IM- PROVEMENTS IN TREATING FIBROUS, LIGNEOUS, AND TEXTILE SUBSTANCES AND FABRICS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SUBSTITUTES FOR LEATHER, GUTTA PERCHA, PAPIER MACHE, AND OTHER MANUFACTURING MATERIALS, AND FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES; ALSO IN MANUFACTURING ARTICLES FROM SUCH SUBSTITUTES, AND IN PREPARING AGENTS USED IN THE SAID TREATMENT, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE
Year: 1872

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Don and Robert Alfred
Wright at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 2nd April 1872.
We, THOMAS DON, of Redhill, in the County of Surrey, Engineer,
and ROBERT ALFRED WRIGHT, of Homerton, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN TREATING FIBROUS, LIGNEOUS, AND TEXTILE SUBSTANCES AND
FABRICS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SUBSTITUTES FOR LEATHER, GUTTA PERCHA,
PAPIER MACHE, AND OTHER MANUFACTURING MATERIALS, AND FOR OTHER USEFUL
PURPOSES; ALSO IN MANUFACTURING ARTICLES FROM SUCH SUBSTITUTES, AND IN
PREPARING AGENTS USED IN THE SAID TREATMENT, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE," to be as follows:-
.
According to this Invention fibrous, ligneous, and textile substances
and materials, either in the form of pulp or otherwise, are treated in
such manner that the cellulose or lignine is attacked, acted on, or
dissolved, or partially dissolved, and the substances or materials rendered
glutinuous or tenacious, and waterproof, and capable of being manu̟-
factured into various articles or used for various purposes.
For this
A

page_text: object the fibrous, ligneous, or textile substance or material, or pulp
or paper made therefrom, is treated with one or other of the following
agents, herein-after to avoid repetition called "agent" only, cupro
ammonum or a solution of copper in ammonia, or sulphuric acid, or a
caustic alkali.
The pulp or other substance may be combined or not with other
matters. We sometimes arrange the pulp in layers which we connect
and treat by one or other of the said agents, expel the excess,
shape the product.
and
The articles manufactured according to our Invention from the said
material are mainly those which have been hitherto made of leather,
such as bands, belts, straps, fire buckets, whip thongs, engine packing
washers, trunks, portmanteaus, travelling bags, brush backs, book covers,
backs for cards of carding engines, also articles hitherto made of papier
mâché or gutta percha, such as tea trays, picture frames, handles of
surgical and other instruments, tubes, facia and other shop or house
front letters, inscriptions, or devices: also other artioles, as cordage,
oil cloth, waterproof coating for paper hanging, non-conducting coating
or lining for steam boilers, baths, and refrigerators.
In carrying our Invention into effect we take pulp produced of a
fibrous material, and having suitably opened or otherwise prepared it
we saturate or treat it with cupro ammonium, solutions of ammonia,
sulphuric acid, or caustic alkali. We then deprive the pulp of the excess
of the agent used, and we next mould or shape it into the required form
by pressure, forcing, rolling, or other method, by means of rollers,
moulds, or other apparatus. The saturation with the agent may be.
effected by placing the pulp on a frame of wire gauze, perforated.
metal, or other perforated or reticulated material, and then subjecting
it to the action of the agent.
For some purposes, such as the manufacture of bands, belts, cordage,
and the like, we form the pulp into sheets, strips, or strands, or we form
the pulp into paper which we reduce into sheets or strips, or we take
fibrous or ligneous material, such for instance as bark or straw in an
unmanufactured or partially manufactured state, or old cordage or fabric
made of textile material, and reduce it to sheets, strips, fibres, or strands,
and we pass such sheets, strips, fibres, or strands through a bath con-
taining the agent, so that cach sheet, strip, fibre, or strand may be

page_text: Sometimes for certain industrial or manufacturing purposes, such as
for bearings or packing, we mix with pulp graphite, silicate of magnesia,
paints or pigments, gum tragacanth; gum cassia, gum kown or other
suitable gums.