A NEW OR IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OR MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR PACKING FOR STEAM ENGINES, JUNCTION RINGS OR WASHERS, PAINT, VARNISH, LACQUER, COVERINGS FOR FLOORS, ALSO FOR ROOFING AND OTHER PURPOSES; AND THE EMPLOYMENT OF A NEW OR IMPROVED MATERIAL TO BE USED IN OR IN PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Talling, of Lostwithiel, in the County
of Cornwall, Mineralogist, and James Seccombe, of Plymouth, in
the County of Devon, Mining Engineer, for the Invention of " A
NEW OR IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OR MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR PACKING FOR
STEAM ENGINES, JUNCTION RINGS OR WASHERS, PAINT, VARNISH, LACQUER,
COVERINGS FOR FLOORS, ALSO FOR ROOFING AND OTHER PURPOSES; AND THE
EMPLOYMENT OF A NEW OR IMPROVED MATERIAL TO BE USED IN OR IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Talling and
James Seccombe at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 5th September 1874.
We, RICHARD TALLING, of Lostwithiel, in the County, of Cornwall,
Mineralogist, and JAMES SECCOMBE, of Plymouth, in the County of
Devon, Mining Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OR MATERIAL SUITABLE for
PACKING FOR STEAM ENGINES, JUNCTION RINGS OR WASHERS, PAINT, VARNISH,

page_text: LACQUER, COVERINGS FOR FLOORS, ALSO FOR ROOFING AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND
THE EMPLOYMENT OF A NEW OR IMPROVED MATERIAL TO BE USED IN OR IN CON-
NECTION WITH THE MANUFACTURE OF SAME," to be as follows:-
Our Invention essentially consists in the employment of a mineral
called "mica," or of minerals of the "mica" species, either separately
or in combination with some binding or retaining material, such as
vulcanite, caoutchouc, or other gum resin, or hemp, jute, cotton,
asphalt, and other analogous substances, for the purposes of forming a
new or improved manufacture or material suitable for packing for steam
engines, junction rings, or washers, paint, varnish, lacquer, coverings for
floors, also for roofing, and other useful purposes.
The proportion or quantity of the "mica" used depends upon the
material we are manufacturing.
In making a packing suitable for steam engines, for example, we take
of "mica" from, say, ten to fifty per cent., and reduce it to various sizes
dependent upon the particular kind of packing required, and then incor-
porate it with vulcanite, caoutchouc, or other gum resin, as before
named, after which we make it into the required form for use.
For making a paint we take mica, and pulverize, grind, or otherwise
reduce it to a fine state suitable for mixing with oil, forming thereby a
mineral paint possessing great powers of resisting the action of both heat
and moisture.
The proportions above given are only approximate proportions; they
must be varied considerably in practice, according to the material itself
to be produced or manufactured, and its quality.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Talling and James Seccombe in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 4th March 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, RICHARD
TALLING, of Lostwithiel, in the County of Cornwall, Mineralogist, and 3
JAMES SECCOMBE, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon, Mining
·Engineer, send greeting.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, RICHARD
TALLING, of Lostwithiel, in the County of Cornwall, Mineralogist, and 3
JAMES SECCOMBE, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon, Mining
·Engineer. send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Richard Talling and James
Seccombe, Her special licence, that we, the said Richard Talling and
James Seccombe, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Richard Talling and James Seccombe, our 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED
MANUFACTURE OR MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR PACKING FOR STEAM ENGINES, JUNCTION
RINGS, OR WASHERS, PAINT, VARNISH, LACQUER, COVERINGS FOR FLOORS, ALSO FOR
ROOFING AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND THE EMPLOYMENT OF A NEW OR IMPROVED
MATERIAL TO BE USED IN OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE MANUFACTURE OF SAME,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Richard Talling
and James Seccombe, our exccutors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, 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 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 we, the said Richard Talling and James
Seccombe, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to say :-
Our Invention essentially consists in the employment of a mineral
called "mica," or of minerals of the "mica" species, either separately
or in combination with some binding or retaining material, such as
vulcanite, caoutchouc, or other gum resin, and in some cases also with
hemp, jute, or cotton, or like fibrous substances, or with asphalt or other
analogous substance, for the purposes of forming a new or improved
manufacture or material suitable for packing for steam engines, junction
rings, or washers, paint, varnish, lacquer, coverings for floors, also for
roofing, and other useful purposes, as we have found that the valuable

