IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER- PROOF COMPOUNDS FOR COATING CLOTH, WOOD, METALS, AND OTHER SURFACES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Wright, of Moorgate Street, in the City of
London, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER-
PROOF COMPOUNDS FOR COATING CLOTH, WOOD, METALS, AND OTHER SURFACES."
-A communication from abroad by Peter E. Minor, of Schenectady,
and Benjamin F. Britton, of New York, both in the State of New
York, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Wright at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th May 1871.
I, JAMES WRIGHT, of Moorgate Street, in the City of London
5 Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERPROOF COMPOUNDS FOR COATING CLOTH, WOOD, METALS,
AND OTHER SURFACES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the preparation of a novel waterproof
compound to be used for coating surfaces and for saturating fabrics,

page_text: such as cloth, leather, paper, and other substances, to protect them from
the effects of air and water.
The compound is prepared as follows, viz. :-Take collodion, say about
30 parts, more or less, Venice turpentine about one part, castor oil about
one part, shellac dissolved in alcohol about two parts, and glycerinė
about one part, and stir them in a vessel until they are thoroughly
mixed together. The compound will then be ready for use, and may
be applied to surfaces intended to be coated by a soft varnish or paint
brush or sponge may be used, and any number of coats may be applied
to thoroughly protect the surface from air and water.
To saturate cloth, paper, or other substances they are immersed in the
compound for a sufficient time, varying in length in accordance with
the nature of the article to be saturated, and as many times as may be
required to render the substance impermeable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Wright in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WRIGHT, of Moorgate Street, in the City of London, Merchant, send
greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, för Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Wright, Her special licence
that I, the said James Wright, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Wright, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thercafter 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER-
PROOF COMPOUNDS FOR COATING CLOTH, WOOD, METALS, AND OTHER SURFACES,"
being a communication to me from abroad by Peter E. Minor, of
Schenectady, and Benjamin F. Britton, of New York, both in the

page_text: State of New York, United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Wright, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Wright, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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):-
This Invention relates to the preparation of a novel waterproof
compound to be used for coating surfaces and for saturating fabrics,
such as cloth, leather, paper, and other substances, to protect them from
the effects of air and water.
The compound is prepared as follows, viz. :-Take collodion, say about
thirty parts by weight (more or less), Venice turpentine about one part,
castor oil about one part, shellac dissolved in alcohol about two parts,
and glycerine about one part, and place them all in one vessel, then
stir them until they are thoroughly mixed together, after which the
compound will be ready for use.
Mode of Applying the Compound.-To apply the compound to surfaces
intended to be coated a soft varnish or paint brush or sponge may be
used, any number of coats being put on that may be considered necessary
to thoroughly protect the surface from air and water.
To saturate cloth, paper, or other absorbent fabric, it is immersed in
the compound for a sufficient time, varying in length in accordance
with the nature of the article to be saturated, and as.many times as may
be required to render the substance impermeable.
The novel compound may be used instead of varnish or paint on all
wooden, metallic, and other structures, and in place of rubber in the
manufacture of impermeable fabrics, and it may be used also for roofing,
the compound being covered while soft with a coating of plaster of Paris.
Coloring matter may be added to the compound if required, but when
required to be transparent or to be used on light colored substances the
bleached shellac is used in making the compound.

page_text: In order to render more clear the merits of the improved compound
I think it desirable to append the following remarks of my corres-
pondent-Collodion, which is the principal ingredient, forms when dry
(in an unmixed state) a hard substance. Moreover it contracts in
drying, and when applied to articles or surfaces, as air and waterproof
coating, it cracks. Collodion is also very combustible and somewhat
explosive applied as a waterproof to articles of clothing or any other
substance, and its combustibility renders it unsafe for many purposes
for which it might otherwise be adapted with advantage.
I claim to have discovered an article or substance by mixing with
collodion, without impairing its waterproof qualities or other uses, which
renders it non-explosive and nearly non-combustible, so that substances
or articles coated with my compound are not (when dry) as combustible
as they were before the compound was applied. This article is shellac,
made by dissolving shellac in alcohol, and when mixed with collodion
the collodion is rendered non-explosive and nearly non-combustible.
The shellac does not burn when the article on which it is applied
or saturated with does, but it melts and runs forward of the fire. The
plaster of Paris (spoken of for roofing) holds the shellac from running,
and thereby prevents the compound and material on which it is applied
from burning also.
I also claim to be the discoverer that collodion alone when dry is a
non-conductor of electricity.
I claim that my compound is a non-conductor and adapted to the
coating of wood for insulators for electric and telegraphic purposes. I
have coated wood for telegraphic insulators with my compound, and
used it in the manufacture of electric machines and for other electric
purposes, as for example, for coating telegraph wires for local telegraphs,
also submarine cables. The Venice turpentine employed is added to
cause the collodion or compound to adhere the more readily to surfaces,
particularly to smooth surfaces and metals. Its use also renders the
compound less contractile, and helps to form a coating. "The castor oil
is added to render the compound flexible and somewhat clastic, and to
prevent the compound from contracting and cracking or breaking when
applied to articles or surfaces as a protection from the effects of air
or water, and also when applied to wood and metals to render them
insulators and non-conductors for clectric and telegraphic purposes,
and in saturating and coating cloth, paper pulp, and twine for electric

page_text: and telegraphic and other purposes. The glycerine is added to the
compound for the same purpose as the castor oil, or as a substitute
therefor, when the compound is required to be applied to white goods or
articles requiring a transparent saturation or coating. For coating many
articles, viz., wood, wire, metals, and articles not requiring a trans-
parent compound the glycerine might be omitted, or castor oil may be
substituted for the glycerine (weight for weight) if more flexibility is
required than the compound would have when the glycerine was in part
or wholly omitted.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements
in waterproof compounds for coating cloth, wood, metals, and other
surfaces, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,
the combination of materials as and for the purposes above set forth.
In witness whercof, I, tho said James Wright, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Fourth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.