CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND TREATMENT OF INDIA-RUBBER AND VULCANITE, AS APPLIED TO VARIOUS PURPOSES
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL. SPECIFICATION. left by Isham Baggs and James Thomas
Parkes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 9th October 1861.
We, ISHAM BAGGS, of Green Terrace, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, and JAMES THOMAS PARKES, of Almorah Terrace, in the said County,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND TREATMENT OF INDIA-RUBBER AND
VULCANITE, AS APPLIED TO VARIOUS PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of certain processes and methods of manufacture
and treatment applicable to india-rubber and vulcanite, whereby those materials
are rendered applicable to a great variety of useful and ornamental purposes.
One portion of this Invention relates to the colouring of india-rubber and
vulcanite, and is effected by incorporating or combining coloured glass, pipe-
clay, and other suitable colouring substances or agents with the india-rubber
or vulcanite. The materials thus prepared pass through the process of baking,
and are then submitted to the action of concentrated sulphuric acid or any
other chemical substance capable of acting upon such materials in an analogous
manner, whereby the injury ordinarily resulting from the high temperature to
which the materials have been exposed is prevented. In some cases, such
injury may be obviated by submitting the materials to the before-mentioned
chemical treatment prior to the baking process.
The materials are afterwards acted upon by the application of chloride of lime
or any other chemical substance or substances possessing analogous properties,

page_text: the portions of the india-rubber or vulcanite which have been altered or decom-
posed by the action of the sulphuric acid or other chemical substance in the
last-mentioned operation being thereby restored or bleached, and the proper
effects of the colouring matter developed. The surfaces may then be con-
solidated, either by the application of a suitable varnish, or by the application of
coal tar naphtha or bi-sulphide of carbon, or any other chemical solvent
or agent capable of effecting the desired purpose.
This Invention further consists in the treatment of small pieces, fragments,
or particles of powdered glass with hydro-fluoric acid, either in a gaseous or a
liquid state, so as to destroy the edges and reflective surfaces of such fragments
or particles, and so adapt them the better to cover or form a covering or
colouring material in combination with india-rubber or vulcanite.
Another portion of this Invention also consists in the combination of bronze
powder, or gold, silver, or other metals or metallic alloys in a state of minute
division, with india-rubber or vulcanite, in combination with the chemical
treatment herein-before referred to.
Another part of this Invention consists in fixing scales or plates of vulcanite
upon vulcanized india-rubber or textile fabrics with which india-rubber is
incorporated, in a manner more or less analogous to the scales or plates upon
the heads or skins of reptiles and certain other animals.
Lastly, this Invention also consists of an improved method of vulcanizing
india-rubber, by subjecting the material while under treatment to great
pressure either of steam, air, gas, or vapour.