IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF OR PARTIALLY WATERPROOF FABRICS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bessemer, of Baxter House, Old Saint
Pancras Road, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF OR PARTIALLY
WATERPROOF FABRICS."
Sealed the 19th August 1853, and dated the 18th June 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bessemer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th June 1853.
I, HENRY BESSEMER, of Baxter House, Old Saint Pancras Road, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF OR
PARTIALLY WATERPROOF FABRICS" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of coating cotton and other yarn or thread,
previous to weaving the same into a fabric, with a waterproofing solu-
tion, preferring for such purpose a solution containing india-rubber or
resinous gums not soluble in water, by which not only may great lustre
be obtained, but the yarn or thread will be waterproof. When dry the

page_text: yarn or thread is to be woven into fabrics in the ordinary manner, by
which means the woven fabric will be waterproof, or for the most part
waterproof, and yet permeable to air.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Bessemer in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 17th December 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
HENRY BESSEMER, of Baxter House, Old Saint Pancras Road, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Ierself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Bessemer, Her special licence that I,
the said Henry Bessemer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Henry Bessemer, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Chan-
nel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF OR PARTIALLY WATERPROOF FABRICS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Bessemer, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Bessemer, do hereby de-
clare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof (that is to say):

page_text: This Invention consists of coating cotton and other yarn or thread,
previous to weaving the same into a fabric, with a waterproofing solu-
tion, preferring for such purpose a solution containing india-rubber or
resinous gums not soluble in water, by which not only may great lustre
be obtained, but the yarn or thread will be waterproof. When dry the
yarn or thread is to be woven into fabrics in the ordinary manner, by
which means the woven fabric will be waterproof, or for the most part
waterproof, and yet permeable to air.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed
to describe the manner of performing the same.
A great variety of waterproof fabrics have hitherto been made, either
by the combination of two fabrics with india-rubber or other adhesive
matter between them, or by preparing the surface of the said fabrics
with some waterproofing material after it has been woven, whereby the
interstices of the fabric are closed, and it is rendered waterproof. In
either case much inconvenience results from the impervious character
of such fabrics, which prevent the passage of air through them, and are
in consequence more or less injurious to health when worn constantly.
Now the object of my Invention is the production of a fabric which is
pervious to air, but which does not admit the passage of water readily
through it, as is the case with ordinary fabrics not so prepared, and
which said Invention consists in coating cotton or other yarn or thread
(previous to weaving the same into a fabric) with a waterproofing solution,
whereby such cotton, yarn, or thread is prevented from absorbing water
by capillary attraction, in consequence of the pores of the cotton or other
yarns being filled with or covered by the waterproof material. For this
purpose I prefer a solution of resinous gums, which are to be deprived
of their hard and brittle qualities by admixture of india-rubber, or with
linseed oil reduced to a gummy state by absorption of oxygen in the
process of boiling or burning, as is well understood. In preparing the
materials for waterproofing yarns, gum, copal, anime, or amber are to
be combined with boiled linseed oil and turpentine in the same manner
as is commonly practised in the manufacture of copal varnish; while
these materials are still in a heated state a solution of india-rubber in
turpentine of about the consistence of thick treacle is to be added in.

page_text: yarns
the proportion of one part of the solution of india-rubber to two parts
of solution of copal, and the whole well incorporated by stirring vigor-
ously for an hour at a temperature of about 150° Fahrenheit. When
the cotton or other yarns or threads are of a light color care should be
taken to select gums of a pale color, in order that the color of the
may, as far as possible, be preserved; but when a black color is desired
to be given to the yarns I not only dye the yarns of that color, but I
use the black japan varnish used to japan iron, and render it tough or
pliable by an admixture of about one third part of india-rubber solu-
tion, or in lieu of this I employ the same quantity of linseed oil, which
I first heat to a temperature of about 800° Fahrenheit, and then pass
jets of oxygen gas through it until it acquires about the consistency of
treacle. It will be obvious that a great variety of resinous substances
or oxydised oil may be combined and used for the purpose of my Inven-
tion, and it will therefore be unnecessary here further to particularize
them, they forming in themselves no part of my Invention. The
waterproofing material I prefer to apply to the cotton or other yarns or
thread in the following manner:-one end of the thread is unwound
from the reel which holds it, and is passed beneath a small roller which
is placed in the bottom of a trough containing the waterproofing com-
position; the end is then passed through a small incision formed in a
piece of vulcanized india-rubber or leather which extends along one
side of the trough; the end is then fastened to a flyer or winder on
which it is wound, care being taken that the prepared thread does not
lap one over the other; the thread in passing into and out of the
waterproofing composition will become coated therewith, and any super-
fluous quantity of the composition will be removed by the passage of
the thread through the incision in the india-rubber or leather scraper;
any number of threads may be passed from appropriate reels, and be
made to pass under the roller parallel to each other, and be wound as
described; the flyers, when covered, may be removed into a warm room
to dry, after which they will be in a fit state to be woven into a water-
proof or partially waterproof fabric. I have hitherto only referred to
the property of such cotton, yarns, or threads in repelling water, but the
peculiar lustre obtained by this process will render such yarns suitable

page_text: for producing ornamental fabrics when used alone or in combination
with other yarns or silk not so prepared, and will, at the same time,
render fabrics composed of such mixed materials partially waterproof.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood that
I do not confine myself to the precise methods and materials herein
specified, so long as the peculiar character of my Invention is retained.
What I claim is, the manufacture herein described of waterproof or
partially waterproof fabrics.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ienry Bessemer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Witness,
JA" ADDINGTON.
HENRY BESSEMER. (L.S.)