IMPROVED COMPOSITIONS FOR WATERPROOFING FIBROUS AND OTHER POROUS AND ABSORBENT MATERIALS, THE COMPOSITIONS BEING APPLICABLE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAVING AND OTHER LIKE SLABS."
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cristoforo Muratori, of Victoria Street, Hackney, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVED COMPOSITIONS FOR
WATERPROOFING FIBROUS AND OTHER POROUS AND ABSORBENT MATERIALS,
THE COMPOSITIONS BEING APPLICABLE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAVING
AND OTHER LIKE SLABS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cristoforo Muratori at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd September 1876.
CRISTOFORO MURATORI, of Victoria Street, Hackney, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVED COMPOSITIONS FOR WATERPROOFING FIBROUS AND OTHER POROUS AND
ABSORBENT MATERIALS, THE COMPOSITIONS BEING APPLICABLE FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF PAVING AND OTHER LIKE SLABS."
The object of my Invention is to render all fibres, fabrics, and other porous or
absorbent substances waterproof and impervious to the action of cold, heat, damp,
and all other influences of climate. For this purpose I make use of the magnesic
silicate of alumina known as seifenstein or soapstone found in nature, preferring
that of which the chemical composition is represented by the cyinbols-
F, MO, 2SO,+Al, O,+6H₂O.
I reduce this substance to the condition of a fine powder, the finer the better, and
I wash it if required by immersing it in hot water, stirring it, and then drawing off
the water. I mix this substance when dry in equal proportions with a resinous
liquid, preferring tar on account of its cheapness. With the resulting composition
I coat the fabric or substance to be treated by either dipping into a bath of the
composition or laying the composition on in any convenient manner, removing the
excess by means of a spreader and scraper, but taking care to leave a thin equal
coating of the composition over the whole surface on one or both sides of the sub-
stance so treated. I prepare the latter for coating with the composition or not as
may be desirable. I then allow the composition to dry upon the substance by
exposure to the air for about 24 hours, but I may hasten this drying by artificial
means.
I also mix this substance with other substances as well as liquid resin and size I
take 20 parts of soapstone to one of liquid caoutchouc, and mix well together. I then
add any siccative oil to this mixture until the whole is brought to the consistancy of
[Price 4d1

page_text: honey, and the resulting composition is to be used as above. To this composition I
can add any colour desired
I also mix 2 parts of soapstone with one part of size, and the resulting com-
position may be used as a preparatory coating for that firstly described, or the
others, or for coating the opposite side of the fabric to that covered with the first
composition.
I tako solid resin and render them liquid by means of heat, and I add as much
powdered soapstone until the whole dries into a solid mass under the acton of the
heat; and while it is still warm and yet retains a certain suppleness I can mould it
into any desired form, so as to render it applicable for use as paving slabs and other
like purposes.
The soapstone I unite in equal proportions with ordinary colour, either with oil,
glue, or varnish, and I form with them paints more durable than ordinary ones.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Cristoforo Muratori in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
February 1877.
CHRISTOFORO MURATORI, of Victoria Street, Hackney, in the County of Middlesex
"IMPROVED COMPOSITIONS FOR WATERPROOFING FIBROUS AND OTHER POROUS AND
ABSORBENT MATERIALS, THE COMPOSITIONS BEING APPLICABLE FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF PAVING AND OTHER LIKE SLABS"
One object of iny Invention is to render fabrics and substances of a fibrous,
poious, or absorbent nature waterproof and insensible to the action of cold, heat,
damp, and other influences of climate.
My Invention is especially applicable for manufacturing tarpaulins and other
descriptions of waterproofs, the foundations of which consist of fibrous, porous, or
absorbent materials either in their manufactured condition, such as fibrous textile
fabrics or paper, or in their unmanufactured or partly manufactured condition. For
this purpose I make use of the magnesic silicate of alumina known as seifenstein,
steatite, or soapstone, and reduce this substance to a fine powder, and I then submit
it if necessary to a washing and levigating process
When I apply this first part of my Invention to the manufacture of tarpaulins or
to produce other descriptions of waterproof materials, I firstly prepare a composition
or mixture the chief constituents of which are size and soapstone, but I sometimes
combine with these a certain proportion of alum The size I prefer should contain
about twenty-five per cent by weight of what is known as glue, and may contain
in solution alum in the proportion of about 5% by weight to the amount of size
employed. I mix the size (either combined with alum or not) with about four times
its bulk of water, and then mix with it soapstone, prepared in manner herein-before
mentioned, in the proportion of about 30% of soapstone by weight to the amount
of size employed. This composition (which is herein-after called the first composi-
tion) I prefer to boil in order to thoroughly mix and incorporate the ingredients as
far as possible. This first composition I apply to the materials intended to be
waterproofed either by passing them through a bath of the composition or by
rubbing, brushing, or pressing the composition into them, so as to thoroughly
saturate them with the composition. I then dry the materials thus treated by any
suitable process, so as to render them capable of receiving an application of a com-
position or mixture which I prepare as follows:-I mix either coal tar or wood tar
with soapstone prepared as aforesaid in about the proportion of three lbs. of soap-
stone to about a gallon of tar, mixing these ingredients as thoroughly as possible.
I then apply this composition (which is herein-after called the second composition)
to the materials already prepared with the first composition, as above mentioned, in
a manner similar to that in which 1 apply the before-mentioned first composition.

