IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING AND VULCANIZING INDIA-RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA. OR OTHER ANALOGOUS GUMS."A
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Horace Hollister Day, of New York, in the United
States of America, India-rubber Manufacturer and Merchant, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING AND VULCANIZING INDIA-RUBBER,
GUTTA PERCHA. OR OTHER ANALOGOUS GUMS."A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Horace Hollister Day
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th June 1857.
I, HORACE HOLLISTER DAY, of New York, in the United States of America,
India-rubber Manufacturer and Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING AND VULCANIZING INDIA-
RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA, OR OTHER ANALOGOUS GUMS," to be as follows:-
It has been found hitherto impracticable to vulcanize to a high degree of
hardness as well as solidity any very thick masses of india-rubber or gutta
percha, for the reason that the sulphur employed generates within the mass,
at the temperature required, an, expansive gas, which has an opportunity of
escaping from thin sheets of india-rubber or gutta percha, but which renders
the interior of a mass spongy or cellular, often causing the moulds to burst-
while under the effect of heat; or, if secured against that, the article when:

page_text: removed from the mould expands largely, thereby destroying both its delicacy
of form and its density.
A ball or cylinder of, say, two or three inches diameter, vulcanized in the
usual manner will be found, when cut through, to be solid only for a short
distance below the surface, the interior being spongy, to some extent carbo-
nized, and when recently made emitting the odor of sulphuretted gas.
These defects are obviated, and a hard and equally solid mass throughout is
obtained by mixing with the matter, when prepared for being vulcanized, a
substance which prevents the cellular and spongy character, by absorbing the
sulphurous acid gas as fast as it is generated. The material employed for
effecting this purpose is by preference ordinary pipe clay (alumine); but other
substances capable of absorbing the gas may be employed. One pound of
purified india rubber or gutta percha having been mixed with eight ounces
of sulphur (sublimate) in the usual manner, eight ounces of alumine are
added, taking care to have it distributed evenly throughout. This mass may
now be vulcanized in the ordinary manner.
Articles requiring thickness, hardness, and equal solidity throughout can
thus be produced, as all the gases evolved by the action of the sulphur will be
rapidly absorbed by the alumine or other absorbing agent employed. In this
manner balls of four inches diameter, which do not expand perceptibly when
taken out of the mould, may be made, and which when cut are uniformly
dense and compact throughout.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Horace Hollister Day in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HORACE
HOLLISTER DAY, of New York, in the United States of America, India-rubber
Manufacturer and Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Horace Hollister Day, Her special license that I, the said Horace Hollister
Day, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Horace Hollister Day, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PREPARING AND VULCANIZING INDIA-RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA, OR OTHER
ANALOGOUS GUMS," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Horace Hollister Day, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 Horace Hollister Day, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):
It has been found hitherto impracticable to vulcanize to a high degree of
hardness as well as solidity any very thick masses of india-rubber or gutta
percha, for the reason that the sulphur employed generates within the mass,
at the temperature required, an expansive gas, which fills the mass with small
bubbles. This gas has an opportunity of escaping from thin sheets of india-
rubber or gutta percha, but it renders the interior of a thick mass spongy or
cellular, often causing the moulds to burst while under the effect of heat; or, if
the moulds are secured against that danger, the article when removed from
the mould expands largely, thereby destroying both its delicacy of form and
its density.
A ball or cylinder of, say, two or three inches in diameter, when vulcanized
in the usual manner will be found (when cut through) to be solid only for a
short distance below the surface, say, about one quarter of an inch, the interior
being spongy and to some extent carbonized, and when recently made will
emit the odour of sulphuretted gas.
These defects are obviated, and a hard and equally solid mass throughout
may be obtained, by mixing with the matter, when prepared for being
vulcanized, a substance which will prevent the cellular and spongy character,
by absorbing the sulphurous acid gas as fast as it is generated. The material
which is proposed to be employed for effecting this object is by preference
ordinary pipe clay (alumine); but other substances capable of absorbing the
gas may be employed.
The gum may be prepared for vulcanizing in the following manner; I do
not, however, intend to limit myself rigidly to the precise proportions herein

page_text: set forth, although they have been found to answer the purpose in a satisfactory
manner-One pound of purified india-rubber or gutta percha having been
mixed with eight ounces of sulphur (sublimate) in the usual manner, eight
ounces of alumine are added to the mass, taking care to have it distributed
evenly throughout. This mass may now be vulcanized in from four to seven
hours, at a temperature from two hundred and thirty to three hundred degrees
Fahrenheit, in the ordinary manner; and, as no gas will be present to cause
expansion when heated, but little pressure will be exerted upon the moulds,
and consequently there will be no danger of their being burst or damaged.
Articles of any great thickness, and requiring to be made hard and equally
solid throughout, can thus be produced with facility, inasmuch as all the
gases, evolved by the action of the sulphur, will be rapidly absorbed by the
alumine, or other equivalent absorbing agent that is or may be employed. In
this manner balls of four inches diameter, which do not expand perceptibly
when taken out of the mould, may be made, and when cut will be found to be
uniformly dense and compact throughout.
Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in Preparing and
Vulcanizing India-rubber, Gutta Percha, and other Analogous Gums," and
having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, as communi-
cated to me by my foreign correspondent, I would observe, in conclusion, that
what I claim as new in the above process, and therefore desire to claim as the
Invention secured to me by Letters Patent, as aforesaid, is the use and appli-
cation in the process of vulcanizing india-rubber, gutta percha, and other
analogous gums of pipe clay (alumine) or its equivalent in combination with
sulphur, in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Horace Hollister Day, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Second day of November, in the. year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
HORACE H. DAY. (L.S.)