AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF RENDERING CLOTH AND OTHER FABRICS PARTIALLY OR ENTIRELY IMPERVIOUS TO AIR AND WATER, BY MEANS OF CAOUTCHOUC OR INDIAN-RUBBER
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HANCOCK, of Goswell Mews, Goswell Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Waterproof Cloth Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His late Majesty King William the Fourth, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eighteenth day of April now last
past, did give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Hancock, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Thomas Han-.
cock, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Hancock, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term of years therein.expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick upon
Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF
RENDERING CLOTH AND OTHER FABRICS PARTIALLY OR ENTIRELY IMPERVIOUS TO AIR
AND WATER, BY MEANS OF CAOUTCHOUC OR INDIAN-RUBBER;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Thomas Hancock,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same. to be inrolled in His said late
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Hancock, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascer-
tained by the Drawings hereunto annexed; and as follows, that is to say :-
India-rubber has for some time past been prepared and manufactured into
masses for the purpose of being cut into sheets, and for other purposes, and
has been called or known by the name of prepared, manufactured, or patent
india-rubber. A method of preparing or manufacturing the same is shewn in
the annexed Drawing.
Fig. 1 is a cross section, and Fig. 2 is a side view, of the apparatus, with a
portion removed in the latter, to shew the shaft in the interior. The letters
refer to the same parts in both these Figures. A is a hollow iron cylinder
with closed ends, fixed to a frame B; C is a door in the cylinder, about one-
third its circumference and of its whole length; D is a fastening to keep it
closed; E is a shaft, passing through the cylinder A, and filling about two-
thirds of its internal diameter. This part of the shaft is grooved, so as to form
projections about half an inch square along the whole of its length within the
cylinder. The ends of this shaft are turned of a suitable size to pass through
the ends of the cylinder, and to run upon bearings on the frame B. This
shaft may be driven at the rate of about thirty revolutions a minute. It is not
necessary to heat the apparatus, as it speedily becomes heated in use. The
india-rubber should be cut in rather small pieces, and well cleaned and dried,
particularly the white cake india-rubber; the whole is then to be warmed to
about from one hundred to one hundred and fifty Fahrenheit, and passed
through rollers, which will also soon become sufficiently warm in use. This
operation will in some measure unite the pieces into sheets or lengths, and may
be repeated two or three times, after which the india-rubber is to be put into the
cylinder A, and the door fastened. Motion being now given to the shaft, it is
communicated to the india-rubber, and in the course of half an hour, more
or less, according to the speed of the shaft and the quantity of india-rubber
employed, the combined action of heat and friction occasioned by the motion
and pressure on the india-rubber has the effect of uniting it into one compact
mass or roll (as shewn at F) of the length of the interior of the cylinder. The
perfect uniformity of the whole mass may be ascertained by cutting a thin piece
off and holding it up to the light, when, if there are any granular particles to
be seen, the operation must be resumed until they disappear. The quantity or
charge of india-rubber to be operated upon at one time may be regulated
according to the size of the apparatus and speed of the shaft; by the addition
of more india-rubber, the pressure is increased and the operation quickened.

page_text: Increasing the speed has a similar effect, but a little practice will soon enable
the workman to ascertain the quantity proper for the apparatus and the power
at his disposal. The length of the cylinder is not material when the mass or
roll formed by this apparatus is intended to be rolled into sheets for making the
softened india-rubber; but when intended for spreading on the cloth without
solvent, I prefer that the length of the cylinder, and of course the roll of
india-rubber produced, should be of the width of the cloth upon which it is i
to bo spread. This method of preparing india-rubber has been some time in
use, and is not claimed to be protected by this Patent. This manufactured.
er prepared india-rubber is well adapted to be used in the processes herein-
after described. A portion of this prepared or manufactured india-rubber
(and for, this purpose about sixteen pounds will be a convenient quantity) must
be warmed in a stove heated to about one hundred degrees of Fahrenheit, at
which temperature it should be passed between metal rollers, heated also to
about the same temperature, and so formed into rough sheets of about one-
sixteenth of an inch, or less, in thickness. . The ordinary sheet india-rubber may
be used, but it is more expensive and less fitted for the purpose. The raw or
unprepared india-rubber may be used after being passed a sufficient number
of times between the heated metal.rollers till it is reduced into sheets, but the
prepared or manufactured india-rubber I consider the best for the purpose.
Heated metal rollers are now so commonly used that no description is
necessary. To these sheets about eight pounds of coal oil, or other solvent of
india-rubber, must be applied, so that the whole surface of the sheets shall be
wetted as equally as possible, and so that the eight pounds of the solvent shall
be absorbed by the india-rubber. This may be effected by passing- the sheets
through the solvent placed in a vessel, or by applying the solvent to the surface
by brushes, or other suitable means. If it is wished to add any coloring
matter it may be sifted on during or immediately after this operation. The
sheets so prepared should be left in a covered vessel for ten or twelve hours,
the whole should then be mixed. and blended together; and the apparatus
in which the. common india-rubber is manufactured or prepared to be cut
into sheets, as herein-before described, is well adapted for the purpose. By
this process, the india-rubber will be brought into a state more soft, and
less tenacious and elastic, than the ordinary india-rubber. It will be rather
more firm than dough or putty, and have still somewhat of the adhesive or
elastic character of india-rubber, but it may be compressed and moulded by
the hand. India-rubber thus softened by and combined with a solvent may
be spread or applied, in manner herein-after described, on any of the fabrics
now in general use for such purposes; but should it be required to be applied

