IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND " PACKING OF MIXTURES OR COMPOUNDS OF ALKALINE AND OILY FATTY OR RESINOUS SUBSTANCES FOR USE IN SOAP MAKING, AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th January 1883. Communicated to
me from abroad by Thomas Chalkley Taylor, of Philadelphia Pennsylvania
United States of America
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake and Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings London "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND
"
PACKING OF MIXTURES OR COMPOUNDS OF ALKALINE AND OILY FATTY OR
RESINOUS SUBSTANCES FOR USE IN SOAP MAKING, AND OTHER PURPOSES [A com-
munication to me from abroad by Thomas Chalkley Taylor, of Philadelphia
Pennsylvania United States of America]
This invention relates to the treatment of the alkalies of soda or potash when
grinding or otherwise preparing them for use for the manufacture of soap or other
purposes, and to compressing such alkalies into a convenient forin and condition for
transport storage or use as hereinafter described.
These alkalies, upon being subjected to the operations of grinding, packing, and
the like as heretofore practised, give off an acrid dust which is very injurious to
the operator, and it is an important object of my present invention to provide
means for preventing the rising of this dust whilst the alkalies are being ground or
packed, and thus protecting the operators from the discomforts and injury heretofore
suffered when engaged in preparing these substances.
In carrying the said invention into practice I proceed as follows, that is to say.
When the alkali has to be ground I first grind it in a mill with a small amount of
a resinous or fatty or oily solution which is to be constantly applied during the
grinding process thus combining the alkali dust with the oily or resinous fluid.
When the alkali to be treated by my invention is in a powdered or ground state
I take it in bulk and the resinous fluid or oily solution is applied to it by a process
of sprinkling and careful raking, until the finer or dust particles are completely
enveloped by the fluid or oily or fatty solution.
In practice the fatty or resinous matters may be saponified before being combined
with the alkali and I prefer to use them in this condition when carbonated alkalies
are treated.

page_text: After the alkali and oily fatty or resinous substances have been combined in
either of the manners above described I divide the mass into convenient parcels
(preferably each one of about one pound in weight) and compress them in a suitable
press into convenient forms such as blocks, slabs, or balls. The fatty, oily, or
resinous matter has a tendency to cement the whole together. If the alkali treated
as above described is caustic and deliquescent the blocks or pieces, after being
removed from the press, are coated with the resinous fluid or oily solution to
protect the package or block from the action of the air and moisture. But if the
alkali is a carbonate this outside coating of the resinous, oily, or fatty substance
may be dispensed with. I may in some cases use paraffin or similar substances for
this purpose.
The proportion of oily, fatty, or resinous matter should be about ten per cent
more or less as compared with the alkali so as to form a plastic mass if the mass is
to be compressed into blocks or pieces as above set forth, but the proportion need
not be so great if the mass is not to be so compressed, as it will be sufficient, in
this case, to use only sufficient of the oily, fatty, or resinous matter to prevent the
rising of dust and yet leave the mass comparatively dry and free from plasticity.