuum is formed
by the action of the exhaust fan for the purpose of drawing the fibres
to the periphery of the cage or cylinder. As therefore the cage revolves
the fibre leaves it in the form of a sheet which may be lapped into a
roll ready for the next operation.
The hard waste having by the above described means been softened,
I next proceed to card or comb it. In order to effect this operation with
efficiency and economy, I employ by preference the improved carding.
engine forming the subject of Letters Patent which I have obtained
dated Twelfth March One thousand eight hundred and seventy, I will
therefore explain its construction in this Specification, in order that the
best means with which I am acquainted for converting the hard waste
according to my latest improvements may be rendered complete and
satisfactory without reference to other documents for a complement of
my described process.
Fig. 1, Sheet II., shews in side elevation my improved carder; and
Fig. 2, Sheet III., shews an elevation of the opposite side of tho
machine. In its main features the machine is similar to those in general
use, but it has this peculiarity, that the strippers do here a double duty,
viz., they strip the fibre from the workers to present it again to the
swift or card cylinder, but in doing so they hold it firmly the while that
the fibre may be subjected to the action of the card teeth of the swift
or cylinder after every transfer of the fibre from the cylinder to the
workers.
A, A, is the swift or card cylinder; B, B, B, are the workers clothed
as usual with card cloth or filletting; and C, C, C*, C*, are the strippers.
These strippers instead of being arranged singly between the workers

page_text: as usual are arranged in pairs, or it may be in groups of three, either in
front or rear of the several workers. By the word "front" I mean the.
doffer or delivering part of the carding engine.
In Sheet II. I have shewn strippers arranged in pairs in rear of the
workers, but when the action of the engine is desired to be less severe
the strippers are placed in advance of the workers.
:.
When the strippers are arranged in pairs it will be found advantageous
to clothe them with card filletting, or the stripper nearest the worker
may be covered with card filletting and work in conjunction with the
other stripper, which may be either a plain or a fluted roller. When
the strippers are arranged in groups of three they may be either plain
or fluted rollers or plain rollers working in conjunction with fluted
rollers and vice versa.
The motion-for-driving-these-rollers-is-taken-from-the-shaft-of-the-
Swift or card cylinder A, the same being communicated by a belt a and
pulley b, to a shaft c, c, which through spur gearing drives the shaft.d,
to which a chain wheel e is keyed. An endless chain f, f, driven by
this wheel e, passes over a series of chain wheels keyed on the respective
axles of the strippers C, C, and thus a rotary motion is given to those
strippers. The axles of the strippers C, C, are also severally provided
with a double spur pinion g, which takes into a pinion of corresponding
pitch on the axle of the stripper C*, and gives rotary motion thereto.
The pinion g likewise drives the worker B, by gearing with and driving
a spur wheel which is carried by a stud axle and gears with a spur
wheel on the axle of the worker B.
The action of the improved carding engine will be best understood by
reference to the diagram Fig. 3, Sheet II. Here it will be seen that the
fibre as it is taken from the worker by the stripper C is carried round
and passed into the nip of the two stripper rollers C, C*, which present
it to the swift or card cylinder retaining it within the nip a sufficient
time for the card pins to comb out the tangled fibres. This action is
repeated at each pair of strippers, and thus the tangled and partially
softened fibres are straightened out and made fit for drawing, spinning,
and felting purposes. The fibres are delivered from the doffer of the
çarding engine in the form of a sheet sliver which is converted into a
roping sliver by being drawn in the usual manner through a trumpet-
mouthed conductor. These slivers can be advantageously formed into a
lap or card bobbin and recarded over a finishing carding engine which

