IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER- PROOFING WOVEN FABRICS.
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Murdoch, of Staple Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER-
PROOFING WOVEN FABRICS. "-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Murdoch at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th December 1854.
I, JAMES MURDOCH, of 7, Staple Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WATERPROOFING WOVEN FABRICS," a communication, to be as follows:-
I make a mixture of allum, ox gall, linseed cake, which I boil in water; in
this solution I steep cotton, woollen, silk, or linen fabrics, which operation I
repeat several times. I then prepare a composition of linseed oil, india-rubber,
litharge, gum copal, Prussian blue, sulphate of zinc, solution of tin, tar, and
rosin black, which I expose in a copper cauldron, to a heat sufficient to ignite
the mixture. Of this composition I put one or several layers on the fabrics
prepared as above, by means of cylinders, admixing sundry pigments, according
to the colour I require. I then dry the fabrics in a proper drying stove, and
finally draw them through rollers, either plain or engraved.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Murdoch in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st June 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MURDOCH, of Staple Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Murdoch, Her special licence that I, the said James
Murdoch, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Murdoch, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WATERPROOFING WOVEN FABRICS," (a communication), upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Murdoch, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
sainé 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 James Murdoch, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say) :-
I proceed as follows:-To 3 gallons of filtered water I add lb. of alum,
1 lb. of ox gall, and 2 lbs. of linseed cake, and boil the mixture for an hour,
then filter the mixture and allow it to cool. I then apply this preparation to
the fabrics by a brush, or by steeping them therein, and when the fabrics are
sufficiently coated, 1 put them in a stove to dry. I next take 3 gallons of
linseed oil and boil it over a strong fire, and mix with it Ib. of tar, lb.
of Prussian blue, lb. caoutchouc, lb. crude litharge, and lb. of lamp black.
After the mixture by continued boiling is reduced to a proper consistency, I
allow it to cool, and apply to the aforesaid fabrics one, two, or more layers of
}

page_text: it by means of a spreading machine, the fabrics being dried in a stove after
cach coating of the composition. Lastly, I take 3 gallons of linseed oil, boil
it over a strong fire, and mix with it 1 lb. of Prussian blue, or such color as I
intend to use, 2 oz. of solution of tin, and 2 oz. of white copperas. After the
mixture has by continued boiling become so thickened that it ignites readily
and gets glutinous, I allow it to cool, and with this composition I coat the
aforesaid fabrics, and dry them as before, and, if necessary, I give a thin coat-
ing of a solution of copal. The goods should be smoothed by pumice stone
once or twice between the coatings. The appearance of the fabrics may be
improved by passing them through an embossing machine.
Having thus described the Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I would observe that I do not limit myself to the exact proportions
of the materials given above, as the same may be slightly varied without detri-
ment; but I claim, as constituting the Invention, the waterproofing woven
fabrics by means of the several compositions herein-above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Murdoch, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
E. C. COLE.
JAMES MURDOCH. (L.S.)