IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING AND TREATING INDIA-RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA, AND OTHER SIMILAR GUMS
Year: 1866

page_text: of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS
IN WORKING AND TREATING INDIA-RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA, AND OTHER SIMILAR
GUMS." A communication from abroad by Frank Marquard, of Rahway,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st January 1866.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Con-
sulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING AND TREATING INDIA-RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA, AND
OTHER SIMILAR GUMS," to be as follows:--
The object of this Invention is to bleach and harden india-rubber, gutta
percha, or other similar gums for the purpose of making white or other colored
articles or fabrics in imitation of ivory, bone, pearl, coral, wood, marble,
Price 81

page_text: porcelain, enamel cloth or paper, or other substances commonly used in the arts
and manufactures. And the said Invention consists in dissolving the india-
rubber, gutta percha, or other similar gums in chloroform or other well known
solvent used for such purposes, and bleaching the solution thus obtained by
subjecting it to a stream of chlorine or strong caustic ammonia gas. When
this is perfected the said solvent is removed by evaporation at a low tem-
perature or by filtering. When thus freed from the solvent the composition
is well washed in hot water, and then pressed and dried. A similar product
may be obtained from the india-rubber, gutta percha, or other similar gums
after they have been bleached by a distilling process, which may be carried on
while the gum is being washed with the hot water, or after the washing has
been completed. When the product of the india-rubber, gutta percha, or
other similar gums is desired to be very white it is necessary to use the strong
caustic ammonia gas instead of the chlorine gas.
The operation of distillation can be carried on simultaneously with the hot
water washing process. This process is performed in a. retort made of iron or
other suitable material provided with an agitator by which the contents of the
said retort can be continually stirred during the process of distillation. After
the bleached product has been obtained it is again dissolved in chloroform or
other suitable solvent and mixed with finely prepared pure phosphate of lime,
till the said product is brought to the required degree of consistency. This
product is then moulded and subjected to a very heavy pressure to form any
article or specimen of material desired.
It is obvious that by mixing various colored pigments with the india-rubber
or other gum every variety of color can be obtained. Other limes, and also
compounds of lime, white oxides of zinc, or white lead, may be used; but none
of these produce such a satisfactory result as the phosphate of lime.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence that I, the said William
Robert Lake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Robert Lake, my 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING AND TREATING INDIA-RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA,
AND OTHER SIMILAR GUMB," (a communication), upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 William Robert Lake, 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:-
About two pounds of pure india-rubber or other similar gum is first taken
and dissolved in about thirty-two pounds of chloroform; other solvents may
be used, though chloroform is preferable. When the gum has been thoroughly
dissolved in any properly constructed vessel the solution of gum is charged with
a strong caustic ammonia gas, or treated with a preparation of chloride of
ammonia, though I prefer the use of the caustic ammonia gas to bleach the
rubber or other gum operated on. When the gum has been thoroughly
bleached, which is ascertained by frequent inspection and testings, the charging
with the gas or bleaching agent is suspended, and the solution is removed to
a boiler or other suitable vessel having an agitator in it, and then subjected
to a washing process with hot water until the gum is entirely freed from the
bleaching agent used. This is effected by a constant agitation of the solution
by keeping the agitator in motion in the washing vessel. At the same time
that the washing process is going on the degree of heat in the boiler may be
increased to about 176 degrees Fahrenheit grade to evaporate the chloroform
from the gum, which by means of any proper arrangement of pipes may be
led to a condensing vessel or chamber, where it may be collected to be used
over again as a solvent for the gum. It will be obvious that the distilling

page_text: operation may be carried on by a subsequent operation to the washing process,
but whether carried on simultaneously with the washing process, or by a sub-
sequent operation the object is the same, to wit:-First, to free the gum from
the chloroform at this stage of the process; and, second, to save the chloroform
for subsequent use by collecting it in a condenser as it evaporates from the
gum. The product thus obtained from the distillation of the gum is then in the
form of a froth, which is strained or collected from the solution and then
pressed and dried. It is then redissolved in a small quantity of chloroform to
a consistancy of a thick paste and mixed with finely prepared pure phosphate
of lime, or carbonate of zinc, in such proportions as to give a body to it, and
having the appearance of slightly dampened meal, in which condition it is
subjected to pressure in hot moulds to give coherence to it and expel any
excess of chloroform from it. With a sufficient degree of pressure this can be
done at once, and the compound after coming from the mould may then be put
in the lathe or other mechanism to be worked and shaped into all manner of
forms and devices.
It will be obvious that the articles thus formed would be white, but to make
articles to imitate coral, pearl, enamel, woods of various kinds, and other
substances, it is only necessary to mix any of the various colored dry pigments
with the compound at the same time of mixing the phosphate of lime with it.
What is claimed in the foregoing process as new and desired to be patented
is as follows, to wit:-
As the first part of the said Invention, the method or process of treating
india-rubber, or other gums of similar properties, when in a solvent state, with
caustic ammonia gas or chloride of ammonia, when used in the process herein-
before set forth and for the purposes described.
As the second part of the said Invention, the method or process of treating
india-rubber or other gums of similar properties with hot water to wash it, as
herein-before set forth and for the purposes described.
As the third part of the said Invention, the method or process of treating
india-rubber or other gums of similar properties by a distilling operation
either simultaneously with or after the washing operation in hot water, for
the purposes herein-before set forth.
As the fourth part of the said Invention, the method or process of treating
india-rubber, or other gums of similar properties, by redissolving it in chloro-
form or other solvent, and mixing with it phosphate of lime or the carbonate
of zinc, for the purposes herein-before set forth.
As the fifth part of the said Invention, the method or process of treating
india-rubber, or other gums of similar properties previously prepared, as

page_text: herein-before set forth, by subjecting the same to pressure in hot moulds to
harden and solidify the gum, to complete the Invention for making hard
rubber substances, for the purposes herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE HASELTINE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane.