AN IMPROVED PROCESS OR MODE OF TREATING VEGETABLE OILS TO ADAPT THEM FOR USE IN THE PREPARATION OF WATERPROOF CLOTH AND THE LIKE
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
and Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS OR MODE OF TREATING VEGETABLE OILS TO
ADAPT THEM FOR USE IN THE PREPARATION OF WATERPROOF CLOTH AND
THE LIKE." A communication from abroad by Henry Augustus Clark, of
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th April 1878.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED PROCESS OR MODE OF TREATING
VEGETABLE OILS TO ADAPT THEM FOR USE IN THE PREPARATION OF WATER-
PROOF CLOTH AND THE LIKE" [A communication from abroad by Henry
Augustus Clark, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.]
This Invention relates to the treatment of vegetable oils, more particularly linseed
oil, for the purpose of rendering the oil more suitable for use as a conting for cloth,
which, when treated with the said oil, will be waterproof, flexible, and elastic, and
unaffected by either heat or cold.
In practising this Invention the oil, either in its raw state or in a partially cooked
state (preferably in its raw state), is first subjected to the action of sulphur, heated
to such a degree as to be vaporized or generated into a gas, and thon to the action
of benzine or its equivalent, and benzole, or turpentine, or camphene, all substantially
as hercin-after described.
I take one hundred (100) parts by weight of the vegetable oil which is to be
treated, as, for instance, linseed oil, and from five (5) to ten (10) parts by weight of
sulphur, and place the two together in a kettle or other suitable vessel, and tlien
subject the whole to a heat of five hundred and sixty degrees (560°) Fahrenheit for
Prins 1

page_text: from five (5) to six (6) hours, or until the oil has become reduced or changed to a
consistency and character herein-after described.
Subjecting the oil and sulphur to heat, as above stated, not only cooks the oil as
it would be cooked, were it only simply boiled as usual, but as the sulphur is raised
to the degree of heat stated, and continued at such heat, it is vaporized or generated
into a gas which chemically unites with the component parts of the oil, and thus
acts thereon, so as to wholly change and substantially remove the oily, greasy, and
rank nature or character of the oil, and otherwise to reduce it to a gummy and an
elastic condition, which greatly resembles india-rubber, and this product, like india-
rubber, is flexible and elastic, and as a coating to cloth is waterproof, and practically
unaccompanied in appearance, odour, or nature with any of the rank, or oily, or
greasy characteristics which belong to the oil, either when in its natural state or
when cooked by boiling, as heretofore.
In treating the oil with sulphur, as above described, the oil as it is so cooked
thickens, becomes stringy and elastic, and finally, if cooked a sufficient length of time,
so thickens that it cannot be stirred, strung, dipped, or poured, and at no time in
such a cooking of the oil does the oil or said product thereof burn or char as oil or
its product if cooked without sulphur to the extent described would do, even with
most careful watching; but the oil or said product thereof, owing to the presence
of the sulphur, because of said chemical union of it with the oil seems to be and is
most perfectly protected against burning or charring.
After having reduced the oil to the condition described, I take six (6) gallons of
the gummy product produced by treating the oil with sulphur and heat, and to it I
add from one to six gallons, or thereabouts, of benzine, which is a distillation from
petroleum, the greater the quantity of benzine the quicker the work, hereafter
described, is accomplished, and having thoroughly mixed the two together, I allow
the mixture to stand some time, that is, at least two days, preferably applying a
gentle heat to it while it so stands, and then having poured off the benzine, I
add from two to five per cent., or thereabouts, of either benzole, which is a distilla-
tion from coal tar, or turpentine, or camphene, benzole being preferable, and having
thoroughly mixed the two the product is ready for use.
The benzine at first assimilates with the gum, but after standing for a time, say
from two to ten days, according to the degree of heat to which the gum is subjected,
it separates the grease or oil left in the gummy product therefrom, which, with the
benzine, accumulates upon the top, and when the benzine is poured off, as described,
the grease is poured off with it; the benzole, or turpentine, or camphene, according
as either the one or the other is used, cuts the gummy product previously treated
with benzine, and reduces its consistency, so that it is capable of being applied to
cloth to coat the same.
The use of benzine may be repeated as often as may be necessary, and
again benzole is preferable to either turpentine or camphene for the reason
that the latter, more especially turpentine, is somewhat greasy or oily in its
nature.
The benzine and grease, which is poured off as aforesaid, I separate from each
other by distillation, and thus both are economized, the benzine to use again as afore-
said, and the grease to use as a lubricator.
