IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF ASBESTOS, AND IN ITS APPLICATION TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES IN THE ARTS AND MANUFACTures
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thaddeus Hyatt, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde
Park, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF ASBESTOS, AND IN ITS APPLICATION TO VARIOUS
USEFUL PURPOSES IN THE ARTS AND MANUFACTures.”
Sealed the 2nd April 1874, and dated the 5th February 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thaddeus Hyatt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th February 1874.
I, THADDEUS HYATT, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde Park, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of my said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF ASBESTOS, AND IN ITS APPLICATION
TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES IN THE ARTS AND MANUFACTURES," to be as
follows:-
Pure asbestos in addition to its quality as a non-conductor of heat and
electricity, also manifests the additional one of not awakening latent
heat when in contact with bodies which rub it. As a bearing surface

page_text: therefore purity of material and continuity of surface are essential
requisites.
In the Provisional Specifications of my former Inventions for treating
and applying asbestos being Numbers 3256/7, 3684/73, and 4241/73.
I have shewn various methods of obtaining a continuous surface of 5
asbestos from the fibre.
"
My present Invention relates to a method of obtaining asbestos in
block, sheet, and board form from the disintegrated and comminuted
mineral, and consists in reducing the material to the form of a "slip
or paste analagous to the condition of porcelain clay when it bears this 1
name. It consists also in the further processes of "kneading," treading,"
"beating," and "slapping"; processes well-known in the treating of
fire-clays; such slip may also be "moulded" or stored away in moist
condition for any required period.
>> <<
In carrying out my Invention I firstly purify the crude material by 1
means of hydrofluoric acid or otherwise, in order to separate the silicious
impurities usually associated with it. The asbestos being purified I
select the shortest and least valuable fibres, which I grind and cause to
be finely disintegrated or comminuted. I then place the same in
cisterns with water and thoroughly mix and stir the mass. After having
allowed the heavier particles to subside the lighter parts remaining in
suspension are drawn off, and the liquid which holds the floating particles
in suspension is run into vessels suitable for subsidence and the separation
of the liquid. This may be done in several ways; first by a gypsum
bottom to the vessel which absorbs the fluid and leaves the residuum; 1
second, by a filter at the bottom of the vessel and atmospheric pressure
in connection with atmospheric exhaustion under the filter; third, by
woven bags into which the liquid is put and from whence the water
may be readily expressed, the sediment or slip remaining in the bag.
This asbestos slip I propose to use in various ways and for all or most of a
the objects and purposes set forth in the several Provisional Specifications
of my former Patents for treating and applying asbestos hercin-before
referred to.
As a plastic fire-resisting material I propose to use it in the form of a
coating or cement for wood and metal. Combined with fibrous asbestos
it forms a pure asbestos felt for covering steam boilers and other heated
surfaces. Combined with other fibre it forms a non-heat conducting

page_text: felt of cheaper but inferior character. Combined with asbestos pulped
fibre it forms fireproof paper. Combined with other fibre in pulp it
forms fireproof to less degree but cheaper. Dried and used in finely
divided or powder form it may take the place of whiting and other
like substances mixed with size as a fireproof glaze for papers; and by
combining a number of such sheets under pressure, I propose to form a
species of asbestos pasteboard useful for many purposes. These boards
may be made of any thickness and serve for fireproof roofing and
flooring material. Moulded into form I propose to use it in place of
metal for illuminating purposes set with glass. Combined with any
holding surface on wood or metal I propose to use it for roofs of build-
ings, the face of it being to imitate ornamental slate; and generally
as a papier maché of fireproof quality I propose to combine asbestos
slip with any materials suitable for this manufacture.
As a lubricating substance I sometimes dry the asbestos slip and mix
it with oil; as a paint I employ the same method. Combined with
porcelain clays I make a peculiar non-heat conducting fired ware; and
with other clays I make tiles and bricks glazed and unglazed for all
purposes where resistance to heat is required. For insulating purposes
to be used in supporting telegraph wires, I prefer to make the article of
pure asbestos. Likewise when moulded into journal boxes or into
linings for journal boxes, or for axle boxes or bearings of any kind where
friction is produced by rubbing bodies, I prefer to use the asbestos pure.
As a mortar I propose to use asbestos slip as a fettling for furnaces.
Moulded into proper shape I propose to make asbestos "saggers" to
hold fire-clays during the baking process. Also for crucibles and for
glass melting pots I also propose to apply asbestos in a moulded porous
form as a water filter, the advantage of which consists in being able to
clean it by burning out the dirt when it becomes foul. This porous
asbestos I also propose to use for burning gas in gas stoves.
Asbestos has been employed to form a fibrous artificial stone in com-
bination with alkaline silicates, the method employed being to combine
the silicate and asbestos, and then submit the manufactured compound
to an acid bath. The effect of this method is to lock up within the
made article certain elements which being changed to gases when the
object is subjected to fire sets free an agent that tends to disrupt and
destroy it.

