US8134A - Improvement in processes for treating vegetable fiber - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES;

PATENT OFFICE.

PETER GLAUSSEN, .OF eunstr CHARLOTTE srannr, BLAOKFRIARS', ENGLAND. I a I IMPROVEMENT IN PROCESSES FOR TREATING VEGETABLE FIBER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 8,134. dated June 3, 1851'.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LPETER CLAUSSEN, of Great Charlotte Street, Blae'kfriars, county of Surrey, England, a subject of the Emperoriof Brazil, have invented or discovered new and useful Improvements in the Preparation of Fibrous Material'sfor Spinning and Felting, and I dohereby declare that the nature of the same is fully described in the annexed specifi cation.

' My improvements in the preparation of materials for spinning and felting havespecial relation to flax and hemp, and other plants towhich the same may be applicable; and the processes I use to prepare the'same, though possessed of some features common to-the whole; vary according to the purposes to which the fiber obtained vfrom the said materials is to 'be applied-that is to say, "according as the fiber is required to be long or short, fine or coarse,and the machinery on which it is to be. spun is adapted to the spinning of one oroihcr sort of fiber.-

By the term fiber, as used throughout the specification, I mean that portion of each plant which is capable of being spun or felted, and my invention applies to thefiber surrounding the stems of dicotyledonous plants, and to that existing in thestems and leaves of monocotyledonous plants. V

In the following exemplification's of my improved modes of pre'parationl shall throughcess: I first steep'the straw in a solution of a caustic alkali ofabout 1of Twaddles-hydrometer, and for such a length of time as may be mostconvenient. If dispatch is required, I use the solution in a boiling state, in which case an immersion of about six hours is sufficieut. If more time can be conveniently allowed I .employ a solution of a. temperature of about.- 150 Fahrenheit and prolong the immersion,

for about twelve'hours, and so in proportion to the degree of -temperature. .The solution may be even used at a lower temperature with bastion of sulphur.

a corresponding prolongation ottime; but in no case need the immersion exceed a couple of days at the utmost. H

The object of the preceding treatment is two fold: first, to decompose, dissolve, or remove (more or' less, as required)-the glutinous, gummy, or other matters which connect the'fiber with the woody portions of the plant and, second, to discharge or decompose any oleaginous, coloring, or extraneous matter contained in the straw, withoutallowing the matters so discharged to stain the fiber, and these results are obtained by the action of the alkalinesolution.

- In the preceding mode of preparing vegetable materials I generally use a solution of canstic soda;- but other alkaline liquors will answer the purpose-such as a solution of cans- -'tie potash or lime dissolved or difi'used in wa-' ter-o r,-indecd,auy substance having the like power of removing, discharging, or decompos ingthe coloring, glutinous, gumniy, ,or other foreign matters contained in the straw, and which would interfere with the whiteness of the fiber,or with its ready separation and man- 'ufacture. i

If the fiber is required tobe long, like that commonly spun in flax machinery, I subject the straw to a second process-for the purpose of. getting rid of any of the alkali still adhering to the straw or'fiber, and for the purpose of completing, if necessary, the removal of any glutinous, gummy, coloring, or extraneous matters. To this end 'I take the straw from the alkaline solution and steep it' for about two hours in water acidulatd bysulphuric acid in the proportion of about one partof the acid to from two to five hundred parts of wa' ter; Some other dilute acids will also answer this purpose, such as dilute muriatic acid, &c.; but sulphuric acid is to be preferred; or I transfer the straw, while yet wet with the alkaline solution, to a suitable ch amber or stove, where 1 subject it to the action of sulphurous acid, or the fumes produced by the slow com- In' both cases the acid combines with any free alkali remainingou the straw or fiber to form a sulphite or sulphate, according to the acid employed, while an excess of either sulphuric or of sulphurous acid willcomplete the decomposition, discharge, or

removal ofthe glutinous, coloring, andother matters. 1" next remove the straw from the acid bath or sulphur chamber or stove, and wash or otherwise treat .it with water till all soluble matters are removed.

If the fiber is required to be decolorized the straw may now be bleached by. a new process discovered by myself, or by any of the other known bleaching processes. It may then be dried, ready forbreakin g and scutching, by the means ordinarily followed in the manufacture of long flax.

I would mention here that in some cases it will be found advantageous to pass the straw between rollers, or to break it roughly or par- .tially before subjecting it tothe process above described, for the purpose of facilitating the action of the chemical agents upon it. By the aforesaid method I am enabled to remove from the straw certain matters which water alone cannot discharge. The fiber thus prepared is also freer to hackle and the straw more easy to scutch than fiber and straw treated in the ordinary way. Much time andmuch material are also saved, while the noxious exhalations attendant upon the water-rotting system are wholly prevented.

. If-the fiber is required to be short, so that it may be felted or carded and adapted for spinning on cotton, silk, worsted, or tow spin-. ning machinery,'either alone or in combina. tion with cotton, .wool, fur, hair, or silk,-I take the fiber, after treating it by the processes just described, and divide it in proper lengths by some suitable instrument or machine, I then transfer the straw or fiber to a bath containing a strong solution of bicarbonate, sesqui' carbonate, or even carbonate of soda, or any other similar compounds; but the first two of these are to be preferred as most aboundin g in carbonic acid. In this bath I allow it to remain for about three or four hours, during which-time the fiber becomeswell saturated with the salt. Ithen immerse thematerial' impregnated with the solution of the carbonates beforenamed foraboutacouple of hoursin water acidulated by sulphuric acid of aboutthe strength of one part of acid to twohdndred parts of water; or, instead thereof,-I expose the saturated materials, while wet, to the action of burning sulphur in a suitable chamber or stove. In this operation it appears tbata certain portion of gas being developed in the fibrous tubes splits and divides them by its expansive power into filaments having the.

character nd appearance of fine cotton-wool, in which state they may he died and manufactured, like cotton or wool. The same means of effecting the' splitting'of the fiber may of course be employed in the preparation of long fiber, and I do not limit myself to its use for the preparation of short fiber alone; but when the fiber is of its original length the solutions employed take a longer time to penetrate the interior. The decomposition of the bicarbonate of soda or other suitable com pound with which thefiber is saturated may be also effected by means of electric agency, when a like evolution of gas and splitting up of the fiber will takeplace. 'After the fiber has been subjected to the splitting process it must be carefully washed to remove all soluble matters and then dried.

The splitting process may be applied to the plant either in the straw (the wood of which is to be afterward removed by proper means and machinery) or in the state of long fiber, whether prepared by my before-described process or by any of the usual and known processes.

What I claim as my invention and discov cry, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The preparation of vegetable fiber capa' ble of being spun or felted by submitting the. plant from-which the fiber is to be derived to the action of caustic soda or other solution of like properties, and then to that of sulphuric or sulpburous acid in the manner set forth, whereby the gummy, glutinous, and other matters which connect the fiber with the woody portion of the plant are dissolved and discharged, and at the same time effecting the discharge of the oleaginous and other coloring-matters contained within the woody portions or straw without staining the fiber, as more fully. described herein.

2. Splitting the fibers of vegetable matter, in preparing them for spinning, by the generation and liberation of carbonic acid or other gas within the cellular portions of said fibers, in the manner described, or in any other manner by which gas may be generated and liberated for the purpose set forth. I

P. OLAUSSEN.

Witnesses:

R. A. BRooMAiI, Patent Agent, 166 Fleet St, London.

ALFRED LONGSDON,

166 Fleet St.