Improvements in the Manufacture of Flax or other Vegetable Fibre Roofing.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 28th July, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 26th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 25th May, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Flax or other Vegetable Fibre
Roofing.
I, GEORGE MCTEAR, of Ard Greenan Cave Hill Road, Belfast in the Kingdom
of Ireland, Felt Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
Vegetable fibre roofing is usually made out of card flyings from the carding
machines in mills, where flax, hemp, jute and such like fibres are spun, or from
fibre straw machined.
The process of manufacturing is as follows-
The dry fibre is placed upon a feed apron which brings it to a pair of feed
rollers and discharges it on to a covered cylinder or drum furnished with pins or
teeth and revolving at a high speed. After the fibre has been teazed therewith it
is then by the aid of air suction brought upon a wire cylinder where it is formed
into a sliver or bat, and discharged through rollers upon a level plate and then
conducted through and over a number of rollers where it is saturated with bitumen
dried and pressed. From the foregoing description it may be observed that
vegetable fibre roofing is made of loose fibre stuck together by pressure and
bitumen.
When a roof has been covered with vegetable fibre roofing, in order to complete
the work it is absolutely necessary to give it a coating of bitumen varnish. It has
been found that when vegetable fibre roofing has been exposed to a great sun heat,
such as is usual during the summer months, that if the varnish is not made of a
stout body, it works through the fibre and is absorbed by the wood sheathing or
escapes through the board joints. It is difficult also to arrive at a proper temper
for the coating, as in climates where at certain seasons there is extreme heat or cold,
if it is of too stout a body, it will crack with the frost, and if too liquid, will work
through the fibre with a strong sun heat as already explained.
Now my improvement in.the manufacture of vegetable fibre roofing comprises
the addition, by the aid of rollers (or other appliances) with saturating pans, of a
web of non-absorbing manilla or other paper, woven fabric or other suitable body,
to the underside of the fibre roofing together with a layer of bitumen cement
between them. The paper does not absorb the pitch or bitumen and therefore it
cannot escape, but is held to the vegetable fibre roofing, thereby obviating the
objection to the use of this fabric in warm climates. The use of the bitumen in
the roofing fabric makes it unnecessary to varnish it as often as has been
customary.
The vegetable fibre roofing is thus in reality coated with bitumen upon the
underside in the process, having a layer of bitumen between it and the paper; also
the paper assists to exclude the air from the bitumen and fibre roofing, and it is
admitted by practical roofers that a considerable portion of decay in roofing fabric
is due to the exposure of air currents upon the underside of the roofing material.
Dated this 27th day of July 1893.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Strect, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COME TEIN DIECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Flax or other Vegetable Fibre
Roofing.
I, GEORGE MCTEAR of Ard Greenan Cave Hill Road, Belfast, in the Kingdom
of Ireland, Felt Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:--
Vegetable fibre roofing is usually made out of card flyings, from the carding
machines in mills, where flax, hemp, jute and such like fibres are spun, or from
fibre straw machined.
The process of manufacturing is as follows-
The dry fibre is placed upon a feed apron which brings it to a pair of feed rollers,
and discharges it on to a covered cylinder or drum furnished with pins or teeth and
revolving at a high speed. After the fibre has been teased therewith, it is then,
by the aid of air suction, brought upon a wire cylinder, where it is formed into a
sliver or bat, and discharged through rollers upon a level plate and then conducted
through and over a number of rollers, where it is saturated with bitumen, dried
and pressed.
From the foregoing description, it may be observed that vegetable fibre roofing
is at present made of loose fibre caused to adhere together by pressure and
bitumen.
It has
When a roof has been covered with vegetable fibre roofing, in order to complete
the work it is absolutely necessary to give it a coating of bitumen varnish.
been found that, when vegetable fibre roofing has been exposed to a great sun heat
such as is usual during the summer months, if the varnish be not made of a stout.
body, it works through the fibre and is absorbed by the wood sheathing or escapes
through the board joints. It is difficult also to arrive at a proper temper for the
coating, as, in climates where at certain seasons there is extreme heat or cold, if it
be of too stout a body, it will crack with the frost, and, if too liquid, it will work
through the fibre with a strong sun heat as already explained.
Now by my invention, I add, in the process of manufacture, to the underside of
this material a web of non-absorbing or only slightly absorbent manilla paper,
woven fabric or like material, and at the same time cement the two together by a
layer of bitumen. The paper, dense canvas, or other but slightly absorbent fabric,
does not absorb the bitumen or pitch, and thus it cannot escape but remains in the
fabric and it is not requisite to varnish the upper surface as often as is customary
with the ordinary material, owing to the under surface of the bitumen being
protected from the air, thus preventing disintegration.
Figure 1 of the drawing is an enlarged section of my roofing material in which
a is the fibre, saturated with bitumen; is a layer of ordinary bituminous cement;
c manilla paper.
Figure 2 shows the apparatus used by me for making the roofing.
In this latter figure, A is a feed apron for dry fibre: A', two feed rollers:
B, covered cylinder or drum furnished with pins and revolving at a far higher
speed than that of the feed rolls, whereby the fibre is carded and drawn out:
C, covered wire cylinder acted on by air suction and upon which is formed the
sliver or bat: D, chamber partially exhausted of air by pump or other means not
shown E, delivery rollers with pressure to press the bat: F, iron plate to sustain
the bat G, upper heated roller with back pan for bitumen, the edge fitting close
to roller at an angle. The feed is regulated with screws advancing or setting back
the pan from the rollers: G', under heated roller revolving in pan of bitumen:
H, three pipes extending over the saturated fibre, the ends being closed, but with
a slit facing the material the length of its breadth. These pipes are connected

page_text: with fan blowers and convey cold air for congealing the bitumen: J, upper
pressure roller to press together the fibrous material and saturated fibre: Ji, under
roller for same purpose, revolving in a pan to collect the bitumen which is pressed
out K, bottom pans for bitumen: L, a cooling roller arranged to hold ice water :
P, paper or other fibrous material, usually manilla paper: M, roller revolving in
pan to coat fibrous material with bitumen: N, guide roller for fibrous material.
In thus describing my apparatus, I do not bind myself to the exact form set
forth as other well known modes of forming a thin layer of adhesive cement on the
surface can be employed if desired, also other arrangements for drying and cooling
could be substituted for the split rollers, or it could be carried over rollers till
sufficiently cold. It will be obvious also that the layer of cement can be omitted
if the fibre itself be sufficiently saturated with bitumen to supply the necessary
adhesion; also that other means of pressure than rolling can be used, such as the
two layers being intermittently passed between the two surfaces of a reciprocating
press. I prefer, however, the rolling as simplest.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The manufacture and use, for roofing material, of a web consisting of
vegetable fibre roofing in combination with a layer of manilla fibre paper, or other
comparatively non-absorbent tough material, caused strongly to adhere to the
vegetable fibre roofing during manufacture.
2. The improvement in the manufacture of a material such as set forth in
Claim 1, which consists in passing vegetable fibre roofing and a tough, com-
paratively non-absorbent web through rollers, the inner side of one or both being
first coated with adhesive bitumen, and pressing the two together into a single
web.
3. The use, in the manufacture of vegetable fibre roofing, of the apparatus for
simultaneously manufacturing the bitumenised fibre and adding the tough
comparatively non-absorbent web with adhesive layer substantially as described
and illustrated.
Dated this 23rd day of April 1894.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co,
Of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, and London,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.