AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF FABRIC APPLICABLE TO THE PURPOSES OF COVERING AND PACKING BODIES, BUILDINGS, AND GOODS EXPOSED TO WATER AND DAMP
Year: 1841

page_text: FANSHAWE'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN AMERICUS FANSHAWE, of Hatfield Street, in the l'arish of
Christ Church, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria,
by Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster the Sixteenth day of December, in the
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Americus Fanshawe, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege, and authority that I, the
said John Americus Fanshawe, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said John Americus Fanshawe, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF FABRIC APPLICABLE
TO THE PURPOSES OF COVERING AND PACKING BODIES, BUILDINGS, AND GOODS
EXPOSED TO WATER AND DAMP." In which said Letters Patent is con-

page_text: tained a proviso, obliging me, the said John Americus Fanshawe, by
an instrument in writing under, my hand and seal, particularly to
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
iprolled in Her Majesty High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear..
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso I, the
said John Americus Fanshawe, do hereby declare that the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
are particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
My improved manufacture of waterproof-fabric, applicable to the
purposes of covering and packing, bodies, buildings, and goods exposed
water and damp, consists in the production of sheets of fabric com-
pounded of fibrous materials, either animal or vegetable, or both, with
caoutchouc and other adhesive; resinous, or mineral substances, which
are to be manufactured in a peculiar way into sheets applicable to the
above-mentioned' purposes. The materials to be employed are 'hair,
wool, cotton, flax, heimp, cocoa nut fibre, or other fibrous, substances,
any or all of them, according to the quality of goods required, which
are to be incorporated into a mass of caoutchouc (indian rubber) by the
peculiar means herein-after described, and to which may be added pitch,
rosin, shell lac, bitumen, or asphalte, and also, if required, sulphur,
white lead, chalk, red led; ochre, or other opaque coloring matters.
These sheets, when so made, are to be applied to 'various purposes,
of covering the sides and bottoms of ship's and other vessels, the roofs
of buildings, sheds, tents, walls, floors, paths, or other surfaces, and
likewise for the envelopes of packages, and other things requiring
protection from the weather or from moisture, and for the making
or coating of vessels to contain water, as buckets, tanks, fire hose, and
other tube, and also as a substitute for oil cloths and leather -under
various adaptations. In the accompanying Drawings I have repre-

page_text: sented in several views an apparatus which I find convenient to be
used for the purpose of this manufacture. Fig 1, and 2, are front
and side elevations of the machine. Fig. 3, is a vertical section taken
through the middle of Fig. 1, in the same direction as Fig. 2; and
Fig. 4, is a horizontal section taken above the level of the rotary
axle. a, a, is a hollow vessel or box of a rectangular form intended to
contain steam or hot air. b, b, is a cylindrical vessel placed within the
former, so that about two thirds of its circumference shall be immersed
in the steam or hot air chamber a, a. In the centre of this cylindrical
vessel a strong iron roller c, is mounted, its axle turning in plummer
boxes bearing upon brackets d, d, affixed to the outer sides of the
steam box a, a. This roller is furnished with a great number of pins
or teeth standing about three eighths of an inch from the periphery of
the roller, but they may project further, and the roller may be made to
revolve by means of a pulley and band or winch affixed to the outer
part of its axle. The upper portion of the cylindrical vessel b, b, is
made to open upon a hinge joint at e, for the purpose of allowing the
caoutchouc to be readily introduced into the cylindrical vessel, and when
that has been done the cover or moveable portion of the cylindrical
vessel is shut down and confined by a lever clamp f,. which is made
fast by hand screws. The caoutchouc or indian rubber, cut into small
pieces, being in a sufficient quantity in the cylindrical vessel, as described,
steam or hot air is admitted by a pipe g, into the box a, and any con-
densation may be drawn off by another pipe furnished with a cock z.
Rotary motion is now to be given to the roller c, by the action of which,
aided by the heat, the caoutchouc will soon become soft and plastic.
I then introduce through an opening h, in the cover the hair or other
fibrous substances in small quantities at a time, and also the pitch,
shell lac, or other bituminous and earthy matters, when, by the action
of the revolving roller and the heat, these materials soon become per-
fectly incorporated with the caoutchouc, and assume the form of one
adhesive mass. The proportions of these materials, so incorporated,
must depend upon the quality of the fabric required to be produced.
For the sheathing of ships bottoms I should first introduce into
the cylindrical vessel fifteen pounds of good caoutchouc, to which I