page_text: According to my improvement upon this application of asbestos I
combine the mineral with gelatinous silica either alone or in conjunction
with magnesia, baryta, alumina, or lime, or mixtures of the same instead
of combining it with soluble alkaline "silicate" by which method I
avoid all the evils above specified, and at the same time obtain a valuable
product. This compound when still further combined with fire-resisting
clays and baked I use tile, brick, and other forms for building and other
purposes where a fire-resisting quality is needed. For building and other
purposes I use this compound in plastic form in combination with
retaining surfaces upon metal, wood, and other surfaces as a protection
against fire.
According to another part of my Invention I combine asbestos with
earthy materials to form a fibrous artificial stone. I select bases having
lime in their composition, and with these I compound the asbestos which
has been previously mixed with a silicate of soda, the effect of the
lime in the combination being to draw away the silica from the soda
which then combines with the lime; this compound being insoluble the
effect of the process is to make a waterproof compound which as a
roofing material and for other applications in building is particularly
useful.
According to another part of my Invention I make asbestos water
filters of fibrous asbestos, the mineral being arranged in one or more layers
of sufficient thickness to act efficiently as a filter for the purpose of
removing water impurities. A variety of forms may be used for this
purpose, the essential requisite being depth or thickness of the mass.
According to one plan I use an enclosing bag of woven asbestos which
is filled with the fibrous mineral in a loose state. This bag readily
adapts itself to the enterior of an ordinary stone water filter when forced
into position, where it rests upon a perforated plate or bottom, another
and similar plate being placed above it so as to hold it firmly in place.
When such a filter becomes clogged it may be readily cleansed by simple
removal, and heating to redness upon a bright fire until all the impurities
retained within its meshes have been burned out. By another plan a
mass of asbestos is clamped or otherwise held between two discs, and thus
form an asbestos diaphragm. Or a number of discs of woven asbestos may
be laid one above the other until a sufficient thickness has been obtained;
this form of filter will be found particularly useful as a coffee strainer
and for chemical purposes. Another plan is to weave the asbestos in

page_text: "
the form of a bag or hollow article of any desired shape, one or more
being used in a nest" form. Another plan is to cement the fibres
together by any method which will not destroy the filtering property of
the asbestos mass, and by a cement capable of withstanding fire, but this
method involves the essential feature of the plan first described of
making a porous asbestos filter which requires an intermixture of
destructible material to be afterwards burnt out, which thus leaves the
substance porous. Another way in which I make an asbestos filter is by
the use of the asbestos in the shape of packing or rope which is to be
coiled upon itself or otherwise conditioned to fill the diameter of the
vessel or filter in which it is employed.
According to another part of my Invention I use asbestos packing
for the doors of fireproof safes to make a fireproof joint when the door
is shut, this part of the safe being the most vulnerable. For this purpose
I prefer to use asbestos chenille rope which I place in a groove or
channel suitably shaped to hold it, and where, when the safe door is
closed a lip made for the purpose upon the inner edge or face of
the door will impinge, bind, indent, and thus make a perfect fire-tight
joint.
In order to reduce asbestos to the comminuted state essential to its
condition as a ::
slip," I sometimes combine it with an agglutinating
substance, such as gum arabic, which, while facilitating its reduction,
is casily removed and afterwards reclaimed.
According to another part of my Invention, which has reference to
fibrous asbestos packing, I manufacture the article in rope form from
asbestos fibre cemented together by means of the asbestos slip, either
with or without a flexible metallic core.
According to another part of my Invention for making a continuous
asbestos surface for packings, bearings, and other purposes, I proceed
upon the plan of a flexible metallic core or backing in order to obtain
strength, and arrange the asbestos fibre in such manner as to make an
asbestos rubbing or bearing face.
In manufacturing an asbestos pile fabric I employ a method of
treating the fibres preparatory to using them, which is as follows,
namely, having saturated the fibres with some suitable agglutinating
substance, such as gum arabic, and allowed the mass to harden, it
is then divided into small solid bundles or faggots somewhat like

