AN IM- PROVED METHOD OF CLEANSING AND PURIFYING GUTTA PERCHA AND OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES AND THEIR COMPOUNDS, AND AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Thomas Truman, of Old Burlington Street,
in the County of Middlesex, Surgeon, for the Invention of "AN IM-
PROVED METHOD OF CLEANSING AND PURIFYING GUTTA PERCHA AND OTHER LIKE
SUBSTANCES AND THEIR COMPOUNDS, AND AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE
EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 22nd February 1861, and dated the 25th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Thomas Truman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 25th August 1860.
I, EDWIN THOMAS TRUMAN, of. Old Burlington Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Surgeon, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF CLEANSING AND PURIFYING GUTTA PERCHA AND OTHER
LIKE SUBSTANCES AND THEIR COMPOUNDS, AND AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE
EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
My improved. method consists in cleansing, purifying, and masticating gutta
percha, and other like substances and their compounds at one operation by
the employment of an apparatus known as a masticator, or other apparatus
producing similar effects immersed in hot water or other suitable, liquid.
There are apertures in the masticator case through which the dirt and other
impurities are carried off by the liquid. The masticator shaft being made to
revolve, works and masticates the gutta percha or other substance or-sub-

page_text: stances in the ordinary manner, while, from its being placed and working in
water, the water washes out or removes every impurity capable of separation
by washing, and finally leaves the gutta percha or other substance or sub-
stances cleansed, purified, 'and masticated. The water should be changed
according to the state of the gutta percha, or other substance or substances,
and the operation must be continued as long as any impurities remain. Or
a constant flow of water may be maintained.
My improved apparatus (which I prefer to employ, but to the use of which
I by no means limit myself in the former part of my Invention) consists of a
masticator made entirely of "pot," or other suitable earthenware, stone, or
stoneware immersed and made to work in hot water. The earthen or stone-
ware, or stone prevents any coloration of the gutta percha or other substance,
and enables me to obtain it clean and of its natural color. For delicate uses
I find when metal masticators are employed that they injuriously affect the
color.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the. Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Thomas Truman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
THOMAS TRUMAN, of Old Burlington Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Surgeon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 'Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edwin Thomas Truman, Her special licence that I, the said Edwin Thomas
Truman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Edwin Thomas Truman, my executors, administrators, and assigns;
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF CLEANSING AND PURIFYING GUTTA PERCHA AND OTHER
LIKE SUBSTANCES AND THEIR COMPOUNDS AND AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO .BE
EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edwin. Thomas Truman, my executors or administrators, by an instru-

page_text: ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,.
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 Edwin. Thomas Truman, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is:
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by ther
following statement thereof, reference being had to, the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:―
.
Firstly, my improved method consists in cleansing, and purifying, and also
masticating gutta percha, and other like substances and their compounds at
one operation by the employment of an apparatus known as a masticator or:'
other apparatus producing similar effects, whilst the material operated upon is.;
immersed in or in contact with hot water or other suitable liquid. Before
masticating gutta percha, it has been usual previously to subject it to ar
cleansing process, in order to free it from the dirt and impurities with which/
the crude material as imported into this country is usually mixed. By
operating upon gutta percha or any of its compounds, according to my Inven-
tion, I am enabled both to cleanse and masticate the material operated upon.
at one and the same operation.
My Invention is applicable to gutta percha, and also to other like sub->
stances possessed of similar properties and their compounds. By compounds of
gutta percha and other like substances, I mean any material composed of
gutta percha or other such like substances as aforesaid, mixed or compounded>
with any other substance from which dirt or impurities can be eliminated by
means of my improved process without injury to the material operated upon.:
The masticator or similar apparatus intended to be used in performing my In-.
vention should be constructed with openings, apertures, or in such other manner.
as may be deemed best for allowing, the water surrounding the apparatus to:
have free access to, and pass through the interior. of it. Care should be taken
that none of the orifices in the apparatus. be made so small as to prevent the
return into the interior of any of the gutta percha or other material, which
may from time to time be caused to exude through the orifices by the action >
of the apparatus. The sizes of the orifices should of course vary with the sizes
of the apparatus, but an apparatus capable of masticating and cleansing about.
one hundred pounds of gutta percha or other material should have the orifices*
made of at least four inches diameter. I prefer that the masticator or similar
apparatus, should be fixed in, a tank, cistern, or other vessel capable of holding

