IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND MANUFACTURE OF CAOUTCHOUC OR INDIA RUBBER
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Ninth day of July, in the fourteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors, admors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exors,
adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND
MANUFACTURE OF CAOUTCHOUC OR INDIA RUBBER," being a communication from a
Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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)-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
is thus described :-My improvements in the preparation and manufacture of
caoutchouc or india rubber consist in compounding or combining the gum
called gum lac or gum shellac, or seed lac or stick lac, with caoutchouc or
india rubber. I combine the same with caoutchouc or india rubber in various
proportions, according to the purposes to which it is to be applied. I some-
times combine one part of caoutchouc with from one to eight and more parts
of gum lac or shellac, and I sometimes combine one part of gum lac or shellac
with from one to eight parts of caoutchouc. The greater the proportion of
caoutchouc employed the more elastic the compound will be, and the greater
the proportion of gum lac or shellac employed the stiffer, harder, and less
elastic will the compound be. I mix the two ingredients together mechani-
cally, by grinding or trituration, or by means of their solvents, in the manner
well known to manufacturers of caoutchouc. Among the advantages to be
derived from the combining of gum lac or shellac with caoutchouc are an
economy in the manufacture and the prevention of the disagreeable odour
which generally pertains to india rubber compounds. When the compound is
intended to be used in the manufacture of any thin fabrics, I have found it
useful to mix with it a small quantity of finely divided sulphur, either by
grinding or triturating the sulphur with the compound, or by mixing with
the compound a solution of sulphur in a solvent of sulphur, or by applying
the finely divided sulphur in the form of dust or powder to the surface of the
thin fabrics. The proportion of sulphur thus employed is very small. It may
be about one pound of sulphur finely divided to one hundred pounds of the
compound. I have found it useful to expose the fabrics made of the compound,
thus mixed with sulphur, or dusted with sulphur, to the rays or heat of the
sun, until the compound is deprived of its tackiness. Gun lac or shellac,
when combined with caoutchouc by means of campbine and other solvents,
makes an useful cement for many purposes. To make this cement I mix

page_text: one part of gum lac or shellac with two parts of caoutchouc, by grinding or
triturating them together in the usual manner, and I add a sufficient quantity
of camphine, or other solvent of caoutchouc, to render the compound of the
proper consistency. I general mix with the cement a small quantity of finely
divided.sulphur, say two to three ounces of sulphur to one pound of the com-
position used. When the compound of gum lac or shellac is mixed or prepared
with finely divided or dissolved sulphur, as before described, I sometimes, when
it is used to make thin fabrics, and generally when the compound is to be
used in thick fabrics or masses, submit the compound so prepared to a high
degree of artificial heat, say about two hundred and seventy degrees Fahren-
heit's thermometer, for the purpose of curing or vulcanizing the prepared
caoutchouc, following the processes for applying the heat described in a Patent
for England granted to William Edward Newton, as a communication for
improvements in the preparation of caoutchouc or india-rubber, and in manu-
facturing various fabrics of which caoutchouc forms a component part, which
was sealed January thirtieth, and inrolled July thirtieth, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-four, and in general I employ
the heating processes commonly used in treating caoutchouc, so as to vulcanize
or cure it as it is called, whereby it is rendered more able to resist the changes
produced in native or unvulcanized caoutchouc by heat of climate, or cold, or
by the essential oils; and before submitting the compound so prepared with.
sulphur to a high degree of artificial heat, I sometimes mix with it
ingredients as are now commonly mixed with vulcanized caoutchouc (so called),
such as sulphur, earths, oxides, or carbonates, or salts of lead, or zinc, or other
metals, in such proportions' as are commonly used by and are well known to
manufacturers of caoutchouc.
Having now described the Invention of improvements in the manufacture of
caoutchouc or india rubber, as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters -
Patent I claim the use of gum lac or shellac in its various forms in the
preparation or manufacture of caoutchouc or india rubber, with or without
the application of artificial heat, substantially in the manner and for the
purposes above specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
(L.S.) A. V. NEWTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Alfred Vincent Newton came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-one.