Year: 1886

page_text: I GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN of the General Patent Office, No. 4 South Street,
Finsbury, in the county of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention (a communication from abroad by Etienne Chevallot of 155 Route
de Toulouse, Bordeaux in the republic of France, Engineer) to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in permanently waterproofing fabrics at
the same time leaving them pervious to air and the invention has mainly for object
to protect articles of clothing from the action of rain thereby avoiding the
injurious consequences to the wearer from taking cold, but it is also applicable for
other purposes.
The invention consists in impregnating fabrics used as articles of clothing and
worn over linen or underclothing with a waterproof substance which will prevent
capillary action thus preventing rain drops from penetrating the fabric, however
loose may be its texture. But the special feature of my invention is the fixity of
the dressing which is rendered capable of withstanding a frictional action or that
of a beating operation as resorted to for cleaning articles of clothing by means of
a soapy emulsion or of a hydrocarbon, such for example as benzine. This fixity is
obtained by the addition of a solution of caseate of lime to the waterproofing
material or substance whatever may be its nature provided that the elements of
the combination do not react on each other and that they form a homogeneous
mixture.
-
In its operation, this organic salt acts as a mordant and without it the water-
proof properties of the fabric would be of very short duration.
The means of which I employ for rendering fabrics impermeable consist:-firstly,
in saturating the fabric under treatment with an emulsion of about one per cent of
caseate of lime and the same quantity of soap, both being in an anhydrous state;
secondly in passing the said fabric between pressure rollers so that it should only
retain a quantity of liquid equal to its own weight; thirdly, in dipping it sub-
sequently in a bath of acetate of alumine; fourthly, in again passing the same
fabric between the pressure rollers; fifthly, in immersing it for a moment in water
heated to near its boiling point; sixthly in drying it and subjecting it to the action
of a hot iron.

page_text: The first immersion is effected without the aid of heat, its duration varying
between a few minutes and one hour according to the thickness of the fabric; the
second immersion takes place at a temperature of from about fifty to sixty degrees
centigrade during about two to five minutes only. The first bath is impregnated
with the waterproofing substance; in the second bath the caseate of lime is
rendered insoluble by acetic acid without being decomposed, while at the same
time there is a double decomposition of the alkaline soap and of the acetate of
alumine and a formation of insoluble margarate of alumine; lastly in the hot
bath the new salt produced becomes after drying fixed upon the textile material by
the mordant.
Fabrics to which the above dressing has been applied instead of ordinary dress-
ings are impermeable to rain and at the same time permeable to air these being
indispensable hygienic conditions for the human body. Such fabrics will withstand
the most energetic washings with soapy water or suds at any temperature provided
no caustic or carbonated alkali is added to such water as it would redissolve the
caseate of lime and cause it to disappear which caseate is as above stated the fixing
agent of the waterproof material or substance.
Fabrics thus treated retain moreover their natural suppleness as well as their
colours, they are odourless and acquire a softness to the touch which they did not
possess previous to their treatment, finally, their strength is superior to that of
similar fabrics not so treated the caseate of lime having united the fibres together
more intimately. In order to obtain such results the following is the manner of
preparing one hectolitre of the caseo-soapy bath which requires to be prepared with
some care. The two solutions composing it are prepared separately and then mixed
together so as to form a colourless emulsion.
The caseine of milk in a coagulated state which is the active principle of the
first solution and from which the fatty matters have been extracted by the usual
means, is dissolved in at least four or five times its volume of water and is thrown
upon a filter in order to allow the serum dissolved in the water to drain through
the same.
A cheesy substance is thus obtained being composed of about twenty five parts
of cascine and of about seventy five parts of water in combination or two hundred
and fifty grammes of useful matter for each kilogramme. Four kilogrammes of
this purified cheesy substance are kneaded in twenty litres of water forming
a thick liquid of creamy consistence to which is gradually added while continuing
to stir the same one hundred grammes of powdered slaked lime. The combination
of the two substances takes place immediately and the product obtained is a fluid
and viscous solution of cascate of lime.
In order to prepare the second solution two kilogrammes of neutral soap yielding
at least fifty per cent of fatty matter composed as much as possible of margarine
are simply dissolved with or without the action of heat in eighty litres of water.
The mixture of the two solutions constituting the first bath will thus have
approximately the following composition
Caseate of lime
1, 10
1 04