page_text: properties of mica, such as its lubricating, elastic, and heat resisting
and weather resisting properties can be made available for many practical
purposes.
The proportion or quantity of "mica" used depends upon the material
we are manufacturing.
In making a packing suitable for steam engines, for example, we take
of ground or pulverized "mica" from, say, ten to fifty or even eighty
per cent. The sizes to which the "mica" is reduced depends upon the
particular kind of packing required. We then incorporate the "mica
with caoutchouc, or other gum resin, as before named, after which we
make it into the required form for usc.
"
For stuffing boxes we have found the following to answer well :—
Take one pound by weight of india-rubber, which has been previously
freed from impurities, and brought into a proper state for mixing in the
usual manner. We then incorporate it with four pounds by weight of
ground or pulverized mica, to which about one ounce of sulphur is
added.
After the incorporation is complete the compound is rolled or formed
into sheets of varying thicknesses. If the packing is to be made in the
form of a rope, one-sixteenth of an inch thick will be a suitable thick-
ness. We then roll it up, or we take a sheet of the compound, and after
applying a solution of india-rubber to act as a cement roll it up until
the successive layers or rings make up the required size. If for junction
rings or valves, or for other than rope packing, the thickness may be
increased to half an inch or more, depending upon the specific purpose
and circumstances for which it is required.
When it is required to be cut to a particular size or pattern, such as
for stuffing boxes, cylinder covers, pistons, valves, washers, junction
rings, and the like, the compound is rolled to the required thickness,
and the article or articles desired to be made is or are cut out in tho̟ a
usual way.
After the mica has been incorporated with the india-rubber and
sulphur the compound is cured in the usual manner, or in any other
approved way.
For the mixture just described we find that about 250° Fahrenheit a
is a suitable temperature.

page_text: Our experience has shown that the proportions above given will make
a packing for steam engines possessing the quality hitherto unattained
by any other manufacture of resisting the action of oils, acids, and the
greatest degree of heat reached by steam under the highest pressure
used in practice, while at the same time it is far more durable than
packing heretofore used, but the proportions of rubber, mica, or sulphur,
or degree of heat to which it is "cured," may be varied in proportion to
the hardness, clasticity, or other qualities needed for any special article
or purpose.
Sometimes in manufacturing packing, junction rings, valves, and the
like, which might be required for special purposes, we find it advisable
to introduce or lay on the sheet of compound, either while being rolled
or otherwise a web or sheet of cotton, hemp, jute, or like suitable
material.
For making a roofing material according to our Invention the com-
pound of mica, india-rubber, and sulphur, as described for packing, is
rolled into sheets alone, or with a web or sheet of hemp, cotic, or
the like. Material thus made is laid on a roof constructed of thin
boarding. The joints of the said sheets are preferably made to overlap;
this will make a perfectly water-tight and durable roof, and greatly
cconomize the use of timber in the construction, as the entire weight
will be considerably reduced as compared with slates or tiles.
Floors and other places may be covered by a material made in a
similar manner,
with or without the addition of sawdust, corkdust, cork,
with or without the addition thereto of suitable pigments. The material
so made may be painted or printed on by any known means.
For making a paint we take mica, and pulverize, grind, or otherwise
reduce it to a fine state suitable for mixing or grinding with oil or
other material, such as red hematite iron ground to a fine powder,
forming thereby a mineral paint possessing great powers of resisting the
action of both heat, moisture, smoke, and atmospheric and other
influences.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, we declare that we claim,—
First. A new or improved material consisting of pulverized or ground
mica in combination with caoutchouc or other gum resin.

page_text: Second. A new or improved material consisting of pulverized or ground
mica in combination with caoutchouc and sulphur, and in combination
or not with canvas or other textile materials or fabrics, the composition
being cured in the manner usully adopted for making vulcanite, the
said material being applied for packing and other purposes, all substan-
RICHARD TALLING. (L.S.)
JAMES SECCOMBE.
(L.S.)