US23642A

US23642A - Improvement in obtaining fiber from waste felted fabrics

Info

Publication number: US23642A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1859-04-12
Anticipated expiration: 1876-04-12

Description

UNITED STATES J. F. GREENE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR 'ro s. B. TOBEY, OF

PATENT OFFICE.

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN OBTAINING FIBER FROM WASTE- FELTE D FABRICS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 23,642, dated April 1'2, 1859.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OHN F. GREENE, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Process for Obtaining Fibers from Waste and Refuse Felted Fabrics in suitable Condition for being Worked into Felt and other Fabrics; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Many attempts have been made to disintegrate felted fabrics of fur and of wool so as to obtain from old and worn felts, and from the clippings produced in the manufacture of hats and other felts, the fibers in a condition suitable for being used as a part of the stock in the manufacture of felts and other fabrics; but prior to my invention, so far as I am imformed, all such attempts have been unsuccessful, for the reason that in tearing apart such old or waste felts the fibers were so completely broken and destroyed as to be of no value in the production of other fabrics.

The object of my invention is to so disintegrate old felts and the clippings of new felts, or felts which for any cause are of little or no use in the arts, that the fibers thereof may be obtained in a suitable condition to be employed to advantage in admixture with new fibers in the manufacture of felted or other fabrics, whether of wool or fur; and to this end my said invention consists in subjecting the felts which are to be disintegrated to the action of steam preparatory to and in combination with the action of suitable machinery for picking and tearing it apart to separate the fibers from each other, the action of steam on such fabrics having the effect, as I have discovered, of loosening that hold or interlocking which the several fibers have, and which was produced in the original formationof the fabrics by what is known as the felting action, so that when so loosened or unlocked the fibers can be separated by the mechanical action of a picker.

If the felts to be disintegrated consist of the clippings produced in the manufacture of hats are of old hats or other felt, which have been paid over or saturated with shellac or other mastic cement or glue, I first steep them in a solution of sal-soda until the gum, resin, or

other cement is thoroughly extracted. lhe

and twenty gallons of water. I boil the feltsto fix the gum, &c., instead of extracting it;

After steeping the required length of time I draw off the liquor andwash the felts in clean water and dry them; but if the felts have not been coated or saturated with any like cementing substance it will not be necessary to treat them in this manner. I then steam the felts to be disintegrated, so that the steam shall thoroughly penetrate, and while so saturated subject them to the action of some suitable picker, by which the fibers are pulled apart, which will be done with comparative ease so long as they are steamed. After the fibers are delivered from the picker, they are to be passed through a suitable blowing-ma chine to be sortedthat is to say, the fibers which are entirely free from others are to be separated from the lumps, consisting of an aggregation of numerous fibers, which lumps are then to be again subjected to the operation of the picker and blower.

Although I do not wish to limit myself to the use of a steaming and picking apparatus or machine, or to a blower of any special construction, nevertheless I prefer the use of machinery constructed substantially in accord ance with the descriptions and drawings making part of two applications for Letters Patent of even date with this, one being for a machine for tearing up waste and refuse felted fabrics, and the other an improved blower for separating the fibers from disintegrating lumps and impurities.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent. is-

Subjecting the felts to be disintegrated to the successive and combined action of steam and picking, substantially as described, the steam having the effect either to unfelt orso loosen the hold which the fibers have on each other in felted fabrics that they can be drawn apart of sufficient length to be advantageously employed in the manufacture of other felts or other fabrics.

JOHN F. GREENE.

Witnesses:

WM. U. BROWN, WM. H. BIsHor.