page_text: I GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN of the General Patent Office, No. 4, South Street,
Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent do hereby declare the nature
of this invention (a communication from abroad by Etienne Chevallot of 155 Route
de Toulouse, Bordeaux, in the republic of France, Engineer) and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in permanently waterproofing fabrics at
the same time leaving thein pervious to air and the invention has mainly for object
to protect articles of clothing from the action of rain thereby avoiding injurious
consequences to the wearer from taking cold but it is also applicable for other
purposes.
The invention consists in impregnating fabrics with a waterproof substance
which will prevent capillary action thus preventing rain drops from penetrating
the fabric.
The special feature of the invention is the fixity of the dressing which is
rendered capable of withstanding the friction and beating operations to which
articles of clothing are subjected when being cleaned by a soapy emulsion or of
benzine. This fixity is obtained by the addition of a solution of caseate of lime
to the waterproofing material or substance and which in the water-proof dressing
acts as a mordant. The dressing can be variously colored in such a manner that
in many cases the fabrics can be waterproofed and dyed in the same bath as textile
fabrics and their threads.
The process which I employ for dressing fabrics, threads and fibres consists;
firstly, in saturating fabrics, threads and fibres in the cold state (by means of
dipping) with an emulsion of about one per cent of caseate of lime and the same
quantity of soap (nargaric sodium-salt) both being in an anhydrous state; secondly,
in dipping the materials after they have been well drained in a second bath of
acetate of alumine marking at least one degree Beaumé.
When however it is required at the same time to dye the fabric the two dippings
take place at a temperature of from fifty to sixty degrees centigrade the duration
varying, for the first bath from thirty to sixty minutes according to the capability
of absorption of the fabrics under treatment, for the second bath from ten to
fifteen minutes.
The fabrics are then dried and hot pressed; other materials are subjected for
some minutes to the action of a bath of dry steam in a closed vessel.
If it be desired that fabrics for clothing should feel to the touch the same as
similar fabrics in their ordinary state the dressing is removed from the surface by
means of a brush before being dried and hot pressed.
The following is the manner of preparing one hectolitre of the caseo-soapy
bath which requires to be prepared with some care. The two solutions composing
it are prepared separately and then mixed together so as to form a colourless
emulsion.

page_text: The caseine of milk in a coagulated state which is the active principle of the
first solution and from which the fatty matters have been extracted by the usual
means is dissolved in at least four or five times its volume of water and is thrown
on a filter in order to allow the serum dissolved in the water to drain through.
A cheesy substance is thus obtained being composed of about twenty-five parts
of caseine and of about seventy five parts of water or two hundred and fifty
grammes of useful matter for each kilogramme. Four kilogrammes of this purified
cheesy substance are kneaded in twenty litres of water forming a thick liquid of
creamy consistence to which is gradually added, while continuing to stir the
mixture one hundred grammes of powdered slaked lime. The combination of the
two substances takes place immediately and the product obtained is a viscous
solution of caseate of lime.
In order to prepare the second solution two kilogrammes of neutral soap yielding
at least fifty per cent of fatty matter composed as much as possible of margarine
are simply dissolved with or without the action of heat in eighty litres of water.
The mixture of the two solutions constituting the first bath will thus have
approximately the following composition
106.10
100.00
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
A new means of dressing fabrics consisting in mixing in varying proportions
caseate of lime with a waterproofing material or substance, coloured or not, for
the purpose of fixing the said material or substance on fabrics of all kinds and
when desired dyeing thein.
3