IM- PROVEMENTS IN COLOURING. PRESERVING, & DESICCATING WOOD AND MARBLE, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer & Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN COLOURING. PRESERVING, & DESICCATING WOOD AND MARBLE,
AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME."-A communication from Francois
Cloniding at Marseille in the Empire of France
nt
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissiouers of Patents, with his Petition, on the 15th
November 1858.
1, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer & Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COLOURING, PRESERVING. & DESICCATING WOOD AND
MARBLE, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME," (a communication) to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to new processes and apparatus for effecting the
desiccation, coloring, and preservation of wood and marble.
Coloring. The wood is first submitted to an injection of silicate of zinc in
solution in water, in order to render it homogeneous throughout; this silicate,
which is insoluble in acids and mineral salts, serves to close the pores of the
wood. This operation is complete when the pressure guage indicates for the
[Price 8d.]

page_text: softest woods a pressure of twenty atmospheres, and for the hardest woods a
pressure of sixty atmospheres.
The second operation consists in removing the sap of the wood, and for this
purpose I employ caustic lyc, which permeates the juices of the wood; the
application of the lye, and the washing or rinsing being repeated several
times.
To obtain delicate colors the wood is made to undergo a bleaching process,
after which operations the wood being charged with color acqaires light tints
and hardness according to the presence of different salts.
Preservation. To preserve wood I remove the sap,as above indicated, before
submitting it to an injection of sulphate of copper, and sulphate of rhodium;
the combination resulting from the action of these two substances is insoluble
in water. Wood thus prepared is not susceptable to warp or shrink, and is
readily colored.
Desiccation. The wood when once compressed may be submitted to the
caustic lyes to remove the sap, and as these operations occupy two hours only
it can be immediately employed without fear of cracking. To assist the
cooling of the liquids injected into the wood,I apply at one end of the timber
an air pump which assists the desiccation.
Coloring marbles.-For coloring marble I employ the same apparatus,but
modifying the parts which serve to hold the wood. The marble is submitted
to an injection of citric acid diluted in water in order to open the pores;
after this operation the marble may be colored and the pores filled up with
crystals, which renders them much more transparent. By this method marbles
may be obtained of one plain color, which may be substituted for precious
stones in mosaic work.
The apparatus with which I perform these operations is represented in the
annexed Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 is a
plan; Fig. 3 is a section of a part of the apparatus; Fig. 4 is a section and
plan of 9 in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a section and plan of h, Fig. 1.
a, a, iron rails fixed to the framework 6; b, framework of wood fixed to a
stone foundation; at the extremities of the rails is placed a turning plate, not
represented in the Drawings, which permits of the sliding carriage c being
passed on to another line of rails, and by this method to change at will the
timber d, shown in plan and section; c, sliding carriage of iron pierced with a
hole at each angle; through these holes the screw rods e pass, which are
intended to connect the sliding carriage with the solid mass of iron; d, piece
of timber to be operated upon; c, screw rods of iron, connecting the parts
andf;f, mass of iron resting on a foundation of stone; i, lift and force pump

page_text: for injecting the liquids; j, suction pump, working at same time as the
pump i.
Wood has generally cracks at the core or heart, which often run the whole
length of the wood,and prevents theuniform injection of all parts of the wood,
the liquid passing freely through the cracks.
To obviate these inconveniences an improved apparatus has been devised
which is termed a subdivider, represented on an enlarged scale at Fig. 4.
g, body of the apparatus; h, cone, which encloses the subdivider. The cracks
are observed in the end of the timber, and the divider g applied thereto, so
that the traces of the cracks may be seen through it; the holes of the chambers
coinciding with the cracks are now closed by means of screws k, and the conc
placed on the divider g. By tightening the nuts of the rods e, the sliding
carriage 9 presses the wood d against the mass of iron; this pressure forces
the sharp edges of the divider to penetrate the wood at its extremities through-
out the surface; hence it follows that each chamber of the divider will be
separated, and cannot communicate with the adjacent partitions opening to
the cracks, which chambers are closed by the screws k, and thus will not
receive any liquid.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of Nov', in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that 1, the said William
Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Clark, my executors, administrators, and 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 "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN COLOURING, PRESERVING, AND DESICCATING WOOD AND MARBLE, AND IN

