Patent GB-190211035-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Apparatus for and Method of Treating and Working Bituminous and other Compounds and Articles made therefrom
Inventor: TORKINGTON WILLIAM
Filed: 1902-05-14
Granted: 1902-10-16
Abstract: 11,035. Torkington, W., [Knight, H.]. May 14. Coated fabrics.-Relates to the manufacture of various articles from mixtures of maltha, asphaltum, bitumen, or the residuum of black petroleum with silicates, black moulding-sand, or like material, the mixture being used either alone or combined with a sheet of paper, tissue, or other fabric. The oily or lubricating constituents such as vaseline are driven out from the bituminous compounds by heating them and passing a stream of hot air through them. Fluxes such as asphaltum, pitch, &c. may be added. When handling or working the compounds in moulding or shaping the articles produced, the tools used are heated to a greater degree than the compounds themselves. Fig. 1 shows apparatus for the treatment of the bituminous compounds and for the manufacture of slabs, tubes, &c. The mixer 1 consists of a closed tank set upon a furnace 6 and containing steam or hot-air pipes 2 and stirring-blades 4 rotated by suitable gearing. The bituminous compounds and sand &c. are introduced into the mixing-tank through an opening 7, and hot air is passed through them during the mixing process. The oily or greasy matters are carried away through the pipe 8 to the condenser 9. The silicates &c. may be dried and heated before use in a rotary vessel supported on the furnace 6. The furnace 6 is provided with an extension or supplementary furnace 12, which serves to heat a table or plate 14 having raised edges 15. The compounds pass from the mixer 1 to a feeder 16 heated by steam pipes 18. From the feeder the material passes through a gate 19, to the upper surface of a sheet of perforated paper, canvas, open-mesh cloth, wire cloth, or sheet metal 21 which is fed from a reel or spool 20 kept hot by proximity to the furnace. The roller 22 smooths down or irons the sheet of coated fabric, and is heated by gas jets &c. to prevent the compound from adhering to it. The roller is mounted in a movable carriage 23. When the coated sheet is to be cut, it is caused to pass over a double-wedge shaped appliance 26, Fig. 9, placed on the table 14 transversely of the moving sheet. The appliance 26 is provided with a groove 27, and a rotary cutter 28, Fig. 10, is run along the groove by means of its handles 29 to sever the sheet. Among the articles which can be produced worked or handled upon the apparatus described are pipes or tubing for water, gas, sewerage, drainage, &c., underground conduits for telegraph cables &c., pile covering or armour, fence posts, panels for wainscotting, floor tiles, slabs, flower pots and vases, insulators and other electrical appliances, and railroad ties, &c. Pipes are produced by winding the coated fabric on a wood or nickel-plated mandrel 30, preferably covered with a paste or wash such as vaseline or petroleum jelly, the sheet being drawn up to the mandrel with the aid of a pin-covered plate 32, Fig. 15. The mandrel may be rolled along towards the feeder, taking up the sheet or compound from the table 14. The sheet having been cut, the mandrel is rolled down a wet or vaseline-coated plate 37 and is supported on rotary chilling-rollers 38 located in a water tank 39. The rollers 38 may be of metal or wood, and are preferably coated with cloth or other absorbent material. The pipe may be finished with wet tools or by means of the hands covered with wet gloves. The trunnions of the mandrel are then engaged by ropes 40 and the pipe is suspended in a water tank 39<a> until it is sufficiently hard to be removed without injury. When the compound to be applied to the fabric is of a stiff or low-grade character, deficient in bitumen, the fabric is passed though a thin solution of bituminous material before it reaches the grate 19. For this purpose it is run through a basin 42 beneath a depressing-roller 41. Pipes may be formed by wrapping the coated fabric round a permanent metallic core, preferably of aluminium. Sections of such pipe may be jointed as shown in Fig. 11, canvas or burlap 44 dipped in the hot mixture being wound round the overlapping ends of the sections. A butt joint may also be made which allows the sections to be set at various angles. After a pipe has been partly made on the mandrel, it may be dipped in water and wound over with wire, which is then covered with further layers of the coated fabric. A sheet of metal may be substituted for the wire wrapping, and it may be coiled up on the mandrel at the same time as the fabric. In making panels, blocks, slabs, or tiles for floors, wainscotting, &c., the composition is fed to the sheet in the required thickness and the compound sheet is cut into strips, squares, &c., which are made into the desired articles and transferred on a board or table to the cooling-bath. In the production of heavy slabs, metal plates coupled together by holes and pins serve as a support for the sheets and are moved along the table with it. A thin sheet of aluminium may be laid on the top of the compound sheet, thus forming a slab with an aluminium plating.