AN IMPROVED LUBRICATING OLL
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Rudolph Bodmer, of 2, Thavies Inn, Holborn, in
the City of London, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED LUBRICATING
OLL." A communication.
Sealed the 11th April 1856, and dated the 4th February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Rudolph Bodmer at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th February 1856.
I, RUDOLPH BODNER, of 2, Thavies Inn, Holborn, in the City of London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
LUBRICATING OIL," (a communication,) to be as follows:-
Tars which have been distilled at a high temperature, like that used in making
gas for illuminating purposes, are taken. Common coal tars are the cheapest
at present, therefore they are preferred, but tars made from shale, peat, rosin,
wood, and from vegetable and animal substances, will answer the purpose.
These tars are placed in an ordinary tar-still, and then a heat reaching to
about 700° Fahrenheit is applied so as to drive over the aqueous vapor,
ammoniacal liquor, and light oils. The distillate thus obtained must be
removed into an iron vessel, heated by fire or steam, and to each of one
hundred gallons is added two hundred pounds weight of a solution of caustic
soda. This mixture is agitated for several hours, the temperature being
kept at about one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit. After allowing
the liquor to settle, it is removed into a leaden or other suitable vessel,

page_text: and to each one hundred gallons is added fifty pounds of sulphuric acid.
This mixture is well stirred for about four hours. The impurities contained
in it are allowed to subside, and the clear oil is removed into a vessel,
and to each one hundred gallons one hundred pounds of a solution
of caustic soda are added, and the mixture is well agitated.. The oil
is allowed to rest for about six hours. It is then removed and placed
in an ordinary iron still, with a condenser attached to it, so that it is
arranged that the temperature will not fall below 150° Fahrenheit. At the
end of the condenser is a loosely covered receiver, into which all the products
fall until the vapour in the retort reaches about 450° Fahrenheit. When this
temperature is attained, the condenser is opened to another reservoir, and the
oily products rising, in consequence of increased heat being applied to the still,
are received apart from the first-products condensed. The distillation must be
continued until the temperature of the vapour reaches about 670° Fahrenheit,
when the operation may cease, and the residue at the bottom of the still removed.
The slightly impure oil thus obtained is placed in a suitable vessel, and to
each one hundred gallons is added twenty-five. pounds of sulphuric acid, and
the whole is well agitated for several hours. The acid and impurities are then
allowed to subside, and the clear oil is next treated with a solution of caustic
soda, about one hundred pounds to one hundred gallons of oil. The oil is
afterwards removed, and being mixed with twelve pounds of hydrate of potash
or hydrate of soda, mixed with one gallon of water, to each one hundred
gallons, is then placed in a suitable retort and distilled, the liquids coming
over between 450° and 480° Fahrenheit, being kept apart, and stopping the
operation when the vapours rise to about 650°. The oil condensed from this
operation is composed of paranapthaline and fixed oils, and is the compound
or manufacture which, under the name new tar oil, is intended to be used for
lubricating machinery, either by itself or mixed with other mineral, vegetable,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed 3
by the said Rudolph Bodmer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RUDOLPH
BODMER, of 2, Thavies Inn, Holborn, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Rudolph Bodmer, Her special licence that I, the said Rudolph
Bodmer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Rudolph Bodmer, 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 "AN IMPROVED
LUBRICATING OIL," communication), upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Rudolph Bodmer, 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 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 Rudolph Bodmer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
I take tars which have been produced by the distillation of coal at a high
temperature, such as are made in the manufacture of coal gas. This tar is
the cheapest at present, therefore I prefer it; but tars produced in a similar
manner at a high temperature from shale, peat, wood, and from bones, or other
animal substances, will answer my purpose. These tars I place in an ordinary
still (into which the bulb of a thermometer is inserted), and connected with a
worm immersed in water, this water being regularly kept at a temperature of
between 60° and 80° Fahrenheit throughout all my distillations. The heat
of the still is raised by a fire, and when the thermometer rises to 300° Fahren-
heit, the instrument is removed, and the products of distillation above 300°
are run into another vessel, and kept separate from the products of distillation
below 300°. The latter I reject as unfit for my purpose. The tar is distilled
to dryness, which is known to have taken place when products cease to run
from the condenser, the heat being always kept up. I then allow the still to
cool, and remove the carbonaceous mass in its interior when it is ready for
another charge of tar. I proceed to purify the oil obtained from the coal tar
above 300° Fahrenheit as follows:-This oil is put into a leaden tank, and to
each 500 gallons I add 10 gallons of commercial brown sulphuric acid, of
strength 140 Twaddle, or about 1-700 specific gravity, and I agitate them
well up together for one hour. The vitriol is allowed to subside, which will

page_text: take place in 10 or 12 hours, and is drawn off by a stop-cock placed at the
bottom of the tank. I then add other 10 gallons of brown sulphuric acid to
each 500 gallons of the oil, and agitate for four hours. The oil, after subsidence,
is removed to an iron vessel, and to each 100 gallons is added 10 gallons of a
solution of caustic soda, marking 70 Twaddle, or weighing 13 lbs. to the
gallon, and I agitate them thoroughly together for 10 or 12 hours, and I
prefer to keep the temperature of the oil in this tank up to 85° Fahrenheit,
both during the agitation with the caustic soda, and afterwards for 10 or 12
hours. The clear oil is then removed into a still, and to each 100 gallons is
added 20 lbs. of the soda ash of commerce, 20 lbs. of slacked lime (hydrate of
lime), and 4 gallons of water; or I take 40 lbs. caustic soda solution, marking
70° Twaddle, or by measure 3 gallons, weighing 13 lbs. to the gallon for
each 100 gallons of oil put into the still, and heat is applied. In general no
oil will come over until the heat of the still has reached 300° Fahrenheit, but
if any should come below this temperature it is rejected. When about 80
per cent. of the oil put into the still has been obtained, the process is stopped.
This product of distillation is my improved lubricating oil, which I name
"new tar oil." It may be used either by itself, or mixed with other oils, fats,
greases, and soaps.
In witness whereof, I, the said Rudolph Bodmer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
RUDOLPH BODMER.
(L.S.)