IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF PLATES OR PANELS APPLICABLE FOR SHEATHING AND ROOFING, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PACKING AND OTHER CASES, TANES, HOLLOW SPHERES, CYLINDERS, AND SUCH LIKE FROM PAPER COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Yorick Jones Murrow, of 41, Tavistock Square,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF PLATES OR PANELS APPLICABLE FOR
SHEATHING AND ROOFING, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PACKING AND OTHER
CASES, TANES, HOLLOW SPHERES, CYLINDERS, AND SUCH LIKE FROM PAPER
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Yorick Jones Murrow
\..
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 26th March 1874, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.

page_text: .
AND ROOFING, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PACKING AND OTHER CASES, TANKS,
HOLLOW SPHERES, CYLINDERS, AND SUCH LIKE FROM PAPER OR OTHER LIGNEOUS
TISSUES PREPARED WITH CUPRO-AMMONIUM," and have petitioned Her most
Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria to grant unto me, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and
have made solemn Declaration that I am the first and truc Inventor
thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Yorick Jones Murrow, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention to be as follows:-
It is well known that the blue liquid called cupro-ammonium has
the property of dissolving ligneous or woody matter, especially when
the woody matter is brought to the form of paper, or of woven fabric,
such as of linen, cotton, hemp, &c. Hence if two pieces or more of
paper or ligneous woven tissue be immersed in a bath of cupro-
ammonium, and then subjected to roller or other pressure they will
adhere.
To the manufacture of such prepared and waterproof tissue I lay
no claim, but I use it as my staple for the building up of waterproof
panels, &c. after a particular manner to be specified, and which I will
designate as the process of wet and dry interpolation. Now the manner
in which I proceed to make panels out of such waterproof tissue is the
following: I begin by laying a sheet of commercial cupro-ammonium
tissue dry upon a flat surface, I then superimpose upon it a sheet of
the same tissue freshly taken from a cupro-ammonium bath, and imme
diately another sheet of the same tissue, only dry. Any air bubbles
which intervene must be got rid of by sliding pressure, and for this
purpose a straight edge of wood, iron, or steel is a convenient tool.
The reduplication must be repeated until the required thickness is
obtained. The materials of the panels must next be consolidated; I.
accomplish this by stacking any convenient number of panels as book.
binders' stack their volumns, each panel being separated from the next
by either a metallic plate or a layer of paper imbued with paraffin to
prevent adhesion. I now lay on pressure, and after a time, about two
hours, I remove the panels and dry them at some temperature not
exceeding 200° Fahrenheit.
•
Although I have stated that cupro-ammonium prepared paper is the
material emnloved by me. vet linen or calico. or. in short. any ligneous
:

page_text: woven tissue similarly treated with cupro-ammonium may be sub-
stituted. Moreover, paper or fibrous tissue that lias never been treated
with cupro-ammonium by a preceding operation can be used, but with
very inferior effect.
:
Under the term "paper "I include for the purposes of this Specifi-
cation material of any thickness, such as millboard and cardboard, and
in reference to these I subject them to a treatment which is new, and
which constitutes an integral part of my claim. Cupro-ammonium paper
has only hitherto been commercially obtainable in the thin state, cither
as one sheet, known as single tissue, or two shects stuck face to face.
(double tissue). These staples are made by winding the unprepared
tissuo from, if single tissue, a reel, if double tissue two recls, and. drawing
simultaneously through a bath of cupro-ammonium by roller traction,
which rollers also press and consolidate the two sheets into one, when
the manufacture of double tissue is followed. Now thick millboard does
not admit of being conveniently passed through the bath and rolled
on a spindle and otherwise treated like thin paper. Cupro-ammonialised
card and millboard are not commercially procurable.
When used for the manufacture of panels by my process card and
millboard must undergo specific treatment, which I will now proceed to
describe and the discovery of which I claim.
To cupro-ammonium, prepared by digesting metallic copper in liquor
of ammonia of specific gravity 880, or thereabouts, I add an equal
volume of water; I call this "a digestion bath," the effect of which is to
impregnate the middle substance of thick millboard without perceptibly
dissolving the surface, an effect that when it does happen prejudices the
result, and it does happen if thick millboard is immersed in a bath of
cupro-ammonium having full solvative power.
"
If millboard is to be used for the manufacture of my waterproof
panels I first prepare the millboard by steeping it in a digestion
bath" until the cupro-ammonium has penetrated to the middle, which
may be ascertained by the examination of slips of equal structure and
contemporaneously dipped. When this has occured, which may be
known by withdrawing the test slips one by one and cutting them
through, I remove the millboards from the bath and dry them at a
temperature not exceeding 200° Fahrenheit. Being dried I make them
adhere into panels by laying one upon a flat surface (dry), then upon