page_text: water in such a manner that the water in the vessel shall surround or nearly
surround and have free' access to the apparatus. The shaft of the masticator
or similar apparatus being made to révolve, will work and masticate the gutta
percha or other material to be operated upon in the ordinary manner, but
with water constantly in contact with the material, and by thus masticating
and working in water, the water washes away or removes from the material
operated upon, the dirt and other impurities separated-or eliminated by the
process, and at the end of the process the material becomes not only cleansed
and purified, but also masticated. The water should be of a proper- tem-
perature for keeping the material in a plastic state during the operation, and
the water should be changed when the quantity of dirt or impurities eliminated
from the material operated upon makes it necessary or desirable so to do.
The working. of the masticator or similar apparatus will produce motion
amongst the particles of water in the interior of the apparatus, and if the
temperature of the water in the vessel surrounding the apparatus shall be kept
up by means of a coil of perforated: steam pipes a continuous motion of the
water will be produced: and maintained, so that fresh-portions-of-the-water
will be continually coming in. contact with the material operated upon during
the process. It is, however, desirable to have some space in the bottom of the
water tank or vessel into which the dirt.and other impurities may subside. The
operation should be continued until all the impurities capable of being
eliminated from the material by the process shall have been removed.
In Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings I have given a sectional eleva-
tion, and in Figure 2, a. longitudinal section of apparatus, which may be
employed for carrying my.Invention into effect.
In these Figures, A is a tank or vessel containing water heated to such
a temperature as will maintain the gutta percha or other material to be
operated upon in a plastic state, say from about 120° to about 212° Fahrenheit;
B is the case of a. masticator fixed in the water tank, and openings are formed
at the bottom and in the sides of the case, in order to allow of the water
entering and leaving the interior thereof; C is a toothed roller or masticator
fixed on a shaft D,imounted and revolving in suitable bearings for masticating,
working, and kneading the gutta percha or other material, and E is a' hinged
cover through which the material: to be operated upon is introduced.
prefer that the case of the masticator should be entirely covered' by the water
in the tank, as shewn in the Drawings. The masticator being charged, rotary
motion is communicated to the shaft and toothed 'roller, whereupon the gutta
percha, will be: kneaded; worked, or masticated amongst the water in contact
with it by the toothed roller and between it and the inside of the case. The
B
I

page_text: action of the roller causes fresh surfaces of the material to be continually.
exposed to the water in the apparatus, and the whole of the woody fibre, dirt,
and such other impurities as are capable of being removed from the gutta
percha or other material by washing will be carried away by the water....The
revolution of the toothed roller will produce motion of the water within the
apparatus, and cause some of it from time to time to change places with the
water outside, which is contained in the tank. Perforated steam pipes may
be laid at the bottom of the water vessel for the purpose of heating and main**
taining the temperature of the water in the ordinary manner; and by which the'
motion amongst the particles of the water will be increased, in consequence of
the steam rising up through the water in the vessel. If preferred, a con-
tinuous flow of water through the apparatus may be produced; in which-case'
it may not be necessary for the apparatus to be surrounded by water; as before'
mentioned. But when the apparatus is surrounded by water, I deem the'
motion produced by working the apparatus, and the steam escaping from
steam pipes placed at the bottom of the water tank or vessel to be sufficient
for ordinary purposes. The water should be changed from time to time when
it becomes charged with impurities eliminated from the gutta percha or other
material operated upon.
It will be seen that the gutta percha or other material operated upon in the
machine above described is whilst in a plastic state subjected to a process of
mastication within the case of the apparatus, and in contact with water, so that
by the action of the apparatus every portion of the material is brought into
contact with the water, so that it may be not only cleansed and purified, but at
the same time worked and kneaded into a homogeneous mass.
In those cases in which the material operated upon contains an acid or any
other impurity, the water employed in performing the process may be mixed
with a caustic alkali, or any other fit chemical agent to remove or assist in
removing the impurity.
I am aware that it has been proposed to pass gutta percha through rollers
working in a trough containing water, as described in the Specification of
Brooman's Patent, of March, One thousand eight hundred and forty-five, and
that it has also been proposed to cut up gutta percha in water, as in the Speci-
fication of Dunlop's Patent, of August, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
four, and I therefore do not claim the working of gutta percha and similar
substances in water generally, neither do I claim the kneading or masticating
of gutta percha or any other materials when not masticated or kneaded in
contact with water for the purpose of being not only masticated, but at the
same time cleansed or purified during the process, as herein-before described;

page_text: but I claim as my Invention, the masticating or kneading of gutta percha and,
such other materials as aforesaid, by means of a masticator or other similar,
apparatus acting upon the material whilst. it is in contact with hot water for.
the purpose of cleansing or purifying the gutta percha or other material, and
at the same time masticating or kneading it into a homogeneous mass, sub-
stantially in manner herein-before described.
Secondly, my improved apparatus (which I prefer to employ, but to the use.
of which I by no means limit myself in the former part of my Invention) con-.
sists of a masticator made entirely of "pot," or other suitable earthenware, stone,
or stoneware immersed and made to, work in hot water. The earthen or stone-
ware or stone prevents any coloration of the gutta percha or other substance,
and enables me to obtain it clean and of its. natural color. For delicate
uses,. I find when metal masticators are employed, that they injuriously affect
the color.
'In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Thomas Truman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
EDWIN T. TRUMAN.
(L.S.)