page_text: pencils which may be worked by machinery into suitable holders.
These pencils of fibres are then arranged in connection with suitable
automatic apparatus to be fed into a metallic fabric of copper wire,
the weft as well as the web being wire. The asbestos fibres are fed
at right angles to the metallic sheet, and held between the parallel
cords of the web when the weft is thrown across the whole series of
fibrous pencils, and made to bind upon them by the "batten" which
is forced hard up against it in the process of weaving. When I wish
the pile upon only one face of the fabric each pencil is bent like a
staple so as to present all the standing fibres upon but one side of the
sheet, and then hold by two strands of the weft instead of one.
According to another part of my Invention I manufacture asbestos
cords, twine, string, or rope which may be worked up into other forms
by processes somewhat similar to those set forth in my said former Speci-
fications of Patents for treating and applying asbestos.
In carrying out this part of my Invention I employ the elasticity
of elastic wire as a clamping or binding force to hold or retain asbestos
fibre upon and within the folds or meshes of the retaining body or
backing; or I employ the ductility of soft or annealed wire for the
purpose of clamping or binding the fibre so as to hold or retain it
upon and within the folds or meshes of the retaining body or backing.
This may be accomplished by winding the wire in spiral form, and
placing the fibre within the spaces between the coils. When it is
elastic the coil is stretched and the fibre placed in position, in closing
the spring of the coil bites upon and holds the fibre. When it is
ductile the coil is formed with open spaces which when filled with
fibre are forcibly closed upon it so that the coil cramps and holds it.
A backing or sheet of this material may be made by interlocking any
number of such wire coils one within another at the sides; or the
asbestos may be fed in at the end of the wire coil. In this case the
spaces between the wires of the coil are arranged so as to permit the
fibres of the asbestos to project through them during the feeding
process, a suitable shield upon the exterior regulating the thickness
of that portion which is thus made to surround the outside of the
coil. By a variation of the method a backing of woven wire or any
other suitable backing is faced with numerous fine curled wire tufts
somewhat resembling the tendrils of a vine which are filled with

page_text: holder or backing.
a way ou p
According to another mode of combining asbestos with retaining
open work for the purpose of making continuous faced asbestos packing
and bearing surfaces I make use of a loosely woven fabric, preferably
copper wire, though other fabrics may be employed, such as cotton,
flax, or similar fibrous material. This loosely woven fabric according
to one mode of using it is in the form of an open work or lace ribbon;
and according to another mode of employing it is in the form of an
open work sheet. If made of wire it would be a woven "wire cloth "
of large mesh, say, from to inch openings. Used in the ribbon
form it is wound spirally upon an asbestos core, the core being asbestos
flock when of short fibre fed through a tube from a hopper and pushed
constantly forward by an automatic working piston, the ribbon winding
spirally upon it as it issues from the mouth of the tube. By the other
mode a sheet of the open work fabric of any size is spread out upon
a flat table, and a layer of asbestos of any thickness in the form of a
felt or batting is laid upon it; one edge of the sheet is then folded
over upon itself, and again overlapped until the required size is obtained,
pressure being used at cach lapping. In this way the packing may
be made of any shape, round, or flat, or square. I prefer a copper wire
mesh from which to make this style of asbestos manufacture instead
of flax or similar material, the ductility of the copper yielding to com-
pression, and causing the finished fabric to retain its form.
According to another part of my Invention I make asbestos packing
upon the principle of a continuous or nearly continuous asbestos surface
or exterior by feeding asbestos fibre into a tubular space formed by any
sufficient number of straight copper wires lying parallel to one another,
but as a whole forming a ring or hollow tube of wires and spaces, the
wires being at an eighth or a quarter of an inch apart. These wires are
fed into position from spools. The asbestos fibre or flock being fed
into the tube as previously described a set of circular metal cramps at
about of an inch apart and surrounding the open tube come now
into play and pinch the tube and the asbestos within it in such a way
as to form of it a series of knots or buttons, then the cramps are retired,
and the knots or buttons are closed in upon one another by end pressure.
The automatic working of the machine constantly carrying forward the
rope when thus completed the spools are at the same time feeding more

