IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING WASTE VULCANIZED INDIA-RUBBER
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nathaniel Shattswell Dodge, of 44, Saint Paul's
Churchyard, in the City of London, Merchant, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING WASTE VULCANIZED INDIA-RUBBER."-A com-
munication from the United States of America.
Sealed the 17th December 1858, and dated the 30th July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nathaniel Shattswell
Dodge, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th July 1858.
I, NATHANIEL SHATTSWELL DODGE, of 44, Saint Paul's Churchyard, in the
City of London, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING WASTE VULCANIZED INDIA-RUBBER,"
munication from the United States of America, to be as follows:―
This Invention relates to an improved system or mode of treating waste
vulcanized india-rubber, whereby it may be reduced to a plastic state and be
again made up in various articles or fabrics by an economical and simple
process.
According to one mode of treating waste vulcanized india-rubber, I first
grind or reduce it to a finely divided state by means of fluted or scored rollers
or other convenient apparatus, and then boil it in water for about forty-eight
hours, whereby the mass becomes reduced to a plastic or gummy state, fit to
be re-employed in the manufacture of india-rubber articles. In cases where

page_text: cloth or fabrics are combined with the india-rubber to be treated, these fibrous
particles may be destroyed by the application of lime or alum water, or a
weak solution of sulphuric acid.
According to another mode of treatment, after the india-rubber has been
ground or reduced as fine as possible, I pass it through "mullers" or rollers,
and reduce it to a sheet shape or condition, in which state it is mixed with
asphalte, coal tar, resin, pitch, or shellac, or any similar resinous or bituminous
substance, in the proportion of about ten parts of the india-rubber to two
parts of the resinous or bituminous substance. The mixing of the india-
rubber with the resinous or bituminous substances is effected by passing and
repassing them together between the "mullers" a number of times, for the
space of from 15 to 20 minutes, after which operation the material is in a fit
state to be re-manufactured into springs or other articles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nathaniel Shattswell Dodge in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th January 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NATHANIEL
SHATTSWELL DODGE, of 44, Saint Paul's Churchyard, in the City of London,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Nathaniel Shattswell Dodge, Her special license that I, the
Nathaniel Shattswell Dodge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Nathaniel Shattswell Dodge, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 TREATING WASTE VULCANIZED INDIA-RUBBER,".
a communication from the United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Nathaniel Shattswell Dodge, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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

page_text: Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Nathaniel Shattswell Dodge, 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 :-
The said Invention relates to an improved method or mode of treating:
waste vulcanized india-rubber whereby it may be rendered suitable for direct
employment in the manufacture of various india-rubber articles.
According to one mode of treatment I first disintegrate or reduce the waste
vulcanized india-rubber to as finely a divided state as possible, and I then
boil the finely reduced rubber in water, in order that the mass may be con-
verted into a soft plastic or gummy condition, capable of being employed in:
the manufacture of vulcanized india-rubber articles.
To produce such desired results, I continue the boiling operation for about
forty-eight hours, but the duration of such operation is dependent on the
nature of the materials to be treated.
My second method of treating waste vulcanized india-rubber in order to
produce a new material capable of being employed for the manufacture of
various articles consists, firstly, in disintegrating such waste vulcanized rubber
as herein-before described, and then passing the disintegrated rubber through
"mullers" or rollers (either heated or not, as may be found most convenient),
so as to bring it to a sheet shape, in which state it is mixed with asphalte,
coal tar, resin, pitch, shellac, or other resinous or bituminous substances, in
the manner as herein-after described. The proportions of these ingredients
may, of course, be more or less varied, but I have obtained very good results
by mixing ten parts of the rubber resulting from the previous operations with
two parts of the resinous or bituminous substance; but when coal tar is used,
four parts of coal tar may be combined with ten parts of rubber.
This admixture is effected by passing and re-passing the before-mentioned
materials between "mullers" or rollers until a material is obtained in a state
or condition suitable for the manufacture of fabrics or other articles.
In cases where cloth or fibrous materials are combined or mixed with the
waste rubber to be operated upon, such fibrous material, may (if desired), be
destroyed without injury to the rubber by the employment of an aqueous
solution of lime or alum, or of a diluted aqueous solution of sulphuric acid
employed; such acid solution may consist of about one part of sulphuric acid
to nine parts of water.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said

page_text: Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I hereby declare that I claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent,-
First, the method of treating waste vulcanized india-rubber with a view to
its re-application to the manufacture of vulcanized india-rubber articles, by
first disintegrating or reducing such waste vulcanized india-rubber, and sub-
sequently boiling the same in water until a soft plastic or gummy material is
obtained suitable for re-manufacture.
Second, the method of treating waste vulcanized india-rubber for the
purposes herein-before referred to, by disintegrating or reducing such waste
vulcanized india-rubber, and subsequently mixing or incorporating it with
asphalte, coal tar, resin, pitch, shellac, or other similar resinous or bituniinous
substance, whereby a new and useful material is obtained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nathaniel Shattswell Dodge, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of January, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
N. S. DODGE. (L.S.)