IMPROVE- MENTS IN TREATING TIMBER
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Daniel Robertson Gardner, of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TREATING TIMBER."
Sealed the 21st September 1875, and dated the 27th March 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Daniel Robertson
Gardner at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 27th March 1875.
I, DANIEL ROBERTSON GARDNER, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING TIMBER," to be as follows, that is
to say :-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in treating timber, has
for its object to season or dry the same, to preserve it from decay, to fill
the pores with metal, to make timber more dense, to colour or dye the
same, and to render it non-inflammable.
In treating timber according to this Invention the logs or pieces are
steamed, soaked, heated, or boiled with water or with solutions of the

page_text: substances herein-after mentioned. The steaming, soaking, heating, or
boiling may be carried on continuously or intermittently, either in vacuo,
or at the atmospheric, or under a higher pressure, and this is continued
until the wood has been throughout penetrated by the steam, water, or
solutions to the action of which it has been subjected.
substances herein-after mentioned. The steaming, soaking, heating, or
boiling may be carried on continuously or intermittently, either in vacuo,
or at the atmospheric, or under a higher pressure, and this is continued
until the wood has been throughout penetrated by the steam, water, or
solutions to the action of which it has been subjected.
If a solution is used, the timber treated with it is afterwards washed
with water or treated by steaming, boiling, heating, or soaking it in
water.
In order to render the timber more dense it is submitted to pressure
while in the hot state from the steaming or boiling action.
To season or dry timber it is sufficient to submit it to the action of
steam, or boiling, heating, or soaking it with water or a solution, or to
the action of an acid solution first, and afterwards to an alkaline
solution.
To render timber free from decay it is similarly treated, but if a
solution has been used it is afterwards washed with hot or cold water, or
subjected to the action of steam.
To change the colour of timber it is in some cases sufficient to submit
it to the action of steam, or to boil, heat, or soak it in water; but when
the colour desired is such that steaming, boiling, heating, or soaking
with water will not produce them, it is similarly treated in a solution of
the colouring solvents herein-after mentioned; or it may be steamed,
boiled, heated, and soaked in water first, and then steamed, boiled
heated, or soaked in a colouring solution.
To fill the pores of timber with metal it is soaked, heated, or boiled,
either continuously or intermittently, in vacuo or under pressure, in a
solution of sulphate of iron, copper, or zinc until the pores are filled with
the metal to the extent desired.
To make timber non-inflammable by virtue of increased density in
addition to seasoning and making it free from decay, it is pressed after
being treated in water or steam, or in any one or more of the solutions
which render it non-inflammable; but when a non-inflammable solution
has been used, the subjecting of it to pressure may be dispensed with.
Solutions of a salt used in the manner set forth render timber non-
inflammable, but a saturated or a less than saturated solution of the

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Daniel Robertson Gardner in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DANIEL
ROBERTSON GARDNER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
38th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Daniel Robertson Gardner, Her
special license that I, the said Daniel Robertson Gardner, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Daniel
Robertson Gardner, my executors, administrators, or 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 law-
fully 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 TREATING TIMBER," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Daniel Robertson Gardner, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Daniel Robertson Gardner, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, that is to say :-
My said Invention, which relates to improvements in treating timber,
has for its object to season or dry the same, to preserve it from decay, to
fill the pores with metal, to make timber more dense, to colour or dye
the same, and to render it non-inflammable.
In treating timber according to this Invention the logs or pieces are
steamed, soaked, heated, or boiled with water or with solutions of the
substances herein-after mentioned. The steaming, soaking, heating, or
boiling may be carried on continuously or intermittently, either in vacuo,
or at the atmospheric, or under a higher pressure, and this is continued
until the wood has been penetrated throughout by the steam, water, or
solutions to the action of which it has been subjected. The wood may
afterwards be dried by being acted upon by heated air, which has the
effect of evaporating the moisture.
If a solution is used, the timber treated with it is afterwards washed
with water, or treated by steaming, boiling, heating, or soaking it in water.
In order to render the timber more dense it is submitted to pressure
while in the hot state from the steaming or boiling action.
To season or dry timber it is sufficient to submit it to the action of
steam, or to boil, heat, or soak it with water or a solution, or to submit
it to the action of an acid solution first, and afterwards to that of an
alkaline solution or to a solution of borax.
To render timber free from decay it is similarly treated, but if a
solution has been used it is afterwards washed with hot or cold water, or
subjected to the action of steam.
To change the colour of timber it is in some cases sufficient to submit
it to the action of steam, or to boil, heat, or soak it in water; but when
the colours desired are such that steaming, boiling, heating, or soaking
with water will not produce them, the wood is similarly treated in a
solution of the colouring solvents herein-after mentioned; or it may be
steamed, boiled, heated, or soaked in water first, and then steamed,
boiled, heated, or soaked in a colouring solution.
To fill the pores of timber with metal it is soaked, heated, or boiled,
cither continuously or intermittently, in vacuo or under pressure, in a

page_text: foregoing substances, 3 volumes of sulphuric acid, 6 volumes of liquid
ammonia of a density of 0.880 or thereabouts (or an alkaline equivalent
thereof) to 50 volumes of water may be used; or a solution of sulphuric
acid with a quantity of alkali may be employed, the proportion of the
acid in the solution ranging from 5 per cent and upwards, that of the
alkali being sufficient to neutralize the charring effects of the said acid.
The substances used for colouring solutions are as follows for the
several colours set forth •