page_text: wire, and the machinery forming fresh continuous lengths of tube, which
being filled as before undergoes the same process, and so on in this way
forming asbestos rope from even the shortest fibre.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thaddeus Hyatt in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th August 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THADDEUS
HYATT, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde Park, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the Thirty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, Her special license that I, the
said Thaddeus Hyatt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, my executors, administrators, or
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF
ASBESTOS, AND IN ITS APPLICATION TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES IN THE ARTS AND
MANUFACTURES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thaddeus Hyatt, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and a
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 Thaddeus Hyatt, 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, that is to say :-
Pure asbestos, in addition to its quality as a non-conductor of heat

page_text: and electricity, also, manifests the additional property of not awakening
latent heat when in contact with bodies which rub it. As a bearing
surface therefore purity of material and continuity of surface are
essential requisites.
In the Provisional Specifications of my former Inventions for treating
and applying asbestos, being Numbers 3256 73, 3684 73, and 4241 73, I have
shewn various methods of obtaining a continuous surface of asbestos
from the fibre.
"
My present Invention relates to a method of obtaining asbestos in
block, sheet, and board from the disintegrated and comminuted mineral,
and consists in reducing the material to the form of a slip" or paste
analogous to the condition of porcelain clay, when it bears this name.
It consists also in the further processes of "kneading," "treading,"
"beating," and slapping processes well known in the treating of fire-
clays. Such slip may also be "moulded " or stored away in a moist
condition for any required period.
In carrying out my Invention I firstly purify the crude material by
means of hydrofluoric acid or otherwise in order to separate the silicious
impurities usually associated with it. The asbestos being purified I
select the shortest and least valuable fibres, which I grind and cause to
be finely disintegrated or comminuted. I then place the same in cisterns
with water and thoroughly mix and stir the mass. After having allowed
the heavier particles to subside the lighter parts remaining in suspension
are drawn off, and the liquid which holds the floating particles in sus-
pension is run into vessels suitable for subsidence and the separation of
the liquid. This may be done in several ways; first, by a gypsum
bottom to the vessel, which absorbs the fluid and leaves the residuum ;
second, by a filter at the bottom of the vessel and atmospheric pressure
in connection with atmospheric exhaustion under the filter; third, by
woven bags, into which the liquid containing the suspended material is
put, and from whence the water may be readily expressed, the sediment
or slip remaining in the bag. This asbestos slip I propose to use in
various ways, and for all or for most of the objects and purposes set
forth in the several Provisional Specifications of my former Patents for
treating and applying asbestos, herein-before referred to.
As a plastic fire-resisting material I propose to use it in the form of a
coating or cement for wood and metal. Combined with fibrous asbestos

