IMPROVE- MENTS IN PURIFYING LAC, AND IN CONVERTING LAC INTO SHELLAC
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALPHONSE
LE MIRE DE NORMANDY, of Dalston, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Seventh day of December, in the eighth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Alphonse
Le Mire De Normandy, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Alphonse Le Mire De Normandy, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alphonse Le Mire De Normandy, my
exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PURIFYING LAC, AND IN CONVERTING LAC INTO SHELLAC;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Alphonse Le Mire
De Normandy, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in

page_text: Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alphonse Le Mire De Normandy, do hereby declare that the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
(that is to say):-
My Invention consists, first, in a. certain process of ridding lac of the
impurities which it contains, such as twigs or branches, dust, dirt, and other
matters with which it may be either naturally, accidentally, or designedly
mixed, and to convert it into pure lac or into shellac.
Secondly, in the manufacture of shellac from seed lac, block lac, roll lac,
or lac pieces, and for the reconversion into shellac of such lac which having
been formerly in the state of shellac has become clogged, or run together in
blocks or pieces on their journey or otherwise.
And the processes I effect in the following manner:-The lac first described,
and which it is intended to rid of impurities, is put into a sieve, the fineness
of which is proportioned to the nature and size of the impurities to be removed
from the lac, and the whole is to be immersed in alcohol or other menstruum
in which lac is soluble, but which after evaporation leaves the lac unaltered
in respect to its properties. The lac in the sieve immersed in the solvent, as
just said, is left therein until dissolved. To expedite the process heat may
be applied until the lac is dissolved. The heat is I conceive best applied by
means of steam "pipes, or by Perkins' patent hot water pipes, as by such
means, the' heat is more under controul than by a naked fire; but other modes
may be applied; and the vessel into which the menstruum is put containing
the lac in the sieve is preferable to be in the form of a still provided with its
worm tub, so as to be able to condense the vapours which may arise during
the dissolving period. When the lac is completely dissolved the sieve may
then be removed, when it will be found to contain the impurities only, the
dissolved lac having filtered throngh. Heat being now applied to the still
containing the filtered solution of lac, the alcohol or other menstruum will
evaporate, and may be collected separately, and will thus leave the purified
lac in a melted and dry state, when it may be converted into shellac by letting
it fall whilst thus melted upon a pair of revolving smooth metal rollers, the
surfaces of the rollers being kept constantly moist and cool with water; and

page_text: the passing of the lac between the rollers will press the lac .into a thin sheet,
which I allow to slide down an incline plane of sheet iron till cool, which
I have found to require about forty feet, placed so that the sheet lac will
slide slowly down. The alcohol or other menstruum collected from the still
may be used again.
With respect to the second process, namely, the conversion of block lac
and other kinds of lac into shellac, I proceed as follows:-A coil or coils of
pipes containing steam at a pressure of about fifty pounds to the inch, or
circulating water as in Perkins' patent apparatus at a temperature of about
260° Fah, but which is not to exceed three hundred degrees Fahrenheit, is
or are placed over a pair of revolving rollers, as above explained. The coils
I consider best to be coiled into the shape of a funnel or cone, the sides of
which are inclined towards each other at an angle of about sixty degrees, and
the space between each coil I have found best to be about a quarter of an
inch. By putting the lac to be treated within the funnel formed by these
coils the lac is melted, and falling in that state upon the rollers above mentioned
whilst revolving becomes converted into shellac. This apparatus may also
be employed for purifying lac instead of the process first mentioned, namely,
by dissolution in the proper menstruum; but in that case the inside or the
outside of the coils of pipe is to be covered with wire cloth of the suitable
fineness, so as to fit the coil of pipes, by which means the impurities of the
lac
may be retained therein, the lac only passing through when melted, and
thence falling on the rollers, by which it is converted into shellac.
Having thus described the naturo of my Invention, and the means of per-
forming the same as practised by me, I would wish it to be understood that
I do not confine myself to the details herein described, so long as the peculiar
character of either part of my Invention be retained; but what I claim is,--
First, the purifying lac by solution or heat, and passing it through a sieve
to separate it from impurities, and converting the lac into shell, as above
described.
And, secondly, I claim the converting lac into shellac by melting, aided by
rollers, and cooling the shell or shellac, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alphonse Le Mire De Normandy, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
ALPHONSE (L.s.) NORMANDY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of June, in the year
of our Lord 1845, the aforesaid Alphonse Le Mire De Normandy came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and spécified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-five.