In using the above-described product from linsced or other oil to coat cloth, I
prefer to add lamp black to give it a greater body and consistency for filling the
interstices of the cloth, or to add other materials which will secure the same results,
as, for instance, chalk, whiting, or pigments of any kind; and obviously the
material to be so used will depend upon the color which it is desired the coating
should have, and these materials may be added either before or after the benzine
is used.
After coating the articles as described they are to be dried, and a simple exposure
of the coating to the sun's rays is sufficient, although it may be dried with artificial
heat in a room or chamber, but whether the coating be dried by the sun's rays or
by artificial heat it does not seem to be changed in any substantial or perceptible

page_text: degree as to its characteristics herein-before described. If dried with the sun's
rays the glossy look of the coating seems to be deadened or removed.
This Invention may be applied to vegetable oils other than linseed. The propor-
tions of oil, and sulphur, and benzine, and benzole may be varied from those given,
as also the degree of heat and the time of cooking or the like; but in all cases
the sulphur must be vaporized, or otherwise there will be no chemical union of it
with the component parts of the oil, and consequently such change in the oil as has
been described.
The proportions of linseed oil and sulphur and the degree of heat and time of
cooking, and the proportions of bonzine and benzole herein specified, produce most
satisfactory results.
Litharge if added to the oil increases the drying qualities; but in lieu of litharge
other drying materials may be used. Litharge, however, is not necessary, nor has
it in any appreciable degree any connection or relation to the effect herein described
of the sulphur on the oil.
In lieu of subjecting the oil to the vapors of sulphur by placing the oil and
sulphur together in a kettle, as described, obviously it may be so subjected in other
ways, as, for instance, by placing the oil and sulphur in separate vessels, and passing
the vapors of the sulphur through and into the oil; but the method described
is convenient and practicable and unaccompanied with any complicated and exten-
sive apparatus.
Obviously gums produced from vegetable oils in any other manner than
by the use of sulphur can be treated with the benzine and benzole as above
described.
I am aware that sulphur and boiled linseed oil have been mixed or combined,
but never in the manner herein described, whereby the sulphur is made by a
vaporization of the same to chemically unite and combine with the oil with
the results stated, and I am not aware that such results were ever before
secured.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th
October 1878.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED PROCESS OR MODE OF TREATING
VEGETABLE OILS TO ADAPT THEM FOR USE IN THE PREPARATION OF WATER-
'PROOF CLOTH AND THE LIKE." A communication from abroad by Henry
Augustus Clark, of Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
This Invention relates to the treatment of vegetable oils, more particularly linseed
oil, for the purpose of rendering the oil more suitable for use as a coating for cloth,
which, when treated with the said oil, will be waterproof, flexible, and elastic, and
unaffected by either heat or cold.
In practising this Invention the oil, either in its raw state or in a partially
cooked state (preferably in its raw state), is first subjected to the action of sulphur,
heated to such a degree as to be vaporized or generated into a gas, and then to the
action of benzine or its equivalent, and benzole, or turpentine, or camphene, all
substantially as herein-after described.
I take one hundred (100) parts by weight of the vegetable oil which is to be
treated, as, for instance, linseed oil, and from five (5) to ten (10) parts by weight of
sulphur, and place the two together in a kettle or other suitable vessel, and then
subject the whole to a heat of five hundred and sixty degrees (560°) Fahrenheit, for
from five (5) to six (6) hours, or until the oil has become reduced or changed to a
consistency and character herein-after described.
Subjecting the oil and sulphur to heat, as above stated, not only cooks the oil as
it would be cooked were it only simply boiled as usual, but as the sulphur is raised
to the degree of heat stated and continued at such heat, it is vaporized or generated
into a gas which chemically unites with the component parts of the oil, and thus
acts thereon, so as to wholly change and substantially remove the oily, greasy, and
rank nature or character of the oil, and otherwise to reduce it to a gummy and an
clastic condition which greatly resembles india-rubber, and this product like india-
rubber is flexible and elastic, and as a coating to cloth is waterproof, and practically
unaccompanied in appearance, odor, or nature with any of the rank, or oily, or
greasy characteristics which belong to the oil, either when in its natural state, or
when cooked by boiling, as heretofore.
