IMPROVEMENTS. IN THE TREATMENT OF TEXTILE FABRICS FOR CONSOLIDATING THEM AND RENDERING THEM IMPERMEABLE
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 20, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS. IN THE TREATMENT OF
TEXTILE FABRICS FOR CONSOLIDATING THEM AND RENDERING THEM
IMPERMEABLE."-A communication from abroad by Pierre Armand
Neuman, Manufacturer, of St. Denis, near Paris, in the Empire of
France
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,.
on the 20th April 1868.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,.
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE.
TREATMENT OF TEXTILE FABRICS FOR CONSOLIDATING THEM AND RENDERING THEM.
IMPERMEABLE," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in consolidating fabrics and rendering them
impermeable by subjecting them to the action of sulphuric acid for a

page_text: short time, whereby the fibres on the surface of the fabric are partially
dissolved and converted into a glutinous substance without destroying
the fibres in the body of the fabric. The fabric after passing through
the acid is then immediately washed and rinsed in water to stop the
action of the acid and remove all traces thereof, and it is afterwards
dried, when the dissolved portion, having impregnated and coated the
fibres of the fabric and filled out the interstices between the warp and
the weft, will convert the fabric into a parchment like and impermeable
material. A concentrated solution may in some cases be previously
made of any linen or cotton fibre in sulphuric acid, which is then spread
over the fabric to be treated either by means of a brush or by rollers
so as to fill out the interstices thereof.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th October 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Denton Abel, Her special
licence that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Denton
Abel, 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 Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF TEXTILE FABRICS FOR CONSOLIDATING
THEM AND RENDERING THEM IMPERMEABLE," a communication to me from
abroad by Pierre Armand Neuman, Manufacturer, of St. Denis, near
Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, my executors or administrators,

page_text: 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 Charles Denton Abel, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner thic same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
Most of the processes at present employed for rendering fabrics
impermeable consist in the use of solutions, varnishes, or other
substances foreign to the fabric, applied to the surface of or incorporated
to a certain extent therewith.
Now the present Invention consists in preparing from the fibres of
the fabric itself the glutinous and protective substances for rendering
it impermeable and in effecting in the fabric to some extent a
molecular transformation, whereby it is considerably strengthened at
the same time that it is rendered impermeable. To produce this double
effect the property of sulphuric acid is made use of whereby it attacks
and dissolves fibrous and textile substances, taking care to keep the
fabrics only so long in contact with the acid as will suffice to effect a
partial solution of the fibres on the surface of the fabric without
destroying the filaments of the body of the same. The fabrics thus
treated are covered and impregnated with a glutinous matter derived
from their own substance, which after washing, rincing, and drying
impart to them a durable impermeability in combination with a
considerable degree of consolidation.
The manner of operating is as follows:-A bath of sulphuric acid
having been prepared of the strength of about 40 to 66 degrees Beaumé,
and by preference 57 degrees for canvass, the fabrics are then steeped
therein and are kept down in the same by a wooden roller or by other
means; they are exposed to the action of the acid during a time
varying from ten seconds to 2 minutes, according to the thickness,
the strength, and the nature of the fabric. This is then immediately
rinsed in water, which is constantly renewed so as at once to check the
commencement of disorganisation produced by the sulphuric acid, and
such rinsing is repeated until all traces of acid have disappeared. Tho

page_text: fabric is then dried first in the air and finally by passing over heated
cylinders. The substance of the tissue which has begun to dissolve in
the acid bath forms a kind of glutinous paste, which in closing the
interstices existing in the fabric has a solidifying effect on the fila-
ments, and thus assimilates the tissue to the nature of parchment. E
Experiments with the dynamometer have proved that the fabric is
strengthened by the above process to the extent in the case of linen or
canvass, in the proportion of 112 to 88 as compared with its original
strength. The fabric may if required be passed through compressing
cylinders immediately on removal from the bath, so as to equalise and 1
incorporate thoroughly the glutinous material throughout the fabric.
Another advantage of this process is, that by the effect of the acid
all dust and fermentable impurities in the tissue are entirely destroyed,
and that consequently the fabric is not affected by time.
In a second mode of operating a concentrated solution of linen or
cotton fibre in sulphuric acid of, say, 57 degrees Beaumé may be
previously prepared and spread by means of rollers or brushes upon the
fabric to be treated in such manner as to fill in the interstices perfectly
thereby.
The fabrics treated as above described, and which may either be in 2
their natural state, dyed, or printed in colors, are applicable with
particular advantage for tents, sails, and for articles of clothing that
aro exposed to rain and moisture.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed. as communicated to me by my 2
foreign correspondent, what I claim is, the consolidating and rendering
impermeable textile fabrics by incorporating therewith glutinous
matter produced from the treatment of the fabrics or of the fibres
thereof with sulphuric acid, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto 3
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
CHAS. D. ABEL. (L.S.)