IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF OAKUM OR OTHER FIBROUS PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION SUBSTANCES FOR CAULKING SHIPS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Senior Atkinson, of Hill Top, Knottingley, in
the West Riding of the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF OAKUM OR OTHER FIBROUS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Senior Atkinson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th June 1867.
I, EDWIN SENIOR ATKINSON, of Hill Top, Knottingley, in the West Riding
of the County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF OAKUM OR OTHER
FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR CAULKING SHIPS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the manufacture or treatment of fibrous
substances intended for caulking ships and for other similar purposes, and
consists in impregnating, and otherwise preparing hemp, flax, jute, or their
tows, or cuttings, or "flyings," or tow which has been made by boiling
and teazing old tarred rope or any other suitable fibrous material or materials
(whether the same be mixed or separate) with vegetable or mineral tar, pitch,
or resin, or other resinous or bituminous substance, or any, or all of them, or
any suitable mixture of them which have been liquified, diluted, or otherwise
prepared as herein-after described, whether such fibrous substances be in
Price 8d.1

page_text: their raw or fibrous state, or have been spun into yarn, and also whether such
yarn has been made directly from the said fibrous substances, or has been
made by untwisting the strands of soft untarred rope.
In carrying out this Invention I first prepare an impregnating agent, or
mixture, or fluid as follows:-I take vegetable or mineral tar, or pitch, or resin,
or any or all of them, or any suitable mixture of them, or any other suitable
resinous or bituminous substance which may be either used alone or mixed
with vegetable or mineral tar, pitch, or resin, and I liquify or dilute them by
the application of heat, and the admixture of mineral or vegetable oils or
spirits, such as mineral or vegetable turpentine, naphtha, camphine, or
petroleum, or paraffin oils or spirits, or other hydrocarbon fluids or creosote
obtained in the distillation of coal tar, or alkaline lye, or glycerine, or animal
or fish oils, fat or fatty substances, or any suitable mixture of them, or any
other suitable solvent, lubricant, or diluent. In mixing or preparing the bases
such as mineral or vegetable tar, pitch, or resin, or other resinous or
bituminous substance with the solvents, lubricants, or diluents I do not
fine myself to precise quantities, as they may be varied at the option of the
manufacturer, and according to whether the mixture is to be used in a cold
or heated state, but I prefer to use the thinner fluids or solvents or diluents
along with or in combination with the heavy oils or fatty substances, for the
purpose of facilitating the operation of impregnating the fibrous material or
materials. The impregnating agent or liquid being made as above described,
or otherwise prepared, I employ such preservative mixture or agent either
cold or in a heated state to impregnate hemp, flax, jute, or other fibrous
material or substance in the way and manner herein-after described. I 'take
hemp, flax, jute, or their tows or "cuttings" or "flyings," whether mixed or
separate, or any other suitable fibrous material or materials, and impregnate
them with the preservative agent or liquid herein-before described, either by
immersing them in the said fluid or mixture, or by sprinkling or by any
other suitable means, after which I expose them to natural or artificial heat
or submit them to any other suitable drying or dessicating process until they
are fit for use; or I pass the fibrous materials before mentioned through a
carding engine or other suitable fibre-opening apparatus, after which I saturate
them in any suitable manner with the before-mentioned preservative agent or
liquid, and submit them to pressure by passing them through rollers or other-
wise to press or squeeze out the superfluous liquid; or I pass them through
rollers between which an endless apron passes into a trough underneath them,
whereby the fibrous material as it passes through is impregnated and squeezed
at one operation, after which 1 expose them to natural or artificial heat, or