page_text: should add one pound of pitch or other bituminous matter, and one
pound of black rosin, with half a pound of shell lac or other resinous
matter, and half a pound of brimstone, which are to be finely
powdered and mixed, and then introduced gradually or in small quan-
tities at a time. During the same time that this operation is going
on I also introduce into the cylindrical vessel cows hair or pigs hair
or any other description of hair (or other fibrous materials, but for this
purpose I prefer those first named), and I continue to supply this hair
as long as the plastic materials within will take it up into the mass. I
have found that about three pounds of hair is sufficient, and the opera-
tion of mastication being carried on for about one hour will bring
these materials into a fit state for the next process, viz, that of
rolling it out into sheets. I now provide a pair of heavy rollers, such as
are commonly used for flatting or spreading out sheets of lead, but
prefer that they should be hollow. These rollers being hollow are to
be made warm (say to about 100° Fahrenheit) by the. introduction of
steam, hot water, or other means. I then take the mass of caoutchouc
and other materials as incorporated in the way described from the
cylinder, and pass it several times between these spreading rollers,
their distance apart being adjusted occasionally, as the process goes on,
by screws or otherwise for the purpose of bringing them closer together,
and gradually spreading the material out into a sheet so as to reduce
it to about the thickness of an inch in substance. I then cover the
sheet on each side with a layer or sliver of carded hair, and again
pass it between the rollers, and continue repeating this coating of
carded hair, and successively rolling it, until a further quantity of about
forty-eight pounds of hair has been incorporated in the whole mass, and
the sheet so formed is, by rolling and spreading, reduced to about one
twentieth of an inch in thickness. These quantities of materials so
operated upon will be spread out to a superficial area of very con-
siderable extent, and may now be cut into sheets of such dimensions
and forms as may be required. In adapting this mode of manufacture
to the production of sheets of fabric suited to the covering of roofs of
buildings and some of the other purposes above contemplated I employ
the same mode of operation as above set out, but for these purposes I &

page_text: sometimes use wool and other fibrous materials as above said, and add
to these fibrous and adhesive gummy materials, mixed in about the
proportions stated, a composition of two pounds of glue with three
pounds of alum dissolved in water, and with these I mix six pounds of
whiting, and sometimes a small quantity of colouring matter, or in place
of the whiting I use ochre or other earthy materials. When these last-
mentioned materials have been properly mixed together and evaporated
to dryness they are to be reduced, by grinding or otherwise, to a fine
powder, which powder may be incorporated with the other materials in
the cylindrical vessel above described, or, if preferred, when the material
is passed between the spreading rollers. I would here, however,
observe, that the composition of materials last described, designed for
covering buildings and other uses, as above mentioned, will not be
capable of absorbing so much of the fibrous materials as that made for
the sheathing of ships, and it being required to assume a more smooth
surface, that will be the result of embodying the gluc, alum, and earthy
or coloring matters, and in this production it will not be necessary to
adhere closely to the proportions above named. In adapting this
manufacture to the covering of tents and other temporary erections as
a substitute for tarpaulin, for floor cloths, coating of walls, covers of
packages, and some other uses, I attach a woven fabric of cotton, flax,
or hemp to the sheet of caoutchouc, hair, &c., first described, which is
done by laying the woven cloth smoothly upon the face of the com-
position fabric previously to passing it for the last time between the
spreading rollers, when the warmth and pressure of the rollers as the
combined fabrics pass between them will cause the two to adhere
firmly together. The compound fabric may then be painted on its
surface, if required, with any ornamental device or pattern, as floor
cloths are commonly painted or printed. In some instances I employ a
cotton or other cloth which has been previously dyed or printed with
stripes or other devices by the ordinary process of calico printing,
which, when combined with the before-described caoutchouc and fibrous
fabric, by pressure, as last stated, will produce-a-waterproof covering of
ight and handsome appearance, suited for tents and other hangings
exposed to rain and the damp of the atmosphere.

page_text: Having now described my improved manufacture of waterproof
fabric applicable to the purposes above stated, I wish it. clearly to be
understood what are the novel features of this manufacture which I
claim under the above in part recited. Letters Patent. I am aware
that fibrous materials have been mixed and incorporated with caout- !
chouc and other matters in, a state of solution produced by chemical
means; also, that machinery,. such as I have above described, has
been employed for masticating indian rubber, and bringing it into a
plastic state preparatory to pressing it into blocks for cutting it into
sheets, pieces, ribbons, strands, &c. But that which I claim as. new is,
the mode of manufacturing sheets of fibrous materials with caoutchouc
by means of mastication in the manner above described, and not by
solution, which fibrous matters may be mixed with any or all. of. the
other materials named above for the purpose of making the substance,
quality, and appearance of the fabric according to the purposes to which
it is intended to be applied.
In witness whereof I, the said John Americus Fanshawe, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
JOHN AMERICUS (L. s.) FANSHAWE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Sixteenth day of
June, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid John Americus
Fanshawe came before our Lady the Queen, in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing
therein contained in form above written; and also the Specification
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the statute in that
case made and provided.
Talled the same Sixteenth day of June, in the year above written.
R. RICHARDS.