page_text: to any fabric more than usually delicate, and liable to be injured by the force
necessary to be used, a somewhat greater proportion of the solvent should be
used, according to the delicacy and fragility of such fabric. The india-rubber
thus softened is to be applied to the fabric to be made waterproof by the
spreading machine or instrument, delineated in the annexed Drawing, Fig. 3
and 4. E is a frame, fixed with suitable bearings, to support the rolling and
other machinery attached to it; B is a hollow picce or box of metal, fixed
firmly in the frame E, which hollow piece I have denominated the bed. That
part of the bed B immediately under the lower edge of the spreader A, liere-
after described, is elevated a little above the rest of the bed, and is about three
or four inches wide, and perfectly straight, flat, and smooth. C, C, are
uprights, firm and strong, intended to hold and guide the spreader A; L, L,
are screws, fixed on the uprights C, C, passing through grooves in the spreader
A, to keep it steadily in its place as it is required to act. The spreader A is
a hollow box of metal, brought down at the bottom nearly to an edge, not
quite sharp, but somewhat rounded. The bottom line should be perfectly
straight, so as accurately to coincide with the elevated part of the bed B,
and by means of the screws D, D, it may be fixed firmly at any determined
distance therefrom. The length of A and B between the uprights C, C,
should be rather greater than the width of the cloth intended to be made
waterproof, and the spreader A should be screwed down so close to B as just
to allow the fabric covered with a film of india-rubber of any determined thick-
ness to pass through. In order to prevent the india-rubber spreading beyond
the width of the cloth, two pieces of metal, fitted to A and B, and working
in grooves, and capable of being adjusted by screws, should be attached
to B, as shown at I, Figs. 3 and 4. The fabric intended to be made waterproof
must then be attached at one end to a tacking cloth of a suitable material,
which must be tacked to and rolled round the roller G with the fabric to be
made waterproof. The other end of the fabric is to be brought up to and just
passed through beneath the spreader A, and there attached to another tacking
cloth of similar material, which latter tacking cloth should be tacked to the
roller H. If the fabric to be made waterproof be of delicate texture another
cloth should be attached to it, so as to line or cover the under side throughout,
and prevent any injurious strain, and pass under the spreader with it. The
metal spreader A and the bed B should be heated to a temperature of from
eighty-five to one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and the spreader A should be
adjusted by means of the screws to the intended thickness of the coating
of india-rubber; a warm roll of the softened india-rubber F is then to be
pressed down on the fabric to be made waterproof, and in contact with the

page_text: heated spreader. A slow motion is then to be given to the fabric by any
mechanical power at the roller H, and the fabric drawn beneath the spreader,
by which means a smooth thin coating of the india-rubber will be spread
upon it, which process may be repeated until the coating of india-rubber
is of sufficient thickness. The speed at which the fabric should pass
beneath the spreader may require to be varied, in using softened india-
rubber of different temperatures, or when formed of different proportions of
materials; two minutes to the yard will be found generally to answer very
well. After the fabric has been drawn beneath the spreader it must be passed
over a leated cylinder or other heated surface, as shewn at K, in Fig. 3,
raised to a temperature of from about one hundred to one hundred and fifty
degrees Fahrenheit, of sufficient extent to dry the india-rubber film before it
is rolled up. It is obvious that the form of the spreading machine may
be varied without affecting the principle of the process. Instead of the metal
box B, a revolving hollow cylinder, heated to the same temperature as the
spreader A, and adjusted to the proper distance from it, may be used, to
which cylinder motion may be given by any ordinary means, and this form
of the machine will answer the purpose very well. By means of the spreading
machine, herein-before described, when heated to a sufficient temperature, the
prepared or manufactured india-rubber, herein-before first described, without
any solvent, may be spread upon the cloth or fabric in the manner hercin-beforo
described for the softened india-rubber; but the prepared india-rubber does
not adhere with certainty so firmly to the cloth without the temperature of the
spreader being greatly raised, which it is desirable to avoid, as in case of any
accidental stoppage of the process the india-rubber in so thin a film may become
in some degree decomposed. Two textures are united by coating each with
the india-rubber, as before described, and passing them with sufficient pressure
between iron or wooden rollers with the coated surfaces in contact.
I have now described the method of making cloth and other fabrics water-
proof, but I do not claim as any part of my improvements, the use of the
machine for the preparing of india-rubber, delineated Fig. 1 and 2, which has
been for some time in use, nor the use of the prepared or manufactured india-
rubber, as herein-before first described, for the purpose of making fabrics
waterproof, nor the use of india-rubber rendered fluid or semi-fluid by means
of any solvent; but I claim as my Invention, the use and application of india-
rubber softened to the consistency herein-before described, by intimately
combining therewith a small quantity of solvent, for the purpose of making the
said cloth and other fabrics waterproof, in manner herein-before described,
by which means much less expence is necessary than in the manufacture of

page_text: waterproof cloth and other fabrics by means of fluid or semi-fluid india
rubber.
And I also claim the method of applying the india-rubber, softened as herein-
before mentioned, or the prepared india-rubber herein-before first mentioned,
by the use of the spreading machine herein-before described, heated as herein-
before mentioned, together with the use of the conducting cloth, where the
texture of the fabric is thin or delicate, for rendering cloth and other fabrics
partially or entirely impervious to air and water.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Hancock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Thomas Hancock came before our
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and everything therein contained, in form above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Seventeenth day of October, in the year above written.