IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATING OR MANUFACTURE OF GUTTA PERCHA, OB ANY OF THE VARIETIES OF CAOUTCHOUC
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
HANCOCK, of Marlborough Cottage, Stoke Newington, in the County of
Middlesex, Esquire, and REUBEN PHILLIPS, of Islington, in the said County,
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent
under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
bearing date at Westminster, the Thirtieth day of December now last past,
did give and grant unto us, the said Thomas Hancock and Reuben Phillips,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said
Thomas Hancock and Reuben Phillips, our executors, adminstrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Hancock and Reuben Phillips,
our 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 aforesaid, our
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATING OR MANUFACTURE OF GUTTA
PERCHA, OB ANY OF THE VARIETIES OF CAOUTCHOUC;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso, obliging us, the said Thomas Hancock and
Reuben Phillips, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or
under the hand and seal of one of us, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High

page_text: Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there
unto had, will more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Thomas Hancock and Reuben Phillips, do hereby declare that the nature of
our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
is particularly described and ascertained in and by the following description
thereof, that is to say:-
Our improvements consist in dissolving gutta percha or any of the varieties
of caoutchouc, or reducing them to a soft, pulpy, or gelatinous state after they
have undergone the process of "vulcanization" or "conversion;" also in
treating unvulcanized solutions or preparations of these substances, so as to
bring them to a vulcanized state; also in improvements in moulds employed in
the manufacture of articles from these substances. The terms "vulcanizing.".
and "converting," as applied to these matters, are now well known as desig-
nating certain improvements in the manufacture of caoutchouc, whereby it is
rendered less liable to be affected by variations of temperature; and our improved
solutions, when dried, partake more or less of the same property. The first-
named process is described in the Specification of a Patent granted to me, the
said Thomas Flancock, dated the Twenty-first November, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-three,- and the second in the Specification of a Patent.
granted to Alexander Parkes, dated Twenty-fifth March, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-six.
When using the terms "gutta percha" or any of the varieties of" caout-
chouc," we wish to be understood as comprehending all those substances
known by the Indians or natives, in the countries where it is produced, under
the names of saikwah, jintawan, gutta tuban, gutta percha, dollah, &c., and in
the markets of this country by similar names, and others, such as caoutchouc,
liquid, cake, bottle, Assam, Singapore, root, sheet and scrap india-rubber; and
for the sake of brevity, we will, in this Specification, designate the different
varieties under the general term caoutchouc, and our improved-solutions by
the term vulcanized solutions. In operating on these substances, when in a
vulcanized or converted state, we generally take the waste or cuttings of these
materials and pass them between rollers, or otherwise reduce them to shreds or
sheets, and boil them in oil of turpentine until they are dissolved, keeping S
the mass well stirred during the operation. Other solvents may be used, such
as coal naptha, and other of the essential oils; but the necessary temperature
in such cases cannot well be attained without employing closed vessels, we
therefore prefer using oil of turpentine.

page_text: As those cuttings and waste vary greatly in quality, it is scarcely possible to
state any precise rule as to the proportions of substance and solvent, nor is it
at all material. A good mode of proceeding is to put into the vessel, in which
the. vulcanized solution is to be made, as much solvent as will cover the shreds
of caoutchouc, and then add about one-third, more or less, of the solvent, and
when, in the course of dissolving, the solution becomes of the desired con-
sistence, to pour it off, and then make up the next charge according to the
remaining deposits, or an estimate of the results obtained. In general we find
that although a thick pulpy or gelatinized solution may be obtained by one
operation, we prefer making the solutions of moderate consistence, and if
necessary, evaporate away the superfluous solvent by any of the well-known
means,
With regard to variations in the quality of the cuttings or waste, we can
only furnish some general remarks for the guidance and discretion of the
workman, who will soon acquire sufficient experience to enable him to carry
on the operation with success. If the vulcanizing or converting processes have
been carried so far as to render the substances hard and horny, they may be
nearly insoluble, or require so long a time as to-render them scarcely worth
operating upon; but if the vulcanizing or converting has been carried so far
only, as to render the substance strongly elastic, or if it retain a degree of
Hexibility not very different from its original state, it will dissolve at the
boiling point of oil of turpentine.
Variations in vulcanized or converted waste are sometimes also occasioned
by its having been originally formed of two or more of the varieties of caout-
houc, and we have found that those samples that contain any considerable
roportion of the softer kinds, or those that in their ordinary state are more
eadily liquifled by heat, produce solutions that are proportionably more fluid.
Although we have stated that boiling oil of turpentine answers the purpose
ery well, yet we would observe, that a lower temperature may be employed in
ome cases, such as the last mentioned, for instance, when, if the vulcanizing
r converting has been carried only to a moderate extent, a temperature as low
3250° may suffice, and probably in some cases still lower. The degree of
eat employed does not, however, require any nice adjustment; a range of from
50° to 312° will not prove injurious in any case, and a little experience will
able a workman to regulate it according to circumstances. These vulcanized
lutions may be diluted, if desired, with oil or turpentine or coal naptha, they
en become a good and elastic medium for mixing and combining colors.
Instead of operating upon the cuttings or waste of vulcanized or converted
outchouc, we sometimes take a solution of unvulcanized or unconconverted