page_text: it a layer of cupro-ammonium paper (wet), taking the latter from not
a weak or digestion bath but a strong or solvative cupro-ammonium
bath made with ammonia solution of the specific gravity of 880º, or
thereabout, coppered to saturation, and thus I proceed until the requisite
thickness has been obtained, when I finish subjecting one or more panels
to plane pressure, as already described for thin paper, finally driving
away every trace of ammonia by at least seven days exposure to a.
temperature not exceeding 200° Fahrenheit.
These panels are useful for many purposes to which wood, felt, canvas,
or metal is applied, to the building of carriages and of boats, for example;
also for the covering of deck or other houses, huts, sheds, &c. It may
be nailed, screwed, or glued, exactly like wood; or in the case of deck
houses or other roofs exactly like canvas at present, but I more especially
claim the application of them (1) to manufacture of packing cases as a
substitute for tin or zinc plates, than which they are much stronger,
cheaper, and (taking into account errors of solder joints) more water-
proof; (2) to the manufacture of so-called papier maché articles;
(3) to covering deck houses of ships, huts, sheds, &c.; (4) coach and
carriage panels; (5) to building and covering boats; (6) to the lining
of cisterns and the sheathing of ships.
To make the packing cases I proceed exactly as though the material
were wood only. I stick the edges together with some other adhesive
matter than gluc (by preference).. The adhesive materials I prefer are
either ordinary commercial india-rubber solution, marine glue, or else
the ordinary pyrotechnic cement; this being a compound of glue and
shellac. I lay no claim to any special cement, which is more for holding
the edges together than for waterproofing the juncture, that being
accomplished by taking slips of paper or ligneous tissue (linen or calico)
fresh from a strong cupro-ammonium bath, and with them covering the
edges longitudinally.. The slips thus used should preferentially be of
paper or ligneous tissue that has been cupro-ammonium impregnated by
the previous operation of drawing lengths of paper or tissue through a
bath of cupro-ammonium by roller traction. To this process I lay no
claim. The packing case being completed all but the lid is next to be
seasoned by a heat of not more than 200° Fahrenheit.
I will now describe how one of my waterproof packing cases is to be
closed by coverture of the lid when full of contents. There are several

page_text: ways of accomplishing this, but I usually prefer commercial india-rubber
solution as the medium. Simple pressure of two surfaces or edges that
have been treated with india-rubber solution causes adhesion, and here I
must remark that whenever india-rubber solution is used as an adhesive
medium the smeared surfaces or parts must be allowed to become
almost dry before bringing the surfaces or parts into contact. I stato
this as convenient to be.known; it is a practice universally followed by
manufacturers of caoutchouc articles, and hence constitutes no item of
my claim.
By proceeding as I have described goods packed in one of my water-
proof cases will be absolutely protected against wet or damp. I must
remark however that the final or closure lid joint may when the contents
are heavy require strengthening. An overlap of cupro-ammonium
treated linen or calico laid on by virtue of its own adhesiveness is the
best mode of strengthening known to me when it can be applied, but it
is important to remember that whenever or wherever cupro-ammonium
is employed as a waterproofing agent it is only to be called waterproof
after every trace of free ammonia has been driven away, either by
exposure for, say a week, to some temperature not exceeding 200°.
Fahrenheit, or else by storage for a longer period. In the majority of
cases then I do not recommend cupro-ammonium reinforcement for the
strengthening of the lid joints or coverture of my filled waterproof:
packing case, I prefer either india-rubber cement spread on cloth and
used as a reinforcing plaster, or else marine glue used in a similar.
manner.
-
When these waterproof panels are designed for the lining of tanks or
the sheathing of ships I subject them to the following treatment:-
When absolutely dry and free from ammonia I immerse them in melted
paraffin (solid paraffin, not the so-called paraffin oil), and keep them
immersed until bubbles no longer escape; I then withdraw them. It is
to be remarked however that pannels thus treated cannot be firmly stuck
together by any cement within my knowledge.
Having stated the method of construction for rectangular or chest-
like waterproof packing cases I will now describe the mode of con-
struction of certain other hollow mathematical forms, and first of all the
spherical variety. I take a ball of non-resinous wood, by preference,
corresponding to the inner dimensions of the hollow sphere I desire to

