AN IMPROVED METHOD OR PROCESS OF AND COMPOSITION FOR TREATING SPONGE, HAIR, MOSS, ASBESTOS, AND OTHER FIBROUS OR CELLULAR MATERIALS FOR STUFFING BEDS, LINING CARPETS, AND FOR SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, &
Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OR PROCESS OF AND COMPOSITION FOR TREATING
SPONGE, HAIR, MOSS, ASBESTOS, AND OTHER FIBROUS OR CELLULAR MATERIALS
FOR STUFFING BEDS, LINING CARPETS, AND FOR SIMILAR PURPOSES." A com-
munication from abroad by William Nelson Blakeman, junior, of the City
and State of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 7th November 1879, and dated the 29th July 1879.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th July 1879.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED METHOD OR PROCESS OF AND
COMPOSITION FOR TREATING SPONGE, HAIR, Moss, ASBESTOS, AND OTHER FIBROUS
OR CELLULAR MATERIALS FOR STUFFING BEDS, LINING CARPETS, AND FOR SIMILAR
PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by William Nelson Blakeman, junior,
of the City and State of New York, United States of America.
This Invention has for its object the rendering elastic or more highly elastic and
of a more durable character than they have heretofore possessed bed, cushion, and
like stuffing materials and carpet linings.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I select as materials to be treated
according to the desired quality or cost of the article to be stuffed sponge, hair,
shredwood or excelsior, shavings, asbestos, seaweed, moss, corn-husks, felt wool, any
material suitable for carpet lining, or any material of a fibrous or cellular structure.
Having selected the stuffing inaterial to be treated I subject the same to my process,
in which I generally employ a number of substances, no one of which nor the same
combination of substances is probably equally well adapted to each particular
stuffing material treated. But as the mode of applying all of the substances used
in treating the stuffing materials and the effects upon such materials are in a
measure analogous, I will here generalize the substances used by me under the
classes or heads of the drying oils, the soluble gums, and the gelatines in combination
with certain oxidizing, styptic, or astringent agents, as hereinafter more fully
described, such as tannic-acid, chromic acid, chloride of sodium, chloride of
aluminium, the per-sulphate or per-salts of iron, litharge, per-oxide of lead, and other
metallic oxydes or drying agents in commercial use, bichromate of potash, the
manganates of potash, and equivalent agents.

page_text: "
With
In the use of the oils I will select for description of my said process linseed oil,
in which the stuffing material selected may be steeped to saturation, more or less
dependent upon the natural softness, pliability, or stiffness of the material.
the oil may be used a small quantity of litharge, per-oxide of lead, or other drying
agent in commercial use in order to assist in or to hasten the oxidation of the oil.
The stuffing material thus treated should then be taken out of the oil and dried,
the excess of oil being removed by pressure, artificial heat, or otherwise, as may be
most desirable.
In the use of the gums I will select for description of my said process gum-
arabic. Having made a thick solution of the gum by exposure in a water-bath I
add glycerine and an oxidizing agent, such as per-oxide of lead or an equivalent
oxidizer, to said solution, and with or into which solution the stuffing material
selected is coated or steeped and then dried, as herein before mentioned. In this
case a small quantity of linseed oil, treacle, or molasses may be substituted for the
glycerine, but glycerine is considered best for the purpose.
In the use of the gelatines, among which I also include isinglass, starch, and
albumen, I will select for a description of my said process commercial glue. Having
made a solution of the glue by exposure in a water bath I add a deliquescent salt,
such as calcium, chloride, or an equivalent chemical agent to said solution, and with
which solution the stuffing material selected is treated and then dried, as herein.
before mentioned. Or the glue may be treated as follows, that is to say:-I cause
the same to be digested in cold water, afterwards reducing the mass to a magma in
a water-bath, heating the magma for some time by means of the water-bath in
order to expel all excess of water from the glue. Then I take glycerine and some
one or more of the chemical agents above mentioned or their equivalents, and mix
and heat the same in the water-bath, thereby forming a hot solution. This solution
and the magma are then to be incorporated while still exposed to the water-bath
and kept in a state of agitation until their union is complete. This liquid or pasty
mass may then be incorporated with the stuffing material in any suitable manner.