page_text: caoutchouc, and mix sulphur with it in the proportion of from 8 to 12 part
of sulphur to 100 parts of dry caoutchouc, and then submit the mixture to
temperature of about 300°, or from that to the boiling point of oil of tur
pentine, for a period varying from 15 to 30 minutes, and we thereby obtain a
somewhat similar result; or the caoutchouc, the solvent, and the sulphur may
be treated in the same manner without previously dissolving the caoutchouc;
but we prefer employing the vulcanized or converted waste, the appropriating
of which to a useful purpose being the chief object we have in view.
When the proportion of dry material predominates in any of these vulcan-
ized solutions, so as to form a thick and plastic mass, they generally become
gelatinous. Topy, and intractable. We have found that this condition may
be considerably ameliorated or entirely obviated by grinding or levigation,
employing any of the well-known means used for grinding colors.
We apply these vulcanized solutions to a great variety of purposes, by
coating therewith leather, cloth, and other fabrics, and thereby rendering them
air and water proof; and we manufacture from those materials, so prepared,
various articles, such as pneumatic beds, cushions, and other similar articles,
also cloaks, capes, boots, shoes, and other articles. When it is wished to
prevent too great an absorption of the more fluid of these vulcanized solutions
into cloth or other materials, we mix or combine with them a thicker solution
of unvulcanized or unconverted caoutchouc, and first apply to the cloth or
other materials one or two coatings of such mixture.
We also saturate with these vulcanized solutions leather, cloth, felt, and
other fabrics, and manufacture articles from materials which have been so
saturated. We also use these vulcanized solutions as cements for uniting
together vulcanized or converted caoutchouc and fabrics, and other articles;
we also coat with them wood, metal, paper, plaister casts, and other articles
and substances requiring to be protected from the effects of air and wet. We
also employ these vulcanized solutions for taking impressions, by pouring or
pressing them into moulds, preferring to use moulds of glass.
-
We have before mentioned that we mix coloring matters with these
vulcanized solutions, and we employ such colored vulcanized solutions to coat
the surfaces of articles, and for colouring and printing leather, calico, and
other fabric, and for walls and decorations.
For some purposes we mix with these vulcanized solutions boiled drying 3
oils, black japan, and oil and spirit varnishes. For inferior purposes or in
order to harden or impart other qualities to these vulcanized solutions, we mix
or compound with them gums, resins, pitch, asphalte, metallic oxides, earths,
wood and cork dust, and fibrous and other substances. These vulcanized

page_text: solutions may be applied in any of the modes practised in respect of ordinary
paints, varnishes, and solutions of caoutchouc. As they dry rather slowly we
prefer exposing them to a temperature of about 180°.
Our improvements in the moulds employed in the manufacture of articles
from these vulcanized solutions consist in making such moulds of materials
capable of being dissolved or melted at temperatures so low as not to be
injurious to the manufacture, such as the fusible metal known as Darcey's
alloy, which melts in boiling water, or compounds of gum, glue, &c., the
object in employing these moulds being to facilitate their removal. after the
vulcanized solutions are dry, by melting or dissolving such moulds as are under
cut or such as have delicate or intricate designs.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Hancock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of June, One thousand eight
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-seventh day of
June, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Thomas Hancock came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing 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 Thirtieth day of June, in the year above written.