page_text: make, and to prevent adhesion I rub the ball, warmed so as to feel hot to
the touch, with a block of solid paraffin. In this way the surface of the
sphere becomes slightly impregnated with paraffin. I next take pieces
of paper, linen, or calico by preference, such as have already been
subjected to cupro-ammonium treatment, and dipping them into a strong
cupro-ammonium bath, apply them wet to the surface of the ball, and
then rub them down to get rid of air bubbles. I find it most convenient
to wear india-rubber gloves when performing this operation. The
building-up patches of material as I will call them may be cut of any
shape, but practically I find the circular shape to be most convenient,
each disc overlapping the preceding one by about one-third diameter in
such manner that an entire course looks somewhat like scales of a fish.
It is important to observe that in making these hollow spheres cach
.course. should be made dry to the touch before laying on the next,
otherwise perfect adhesion will no longer ensue. As to the proper
thickness of the shell of the waterproof hollow sphere when finished,.
that will depend on the purpose for which it is designed. If used for
the package of drugs, for which such spheres are adapted, I find six
courses of material, three of good brown paper, and three of calico:
álternated sufficient, but my waterproof hollow globes can also be
employed for pyrotechnic shells, in which case they must have a
thickness proportionate to the mortar force of powder used for their
projection.
When the wooden ball has been covered to the necessary thickness
the whole is set aside to dry at a temperature of not more than 200°
Fahrenheit, that is to say, I find 200° Fahrenheit to be the best, but I
am not necessarily confined thereto, either in this or any other operation
connected with the drying and seasoning of cupro-ammonium material. :
Being dry the moulding ball is to be extracted. I accomplish this by.
a clean knife cut all round the paper shell quite down to the wood, and
as near the equatorial line as may be conveniently practicable. Mathe-.
matical accuracy however is of no great moment, inasmuch as cuts at
right angles to the equatorial cutting may be freely practised without
ulterior detriment.
The two waterproof hemispheres will now readily shell off, but before
this is done a hole is to be punched through one of them to serve as a
fuse hole if the hollow sphere is designed for a pyrotechnic shell, and as

page_text: a filling aperture if designed for the storage of drugs, &c. In the latter
case the waterproof plug extracted by the punch should be preserved to
be ultimatety.cemented in as a stopper.
:
..
Having shelled off the two hemispheres the next operation consists in
attaching them so as to form a hollow sphere. The cut edges being
smeared with any convenient cement are to be brought together, dried,
and the hollow sphere finished if necessary by one or more layers of
either. paper or textile material laid on by means of cupro-ammonium.
The cement I have found most convenient for joining the edges of these
hemispheres is that long known as diamond cement, being a spirituous
combination of mastic and isinglass, but the precise cement used is of
very little consequence provided it be convenient in working. The chief
use of cementing together the edges is to hold them in apposition whilst
the finishing cupro-ammonium paper or textile patches are laid on.
It must here be particularly remarked that cupro-ammonium itself
cannot be used with any practical effect to stick together cut edges or
other narrow surfaces. The observation applies not only to the manu
facture of my waterproof hollow globes, but to every case in which mere
edges of cupro-ammonium treated material have to be stuck together.
When the hollow spheres just described are to be used as mere packing
cases for drugs, &c., and external smoothness is not desired, the fore-
going process of manufacture suffices, but for certain other purposes,
pyroteclinic shells, videlicet, a smooth external surface is desirable, which
I can accomplish in the following way:-Two hemispheres made as
already described are successively taken and immersed in a strong cupro-
ammonium bath for about five seconds, so that the material may become
partially dissolved. A hemisphere is then placed in a metallic mould of
corresponding shape. Brass, copper, lead, and zinc are chemically
incompatible. I prefer a mould of steel or cast iron. An india-rubber
(vulcanized by preference) hemispherical bag is then dropped down loose,
the bag firmly attached to a metal tube attached to the plane surface of
the bag communicating with the hemispherical hollow inside, and passing
through a hole in an iron or other metallic cover, which latter dropping
down upon the edges of the hemisphere incloses the india-rubber bag as
in a box. The parts being thus arranged I inject water or other liquid.
not capable of acting on india-rubber, by which means outward pressure
is accomplished and the exterior of the paper hemisphere. assumes a

