AN IMPROVED COM- POSITION SUITABLE FOR COVERING THE CAULKING OF SHIPS AND OTHER LIKE PURPOSES, FOR UNITING WOOD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, FOR FILLING UP SEAMS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William John Hay, of Southsea, in the County of
Hants, Experimental Chemist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED COM-
POSITION SUITABLE FOR COVERING THE CAULKING OF SHIPS AND OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES, FOR UNITING WOOD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, FOR FILLING UP SEAMS,
Sealed the 27th July 1858, and dated the 1st February 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William John Hay at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
February 1858.
I, WILLIAM JOHN HAY, of Southsea, in the County of Hants, Experimental
Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
.COMPOSITION SUITABLE FOR COVERING THE CAULKING OF SHIPS AND OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES, FOR UNITING WOOD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, FOR FILLING UP SEAMS, AND
FOR USE AS A WATERPROOF COMPOSITION GENERALLY," to be as follows:-
My improved composition is intended to be run in over the caulking in the
decks of ships, and to be paid by brush or otherwise over the caulking in the
sides of ships and vessels, to be run in between and fill up the seams in
wooden and other structures, also to be used as a glue to unite pieces of wood;
as a waterproof composition for roofs, floors, &c.
Mycomposition is formed of thefollowing ingredients:-Asphalte, vegetable
tar, and oil naphtha, with or without the addition of caoutchouc, or instead of

page_text: oil naphtha I use rough creosote, spirit of turpentine, or any other spirit or
essential oil; or I combine two or more of these ingredients and mix them
with asphalte and vegetable tar.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William John Hay in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th July 1858.
:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JOHN HAY, of Southsea, in the County of Hants, Experimental Chemist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the.said
William John Hay, Her special licence that I, the said William John Hay,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
John Hay, 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 "AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION
SUITABLE FOR COVERING THE CAULKING OF SHIPS AND OTHER LIKE PURPOSES, FOR
UNITING WOOD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, FOR FILLING UP SEAMS, AND FOR USE AS A
WATERPROOF COMPOSITION GENERALLY," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William John Hay, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William John Hay, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
My improved composition is intended to be run in over the caulking in the
decks of ships, and to be paid by brush or otherwise over the caulking in the
side of ships and vessels, to be run in and fill up the seams in wooden and
:

page_text: other structures; also to be used as a glue to 'unite pieces of wood as a water
proof composition for roofs, floors, iron ships, and other iron work, &c....
:
My composition is formed of the following ingredients:- Asphalte or
Trinidad pitch, vegetable tar, and oil naptha, with or without the addition of
caoutchouc. Or, instead of naptha, I use rough creosote, spirit of turpentine,
or any other spirit or essential oil; or I combine two or more of these ingre-
dients and mix them with asphalte or Trinidad pitch and vegetable tar.
The best proportions of the ingredients for making the improved composi
tion for general purposes with which I am acquainted, are as follows:-
(No. 1.) Trinidad pitch or asphalte, 60lbs., vegetable tar, 15lbs., oil naptha, 1
2lbs.; or, (No. 2) Trinidad pitch or asphalte, 60lbs., vegetable tar, 15lbs.,
rough creosote, 2 lbs. ; or, (No. 3.) Trinidad pitch or asphalte, 60lbs., vege-
table tar, 15 lbs., oil turpentine, 4 lbs. In cases where it is required to pack
the composition and send it out for use, and where it may be expected to require
remelting or long exposure to heat in the melting pots while being used, the
following are the proportions which I believe to be best suited to the purpose.
(No. 4.) Trinidad pitch or asphalte, 60 lbs., vegetable tar, 15lbs., oil naptha;
2 lbs.; or (No. 5.) Trinidad pitch or asphalte, 60 lbs., vegetable tar, 15 lbs.,
rough creosote, 2 lbs. ; or (No. 6) Trinidad pitch or asphalte, 60lbs., vege-
table tar, 15 lbs., oil turpentine, 4 lbs. For paying seams in ships,sides.or
other upright or nearly upright structures, with mops or brushes, a more fluid
kind of the composition is necessary, which may be obtained by adding half a
pint of the reducing liquid, herein-after described, to 20lbs of the composition
while in its melted state; and when by too long exposure to heat in the
melting pots, or by frequent remelting it may have become too dense, i small
quantity of the reducing liquid may be added in a proportion depending upon
the state of the composition. The reducing or regulating liquid is prepared
by mixing 12lbs. of hot vegetable tar with 3lbs. of oil naptha, in which oz.
of india-rubber has been dissolved, or it may be prepared by mixing 12lbs. of
hot vegetable tar with 3 lbs. of rough creosote, or it inay be prepared by
mixing 12 lbs. of hot vegetable tar with 5 lbs. of spirits or oil of turpentine;
but the first-mentioned mixture is preferred. In all cases a small quantity of
caoutchouc may be dissolved in the liquids before using them,in the proportion
of 1 oz. to 1 gallon, but this is not essential.
I prefer to adopt one of two methods of preparing or combining the fore-
going materials, which are as follows:-First, in a large iron boiler or pan I
melt the Trinidad pitch or asphalte. This pan may either contain a definite
weight, or an iron pot may be suspended over it on a small gallows or crane,
such pot holding a definite weight, say, 30, 60, 90, or 120lbs. When the

page_text: As soon as the com
Trinidad pitch or asphalte is melted, the pot may be lowered and filled, and
then removed and emptied into a mixing boiler or pan, which is to be kept
warm; adjoining this boiler or pan is to be placed a boiler or pan of a smaller
size, in which the vegetable tar is to be kept hot in the proper proportions
measured in a similar way, by a pot or ladle made to contain the definite
proportion or weight or otherwise. The contents of the pot or ladle are then
emptied into the mixing boiler or pan, and the whole is mixed. When the
two are well incorporated, the proportion of fluid requisite is to be added. The
composition thus formed may then be either baled out or run out of the mixing
boiler into iron or stone trays to cool, or run into casks at once, the preference
being given to shallow stone trays wetted with water.
position is chilled it is transferred into casks for use.
one which may be adopted when small quantities are required, and when the
necessary pans or boilers are not provided. The proper weights of Trinidad
pitch or asphalte (by preference, powdered,) and vegetable tar are to be mixed
and melted together in one pot, the vegetable tar facilitating the melting of
Trinidad pitch or asphalte. When these are melted and well incorporated,
they must be removed from the fire and the liquid stirred in. This may
be done either at the ship's side or on the deck in convenient stoves. In all
cases, much time and fuel can be saved by crushing the asphalte or Trinidad
pitch small before melting.
The second method is
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not limit myself to
the proportions or methods of manufacture herein-before set forth, as these,
although the best with which I am acquainted, may be varied without depart-
ing from my Invention; but I claim the manufacture and employment of a
composition formed of asphalte or Trinidad pitch, vegetable tar, and oil naptha,
or other spirit or essential oil, or spirits or essential oils substantially in the
manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William John Hay, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight.
A. L. VAN DEN BERGH,
Witness to the Signature.
WILLIAM JOHN HAY. (L.S.)