IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOUNDS FOR WATERPROOFING Textile Fabrics, ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER SURFACES." WATERPROOFING TEXTILE FABRICS, ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER SURFACES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Macintosh, of Bayswater, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOUNDS FOR
WATERPROOFING Textile Fabrics, ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER SURFACES."
WATERPROOFING TEXTILE FABRICS, ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER SURFACES."
Sealed the 24th February 1874, and dated the 29th August 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Macintosh at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th August 1873.
I, JOHN MACINTOSH, of Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COMPOUNDS FOR WATERPROOFING TEXTILE FABRICS, ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER
SURFACES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention of improvements is to lessen the costs of
waterproofing compounds, and consists of mixing large quantities of
lampblack, soot, or ground charcoal with india-rubber or its compounds
in about the proportion of 4 parts carbon to 1 part of india-rubber or its
compounds (but I do not confine myself to such quantities, as they

page_text: principally depend upon the quality of the india-rubber), and the
purposes for which it is required in heated marticators or mincing rollers
until it becomes a hot, plastic, homogeneous mass, in which state it may
be rolled into cloth and moulded without the use of india-rubber paste
or solvent, described in the Specification of a Patent granted to mc,
dated 6 December 1870, No. 3200, for improvements in compounds for
waterproofing textile fabrics and other surfaces.
"
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Macintosh in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th February 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MACINTOSH, of Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Macintosh, Her special licence
that I, the said John Macintosh, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Macintosh, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ircland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COMPOUNDS FOR WATERPROOFING TEXTILE FABRICS, ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER
PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Macintosh, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands 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 John Macintosh, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
My Invention relates to certain improvements in the manufacture of
compounds for waterproofing textile fabrics or other surfaces, the com-
pounds being also applicable to other purposes, such as washers for
pipe joints or otherwise and for packing for steam engines.
In carrying out the Invention I mix with india-rubber or caoutchouc
or its compounds large quantities of carbon in the form of lampblack,
soot, or ground charcoal, or their compounds, in the proportion of about
4 parts carbon to ono part (by weight) of india-rubber or its compounds,
but these proportions are variable in accordance with the quality of the
india-rubber, and the object for which the compound is required. Thus,
for waterproofing fabrics, such as tarpaulins or sheets for vans and
. railway waggons, from 3 to 4 parts carbon to 1 part india-rubber would
be found suitable, but the higher the quality of the rubber the greater
should be the proportion of carbonaceous matter. For steam packing
for flanges, where great heat has to be resisted, a still higher proportion
of carbon is to be used, say 5 or 6 parts to 1 of india-rubber or its
compounds.
The best means I am acquainted with for effecting the mixture of the
carbon and india-rubber consist in the employment of rollers provided
with spiral cutters, into and between which the rubber is fed by a hopper,
which also supplics the carbon during the process. The rollers must be
powerful and be fixed in strong bearings. They must be heated by
steam after the manner well known in masticating machinery, and the
temperature should be maintained at about 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
The result will be that the rubber will be cut, torn, and masticated in
combination with the dry carbon, and discharged or expelled from tho
delivering end of the machine in a hot, plastic, homogeneous mass,
whence it may be reconveyed to the feeding end for a second and moro
complete treatment, as required. It may then be applied directly to the
surface of a textile fabric without the use of any additional adhesive
material or solution, provided the fabric is of an open work nature, such
as canvas or other fabric, in order that by a very great pressure caused
by passing the fabric through heated rollers the compound may be forced
through the interstices of the fabric, and so become as it were riveted
thereto and incorporated therewith. But if I desire to apply the com-
pound to a fine fabric or cloth I first treat the cloth with a very light

page_text: coating or layer of adhesive compound of india-rubber or its compounds
to form a base, and I then roll a full and entire quantity of my carbon
compound on to such base to which it will be found to cohere with
perfect facility.
It will be observed that this Invention relates essentially to a dry
process forming a combination of rubber and carbon, which can be
rolled into cloth without the use of india-rubber paste or solvent
described in the Specification of a Patent granted to me under date the
6th of September 1870, No. 3200, for "Improvements in Compounds
for Waterproofing Textile Fabrics and other Purposes."
Although I have described one means of effecting the admixture of
the ingredients described it is evident that other methods may be adopted
according to the judgment of the manufacturer.
1
In regard to the formation of washers for steam flanges, valves, or
otherwise the compound requires to be rolled into sheets and cut or 1
punched out, or it may be moulded in the ordinary manners, as is well
understood, and washers made from the compound will be found capable
of complete resistance to heat, whereas ordinary vulcanized rubber
flanges become hardened into vulcanite and rapidly become useless.
In tarpaulins and waterproof sheets the compound will be found
extremely durable and pliant. It will not crack nor become hardened
by cold, nor will it be affected injuriously by heat, the fabric being pro-
tected by the compound and not liable to oxidation, as is the case where
linseed oil is used.
The material is applicable also to an endless variety of purposes; for 2
example, to tobacco pouches. I give this instance in order to explain
that where considerable elasticity of surface is required a small propor-
* tion comparatively of carbon should be mixed with the rubber, and vice
verså.
These pouches may be made in the ordinary manner by cutting them 3
out of the sheet and uniting the cut edges, or they may by preference
be moulded, and may be in each case afterwards vulcanized if required,
which will give them a beautiful polished surface.
Heat materially affects india-rubber, but I find by the admixture
of carbon the tarpaulin sheets are not affected by the greatest heat of a
summer, and hence a great element of value attaches to the compound;

page_text: and since the tarpaulins are not elastic I am enabled to use a large
proportion of carbon, which acts as a preservative against all atmospheric
or natural decomposing influences which ordinarily attack india-rubber
and its compounds.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would remark that I do
not limit myself to the proportions of carbonaceous matter which I have
detailed, as it is obvious that the same may be varied or modified
according to the circumstances stated, nor do I limit myself to any
precise description of machinery for mixing the ingredients or for
applying the same to the several purposes and objects of the Invention,
but what I claim and desire to be secured to me by the herein in part
recited Letters Patent are the improvements in compounds for water-
proofing textile fabrics, also applicable to other purposes, by the
admixture of carbon, such as lampblack, soot, or ground charcoal, or
their compounds with india-rubber or its compounds in a dry state and
without the use of chemical solvents, substantially as and for the
purposes herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Macintosh, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.