page_text: it forms a pure asbestos felt for covering steam boilers, steam pipes, and
other surfaces through which heat is disseminated. Combined either
with vegetable fibre or with animal matter, such as cow or horse-hair, it
forms a non-heat conducting felt of cheaper character. Combined with
asbestos fibre or pulped vegetable fibre or mixtures of the same it forms
fireproof paper. Dried and used in a finely divided condition in a state
of powder it may be employed as a substitute for whiting and other like
substances. When mixed with size as a fireproof glaze for papers, and
by combining a number of sheets of such paper under pressure I propose
to form an asbestos pasteboard which will be found useful for many
purposes. These boards may be made of any thickness and serve for
fireproof roofing and flooring material. Moulded into form I propose
to use them in place of metal for illuminating purposes, such material
being set with glass, combined with any holding surface on wood or
metal. I propose to use the before-mentioned material for roofs of
buildings, the face of it being made to imitate ornamental slate; and
generally as a papier maché of fireproof quality I propose to combine
asbestos slip with any materials suitable for this manufacture.
As a lubricating substance I sometimes dry the asbestos slip and mix
it with oil. As a paint I employ the same method. Combined with
porcelain clays I make a peculiar non-heat conducting fired ware, and
with other clays I make tiles and bricks glazed and unglazed for all
purposes where resistance to heat is required. For insulating purposes
to be used in supporting telegraph wires I prefer to make the article of
pure asbestos.
Likewise when moulded into journal boxes or into
linings for journal boxes, or for axle boxes or bearings of any kind where
friction is produced by rubbing bodies, I prefer to use the asbestos pure.
As a mortar I propose to use asbestos slip as a fettling for furnaces.
Moulded into proper shape I propose to make asbestos " saggers" to
hold fire-clays during the baking process. Also for crucibles and for
glass melting pots I also propose to apply asbestos in a moulded porous
form as a water filter, the advantage of which consists in being able to
clean it by burning out the dirt when it becomes foul. This porous
asbestos I also propose to use for burning gas in gas stoves.
According to another part of my Invention I combine the mineral
asbestos with gelatinous silica either alone or in conjunction with
magnesia, baryta, alumina, or lime, or mixtures of the same, such being
employed by preference as soluble salts, and in such proportions as may

page_text: produce a compound suited for various applications. These proportions
will vary according to the purposes to which the product is to be applied,
so that the partial or complete decomposition of the silicate and the
alkali by means of the before-mentioned salts, either alone or in con-
junction with an acid, will depend, as before mentioned, upon the
purposes to which the resulting material is to be applied. This com-
pound, when still further combined with fire-resisting clays and baked,
I use as tiles or bricks and in other forms for building and other purposes
where a fire-resisting quality is needed. For building and other purposes
I use this compound in plastic form in combination with retaining
surfaces upon metal, wood, and other surfaces as a protection against
fire.
According to another part of my Invention I combine asbestos with
earthy materials to form a fibrous artificial stone, selecting bases having
lime in their composition; with these I compound the asbestos which
has been previously mixed with a silicate of soda. The effect of this
process is to make a waterproof compound which as a roofing material
and for other applications in building is particularly useful.
According to another part of my Invention I make asbestos water
filters of fibrous asbestos, the mineral being arranged in one or more
layers of sufficient thickness to act efficiently as a filter for the purpose
of removing water impurities; a variety of forms may be used for this
purpose, the essential requisite being depth or thickness of the mass.
According to one plan I use an enclosing bag of woven asbestos
which is filled with the fibrous mineral in a loose state. This bag
readily adapts itself to the interior of an ordinary stone water filter when
forced into position where it rests upon a perforated plate or bottom,
another and similar plate being placed above it so as to hold it firmly in
place. When such a filter becomes clogged it may be readily cleansed
by simple removal and heating until all the impurities retained within
its meshes have been burned out. By another plan a mass of asbestos is
clamped or otherwise held between two discs and thus form an asbestos
diaphragm, or a number of discs of woven asbestos may be laid one above
the other until a sufficient thickness has been obtained. This form of
filter will be found particularly useful as a coffee strainer and for chemical
purposes. Another plan is to weave the asbestos in the form of a bag
or hollow article of any desired shape one or more being used in a
"nest" form; another plan is to cement the fibres together by any

