IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND PREPARATION OF ASBESTOS, AND IN MAKING VARIOUS FABRICS AND ARTICLES THEREFROM
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Cleghorn and Thomas
George Paterson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 2nd April 1874.
We, JOHN CLEGHORN, of the City of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, Merchant, and THOMAS GEORGE PATERSON, of the City and,
County of Edinburgh, Writer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND PREPARATION OF
ASBESTOS, AND IN MAKING VARIOUS FABRICS AND ARTICLES THEREFROM," to be as,
follows:-
-
This said Invention has reference to the modes and means of treating'
or manufacturing asbestos or amianthus (and wherever the former
name is used in this Specification it shall be held to include the latter)
into the several fabrics of paper, millboard, or pasteboard, and felt made
from asbestos by reducing it to a nearly uniform fibrous pulp, in the
same manner and by the same means and apparatus heretofore employed
for reducing and preparing ordinary rags, esparto grass, and other fibrous
pulps and stock for the manufacture of such fabrics, and consists
essentially in the subsequent treatment and manufacture of such
asbestos fabrics, into other new or improved useful fabrics and articles,

page_text: which will be more durable and better for their respective purposes than
the materials and articles heretofore used. And the nature and novelty
of this Invention consist under the first improvement in cutting the
said asbestos paper (previously made of pure asbestos pulp, or mixed
with talc or mica when desired, or with other suitable fibrous, glutinous,
or adhesive substances, and prepared as ordinary papers are in the usual
paper-making apparatus and machines) into strips of suitable breadth, and
twisting the same into strands, yarns, or twines (with or without being
previously coated with a solution of caoutchouc or india-rubber), in the
ordinary mechanism used for the twisting of strips of other paper or of
other narrow bands, or of fibrous material; and then in twisting two,
three, or more of these smaller strands, yarns, threads, or twines, into a
larger twine, cord, or rope, either with or without a core of vulcanized or
non-vulcanized india-rubber or caoutchouc, or it might be of other
suitable clastic or flexible material, all of suitable sizes from one or
more of these said twisted strands of asbestos paper to answer for the
purpose of packing the stuffing boxes of piston and valve rods, the
pistons and other working parts of steam engines and machinery, as well
as for making the joints of pipes, and man-hole, and other doors, such as
those of steam, esparto, and wood pulp boilers and retorts, and generally
for all situations where packing is required to be most durable and proof
against decay, friction, and the action of heat.
A second improvement of this Invention consists in platting any.
desired number of the said twisted strands of asbestos paper in ordinary;
braiding or platting machines into tape, braid, or bands of any desired
ordinary width or thickness or of a round or polygonal section, either
with or without an elastic or flexible core, all as and for the purposes.
described under the first improvement, of making fluid-tight joints in the
working and other parts of machines and apparatus, pipes, boilers, stills,
and retorts, and like joints and packing. which will be most durable:
against the action of friction, decay, and heat.
A third part of this Invention consists in weaving and manufacturing
the said yarns or threads, made from the said asbestos paper in the
manner aforesaid, into cloth of different weights and thicknesses or
textures, such as about that of canvas or duck which shall be nearly
indestructible from decay and the action of heat, and therefore most
suitable for making the following articles under this improvement,
namely: The flange joints of pipes and other apparatus, mail and"

page_text: despatch bags, coverings for articles desired to be secured against decay
and burning, coarse window blinds or curtains, and for being coated with
carthy or mineral pigments or paints, silicates, or porcelain enamels, on
which to produce paintings or other valuable works of art, which are
desired to be indestructible and proof against the action of insects and the
weather, or heat and fire.
A fourth improvement of this Invention consists in the use of the said
asbestos millboard, pasteboard, or felt fabric, prepared as heretofore and
in the ordinary machines and apparatus as before stated to the desired
thicknesses, and then in cutting or otherwise forming the same into the
proper sizes and shapes for "caulfins," wads, or waddings for fire-arms
and cannon of any ordinary construction and size, whether rifled or
smooth bored. And also in cutting and forming the said asbestos paper
and thinner class of asbestos millboard or asbestos cloth (made as before
stated) into cartridge cases or coverings, in the same manner that these
have heretofore been made out of ordinary paper, cloth, pasteboard, and
sheet metal; and in using clongated or conoidal projectiles or bullets a
thin wrapper or covering of asbestos paper is rolled round them as a
lubricator instead of grease, which improved waddings, cartridge cases,
and wrappers, will effectually prevent windage with the least possible
amount of friction, from the flexible and lubrical or slippery nature of
asbestos without the use of grease, and which will also keep the barrels
longer clean and admit of their being fired much oftener than is possible
with the appliances heretofore in use.