IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF PAPER OR FABRICS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Jeyes, of Plaistow, in the County of Essex,
Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
WATERPROOF PAPER OR FABRICS."
Sealed the 17th November 1874, and dated the 21st May 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Jeyes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st May 1874.
I, JOHN JEYES, of Plaistow, in the County of Essex, Chemist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF PAPER OR FABRICS," to be as follows:-
I take Japanese, Chinese, or other similar paper with a long fibre or
a finely woven or glazed fabric, and I saturate or cover one or both sides
of the same with a compound consisting of oil, petroleum spirit, and
gum. I prefer to employ cotton seed oil, but linseed or other "fixed"
oils or substance of a greasy or wax-like nature may be substituted,

page_text: Instead of petroleum spirit I may use shale spirit, turpiutine, or any
light hydrocarbon.
I sometimes find it advantageous to add coal pitch, carbolic acid, or
one of the distillates of tar, especially when the material is designed for
surgical or hospital purposes. I prefer the use of gum damar, but other
resinous gums may be substituted. When coal pitch is used I first
dissolve it in one of the distillates of tar, and then add the solution to
the aforesaid compound which is formed by dissolving the gum in the
petroleum spirit, and I add thereto the requisite quantity of oil to make
the compound plastic and cohesive. The surface of the material after
being dried may be covered with a solution of gum tragacanth, isinglass,
or kid glue. The paper or fabric when saturated or covered with the
above compound becomes waterproof, and also strong, transparent, and
partially elastic. The material when the process is completed is an
excellent substitute for oiled silk and other waterproof fabrics now in
use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Jeyes in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th November 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
JEYES, of Plaistow, in the County of Essex, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Jeyes, Her special licence
that I, the said John Jeyes, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Jeyes, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF PAPER OR FABRICS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Jeyes, my executors or

page_text: 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 John Jeyes, 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:-
I take Japanese, Chinese, or other similar paper with a long fibre or
a finely woven or glazed fabric, and I saturate or cover one or both sides
of the same with a compound preferably consisting of the oil, petroleum
spirits, and gum, in or about the proportion of one ounce of oil and one
gallon of rectified petroleum spirits to three pounds of gum dammar.
I prefer to employ cotton seed oil for the purpose, but linseed or
other fixed oils or substances of a greasy or wax-like nature may be
substituted.
I may advantageously substitute bees-wax and gutta percha or either
of them for the cotton seed oil, and in case of the substitution of both
ingredients in the above quantities I prefer to use about one ounce of
bees-wax and one ounce of gutta percha, but when only one of these
ingredients is substituted I use about two ounces either of the bees-wax
or the gutta percha. Instead of the petroleum spirit I may use shale
spirit, turpentine, or other light hydrocarbons.
I sometimes find it advantageous to add coal pitch, carbolic acid, or
one of the distillates of tar, especially when the material is designed for
surgical or hospital purposes. When I use coal pitch I first dissolve
it in one of the distillates of tar, by preference "light oil" which is a
substance commercially well-known, and then add the solution to the
aforesaid compound which has been formed by dissolving the gum in the
petroleum spirits. The gum dammar is diminished when coal pitch is
employed to the extent of about one-half and an equal proportion of
pitch is substituted.
The object of the oil or its substitutes aforesaid is to render the
compounds plastic and cohesive. The surface of the manufactured
material when dry may for some purposes be advantageously covered

page_text: with a solution of gum tragacanth, isinglass, or kid glue, or a com-
bination of these or like substances. The paper or fabric when saturated
or covered with the above compound becomes waterproof, and also strong,
transparent, and partially clastic. The material when the process is
completed becomes an excellent substitute for oiled silk and other
waterproof fabrics now in use.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said improvements and
shown how the same may be advantageously carried into practice, I
wish it understood that I do not confine myself to the exact proportions
or details herein set forth, but what I claim is the Invention substantially
as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Jeyes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
GEORGE HASELTINE,
Civil Engineer,
Southampton Buildings,
London.
JOHN JEYES. (L.S.)