page_text: method which will not destroy the filtering property of the asbestos
mass and by a cement capable of withstanding fire; this method involves
the essential feature of the plan first described of making a porous
asbestos filter by means of an intermixture of destructible material to be
afterwards burnt out, thus leaving the substance porous. Another way
in which I make an asbestos filter is to use the material in the shape of
a packing or rope coiled upon itself or otherwise made to fit the vessel
in which it is placed.
According to another part of my Invention I use asbestos packing for
the doors of fire-proof safes to make a fire-proof joint when the door is
shut, this part of the safe being the most vulnerable. For this purpose
I prefer to use asbestos chenille rope which I place in a groove or
channel suitably shaped to hold it, and where, when the safe door is
closed, a lip made for the purpose upon the inner edge or face of the
door will impinge, bind, indent, and thus make a perfect fire-tight
joint.
66
In order to reduce asbestos to the comminuted state essential to its
condition as a 'slip" I sometimes combine it with agglutinating
substance, such as gum arabic, which while facilitating its reduction is
easily removed and afterwards reclaimed.
According to another part of my Invention, which has reference to
fibrous asbestos packing, I manufacture the article in rope form from
asbestos fibre cemented together by means of the asbestos slip either
with or without a flexible metallic core.
According to another part of my Invention for making a continuous
asbestos surface for packings, bearings, and other purposes I proceed
upon the plan of a flexible metallic core or backing in order to obtain
strength, and I arrange the asbestos fibre in such manner as to make an
asbestos rubbing or bearing face.
In manufacturing an asbestos pile fabric I employ a method of treating a
the fibres preparatory to using them which is as follows, namely, having
saturated the fibres with some suitable agglutinating substance such as
gum arabic, and allowed the mass to harden, it is then divided into small
solid bundles or faggots somewhat like pencils, which may be worked
by machinery into suitable holders. These pencils of fibres are then a
arranged in connection with suitable automatic apparatus to be fed into
a metallic fabric of copper wire, the weft as well as the web being wire.

page_text: The asbestos fibres are fed at right angles to the metallic sheet and
held between the parallel cords of the web when the weft is thrown
across the whole series of fibrous pencils and made to bind upon them
by the "batten" which is forced hard up against it in the process of
weaving. When I wish the pile upon only one face of the fabric cach
pencil is bent like a staple so as to present all the standing fibres upon
but one side of the sheet, and then held by two strands of the weft
instead of one.
According to another part of my Invention I manufacture asbestos,
cords, twine, string, or rope, which may be worked up into other forms
by processes somewhat similar to those set forth in my said former Spcci-
fications of Patents for treating and applying asbestos.
In carrying out this part of my Invention I employ the clasticity of
elastic wire as a clamping or binding force to hold or retain asbestos
fibre upon and within the folds or meshes of the retaining body or
backing, or I employ the ductility of soft or annealed wire for the
purpose of clamping or binding the fibre so as to hold or retain it upon
and within the folds or meshes of the retaining body or backing. This
may be accomplished by winding the wire in spiral form and placing the
fibre within the space between the coils. Where it is clastic the coil is
stretched, and the fibre placed in position in closing the spring of the
coil bites upon and holds the fibre. Where it is ductile the coil is
formed with open spaces, which when filled with fibre are forcibly closed
upon it so that the coil cramps and holds it. A backing or sheet of this
material may be made by interlocking any number of such wire coils
one within another at the sides. Or the asbestos may be fed in at the
end of the wire coil. In this case the spaces between the wires of the
coil are arranged so as to permit the fibres of the asbestos to project
through them during the feeding process, a suitable shield upon the
exterior regulating the thickness of that portion which is thus made to
surround the outside of the coil. By a variation of the method a
backing of woven wire or any other suitable backing is faced with
numerous finc curled wire tufts somewhat resembling the tendrils
of a vine which are filled with asbestos fibre in a way-to produce a con-
tinuous asbestos face upon the holder or backing.
According to another mode of combining asbestos with retaining open
work for the purpose of making continuous faced asbestos packing and
bearing surfaces, I make use of a loosely woven fabric, preferably copper