page_text: I sometimes add to the said second composition a small quantity of india-rubber
dissolved or rendered liquid, or by means of any of its solvents, or the combination
may be effected in the same manner as is herein-after described with reference to
the third composition.
The materials when thus prepared I dry by any known methods, and the
resulting materials will be found to be much superior to ordinary tarpaulins at
present manufactured.
In order to produce waterproof materials of colors other than black I employ a
composition as follows, vidclicit:-I dissolve or render liquid india-rubber by means
of any of its solvents, and I then mix with the solution or compound so prepared
soapstone prepared as aforesaid until the whole is brought to about the consistency
of dough. I then mix with this compound a siccative oil in sufficient quantity to
bring the whole to a state sufficiently fluid to enable it to be applied to the
materials which it is desired to render waterproof, and I apply it by any of the
methods herein-before mentioned to materials previously treated with the first
composition.
In the production of the lastly herein-before mentioned mixture or composition
(which is herein-after called the third composition) I prefer to employ linseed oil,
but other siccative oils, either alone or in conjunction with linseed oil, may be
employed.
The consistency of all the before-mentioned compositions is to be varied according
to the nature of the materials to be treated and the results it is desired to obtain.
In order to produce waterproof materials as before mentioned, but of various
colors, I employ any desired pigment or coloring matter in conjunction with the
third composition so as to impart to such materials the desired color or tint
In some cases instead of applying both the first and second or the first and third
compositions to the materials to be rendered waterproof, I employ the second com-
position alone or the third composition alone, and I proceed as herein-before
described. This produces a waterproof material, but not of quite so good a quality
as that produced by the employinent of both the first and second or the first and
third compositions in the manner before mentioned
The before-mentioned compositions are especially applicable to fibrous materials
when manufactured or employed as cordage, rendering the cordage impervious to
water, more durable and flexible, and easier of manipulation in extremes of heat
and cold.
In applying the compositions to cordage I apply either the first in conjunction
with the second or the first in conjunction with the third in the manner herein-
before mentioned, or I employ the second or third alone, and I prefer to apply them
in the earlier stages of manufacture, as thereby the materials are more casily and
more completely saturated with the compositions.
All the compositions herein-before mentioned may be applied cold, but I prefer to
apply them warm, as thereby the materials to be treated are more rapidly and com-
pletely saturated therewith, and a smaller quantity of the composition is required to
effect the desired object.
In all the aforesaid compositions there is always a sediment or residuum, and they
should therefore be well stirred or otherwise agitated during application.
One great point in producing a superior article with my compositions, and one of
the great advantages of my composition is that no more of the compositions is
required than will thoroughly saturate or impregnate the materials it is desired to
waterpoof, and thus leave the thinnest possible coating.
The fabrics or products manufactured or produced by the application of the said
composition as before mentioned to textile fabrics and paper will be found to be
applicable to most of the purposes for which leather and imitations thereof are now
employed.
According to another part of my Invention I take solid resins, and having ren-
dered them fluid by means of heat, I then add and incorporate therewith such an
amount of soapstone prepared as aforesaid as that the resulting product upon cooling

page_text: 1
shall possess the desired degree of consistency. This composition may be moulded
into any desired form, so as to render it applicable for use as slabs for paving or for
other purposes.
•
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, 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 herein-before in part recited
.Letters Patent is,―
First. The employment of soapstone or steatite prepared as herein-before men-
tioned in conjunction with tar derived either from coal or from wood for the
purpose of rendering fibres, fabrics, or the materials herein-before referred to
waterproof.
Secondly. The employment of soapstone or steatite prepared in the manner herein-
before mentioned in conjunction with india-rubber and a siccative oil, in the manner
and for the purposes aforesaid.
Thirdly. The production of slabs or paving blocks by the employment of solid
resinous matters capable of being liquified by heat, and when fluid or plastic incor-
porating or mixing therewith soapstone or steatite prepared as herein-before
mentioned, in the manner and for the purpose herein-before mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christoforo Muratori, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.