It may be possible in some cases to apply the gum or gelatine in either a simple or
spirit solution without the chemical agents mentioned, and to trust to time, pressure,
or artificial heat to sufficiently dry the stuffing material so treated. It may be
possible also to use caoutchouc in the treatment of some of the above mentioned
materials, as it has already for years been combined in various manners with a
great variety of articles, but it would be an expensive adjunct to this process on
account of its cost, and if vulcanized the degree of heat necessary for its
vulcanization would be injurious to a great many of the materials used for stuffing
purposes.
Any or all of the above mentioned stuffing materials when treated in the manner
above described or with equivalent matter will be found after such treatment to be
coated with a cover or filler resembling a varnish of a more or less elastic character,
whereby the material so treated will be rendered elastic or more permanently clastic
and of more body than in the natural state, and also more durable.
While the above described method of mixing and incorporating the ingredients
with the stuffing materials is the simplest process and would answer in general, I
do not confine myself to it closely as it may be found advisable in treating some
materials to first steep such materials in a combination of some one of the gelatines
above mentioned and glycerine, and afterwards to attack the said material with a
solution of glycerine and an astringent or oxidizing agent. Or in case more than
one oxidizer or astringent be used, one of which acts more violently than the other,
it would be desirable to mix one agent with the gelatine and the other with the
glycerine, and afterwards to incorporate the mixtures. The glycerine or oil
preserves the gum and gelatine from excessive hardening, and the oxidizers and
other mentioned agents make the gum, the oleaginous, and gelatinous substances
used more viscous, tougher, more or less elastic, more cohesive, and semi or entirely
insoluble, according to quantity and character of agent used. The glycerine may
therefore be substituted for some of the oleaginous substances for combination with

page_text: the chemical agents mentioned, and may be omitted from the combination of said
agents with the gums or gelatines, according as certain characteristics are desired
for the composition to be formed, and according to the character of the materials,
substances, and agents used. While in the combined and soft state the composition
made as above described may, if desired, be drawn out into threads and dried, or
may be combed out with hair or such stuffing material (if such material be used);
or a blast of air may be introduced into the stuffing material when coated or
covered with the composition in its soft state, and thus fill the composition with
air-cells.
I do not limit myself to any exact proportions of the ingredients used in this
process, and may vary the same in number and quantity as practice shall determine
to be desirable in order to produce the best effects; and while it is evident that
the drying oils are the best suited among the unctuous or fatty substances used, yet
it is possible to so treat glycerine with peroxide of lead or other oxidizer as to
obtain a solid residuum or scale. Glycerine, when so treated, therefore I consider
to be within the scope of the said Invention, although I do not regard it singly as
a very available agent for treatment. If it be desired to impart a poisonous or
more poisonous character to the stuffing material treated by the herein described
process in order to repel the attacks of insects, such poisonous quality may be
imparted by the addition of arsenic or any other suitable poisonous agent without
departing from the principle of the said Invention or interfering with its complete
operation.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I am aware that it has been proposed to soften ground cork for stuffing
purposes by simply manipulating it with oil, and also to stuff mattresses with
layers or sheets of cotton batting having the surface of each sheet glazed in the
ordinary manner of preparing such glazed batting of commerce. Such mere treat-
ment therefore of said materials is not within the scope of the process herein
described, and the Invention of such treatment I do not claim, but I claim,—
First. The process of treating materials to be used for stuffing beds or other
articles or lining carpets by covering, perineating, or filling the same with oleaginous,
viscous, or gelatinous matter, whereby the stuffing and lining qualities of such
materials are improved, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Second. The process of treating materials to be used for stuffing beds, cushions,
or other articles; or lining carpets, consisting in applying to the said materials a
compound or composition of glue and glycerine, one or both, and a drying,
indurating, or oxidizing agent or agents, substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
Third. The process of treating materials to be used for stuffing beds, cushions, or
other articles, or lining carpets, consisting in applying to said materials an elastic
cover or filler, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Fourth. The above described composition of gelatine or gum and one or more of
the aforesaid astringent, styptic, or oxidizing agents and glycerine, either or both,
applied to the stuffing or lining materials, substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord