The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

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Metadata

Title

[NM020ABE], Technical Note, Thomas Alva Edison, September 26th, 1886

Editor's Notes

[680] "Dyer Patent= The objects of this invention is to obtain a filiment of vegetable matter capapble of forming a filiment of carbon after carbonization by heat which shall be free from piths seams and have all parts of the body of the same relative density I have discovered that the roots of the palm & many other roots have at their centers an extremely hard & homogenous portion from which filiments can be prepared--after drying especially the scrub palmetto which has a root consisting of a spongy exterior and a central core like willow in the center of which is a perfectly round cylindrical fibre in certain kinds of the root and in others a central part from which a cylindrical or flat filiment may becut. Fig 1 shews this kind [drawing labeled Fig 2 but prob. Fig 1] E is the outer shell of the root A the spongy material C the large central core= A is the solid material surrounded with holes very close to each other by spitting the core C the central part may be obtained nearly round thus. [drawing labeled Fig 3 but prob Fig 2] In other roots from the scrub palm or palmetto which grows abundantly in florida-- There are one & sometimes two perfectly cylindrical fibres with small central holes in them which do no harm-- These fibres are obtained by splitting the central core [drawing] These fibres have no pithy seems but are aggregation of an immense number of parallel fibres locked to each other with considerable force-- The roots should be gathered while alive the fibre or material taken therefrom and allowed to thoroughly dry before manipulating them to put them in shape for use The method of preparing the fibre is by drawing them through a cylindrical cutting die made in two halves the holes being graduated from large to small the filiment being drawn through successively so as to take a slight shaving each time fig 3 shews the apparatus [drawing prob Fig 3] The face of the knives can be ground to keep them sharp-- X is fixed G is provided with a handle to open [drawing] The fibres are cut the right length and drawn through the first hole afterwards about 1/4 of inch at each end is not drawn through the smaller holes this allows of enlarged ends on the fibres which are handy for clampingg after the last cutting hole the filiment is drawn through a polishing die-- Dick must this go in two patents-- I want to get a broad patent for making a filiment for caronization for Lamps made out of the central part of roots of plants or trees-- also a specific claim for the cylindrical fibres & central part of the roots of palms or palm family-- also for the method of forming cylindrical filiments with & without enlarged ends by cutting dies split or not, it’s a cutting draw plate not a draw plate like wire drawers-- also for the split dies for allowing enlarged ends--

Author

Edison, Thomas Alva

Mentioned

Dyer, Richard Nott

Date

1886-09-26

Type

Technical Note

Subject

Carbon, coal, glass, ceramics

Cellulose, resins, rubber, and related products

Incandescent lamp

Folder ID

NM020-F

Microfilm ID

44:745

Document ID

NM020ABE

URL

https://edisondigital.rutgers.edu/document/NM020ABE

Rights

Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Publisher

Thomas A. Edison Papers, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University

Has Version

Archive.org Viewer, Microfilm Series Reel 44

License

CC0 1.0 Universal

Item sets

[NM020-F] Cat.1151 (1885-1886)