page_text: submit them to any other suitable drying process until they are ready for
use; or twist or spin the fibrous material into yarn of suitable thickness'
previously to impregnating it; or 1 make yarn by twisting the strands of soft
untarred rope; and I take yarn thus made and impregnate it with the preser-
vative fluid or agent, and pass it through rollers (by preference made of or
covered with some soft or flexible substance), or otherwise submit it to pressure
in order to squeeze out the superfluous liquid, after which it is exposed.
to natural or artificial heat or submitted to other suitable drying process
until it is sufficiently dry to be used. I propose to designate the material
which has been thus impregnated and otherwise prepared as "Lloyd's
oakum."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Senior Atkinson in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 6th. December 1867.
TO ALL
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
SENIOR ATKINSON, of Hill Top, Knottingley, in the West Riding of the County
of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors. give and grant: unto me, the said
Edwin Senior Atkinson, Her special license that I, the said Edwin Senior
Atkinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others!as I, the said
Edwin Senior Atkinson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times-there-
after 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
THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF OAKUM OR OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES FOR
CAULKING SHIPS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Edwin Senior Atkinson, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument 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 Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edwin Senior Atkinson, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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:-
My said Invention has for its object the manufacture or treatment of waste
fibrous substances intended for caulking ships and for other similar purposes,
and consists in impregnating and otherwise preparing hemp, flax, jute, and their
tows or cuttings" or "flyings" which have been obtained or recovered from
ropes, cordage, bags, or other waste or semi-waste textile or fibrous material,
or tow which has been made by boiling and teazing old tarred rope or other
suitable animal or vegetable fibrous material or materials (whether the
same be mixed or separate) with vegetable or mineral tar, pitch, or resin, or
other resinous or bituminous substance, or any or all of them, or any suitable
mixture of them which have been liquified, diluted, or otherwise prepared as
herein-after described.
In carrying out this Invention 1 first prepare an, impregnating agent, or
mixture, or fluid as follows:-I take vegetable or mineral tar, or pitch, or
resin, or any or all of them, or any suitable mixture of them, or any other
suitable resinous or bituminous substance which may be either used alone or
mixed with vegetable or mineral tar, pitch, or resin, and I liquify or dilute
them by the application of heat and the admixture of mineral or vegetable oils
or spirits, such as mineral or vegetable turpentine, naphtha, camphine, or
petroleum, or paraffine, or shale oils or spirits, or other hydrocarbon fluids,
or creosote, or dead oils obtained in the distillation of coal tar, or alkalinc
lye made with 'caustic soda, or potash. or glycerine, or animal, or fish oils,
fat or fatty substances, or any of them, or any suitable mixture of them, or
any other suitable solvent, lubricant, or diluent. In mixing or preparing the
bases, such as mineral or vegetable tar, pitch. or resin, or other resinous or
bituminous substance with the solvents, lubricants, or diluents, 1 do not confine
myself to precise quantities, as they may be varied at the option of the manu-
facturer, and according to whether the mixture is to be used in a cold or
heated, state but prefer to use sufficient to make a mixture about the
consistency of cream, and to employ the thinner fluids, or solvents, or diluents,
or water, along with or in combination with the heavy oils or fatty substances,
for the purpose of facilitating the operation of impregnating the fibrous
material or materials. The impregnating agent or liquid being made as above
described, or otherwise prepared, I employ such preservative mixture or agent
either cold or in a heated state to impregnate waste hemp, flax, jute, or other
animal or vegetable fibrous material or substance in the way and manner

page_text: herein-after described: I..take..waste or old hemp,flax, jute; prutheir tows.or
cuttings or flyings.obtained as, aforesaid, or any other suitable animal...or
vegetable fibrous, material or materials whether mixed or separate, and
.impregnate, them with the preservative agent or liquid herein-before described,
either, by immersing them in the said fluid or mixture, or by sprinkling, or by
any other suitable, means, after which I press out the, superfluous liquid
and then expose., them to natural or artificial heat or submit them to any
suitable drying or desiccating process until they are ready for. use, or I pass
the fibrous materials before mentioned through a carding engine or other
suitable fibre-opening apparatus, after which I slightly moisten them or make
them damp with steam or water, and then saturate or impregnate them in
any suitable manner with the before-mentioned preservative mixture or liquid,
and submit them to pressure by passing them through rollers or otherwise to
press, or squeeze out the superfluous liquid, after which I submit them to
natural or artificial heat or to any other suitable drying process until they are
in a fit condition to be used. I prefer, however, to pass the fibrous material
or materials through rollers between which an endless apron passes into a
trough underneath such rollers, which trough contains the preservative
mixture along with the addition of a quantity of water, whereby the fibrous
material or materials as they pass between the rollers are moistened, impregnated,
and squeezed at one operation, after which they are submitted to any suitable
drying process until they are ready for use. Although the water will not
unite with the preservative mixture, it will nevertheless in practice be found
to perform an important and economical part in the process of impregnating
the fibrous materials with the preservative mixture. The rollers are made of
or covered with some soft or flexible material and the fibrous materials may
be stripped off with scrapers, or a brush, or other suitable contrivance. I also
make the fibrous material or materials into a sliver or roving of yarn of the
thickness required for caulking previously to impregnating it with the preser-
vative mixture; or I make yarn by untwisting the strands of soft or white
untarred rope, and I take the yarn, sliver, or roving thus made, and impregnate
it with the preservative mixture or fluid, and pass it through rollers made of or
covered with some soft or flexible substance, or otherwise submit it to pressure
in order to squeeze out the superfluous liquid, after which it is exposed to
natural or artificial heat or submitted to other suitable drying process until
it is sufficiently dry to be used. I propose to designate the material which
has been thus impregnated and otherwise prepared as "Lloyd's oakum."
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used,

page_text: 2.or carried into effect, I would observe in-conclusion that whati, It consider, to
beunovel and original; and therefore claim as the Invention secured: ito.me
by the herein-before in part: recited Letters Patenti is, the treating by the
aforesaid preservative mixture hemp, flax, jute, and other fibrous materials,
whether animal or vegetable, which have been obtained or recovered from
rope, cordage, bags, or other waste or semi-waste textile or fibrous materials,
for the purpose..of manufacturing or preparing oakum therefrom in: the way
-and manner-as herein-before described.
In witness' whereof. I, the said Edwin Senior Atkinson; have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of December,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.