page_text: APPARATUS FOR THE SAME," a communication from François Casult, residing at
Marseille, in the Empire of France,) upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Clark, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their bands 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 William Clark, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manuer the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement. reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to new processes and apparatus for effecting the
desiccation, coloring, and preservation of wood and marble.
Coloring. The wood is first submitted to an injection of silicate of zinc in
solution in water, in order to render it homogenous throughout; this silicate,
which is insoluble in acids and mineral salts, serves to close the pores of the
wood. This operation is complete when the pressure guage indicates for the
softest woods a pressure of twenty atmosphères, and for the hardest woods a
pressure of sixty atmospheres.
The second operation consists in removing the sap of the wood, and for this
purpose I employ caustic lye, which permeates the juices of the wood; the
application of the lyes, and the washing or rinsing being repeated several
times.
To obtain delicate colors the wood is made to undergo a bleaching process,
after which operations, the wood being charged with color acquires light tints,
and hardness, according to the presence of different salts.
Preservation. To preserve woods I remove the sap, as above indicated,
before submitting them to an injection of sulphate of copper and sulphuret of
hodium;
the combination resulting from the action of these two substances, is
insoluble in water. Wood thus prepared is not susceptible to warp or shrink,
and is readily coloured.
Desiccation. The wood when once compressed can be submitted to the
caustic lyes to remove the sap, these operations occupy two hours only; the
wood so prepared can be immediately employed without fear of cracking. To
assist the passage of the liquids injected into the wood, I employ at one end
of the timber an air pump, which also assists the desiccation.
Coloring marbles.-For coloring marble I employ the same apparatus, but

page_text: modifying the parts which serve to hold the wood. The marble is submitted
to an injection of citric acid diluted in water in order to open the pores.
After this operation the marble may be colored, and the] pores filled up with
crystals, which render them much more transparent. By this method marble
may be obtained of one plain color, which may be substituted for precious
stones in mosaic work.
The apparatus with which I perform these operations is represented in the
annexed Drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, Fig. 2 is a plan;
Fig. 3 is a section of a part of the apparatus; Fig. 4 is a section and plan
of g, Fig. 1; & Fig. 5 is a section and plan of h, Fig. 1.
a, a, iron rails, fixed on the framework b; b, framework of wood, fixed to a
stone foundation; at the extremities of the rails is fixed a turning piate, not
represented in the Drawings, which permits of the sliding carriage c being
passed on to another line of rails, and by this method to change at will the
timber d shown in plan and section; c, sliding carriage of iron pierced with a
hole at each angle; through these holes the screw rods e pass, which are
intended to connect the sliding carriage with the solid mass of iron f;d, piece
of timber to be operated upon; e, screw rods of iron, connecting the parts
c&f;fmass of iron resting on a foundation of stone; i, lift and force pump
for injecting the liquid; j, suction pump, working at same time as the
pump i.
The wood has generally cracks at the core or heart, which often run the
whole length of the wood, and prevent the uniform injection of all parts of
the wood, the liquid passing freely through the cracks.
To obviate this inconvenience an improved apparatus has been devised
which is termed a subdivider, represented on an enlarged scale at Fig. 4;
g, body of the apparatus; h, cone, which encloses the subdivider; the cracks
are observed in the end of the timber and the divider g applied thereto; the
traces of the cracks may be seen through the holes of the divider. The
chambers coinciding with the cracks are now closed by means of screws kc, and
the cone placed on the divider g. By tightening the nuts of the rods e, the
sliding carriage c,g, presses the wood d against the mass of iron f; this pressure
forces the sharp edges of the divider to penetrate the wood at its extremities
throughout the surface; hence it follows that each chamber of the divider will
be separated, and cannot communicate with the adjacent chambers opening
to the cracks, which chambers are closed by the screws k, and which therefore
will not receive any liquid.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of per-

page_text: forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the several operations herein-before described of coloring, preserving,
and desiccating wood.
Secondly, the several operations herein-before described of coloring
marble.
Thirdly, I claim,the apparatus herein-before described for facilitating those
operations.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
W. G. E. SwINNOCK,
53, Chancery Lane, London.
W. CLARK. (L.B.)