Artificial fabrics by New Method.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXV, Issue 10016, 5 December 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

Artificial fabrics by New Method.

Artificial silk, as is well known formed by the dtryihg of gummy tlu'L] 8 drawn out from a thick solution of 8 cellulose or woody fibre. Th,. thrond* thus obtained may be woven lil«. H j|, K By a recently devisedi process, oven, u.' wearing may dispensed 1 with, lexli|° fabrics being closely imitated direct)* from the plastio cellulose paste. Saw A. Uhaplct, writing in La Nature (Paris. • "Doubtless because of their extrtnu novelty,, the new discoveries are uo(, ~e , .industrially exploited; but .neither jL tits' first process of Uhnixlonnet for 'nig artificial silk, and we know \y),J .important results have followed U w n that. Although only in the experimental ' Stage, .the fabrication of artificial textiles has' still progressed' quite- far." writer "state's that about the middle. 0 f the eighteenth century Reaumur not on |., suggested the manufacture of ;irtilicial sill;,' but stated 1 as a. possibility the. fabri. cation of ' doth by processes oilier thtui weaving, in practically Hie inamior in which thin- sheets of celluloid uro now produced; ' Such -' sheets, .however, do 'not possess the properties of textiles, in the latter not'only dlo'the toniponeuit threadls slide one upon another, but numerous.empty spaces' are included, giy. ing ; the cloth its properties of plasticity and thermic insulation. A fabric lnitde iu accordance with Reaumur's suggestion may ho profitably combined with woven threads however, as a''sheet of india-rubber in a ' wat'ierpToof garment. In- a method ahxsady patented .in ' France- ribbon is made, .'by sirhply laying sticky tin-ends of aitillciil eilk.side'by side. The methods iilx>ul.-to be described, however, are' more thoiough'goiihg. That inventedi' by. Miller, an Ainc rican, -produces,, we are told, cloths iniitating •'closely the ■ properties of woven fabrics. ' 'Says Mr' Chaplet: "He employj the preliminiary processes, used in 4 ma-iiufactories of artilicinl silk; . . but instead of subjecting the thread to tlut action, of various but'lis- and then winding it on a bobbin, lie deposits it on \ lhovable plane surface, so that the Uirends take a zigzag form', thus constituting « set of neUvork. . . Under proper'con. difcioiiß they adhere and form a real fabric. Millers received the threads on an endless band ma'dlc of a-' flexiblo sulxitaiice ijvith sfnooth and non-adherent surface (of wax. Ed linen,, for .instance) about 30 feet long at least, supported; by slowly rotating drums. The spinners, which are placed above, are arranged in one or several groups, movable ill a transverse direction, and moved; mechanically by lliomiiio power as the band: Special devices ninko it possible" to regulate the speeds and •periods'of each element at' will." 'Cliub a "largo number of combinations may be'bbtaincd,"-' Finally the whole' is.'rolldl lo'insitrii'the adherence of the throVids, 'and then tho fabric is subjected to'th'6,'dinerent treatments (washing drying, etc),tried In preparing artificial silks. ' Although tho 'simili-ti'Rsues > of the Dfouihal 'niilchtii ar.e' similar to those of Miller, they arc iio( ori'y obtained, by other' means, but liy a hew'and certainly, more elegant- motliod. There is noformation of a- 'thread, hut immediate transformation of ' tho lilaitic paste "into a''' fabrjiv; .The' originality' ol the process consists of a spi'inier ' which the substance issues iti.',a'thin-con-tinuous slieet, either of uniform or'irregular thickness, which is fied bya'movable shutter sliding over tho spinner. Jt may easily be imagined,; in fact, that a 'spinner' :in the slumcr'of a very narrow slit will producoj "."wnieli nothing hinders, a continuous sheet,' J ike a sheet, of celluloid, for example ; if it be obstructed ,by a plate.' bearing,' a slit in saw-tooth pattern and; having a vertical to-and-fro motion,, whose extent in uqunl to the length of the teeth, ■we.sliall„obtain an irregular sheet or .'network:/" Another shutter different form acting ill tho same way, will produce a d ilPoiTiit kind of network. By. using, u'.'liories of different shutters, various kinds of simili-tissues are ■ obtained, analogous to muslins, tulles, etc., Evidently, to those who are acquainted with the djtttyulties met with in'spinning threads lulose by. pressure ■ . ! .' . ! ,the Urouuiat process will appear impracticable; ./lis sheet issuing from the slit will, certainly be" full of boles and irregularities. lhsit cannot be ; denied that theqretically.ilie - idea is veiy interesting . . ~ and tlinl it is capable of improvement. \\kt future is in store for artificial fabrics {, It , would be imprudent, to venture ,iv prediction ; . ..- . but if success shall liiially crown the efforts of,,the cxperimontei'n r '«'o shall have a veritable" revolution, in one i of the oldest of human industries, which yet remains true to .its.'ailcicnt (nidi- , tions." " ..