page_text: planished aspect. The process having been repeated for the second
hemisphere as before described the juncture may be reinforced if so
desired by means of a paper or tissue band cemented on with cupro-
desired by means o
DISSLIC
a paper o
Commented on cupio
ашшонічш,
Instead of moulding my hemispheres on a globe I can mould them in
a concavity, as is commonly done by pyrotechnists.
The application of internal pressure as described is still more valuable
in the manufacture of cylinders of cupro-ammonium prepared material,
and under the designation of cylinders I. include tubes. The ordinary
plan of making paper tubes whatever the adhesive material employed is
by rolling the pasted or otherwise cemented paper around a mandril,
withdrawing the mandril and finally allowing the tube to dry. This
plan leaves much to be desired. Firstly, the substance of the tube is
not well consolidated; and, secondly, the contraction of drying shrinks
the tube and this diminishes the gauge which is a matter of extreme
importance in certain cases, for example in the manufacture of breech-,
loading cartridges. Now in order to make evident how I obviate or at
least diminish these short comings I will assume the proposition to be.
that of manufacturing 10-bore cartridges. To this end I require an
external tubular mould open at either extremity, and for this purpose
nothing excels a 10-bore gun barrel slightly cased to allow for sub-
sequent shrinkage. I next take a metallic mandril, steel by preference
(brass and gun metal are objectionable), and around this I roll paper or
fibrous tissue (one or both) already cupro-ammonialized and which is
obtainable in commerce, taking care that the number of rounds shall
make a tube that when the mandril is extracted shall easily go into the
gun barrel. I now insert a smaller tube of vulcanized rubber closed at:
the further end and at the near end attached to a metal arrangement,
giving entrance to water or other convenient fluid under pressure. I
now lay on pressure, clastic or inclastic, and thus consolidate the
material of my tube under manufacture against the inner circumference
of the mould. Pressure being now taken off the india-rubber tube can
be extracted and the gun barrel with adherent tube being laid aside at a
temperature of about 200° Fahrenheit the paper tube will soon work
loose and can be pushed out.

page_text: simple gun barrel tube a pair of hemi-cylinders which clamped or other-
wise held in apposition constitute a tubular hollow.
Instead of forming the cylinder or tube on a metallic mandril, sliding
the latter out and inserting an india-rubber pressure bag, I sometimes
find it more convenient to make the pressure bag an integral portion of
the mandril, which I accomplish in the manner following:-A metallic
tube is taken closed at one end, open at the other, and provided with
one or more lateral holes. communicating with the interior. Such a
metallic tube is next jacketed with a caoutchouc envelope of suitable
thickness to make up my intended guage. The jacket being firmly
bound to either end of the metallic tube it follows that when water or
other fluid (clastic or inelastic) is forced into the open end of the metallic
tube it will pass outwards through the lateral hole or holes and thereby
expand the india-rubber jacket.
Having now described the various processes necessary to the carrying
out of my system, I must state that considerable variations as to tho
strength of bath of drying temperature &c. may be adopted without
materially varying my system, the drying heat for example may be
elevated to any degree not much exceeding 300° Fahrenheit, though not
I believe advantageously.
I have given such details as in my practice have answered best. I do
not claim the general use of cupro-ammonium as a cement, neither do I
claim the aggregration of two or more layers of paper or vegetable
fibrous material by taking them all either simultaneously or consecutively
through a bath of cupro-ammonium from a spindle or reel and aggre-
gating them, still being wet by roller pressure. I do not claim the
manufacture of cylinders by mere rolling on a mandril.
What I do claim is,―
1. The mode herein described of manufacturing waterproof thick
tissues from cupro-ammonialized paper or other ligneous material by the
alternation of wet and dry sheets, also the application of such waterproof
tissues to the various purposes hercin specified.
2. The mode herein described of preparing millboard and suck like
thick paper tissues prior to forming slabs or plates from them.
3. The manufacture of packing cases, tanks, hollow spheres, cylinders,
tubes, boxes, and such like from the waterproof tissues, substantially as
:
لمياسمعمل منمسمل

page_text: 4. The moulding of cupro-ammonium prepared tissues into various
hollow forms by subjecting such tissues to internal fluid pressure whilst
they are held within an external mould of the desired form..
In witness whereof, I, the said Yorick Jones Murrow, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-.
four.
-
Y. J. MURROW. (L.S.)