Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Dec., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 26th June, 1896-Accepted, 24th Oct., 1895

page_text: and the desired number of single sheets of the paper are superposed and pasted or
glued together.
The plates, discs or other articles thus formed are then subjected to hydraulic
pressure. After the lapse of 12 hours, the articles will be found to have become
perfectly hard, so much so that they may be conveniently worked by means of a
saw, a plane, a file or on the lathe.
Dated this 17th day of Decembar 1805
LUDWIG GROTE.
An Improved Process for the Manufacture of a Mouldable Mass,
or Objects and Articles, from Asbestos Fibre or other Fibrous
Material or Fibrous Produce.
1, LUDWIG GROTE, of Landsberg-on-the-Lech, in the German Empire,
Manager of Works, temporarily residing at 848, East India Dock Road, Poplar, E.
in the County of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of this invention is to produce acid-proof damp-proof and fire-
proof plastic bodies or substances from asbestos fibre or from other fibrous
material.
This object is attained by working the fibrous material employed into a
parchment-like condition, for which purpose it is steeped into a hot solution of
"water glass," or soluble glass, containing 20 per cent. of soda or potash. After
the fibre has been completely saturated in the before-mentioned solution, it is freed
from the superflous soluble glass by pressure, and is then immersed into a watery
solution containing 20-30% of a salt (soluble in water) of alumina, baryta,
strontia or lime. The asbestos fibre, or other fibrous material, which, owing to
such treatment will have acquired the appearance and properties of parchment,
after being allowed to dry, is, by any suitable means, finely divided, or reduced to
the condition of powder, when it may be utilized as a medium in manufacturing
acid-proof, damp-proof and fire-proof articles, such as cells for electric storage
batteries, vats, pipes, cubical blocks, plates, or the like.
In moulding and pressing these articles the following mixture may be conveniently
used as an adhesive substance or cement, riz. :

page_text: These proportions may however be varied according to the particular nature of
the articles to be manufactured, or the specific object they are intended to
accomplish. After the articles thus produced have been dried by exposure to the
atmosphere, they are placed in a drying oven and there subjected to the action of
as high a temperature as may be practically attained.
In macufacturing plates by this improved process, (which plates may vary in
thickness or depth from the size of a sheet of cardboard to any convenient
maximum) with a view to their employment, as, say, insulating partitions or
linings, driving pulleys, book covers, or the like, asbestos paper, or other paper
of any suitable kind may be used, after having had the properties of parchment
imparted to it by a method hereinafter to be more fully described.
The paper is immersed into a solution of soluble glass containing 20 per cent. of
soda or potash, until it is completely saturated with such solution, after which it is
removed and drained, by allowing the liquid to drip off. The paper is then
placed in a watery solution containing 20-30% of a salt (soluble in water)
of alumina, baryta, strontia or lime, whereby the object just stated is fully
attained.
To impart the shape of plates or discs to the parchment-like asbestos paper, or
other paper, after it has been thoroughly dried, it is coated on both sides with a
mixture consisting of
and the desired number of single sheets of the paper are superposed and pasted or
glued together.
The plates, discs or other articles thus formed are then subjected to hydraulic
pressure. After the lapse of 12 hours, the articles will be found to have become
perfectly hard, so much so that they may be conveniently worked by means of a
saw, a plane, a file or on the lathe.
:
A further way for manufacturing plastic objects that are acid-proof, water-
proof and fire-proof from asbestos or asbestos produce is the following: Steep the.
asbestos fibre either in its natural or in its comminuted state, or any produce of
asbestos, such as asbestos paper or asbestos tissue first into a mixture of solutions.
of soluble glass, glue and formaldehyde, and afterwards into a solution of a salt of
alumina, baryta or strontia, by which process the material acquires a parchment-like
state. Then it is further treated according to whether the material is asbestos,
fibre or asbestos produce, in the following manner :
In using asbestos fibre the process and the proportions of mixture of the required.
chemicals are as follows: I get to dissolve one part of good glue in 12 parts of soft.
water in a hot bath until it is completely dissolved. When the solution has become
cold mix this dissolved glue with 6 parts of a solution of soluble glass of:
20 to 30 degrees Baumé =1,160 to 1,260 specific gravity and I add to this mixture
from 7 to 9 parts of a solution of 40% formaldehyde (CH,O).
After the whole has been properly mixed, I bathe the asbestos fibre in this
solution until it is thoroughly saturated. Thereupon it is pressed so as to be freed
from the superfluous moisture, and it is put into a solution containing 20-30%
of a salt of alumina, baryta or strontia which must be soluble in water, and by this
process the asbestos fibre becomes similar to parchment.
J
i

page_text: When the parchment-like fibre has been dried, it is pulverized minutely by an
appropriate process, and this powder may be used as filling material in the
manufacture of all sorts of objects, as for instance accumulators, receptacles, tubes,
plates, etc. which are water-proof, and fire-proof, and which, in spite of containing
Boluble glass, after once being dried exudate no more any salts.
In the ensuing pressing and shaping of the objects the above described mixture
of soluble glass glue and formaldehyde is further used as binding material,
because it serves to form together with the asbestos powder a plastic mass. The
mixing proportion of this binding material is in this case somewhat stronger, a
solution of soluble glass of 35 degrees Baumé = 1,320 spec. w. being used and
a small quantity of litharge or other metallic oxides being added, in order to
quicken the drying process. Finally the finished objects, after having been dried
in the open air are for some time exposed to a heat of an oven whereupon they are
ready for use.
In using produce of asbestos, as for inst. asbestos paper or asbestos tissue, the
process is the following:
=
The asbestos material is dipped into a solution of soluble glass of 20 to
30 degrees Bé. 1,160 to 1,260 spec. w. until it is completely saturated, the
solution having as in the former instance solution of glue and formaldehyde
admixed to it. Then it is taken out and left to dry, whereupon it is laid into a
watery solution containing 20-30% of a salt of alumina, baryta, strontia or lime,
when the asbestos paper or tissue assumes a parchment-like state. After having
been left to dry once more, the material is glued together with the same mixture
as before, taking care to add some soluble glass at a higher degree and a little
litharge or other metallic oxides. The plates, transmission pulleys, and similar
objects made by this process are afterwards freed from the superfluous gluing
substance by pressing them.
After about twelve hours' time the complete hardening is brought about and
the objects can be worked with saw and plane and on the turner's lathe.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. A process for the manufacture of a mouldable mass consisting in changing
asbestos or other fibre iuto a parchment-like state, in pulverizing the same and in
adding to it the binding materials particularly described in the present specification,
for the purpose of making vats, buckets, cases, plates and other objects which,
after having been dried in the open air and afterwards exposed to a high temperature
in an oven, have become water-proof, acid-proof and fire-proof, as has been stated
distinctly in the specification.
2. A process for converting asbestos or other paper into a parchment-like state,
for the purpose of making plates and similar objects by gluing and pressing several
sheets together as has been particularly described.
3. A process for the manufacture of plastic bodies from asbestos fibre,
characterized by the circumstance that asbestos is mixed with a combination of
solutions of soluble glass, glue and formaldehyde, and afterwards saturated with
the solution of an alumina, baryta or strontium salt, and finally by mixing the
asbestos fibre thus impregnated with soluble glass and litharge into a plastic mass.
4. The use of the process as set forth above for asbestos paper or asbestos tissue
in such a manner that these materials after saturation with the solutions as under
Claim three are glued together by a solution of soluble glass, glue and formaldehyde
with the addition of litharge or oxide of lead.
Dated this 26th dow of June 1906
LUDWIG GROTE.