Improved Manufacture of Resilient Contact Bodies, such as Seat Cushions, Wheel Tyres, and the like.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Aug., 1891-Accepted, 31st Oct., 1891
Improved Manufacture of Resilient Contact Bodies, such as Seat
Cushions, Wheel Tyres, and the like.
We, JOSEPH BAXERES TORRES, JOSEPH BAXERES ALZUGARAY, and JOSEPH
DIAZ BENJUMEA, of 85 Arlington Street, New North Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Mining Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention 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 the manufacture of contact bodies of various kinds
which require to be soft but at the same time resilient so as to resume their normal
form after having been temporarily pressed out of it. The invention practically
consists in the employment of contiguous layers or strata of materials of opposite
or differing qualities, one layer for example consisting of a soft pliable material
which when pressed out of its existing shape will not of itself have the power to
resume that shape and the next layer consisting of a resilent material preferably
more or less hard or impervious in its nature which when pressed or forced out of
its normal shape will resume that shape as soon as the pressure is relieved.
Hitherto this result has been attained by the employment within a rubber tube or
casing of compressed air or the like as in the examples of an ordinary rubber
cushion, a pneumatic tyre for cycles and so forth, but the present invention differs
from these previous constructions in its containing within itself both the resilient
and the soft or yielding qualities so that while presenting a soft or yielding face
to contact it possesses within itself, and without the assistance of the compressed
air, the power to return to its normal shape. In a pneumatic tyre for cycle wheels,
for example, as at present constructed, india-rubber to retain the compressed air
within, and which alone would be too readily expansible to withstand the pressure,
is strengthened by canvas which will not stretch, but the tyre so formed has not
the power of resuming its normal shape against any serious pressure without the
assistance of the compressed air inside it, while at the same time it possesses the
great drawback that in can be readily punctured as there is nothing in its substance
capable of resisting even the insertion of a pin or thorn.
In our invention however the material itself without the assistance of the com-
pressed air inside presents a sufficiently soft exterior and possesses a sufficient
amount of resilience to meet practical requirements while the resilient or corneous
layers are sufficiently strong to turn aside the point of a pin or the like and thus
prevent the puncturing of the tyre. Similarly an ordinary air cushion, although it
might retain its shape when not exposed to pressure, would be useless as a cushion
without the air inside it, and which if not highly compressed when introduced
becomes compressed in proportion to the weight or pressure to which the cushion is
subjected, and such a cushion can be easily punctured. But a seat cushion made of
our improved material need not be constructed to retain air at all but nevertheless
presents a sufficiently soft surface which will yield as much as required but will he
sufficiently resilient to satisfactorily resist the weight placed upon it and to recover
itself and return to its normal shape as soon as the weight is removed.
Different kinds of materials may be employed in carrying out this invention such
as various kinds of cloth, tanned skins soft gums, rubber and the like, for the softer
materials, and hard crude or parchment skins of animals or fishes, resin gums,
corneous, semi-corneous or even gelatinous substances for the resilient materials,
any or all of which substances may be treated in any required manner to increase
or produce the desired effect.
In manufacturing this material a layer of either the hard or soft material is first

page_text: taken according as a hard or soft surface is required and upon this is placed the
next layer of the other quality material and the two connected together. This may
be done in various ways according to the materials themselves and the conditions in
which they are operated upon; for example, if they are treated cold a rubber or
equivalent solution will generally be sufficient with a slight pressure to connect
them together, or where rubber itself forms one of the layers a surface application
of a rubber solvent will be sufficient to make the rubber adhere under suitable
pressure to the contiguous layer. Two layers may be pressed together and then
another and another added as required, or the requisite number of layers may be
prepared and the whole then submitted to the necessary treatment to cause them to
adhere. In some cases pressure is unnecessary, merely sticking the parts together
with the necessary solution or other adhesive material being sufficient; in other
cases where rubber is employed the necessary adhesion may be obtained by the
usual vulcanizing process. In other cases pressure alone or in conjunction with a
sufficiently high temperature will effect the required adhesion.
In constructing a wheel tyre or the like of this material according to this
invention the two materials say indiarubber and horn are made into sheets or strips
of suitable size by the ordinary methods.
The approximate thickness of the sheets may be: 1 millimetre (0.04 in.) for
indiarubber and 0.5 millimetre (0.02 in.) for the horn. These dimensions need not,
however, be strictly adhered to and may vary within very wide limits according to
requirements.
