Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 31st May, 1887.
Specification Accepted, 29th July, 1887.
I, WILLIAM MATTHEW DUCKER, of 42 Fulton Street New York, United States,
Manufacturer, 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:-
This invention relates to a new article of manufacture and the process of making
the same, said new article of manufacture being especially adapted for the sheathing
of buildings and other structures, and it consists of hard, dense, strong, and com-
paratively thin and light sheets of great durability, which can be readily attached to
the framework of such buildings or structure.
In carrying out my invention I first prepare a pulpy mass that may be easily
worked after the manner of working paper and similar substances. This pulpy mass
may be composed of various fibrous materials which are to be disintegrated and
rendered soft, pliable and filainentous in any manner now well known in the arts. As
an example of this part of my invention, I form a pulp, consisting of one half part
manila, one fourth part hemp, one-eighth part jute, and one-eighth part wood, or, if
more convenient, straw. These materials are reduced and disintegrated into a
filamentous mass and soaked or boiled in water to a pulp. When this has been done
this pulp may be run into sheets of desired thickness in any convenient manner,
similar to the formation of paper.
After these sheets have been formed, I compact and harden them by hydraulic
pressure of about two hundred tons, which will also expel the water, and then dry
them either by natural or artificial heat. These sheets are conveniently made of the
thickness of from one-sixteenth to one eighth of an inch, and when dried are
exceedingly durable, strong, and dense, and for many purposes, as where they are
not directly exposed to the action of the weather, they may be advantageously
employed without any further treatment, except that when they are not otherwise
covered, they will wear better by being painted with any of the well known oil
paints.
The sheathing formed of the materials above named and in the proportions specified,
I have found to be of excellent quality, but I do not limit myself either to such

page_text: materials or to the proportions of the same which I have given, as any of the well
known fibrous vegetable structures which are capable of being reduced to a filamentous
condition may be employed to advantage, without departing from my invention. Thus
in the place of hemp the fibres of the stalk of the sunflower may be employed, and
in the place of the jute the fibrous covering of the cocoanut; or any suitable equiva-
lents of such fibrous growth may be utilized, and the proportions also may be varied, as
above stated, but the results which have been the most satisfactory to me have been
produced by the ingredients used in the proportions stated by me above.
Another feature of this invention is the preparing of these sheathings in such a way
that they may resist the action of the weather, and thus constitute the .outer surface
of houses and similar structures, especially where these are required to be light, as in
buildings of a portable character.
For this purpose I use a "coating mixture" to cover or coat the outer surface of
these sheaths, most conveniently after they have been fixed in the required position.
This coating mixture consists of one third raw linseed oil, one-third Japan varnish
(the well known "Japan" of Commerce) and one-third resin or tar. These are to be
well worked and mixed together in any suitable manner, and the mass is then thinned
with Benzine or Turpentine until it is of such consistency that it may be applied with
a brush in the same manner as paint. When the sheaths have been well painted with
this and thoroughly dried they resist the action of the weather, especially heat
and moisture, in a very satisfactory manner, so that they may be used to great advan-
tage in many structures, and especially in portable buildings for barracks, hospitals etc.
These sheathings will take and retain paint very well, and I consider it of advantage
to paint those to which the coating mixture has been applied, with a good fire proof
paint, as the well known asbestos paint which is now a well known article of commerce.
Having thus 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. As a new article of manufacture, a sheathing adapted for buildings and other
structures, consisting of suitable fibrous materials compacted and hardened into sheets
by pressure, and protected from the action of the weather by the coating mixture,
substantially as described in the foregoing specification.
2. The process of making sheathings for buildings and other structures, consisting
of preparing a pulpy mass containing manila, hemp, jute and wood, forming the same
into sheets in any suitable manner, then hardening compacting and pressing the same
to the required density, and then drying the same, substantially as described in the
foregoing specification.
3. The process of making sheathings for buildings and other structures, consisting
of forming suitable sheets of fibrous composition of the required hardness and density
and reinforcing the same with a coating composed of oil, japan and resin, substantially
as described in the foregoing specification.
Dated this 31st day of May 1887
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
Associate Agent.