IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATING OF INDIA RUBBEB
Year: 1847

page_text: HESE PRESENTS SHAL COME, 1, SHUA
PROCTOR WESTHEAD, of Manchester, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fourth day of
November, One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, in the eleventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joshua Proctor Westhead, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Joshua Proctor Westhead, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Joshua Proctor Westhead, my exors, admors, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR
TREATING OF INDIA RUBBEB," being a communication from a certain Foreigner
residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Joshua Proctor Westhead, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joshua Proctor Westhead, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figure and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:-
The Invention consists of subjecting india rubber when in a closed chamber
or vessel to the action of sulphurous acid gas, or products obtained by burning
sulphur, and also to dry and moist heat. In order that the Invention may be
most fully and readily understood, I will describe the means pursued by me.
I would, however, first remark that india rubber in its natural state is liable
to become set and hard when subjected to low temperatures, and to become
injured if subjected to high temperatures, but within the last few years india
rubber has been operated on by certain processes by which it has been rendered
more or less permanently elastic, such india rubber being known as " vulcan-
ized india rubber" and "converted iudia rubber," the one process being
performed by means of impregnating or mixing sulphur with india rubber, and
then subjecting this compound to very high degrees of heat; the other process
being performed by means of immersing india rubber in a liquid. Other processes
have been proposed for producing like results, but I am not aware that india
rubber has been brought into the market when so treated. And I mention
these processes in order to state that I do not claim the rendering india
rubber more uniformly and permanently elastic, but only the means herein
described by which india rubber will be more advantageously treated and
manufactured, both in combination with woven fabrics, and also when in
sheets or other proper forms, than by the processes heretofore practised and
above referred to.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
The Drawing represents a vertical section of a chamber or vessel a, a, with
means of applying heated air, steam, and sulphurous acid gas, or products of
burning sulphur. This chamber or vessel may be made of metal or other
suitable material, but should be lined with tin or matter not injuriously acted
on by sulphurous acid gas. One end of the chamber or vessel a, a, has a
moveable cover b, which is to be fixed in its place when the apparatus is at
work, and it is preferred that there should be a hollow jacket or casing sur-
rounding the vessel or chamber a, a, to allow of the said vessel or chamber a, a,
being heated by steam, though the requisite dry heating may be obtained by
other means; and it is desirable that the exterior of all should have a casing of

page_text: wood or other non-conducting material, in order that heat may not be wasted.
c is a tube communicating with the upper and lower parts of the vessel or
chamber a, a, and such tube is caused to pass through a steam boiler not
shewn in the Drawing, in order that the air passed through it into the vessel
or chamber a, a, may be heated. Steam from the steam boiler is supplied to
the vessel or chamber a, a, from the steam boiler by the pipe d,, and any
condensed steam may be drawn off at e. Steam is supplied to the interior of
the casing or jacket which surrounds the chamber or vessel a, a, by the pipe f
from the steam boiler, and the condensed steam is drawn off at g. The air
and products are kept circulating in the vessel a, a, and through the tube c by
a fan h, or other convenient means. In the tube c are two slides i and j, and
there is also an inverted cone / opening into the tube c, it having a valve to
close that passage when desired. The fabrics containing india rubber, whether
the same has been used for waterproofing or elasticating such fabrics, are to
be suspended on a suitable frame in the vessel a, a, and such is the case in
respect to sheets, thread, or other forms of india rubber, but there is this
difference in treating fabrics containing india rubber, that the same, when
being operated upon according to the Invention, are, after the vessel a, a, has
been closed, to have heat applied thereto to raise them to such a temperature
before steam is admitted to the fabrics as to prevent the steam when admitted
condensing thereon, otherwise the fabrics are liable to become marked, soiled,
and discolored in places. Under the inverted cone is placed a pan of sulphur,
which is to be lighted when sulphurous acid gas or products of burning
sulphur may by the process be required to be admitted, as hereafter explained.
1, 1, is a frame for suspending the fabrics; it consists of a central bar l, with
radial arms and rods, and it is from those radial arms that the fabrics,
sheets, or. other forms of india rubber are to be suspended. This frame may
be of metal, but should be protected by tin or other matter against the action
of sulphurous acid gas, and the frame is capable of being raised out of and
lowered into the chamber or vessel a, a, by tackle, as shewn. It should be
stated that the shape and arrangement of the vessel a and the frame 1 may
be varied so long as the process herein explained can be performed.
I will now proceed to explain the manner of carrying on the process con-
stituting this Invention, and in doing so I will suppose that the frame with a
quantity of fabrics thereon has been lowered into the chamber or vessel a, a,
and that the same has been closed. The slides or valves i, j, are to be opened
and the air circulated by the fan till the temperature of the air in the chamber
or vessel a has been raised to about one hundred and eighty degrees of
Fahrenheit. The throttle valve over the sulphur is then to be opened so that

page_text: suphurous acid gas or products of burning sulphur will be admitted and
circulated with the air by the fan, and this is continued for about one hour
and a half, and the heat of the chamber or vessel a is to be gradually raised
by steam admitted into the jacket to the temperature of two hundred and
twenty degrees of Fahrenheit. The valves or slides i, j, and that over the
cone, are to be closed and steam admitted into the interior of the vessel a, and
into the jacket, till the temperature is about two hundred and eighty degrees
of Fahrenheit, which takes about two hours, when the steam is to be allowed
to flow off, and the process is completed by again causing heated air to flow
through the vessel a, which dries and hardens the india rubber.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details as herein explained, so long as the
peculiar character of the Invention, as herein described, be retained; but what
I claim is, the mode of manufacturing or treating india rubber by subjecting
it to dry and moist heat and sulphurous acid gas, or products of burning
sulphur.
And I also claim the mode of treating india rubber in waterproof fabrics
by subjecting such fabrics to heat, steam, and air, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Proctor Westhead, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fith day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.