A sheet of horn and a sheet of indiarubber are then superposed and connected
by rolling between heated cylinders, an adhesive substance being employed if
necessary (for example a solution of indiarubber in a suitable solvent) in order to
make the superposed sheets firmly adhere to each other. Upon the sheet of india-
rubber is then fixed in a similar manner a sheet of horn; upon this another sheet of
indiarubber, and so on until a sheet of the desired thickness is obtained.
The sheet or strip thus produced, consisting for example of five sheets of horn
alternating with five sheets of india-rubber, all thoroughly united, will, if the
dimensions above given are observed, have a total thickness of 7.5 millimetres
(0.3 in.). This sheet is then formed into a cylindrical tube by any suitable process,
say the following:-
The edges of the sheet are first bevelled and it is then drawn into a cylindrical
metal mould, the inner diameter of which is equal to the outer diameter of the tube
it is desired to form. This mould is constructed with a circular shaft or mandrel
and adapted to be heated by means of a current of steam circulating externally in
the space between the double envelope of the mould, and internally, within a metal
tube. This mould is provided with a slot or groove about in. wide, extending
throughout the length of the mould, within the internal circle. It is open at both
ends and at one end is flattened out by the gradual widening of the groove so as to
form a flat plate. The flexible sheet is placed upon this flat portion, so that
a sheet of horn is uppermost. As it enters the tubular mould it gradually assumes
the shape thereof, its edges being brought close to each other and afterwards fixed
together through the longitudinal groove, so as to complete the tube.
The tube is then removed from the mould and a thin sheet of indiarubber is
wound around it preferably four or five times and its edge fixed to its own surface
say by means of an adhesive substance.
The two ends of the tube are then made to meet and fixed together, care being
taken that the longitudinal joint is within the circle.
The same process would apply to other materials than those mentioned above,
such as canvas, or cloth in combination with fish-skin, parchment, etc., with or
without the assistance of an agglutinative substance such as a solution of india-rubber
or the like.
In the case of a seat cushion or the like it is merely necessary' to form the
material into the required shape, place it in a suitable mould or shape and subject
it to the required heat or pressure, or both heat and pressure, and allow it to cool

page_text: if necessary and upon withdrawing it from the mould it will retain its shape and
require no further treatment, being then ready for use.
Other articles may be formed in a similar manner according to the requirements
of each case.
By the above stratification we are enabled to produce a material having within
reasonable limits any required amount of resilience or power to return to its normal
form after having been forced out of that form, while at the same time the contact
faces may be as soft as desired and the soft layers all through the substance of the
complete fabric provide the cushioning or absorbent properties often required in
articles or materials of this description.
It will be understood that any required number of layers or strata may be
employed and that each individual layer, whether of the soft or hard material, may
be of any required thickness and that either or both faces of material may be
formed of either a hard or soft layer. Usually it will be sufficient to make the
hard or resilient layers very thin indeed but the actual thickness is a matter of
adaptation to the particular requirement.
Although as has been above stated it is our intention in this invention to dispense
with the employment of compressed air or other supporting medium it is nevertheless
apparent that should it for any reason be found desirable to employ any such
medium that may be done in the interior of the tube, the inside of the seat cushion,
and so forth, or if the material be so arranged the space or spaces left for the
purpose between some of the layers may be filled with air, or other fluid compressed
or non-compressed, hair, wool, fibre or other similar material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said in ven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood
that while we are aware that alternate layers of rubber and canvas have before
now been employed in the construction of cycle tyres and other rubber articles
these have so far as we are aware been employed only for the purpose of giving
strength to or preventing the expansion of the rubber, a familiar instance of this
being rubber and canvas water tubing where the canvas is employed to prevent the
expansion of and to generally strengthen the rubber. In all these cases however
the canvas, which is the material most generally employed, has no power in itself
to retain any particular shape or form and the rubber while it might have that
power when not exposed to pressure is nevertheless far too pliable to retain any
particular form under the application of pressure. No claim is therefore made to
the employment of rubber and canvas in alternate layers. What we claim is:
1. The manufacture of material possessing the properties hereinbefore described
and constructed of alternate layers or strata of materials of the opposite or
differing natures described.
2. A material possessing the properties herein described and constructed of
alternate layers or strata of resilient and non-resilient materials.
3. The herein described manufacture of material substantially as and for the
purposes described.
1001
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.