page_text: will greatly improve the quality of the yarn. In case of need the doffer
of the carding engine can be made to deliver one or more than one sheet
sliver, which sheet slivers may each be converted into one or more than
one such ribbon or roping sliver, or the sheet sliver or slivers can be rolled
into card bobbins, or doubled into laps and recarded, or the doffer can
be allowed to drop the carded fibres on the floor or into boxes, baskets,"
or bags for the purpose of being respread upon a feed sheet or stored
away for use at another time.
The next operation is to draw the sliver, which can either be donc on
a drawing frame or may be effected on the slubbing, roving, or spinning
frame, or all or any of them if thought desirable. The various processes
of carding, slubbing, roving, and spinning may be made available for
doubling in the usual manner with the view of attaining greater
uniformity of thickness.
The varieties of length of fibre sometimes found in the carded product
present great difficulties to the spinner, but I have discovered that by
the use of a peculiar arrangement of the drawing and intermediate
rollers, which I will now describe, the twist can be kept up to the nip of
the front drawing rollers of the slubbing, roving, and spinning frames, and
the short fibres may be kept in their proper places or retarded in their
progress and prevented from riding upon or overriding the long fibres,
which riding upon or overriding would form unequal thicknesses of
sliver, slubbing, roving, or yarn.
In Sheet IV. of the Drawings Fig. 1 shews in sectional elevation so
much of a flax drawing frame as will serve to explain the nature of my
improvements therein, and Fig. 2, Sheet V., is a partial plan view of the
same.
A, A, are the back drawing rollers; B, B, B, the front drawing rollers;
and C, C, intermediate rollers. The detailed views on Sheet IV. shew
detached the stand and bearings for the rollers, and also the sliding caps
or guides for the top rollers. The peculiar arrangement of this flax
drawing frame is that I mount the intermediate rollers C, C, on sliding
or adjustable bearings D, D', to admit of those rollers being adjusted or
set nearer to or further from the front or back drawing rollers as may
be best suited to the length and quality of the fibres under treatment.
The bearing D is carried by the stand E which is slotted to receive it,
and it is made fast thereto when adjusted to its position by means of a
clamping nut as shewn. The guide D' for the top roller C is fitted to a

page_text: bar F hinged to the bracket bearing G of the lower drawing roller A,
and to this bar it is made fast by a clamping screw. Near the end of
this hinged bar is a guide H carrying the top front roller, and it is made
adjustable thereon to adapt it properly to the lower front drawing rollers.
In like manner I sometimes mount the back and front drawing rollers
(either one or both) upon adjustable bearings to admit of their being
adjusted so as to alter the reach to suit the length and quality of the
fibres under treatment. These drawing rollers may be arranged in pairs
or in groups of three or more, and the intermediate group C, C, I leave
unweighted, weighting the other rollers A and B as usual. The result
of thus leaving the intermediate rollers unweighted is that the twist is
kept up to the nip of the front drawing rollers and also allows the long
fibres to be drawn from under them and the short ones are prevented
from riding upon or overriding them, and retained or kept in their
places until the proper time arrives for them to pass under the front
drawing rollers, and thus I ensure their being drawn in a manner which
will produce an uniform sliver, or slubbing, or roving, or yarn.
The mode of driving the rollers is clearly shewn in the Drawings. The
shaft I, which receives rotary motion from any suitable gearing, is fitted
with two spur wheels 1 and 2. The back rollers A are driven by the
spur wheel 2 which gears into and drives a spur wheel 3 on the shaft of
the lower back rollers A. This shaft carries a pinion 4 which gears into
and drives a broad pinion 5 mounted on an adjustable stud axle, which
axle is carried by one of the standards of the machine. From this broad
pinion 5 the intermediate rollers C are driven, the pinion gearing into
and driving a pinion 6 on the shaft of the lower of the intermediate
rollers C. The wheel 1 on the shaft I gives motion to the front drawing
rollers by gearing into and driving a pinion 7 on the axle of the
roller B of the group of front drawing rollers. It will be understood
that the relative speeds of these several groups of rollers may be varied
to suit different requirements of work by changing the gearing in the
usual way.
The slivers, or slubbing, or roving obtained by this arrange-
ment of drawing frame I convert into yarn or thread by means of the
drawing, slubbing, roving, and spinning frames having the peculiar
arrangement of rollers already described.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "An Improved
Process for the Conversion of the Hard Waste of Flax, Hemp, and Tow
into Yarn or Thread," and explained the manner of carrying the same

page_text: into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, manufacturing yarn and thread from
hard waste by a combined series of processes effected in the manner
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jonas Brown, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the said Jonas Brown,
.in the presence of
EDWARD WHITELEY,
JONAS BROWN. (L.s.)
Clerk to Messrs. Richardson & Turner,
Solicitors,
Leeds.