IMPROVEMENTS RENDERING CLOTH AND OTHER FABRICS AND MATERIALS REPELLENT
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Martin, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Waterproofer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
RENDERING CLOTH AND OTHER FABRICS AND MATERIALS REPELLENT OP
Sealed the 17th June 1870, and dated the 21st December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Martín at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st December 1869.
I, JOSEPH MARTIN, of Leeds, in the County of York, Waterproofer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RENDERING CLOTH AND OTHER FABRICS AND MATERIALS REPELLENT OF WATER,
AND IN APPARATUS THEREPOR," to be as follows:—
For rendering cloth and other woven or textile fabrics, paper, and the
like water and damp repellent I first pass them through a solution of
fat acids, then through a solution of sulphate of alumina, then through
a solution of sulphate of potass, and then through hot or cold water, in

page_text: which the materials are thoroughly cleansed, and be afterwards (dyed
if necessary) tentered, dried, and pressed.
By passing the fabrics through the first solution a film is deposited
therein, which coming in contact with the sulphate of alumina in the
second solution causes the fibre to be saturated with an insoluble
repellent, which is fixed by then passing the fabric through the third
solution.
In order to facilitate the application of this process to the fabrics
before mentioned I use an apparatus which consists of a number of
troughs or cistern or tank divided into compartments, fitted at the
bottom with single rollers, and at the top with double rollers. The
fabric as it passes from one trough to the other passes under the bottom
rollers and between the top rollers, the latter serving the purpose of
pressers.
For rendering stone and other building materials repellent of water or
damp I use the solution first herein mentioned and steep the materials
therein, or apply the solution thereto by a brush.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Martin in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
MARTIN, of Leeds, in the County of York, Waterproofer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in tho
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Martin, Her special licence
that I, the said Joseph Martin, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Martin, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN RENDERING

page_text: CLOTH AND
OTHER FABRICS AND MATERIALS REPELLENT OF WATER, AND IN
APPARATUS THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Joseph Martin, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same 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 Joseph Martin, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
For rendering cloth and other woven or textile fabrics, paper, and the
like water and damp repellent, I first pass them through a solution of
fat acids, which is herein-after designated solution No. 1, and which may
be prepared by boiling animal or vegetable fats or oils with caustic
alkali, or by cutting up and dissolving soap by boiling it in the
proportion of 1lb. of soap to every 9 or 10 gallons of water, keeping the
same proportions of materials in the case of fat acids. I use this solution
in a lukewarm state, and macerate the fabric therein for one minute,
more or less regulating the time by the thickness of the fabric. I then
press the fabric and pass it through a solution of sulphate of alumina,
which is herein-after designated solution No. 2, and which may be
prepared by dissolving from 2 to 3 lbs. of the sulphate to every 9 or 10
gallons of water.
In order to economise the cost of preparing this solution I use, when
procurable, the refuse liquor from alum works. This solution I use
in a cold state, and macerate the fabric therein for a greater or less time
as may be required. I then after again pressing the fabric pass it
through a saturated solution of sulphate of potass, which is herein-after
designated solution No. 3, and which I prepare by boiling the sulphate,
first reduced to powder, in water. After again pressing the fabric. I
finally pass it through hot or cold water, in which the materials are
thoroughly cleansed, and may be afterwards dyed if necessary, or
tentered, dried, and pressed.
In order to facilitate the application of this process to the fabrics
before mentioned I construct and use an apparatus which consists of a
number of troughs, or a cistern or tank divided into compartments,

page_text: fitted at the bottom with single rollers, and at the top with double
rollers. The fabric passes under the bottom rollers, and as it is removed
from one trough to the other passes between the top rollers, which are
fitted with springs or weights to cause them to act as pressers, and in
order to maintain the requisite strength of the respective solutions as
the ingredients are taken up by the fabrics while the apparatus is in
operation, I provide over each compartment a trough or vessel fitted
with a tap containing concentrated solutions of the ingredients, small
quantities of which are added from time to time as required. For
propelling the fabrics from one trough to another, or from one compart-
ment of the tank to another, I fit the ends of one of each of the upper
or double rollers, between which the fabric is pressed, with a handle for
turning the same.
For rendering stone, brick, or other porous building materials repellent
of water I first coat the same with the solution No. 1 by applying it
thereto with a brush, and when thoroughly dry apply solution No. 2 in
the same way.
I claim the mode of depositing and fixing the alumina in the fibre of
the textile fabrics, and the use and application of the apparatus for
facilitating the operation as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Martin, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of February, A.D. 1870.