page_text: wire, though other fabrics may be employed, such as cotton, flax, or
similar fibrous material. This loosely woven fabric according to one
mode of using it is in the form of an open work or lace ribbon, and
according to another mode of employing it is in the form of an open
work sheet; if made of wire it would be a woven "wire cloth" of large
mesh, say from quarter to half inch openings. Used in the ribbon form
it is wound spirally upon an asbestos corc, the core being asbestos flock
when of short fibre fed through a tube from a hopper and pushed
constantly forward by an automatic working piston, the ribbon winding
spirally upon it as it issues from the mouth of the tube. By the other
mode a sheet of the open work fabric of any size is spread out upon a
flat table, and a layer of asbestos of any thickness in the form of a felt
or batting is laid upon it, one edge of the sheet is then folded over upon
itself and again overlapped until the required size is obtained, pressure
being used at each lapping. In this way the packing may be made of
any shape, round, or flat, or square. I prefer a copper wire mesh from
which to make this style of asbestos manufacture instead of flax or
similar material, the ductility of the copper yielding to compression and
causing the finished fabric to retain its form.
According to another part of my Invention I make asbestos packing
upon the principle of a continuous or nearly continuous asbestos surface
or exterior by feeding asbestos fibre into a tubular space formed by any
sufficient number of straight copper wires lying parallel to one another,
but as a whole forming a ring or hollow tube of wires and spaces, the
wires being at an eighth or a quarter of an inch apart. These wires are
fed into position from spools. The asbestos fibre or flock being fed into
the tube, as previously described, a set of circular metal cramps at about
a. quarter of inch apart and surrounding the open tube come now into
play and pinch the tube and the asbestos within it in such a way as to
form of it a series of knots or buttons, then the cramps are retired and the
knots or buttons are closed in upon one another by end pressure. The
automatic working of the machine constantly carrying forward the rope,
when thus complete, the spools are at the same time feeding more wire,
and the machinery forming fresh continuous lengths of tube which
being filled as before undergoes the same process and so on, in this way
forming asbestos rope from even the shortest fibre.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used

page_text: 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 herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, -
First. The manufacture of asbestos block sheet or board from asbestos
"slip" or paste produced by disintegrating or comminuting the mineral
and mixing with water, and by the further processes of kncading,
treading, beating, and slapping, substantially as and for the purposes.
herein-before described.
Second. The combination and use of asbestos "slip" or paste with
asbestos fibre for the manufacture of pure asbestos felt, substantially
as and for the purposes hercin-before described.
Third. The combination and use of asbestos "slip" or paste with
vegetable fibre or animal matter, substantially as and for the purposes
herein-before described.
Fourth. Mixing asbestos " slip" or paste in the form of powder with
size as a fireproof glaze for paper, substantially as herein-before
described.
Fifth. The manufacture of pasteboard by combining several sheets of
paper prepared according to the last claim under pressure, substantially
as herein-before described.
"
Sixth. Mixing asbestos "slip or paste in the form of powder with
oil, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before described.
Seventh. The combination and use of asbestos "slip" or paste with
porcelain and other clays, substantially as and for the purposes herein-
before described.
Eighth. The production of a material containing asbestos and silica
prepared by the addition of asbestos in a state of division to a solution
of silicate of soda or of potash, and then effecting the liberation of the
silica by means of an acid, the resulting admixture of gelatinous silica
and asbestos after washing being moulded, compressed, or otherwise
treated, substantially as and for the purposes hercin-before described.
Ninth. The production of a material containing asbestos in con-
junction with silica, and also with lime, magnesia, baryta, alumina, or
mixtures of the same by the employment of asbestos in conjunction
with silicate of soda or potash, together with a salt of lime, magnesia, or

page_text: baryta, alumina, or mixtures of the same either alone or in conjunction
with an acid, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before
described.
Tenth. The manufacture. of asbestos water filters from fibrous asbestos,
substantially as hercin-before described.
Eleventh. The application and use of asbestos packing to the doors of
fireproof safes, substantially as and for the purpose herein-before
described.
Twelfth. The manufacture of asbestos packing in the rope form from
fibrous asbestos in combination with asbestos "slip" or paste, and in 1
combination or not with a flexible metallic core, substantially as and for
the purpose herein-before described.
Thirteenth. The manufacture of asbestos pile fabric from asbestos
fibres combined with some suitable agglutinating substance and worked
on to a metallic fabric, substantially as herein-before described.
Fourteenth. The manufacture of asbestos cords, twines, strings, or
rope from fibrous asbestos combined with soft or elastic wire, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
E
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Fifteenth. The combination and use of a loosely woven or twisted
fabric, such as copper wire, cotton, flax, or other fibrous material with 2
an asbestos core, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of August,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
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