IMPROVEMENTS IN VULCANISING INDIA RUBBER
Year: 1882

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the
County of Middlesex Gentleman for an invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
VULCANISING INDIA RUBBER A communication to him from abroad by
Henry Marie Ferdinand Jules Comte de la Tour du Breuil and Alexandre
Marie Auguste Vicomte de la Tour du Breuil both of Paris in the Republic of
Th
PROVISIONAL. SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th May 1882.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman "IMPROVEMENTS IN VULCANISING INDIA RUBBER" A Communication
to me from abroad by Henry Marie Ferdinand Jules Comte de la Tour du Breuil
and Alexandre Marie Auguste Vicomte de la Tour du Breuil both of Paris in the
Republic of France.
This invention relates to vulcanising or combining sulphur with indiarubber
and it consists in improved means for obtaining the proper temperature for effecting
the combination or vulcanisation as hereinafter described and has for its object to
obviate the difficulties which have hitherto attended the vulcanisation of india-
rubber. The improved process for effecting the vulcanisation of india rubber
according to this Invention consists in employing at atmospheric pressure a bath
composed of water and an inert soluble salt which possesses the property of
retarding the ebullition of the water and thus enables the temperature of the latter
to be raised to from one hundred and forty to one hundred and fifty degrees
centigrade or to a point at which the sulphur and the India rubber combine.
In carrying out this Invention the most economical Salt to employ for the
aforesaid purpose is chloride of calcium but it is evident that a solution of any salt
possessing similar properties such as carbonate of potash, acetate of soda, nitrate of
potash and the like or liquids such as glycerine or heavy oils for example may also
be employed provided that the boiling point of the solution or liquid at atmospherio
Din A-71

page_text: pressure is higher than the melting point of sulphur and fitted to effect the com-
bination of the latter with india rubber.
.
The solution or liquid is contained in a vessel of any convenient form and
heated by any suitable means such for example as the waste heat from a separate
furnace or the heat generated in a special combustion chamber the heated gases
being caused to circulate underneath the vessel in the first place for example and
returning to the chimney by lateral flues:-
The articles to be vulcanised either in the moulds or wrapped in cloths in the
usual manner are immersed in the bath and withdrawn after remaining therein a
sufficient time to effect the vulcanisation. When one series of Articles has been
thus vulcanised another series may be introduced into the same bath and the
operations repeated without interruption.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th November 1882.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman "IMPROVEMENTS IN VULCANIZING INDIA RUBBER" a communication
to me from abroad by Henry Marie Ferdinand Jules Comte de la Tour du Breuil
and Alexandre Marie Auguste Vicomte de la Tour du Breuil both of Paris in the
Republic of France
This Invention relates to vulcanising or combining sulphur with india rubber
and it consists in improved means for obtaining the proper temperature for effecting
the combination or vulcanization as hereinafter described.
The vulcanization of india rubber that is to say the combination of a certain
proportion of sulphur with india rubber has heretofore been effected by means of
various different processes.
:
According to one of these processes for example the india rubber articles are
immersed in a bath of liquid sulphur at a temperature of 120° centigrade Another
process consists in employing air heated to such a temperature as to effect the
combination of the sulphur and india rubber the former being previously incor-
porated with the india rubber when in the condition of flowers of sulphur.
According to a third process steam is employed under a pressure of four and a half
atmospheres in order to obtain a temperature of about 140° in order to produce the
desired combination whilst a fourth process consists in employing sulphuret of
carbon containing chloride of sulphur in solution.
These processes are either attended with certain disadvantages or necessitate the
employment of complicated apparatus and in the case of the treatment with hot air
and steam it is found difficult to properly regulate or control the temperature.
By means of this Invention the difficulties which have hitherto attended the
vulcanization of india rubber are obviated. The improved process for effecting the
vulcanisation of india rubber according to this Invention consists in employing at
atmospheric pressure a bath composed of water and an inert soluble salt which
possesses the property of retarding the ebullition of the water and thus enables the
temperature of the latter to be raised to from 140° to 150° centigrade or to a point
at which the sulphur and india-rubber combine.
In carrying the said Invention into effect the most economical salt to employ for
the aforesaid purpose is chloride of calcium but it is evident that a solution of any
salt possessing similar properties such as carbonate of potash, acetate of soda,
nitrate of potash and the like or liquids such as glycerine or heavy oils for example
may also be employed provided that the boiling point of the solution or liquid at
atmospheric pressure is higher than the melting point of sulphur and fitted to effect
the combination of the latter with India-rubber.
The apparatus employed in order to carry out the improved process is of the
simplest description and consists of one or more vessels of wrought or cast iron
brass or other metal of any suitable form and dimensions according to the number
shape and size of the articles or objects to be vulcanized. These Vessels are filled
with a solution or liquid capable of being heated to a suitable temperature for
effecting the vulcanization as hereinbefore described and are placed over a furnace
so arranged as to utilize to the best advantage either the waste heat of another
furnace or the heat generated in a special combustion chamber the heated gases
being caused to circulate for example underneath the vessel in the first place and
returning to the chimney by lateral flues.

page_text: A suitable quantity of sulphur being introduced into the bath the articles to be
vulcanized either in moulds or wrapped in cloths in the usual manner are
immersed in the bath and become vulcanised by the action of the sulphur contained
therein.
When one series of articles has been thus vulcanized and removed another series
may be introduced into the same bath and the operations repeated without
interruption.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is:
First, In vulcanising India rubber by means of a liquid bath raising the boiling
point of the bath by adding thereto a soluble salt or employing other substances
incapable of acting on the India rubber for the purpose of enabling the temperature
of the bath to be raised to from about 140 to 150 degrees centigrade under atmo-
spheric pressure, that is to say, to a degree of heat higher than the melting point
of Sulphur and suitable for effecting the vulcanisation substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Second, The improved process of vulcanising India rubber consisting essentially
in melting the Sulphur in a bath composed of water and a substance which raises
the boiling point of the water to the required degree and immersing the articles to
be vulcanised in this bath substantially as herein before described.
In witness whereof. I the said John Henry Johnson have to this my
Specification set my hand and Seal this twenty fourth day of November
One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
T TILINDU
TAINSON