In treating the oil with sulphur, as above described, the oil as it is so cooked
thickens, becomes stringy and elastic, and finally, if cooked a sufficient length of
time, so thickens that it cannot be stirred, strung, dipped, or poured, and at no
time in such a cooking of the oil does the oil or said product thereof burn or char as
oil or its product if cooked without sulphur to the extent described would do, even
with most careful watching; but the oil or said product thereof, owing to the
presence of the sulphur, because of said chemical union of it with the oil, seems to be
and is most perfectly protected against burning or charring.
After having reduced the oil to the condition described, I take six (6) gallons of
the gummy product produced by treating the oil with sulphur and heat, and to it I
add from one to six gallons, or thereabouts, of benzine, which is a distillation from
petroleum, the greater the quantity of benzine the quicker the work herein-after
described is accomplished, and having thoroughly mixed the two together, I allow
the mixture to stand some time, that is, at least two days, preferably applying a
gentle heat to it while it so stands, and then having poured off the benzine, I add
from two to five per cent, or thereabouts, of either benzole, which is a distillation
from coal tar, or turpentine, or camphene, benzole being preferable, and having
thoroughly mixed the two the product is ready for use.
The benzine at first assimilates with the gum, but after standing for a time, say,
from two to ten days, according to the degree of heat to which the gum is subjected,
it separates the grease or oil left in the gummy product therefrom, which with the

page_text: benzine accumulates upon the top, and when the benzine is poured off as described
the grease is poured off with it; the benzule, or turpentine, or camphene, according
as either the one or the other is used, cuts the gummy product previously treated
with benzine, and reduces its consistency, so that it is capable of being applied to
cloth to coat the same.
The use of benzine may be repeated as often as may be necessary, and
again benzole is preferable to either turpentine or camphene, for the reason
that the latter, more especially turpentine, is somewhat greasy or oily in its
nature.
The benzine and groase which is poured off as aforesaid, I separate from each
other by distillation, and thus both are economized, the benzine to use again as
aforesaid, and the grease to use as a lubricator.
In using the above-described product from linseed or other oil to cont cloth, I
prefer to add lamp black to give it a greater body and consistency for filling the
interstices of the cloth, or to add other materials which will secure the same results,
as, for instance, chalk, whiting, or pigments of any kind; and obviously the
material to be so used will depend upon the color which it is desired the coating
should have, and these materials may be added either before or after the benzine
is used.
After coating the articles as described, they are to be dried, and a simple
exposure of the coating to the sun's rays is sufficient, although it may be dried
with artificial heat in a room or chamber; but whether the coating be dried by
the sun's rays or by artificial heat it does not seem to be changed in any substantial
or perceptible degree as to its characteristics herein-before described.
dried with the sun's rays the glossy look of the coating seems to be deadened
or removed.
If
This Invention may be applied to vegetable oils, other than linseed oil. The
proportions of oil, and sulphur, and benzine, and benzole may be varied from those
given, as also the degree of heat, and the time of cooking, but in all cases the
sulphur must be vaporized; otherwise there will be no chemical union of it with
the component parts of the oil, and consequently no such change in the oil as has
been described.
The proportions of linseed oil and sulphur and the degree of heat and time of
cooking, and the proportions of benzine and benzole, herein specified, produce most
satisfactory results.
Litharge, if added to the oil, increases the drying qualities; but in lieu of litharge
other drying materials may be used. Litharge, however, is not necessary, nor has
it in any appreciable degree any connection or relation to the effect herein described
of the sulphur on the oil.
In lieu of subjecting the oil to the vapors of sulphur by placing the oil and
sulphur together in a kettle as described, obviously it may be so subjected in other
ways, as, for instance, by placing the oil and sulphur in separate vessels, and passing
the vapors of the sulphur through and into the oil; but the method described is
convenient and practicable, and unaccompanied with any complicated and extensivo
apparatus.
Obviously gums produced from vegetable oils in any other manuer than
by the use of sulphur can be treated with the benzine and benzole, as above
described.
I am aware that sulphur and boiled linseed oil have been mixed or combined,
but never in the manner herein described, whereby the sulphur is made by a
vaporization of the same to chemically unite and combine with the oil with
the results stated, and I am not aware that such results were ever before
secured.
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 understood
that I claim,
First. The process of treating vegetable oil, which consists in first heating the

page_text: oil in contact with sulphur to tliat degree at which the sulphur is vaporized, in
which condition the sulphur re-acts upon the oil to vulcanize it, and in then
treating it with benzine and benzole, or their equivalents, as and for the purpose
specified.
Second. The treatment of vegetable oils which have been reduced to a gummy
condition, first with benzine, and then with benzole, or their equivalents, as and
for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.