AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR LUBRICATING MACHINERY, SOFTENING AND WATERPROOFING LEATHER, AND
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Wilkins, of No. 119, Oak Street, Wolver-
hampton, in the County of Stafford, General Manager of Tin Plate
and Japan Works, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION
FOR LUBRICATING MACHINERY, SOFTENING AND WATERPROOFING LEATHER, AND
وو
Sealed the 26th November 1875, and dated the 2nd June 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Wilkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd June 1875.
I, JOHN WILKINS, of No. 119, Oak Street, Wolverhampton, in the
County of Stafford, General Manager of Tin Plate and Japan Works,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
WATERPROOFING
COMPOSITION FOR LUBRICATING MACHINERY, SOFTENING AND
LEATHER, AND OTHER USES, IN PLACE OF OIL AND GREASE," to be as follows:—
The object of my Invention is to destroy the liquidity of paraffin or
petroleum (which are cleansers of machinery, but useless for lubricating

page_text: purposes when applied by itself without being compounded) by sus-
pending it in india-rubber, and making it useful for lubricating and
other purposes, and a substitute more durable and better for lubrication
than oil or grease.
To make a quickly penetrative composition for softening leather, so
that boots, shoes, and leather may be coated or covered with the com-
position without any detriment by its being blacked and polished at
once.
To supply a material for lubrication free from acid and which remains
liquid when subject to extreme heat, that does not congeal when subject
to extreme cold, that cleans the joints of machinery and keeps the
bearings cool, that does not clog and harden as oil does when the
machinery is not in motion for some time.
This I accomplish in the following manner :-I first dissolve india-
rubber or gutta percha by the aid of turpentine, benzole, naptha, or
other solvent, and well masticate it till it is reduced to a thick solution.
I then take this thick solution and further dissolve it with paraffin or
petroleum; this I do by gradually mixing the rubber with either paraffin
or petroleum, either with or without the use of a masticator. The
mixture soon perfectly commingles, and is retained in its equilibrium in
a fibrous condition.
The density of the composition is regulated for its various applications
by the proportions of each material used. The composition being made
us here described I next take a portion of color, lake, blue, or any color,
and mix with the compound to any required color or tint. I also mix
with it bergamot or some essence to impart an agreeable odour for use
for sewing machines and other fine and delicate applications. This
composition I apply in the usual way that oil and grease are applied,
either with the hand, the oil can, or by placing it in the small bottles
inverted over the bearings of shafting and machine joints.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Wilkins in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th November 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WILKINS, of No. 119, Oak Street, Wolverhampton, in the County of
Stafford, General Manager of Tin Plate and Japan Works, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in thẹ
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Wilkins, Her special
licence, that I, the said John Wilkins, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Wilkins, 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 " AN IMPROVED
COMPOSITION FOR LUBRICATING MACHINERY, SOFTENING AND WATERPROOFING
LEATHER, AND OTHER USES, IN PLACE OF OIL AND GREASE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Wilkins, 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
3 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 Wilkins, 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 :-
The object of my Invention is to destroy the liquidity of paraffin or
petroleum (which are useful for cleaning machinery, but useless for
lubricating purposes without admixture with a material to densify it) by
suspending it in india-rubber solution, or by mixing it with oil, suet,
grease, and india-rubber, either or all of these materials being com-

page_text: '
pounded as best suited to the intended application to machinery,
frictional bearings, and other uses.
To make a very durable lubricating preparation with the materials
before mentioned in a liquid, semi-liquid, or semi-solid condition, ready
for immediate application or use, and which will keep the bearings of
machinery clean and cool under all circumstances.
To make a penetrative liquid composition or mixture with which to
soften leather in sheet or sheets, and soften and waterproof boots, shoes,
harness, and other articles made of leather, without detriment to the
surface, so that the leather can be blacked and polished in the usual way
soon after the lubricating liquid has been applied to the leather.
-I dissolve india-rubber
This I accomplish in the following manner:-
by the use of turpentine, naptha, benzole, or other solvent, and masticate
it till it is formed into a thick paste or solution. I then take this thick
solution, and further dissolve it with paraffin or petroleum; this I do
by gradually mixing the rubber solution with either paraffin or petroleum,
either with or without the use of a masticator. The mixture soon com-
mingles, and is retained in its equilibrium in a fibrous condition ready
to be mixed with other substances, as described in the following
forms :-
For a liquid to lubricate the cylinders or pistons of steam engines I
take of paraffin or petroleum forty-seven parts; P. Y. C. Russian tallow,
suet, or grease, thirty-eight parts; lubricating oil, fifteen parts; together
equal to one hundred parts.
For a liquid to lubricate general machinery I take of paraffin or
petroleum, sixty-two parts; india-rubber solution, twelve parts; P.Y.C.
Russian tallow, grease, or suet, fourteen parts; lubricating oil, twelve
parts; together equal to one hundred parts.
For a liquid to lubricate, soften, and waterproof leather I take of
india-rubber solution, twenty parts; paraffin or petroleum, eighty parts;
together equal to one hundred parts.
I do not limit myself exactly to these several parts or proportions, as
I change the proportions of either substance to regulate the density of
the compound to its required application.
The several mixtures being prepared I mix a transparent color with

page_text: paraffin or petroleum to any required tint, and with it I color the lubri-
cating compound to impart to it a richness of appearance.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it
to be understood that I claim as my Invention, an improved substitute
for oil and grease by the admixture of paraffin or petroleum with india-
rubber or india-rubber solution, tallow, suet, grease, and oil; all of these
materials mixed together, or either of them mixed, the one with either
of the others, or either of them mixed with one or any of the others in
any number of parts or proportions, so as to produce a mixturo either
fluid, semi-fluid, or semi-solid for lubricating purposes, and for softening
and waterproofing leather.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wilkins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.