AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING A HARD, PROTECTIVE, OR ORNAMENTAL COVERING OR COATING OF COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-RUBBER OR GUTTA PERCHA UPON METAL AND OTHER SURFACES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Southampton Buildings, London, Patent Agents, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING A HARD, PROTECTIVE,
OR ORNAMENTAL COVERING OR COATING OF COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-RUBBER OR
GUTTA PERCHA UPON METAL AND OTHER SURFACES."-A communication
from abroad by George Temple Chapman, of New York, United
States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd October 1870.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
5 Southampton Buildings, London, Patent Agents, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING A
HARD, PROTECTIVE, OR ORNAMENTAL COVERING OR COATING OF COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-

page_text: RUBBER OR GUTTA PERCHA UPON Metal and other SURFACES," a communication,
to be as follows:-
For the purpose of this Invention I treat india-rubber or gutta percha
in the following manner :-I dissolve the india-rubber or gutta percha
in oil of turpentine, caoutchouc, coal naptha, benzine, chloroform, or
other solvent; I then introduce into the solution one-half pound of
sulphur to one pound of rubber or gutta percha, first reducing the
sulphur very fine by grinding in one of the solvents of rubber or gutta
percha.
For the purpose of utility or economy, or for the purpose of imparting
a suitable polish, I add one or more of the following substances, in the
proportion of from four to sixteen ounces to the pound of rubber or
gutta percha-Allamine, feldspar, silex, magnesia, sulphate or car.
bonate of lime, French chalk, slate, lime, pumice, gum lac or gum
shellac, or soapstone. These substances must be ground very fine
before mixing with the rubber or gutta percha. To obtain a suitable
colour I mix with the india-rubber or gutta percha vermilion, sulphide of
cadmium, oxide of zinc or of iron, or any colouring substance that will
stand the necessary degree of heat with the action of the sulphur. To
produce a good result the colouring matter must be reduced to an
impalpable powder before being mixed. The india-rubber or gutta
percha when thus compounded and reduced to a homogeneous mass
of the consistency of ordinary paint is ready for use, and may be applied
to the surface to be enamelled or coated with a brush in the ordinary
way of spreading paint, or it may be applied by dipping or pouring.
When the substance to be enamelled has been treated with a coat in
the manner described the solution is permitted to dry and the operation
repeated until the necessary thickness of enamel is obtained, or one
coat may be applied and then cured by heat, and then another coat
applied and again cured, and so on until any desired thickness is
reached.
For the purpose of producing a very heavy coat at a small cost, I use
large proportions of colouring matter, or one or more of the substances
named, grind them in linseed oil and mix them with the rubber or
gutta percha and apply them until the desired thickness is obtained,
when I use as a finishing coat a mixture in which the rubber or gutta
percha predominates. When the solution has been applied in the

page_text: manner described the article to be enamelled is cured by exposing it
to a high degree of artificial heat, using for this purpose either steam,
hot air, or hot water. The degree of heat to which it is to be exposed
will range from 250° to 320° Fahrenheit, and the time of exposure from
twenty minutes to six hours. I generally use dry heat except when I
pack the article to be enamelled, when I use hot water, steam, or hot
air as is most convenient.
When the enamel is to be applied on wood, I frequently pack the
wood after coating in plaster to prevent the warping of the wood.
To produce a mottled or clouded enamel, I use solutions of different
colours and mingle them on the surface, or apply one on top of the
other, and then grind down and polish, when the different colours will
appear.
By the process above described I am able to produce upon any surface
that will stand the degree of heat required to vulcanize the solution the
most beautiful enamel of any desired colour, and susceptible of the
highest finish which is most durable and affords the most complete
protection against corrosion of the metals and decay of the wood.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th April 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Southampton
Buildings, London, Patent Agents, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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,

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF PRODUCING A HARD, PROTECTIVE OR ORNAMENTAL COVERING OR
COATING OF COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-RUBBER OR GUTTA PERCHA UPON METAL AND
OTHER SURFACES," a communication to me from abroad by George Temple
Chapman, of New York, United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 William Robert Lake, 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 :-
For the purpose of this Invention I treat india-rubber or gutta percha
in the following manner :-I dissolve the india-rubber or gutta percha in
oil of turpentine, caoutchouc, coal naptha, benzine, chloroform, or other
solvent; I then introduce into the solution one half pound of sulphur
to one pound of rubber or gutta percha, first reducing the sulphur very
fine by grinding in one of the solvents of rubber or gutta percha.
For the purpose of utility or economy, or for the purpose of imparting
a suitable polish, I add one or more of the following substances, in the
proportion of from four to sixteen ounces to the pound of rubber or gutta
percha Allamine, feldspar, silex, magnesia, sulphate or carbonate
of lime, French chalk, slate, lime, pumicestone, gum lac or gum shellac
or soapstone. These substances must be ground very fine before mixing
with the rubber or gutta percha. To obtain a suitable colour, I mix with
the india-rubber or gutta percha, vermillion, sulphide of cadmium,
oxides of zinc or of iron, or any colouring substance that will stand the
necessary degree of heat with the action of the sulphur. To produce a
good result the colouring matter must be reduced to an impalpable
powder before being mixed. The india-rubber or gutta percha when
thus compounded and reduced to a homogeneous mass of the consistency

page_text: of ordinary paint is ready for use, and may be applied to the surface to
be enamelled or coated with a brush in the ordinary way of spreading
paint, or it may be applied by dipping or pouring. When the substance
to be enamelled has been treated with a coat in the manner described,
the solution is permitted to dry and the operation repeated until the
necessary thickness of enamel is obtained, or one coat may be applied
and then cured by heat, and then another coat applied and cured, and so
on until any desired thickness is reached.
For the purpose of producing a very heavy coat at a small cost, I use
large proportions of colouring matter, or one or more of the substances
named, grind them in linseed oil, mix them with the rubber or gutta
percha, and apply until the desired thickness is obtained, when I apply
as a finishing coat a mixture in which the rubber or gutta percha pre-
dominates. When the solution has been applied in the manner described
the article to be enamelled is "cured" by exposing it to a high degree
of artificial heat; I use for this purpose either steam, hot air, or hot
water. The degree of heat to which it is to be exposed will range from
250° to 320° Fahrenheit, and the time of exposure from twenty minutes
to six hours. I generally use dry heat, except when I pack the article
to be enamelled, when I use hot water, steam, or hot air, as is most
convenient.
When the enamel is to be applied on wood, I frequently pack the wood
after coating in plaster to prevent the warping of the wood.
To produce a mottled or clouded enamel, I use solutions of different
colours and mingle them on the surface, or apply one on top of the other,
and then grind down and polish, when the different colours will appear.
By the process above described I am enabled to produce upon any
surface that will stand the degree of heat required to vulcanize the
solution the most beautiful enamel of any desired colour, susceptible
of the highest finish, of qualities the most durable, and affording the
most complete protection against corrosion of the metals and decay of
the wood.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be
5 conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim, sub-
jecting to the curing action of heat india-rubber or gutta percha in

page_text: In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
E. C. JACKSON.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)