A New or Improved Material for Protecting Vessels, Receptacles, Articles of Clothing, of Furniture, and the like.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Aug., 1894-Accepted, 22nd Sept., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Material for Protecting Vessels, Receptacles,
Articles of Clothing, of Furniture, and the like.
I PIERRE MERCIER of Paris France now residing at 33 Percy Street
Tottenham Court Road in the County of London England, Pharmaceutical
Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My invention relates to a new or improved material for protecting vessels,
receptacles articles of clothing, of furniture and the like which is applied in the
form of a sheet or layer or sheets or layers of suitable shape and thickness and may
be made of impermeable material such as india-rubber. The characteristic feature
of this material is to return into its normal position after it has been punctured so
as to close the opening formed, as soon as the puncturing tool or object is withdrawn
from this opening and provided this tool has not removed too considerable a portion
of the said material.
My invention is based upon the fact that some absorbents such as india-rubber
or gelatine swell when imbibing absorbable substances such as vaseline for india-
rubber and water for gelatine and its object is to produce a new material capable
of general application and of rendering vessels, receptacles and objects of every
kind impermeable when applied upon their surface.
In carrying my invention into practice, I use linen, canvas or other suitable
fabric made preferably with strong and but slightly extensible threads of hemp,
flax, cotton, silk or of other suitable material capable of being woven at least in one
direction with threads of different material either not extensible such as wires or
more or less elastic such as wool or even ordinary vulcanized india-rubber. I use
by preference a fabric having relatively loose meshes so that they may be readily
penetrated and impregnated by the absorbent used and may firmly retain the
latter. The absorbent I prefer to use is slightly vulcanized india-rubber of which
I spread a suitable layer upon the fabric and I cause it to penetrate well in its
meshes.
I may, as shown in the accompanying drawings, apply this material on one side
only of the linen (Fig. 1) or on both sides (Fig. 2) or place it between two or three
layers of linen (Figs. 3 and 4).
1 subsequently subject the india-rubber to a boiling process in the ordinary way
or to any other treatment in order to obtain by preference a moderate vulcanization
as india-rubber which is not much vulcanized is more absorbent and remains more
flexible and more plastic after its final treatment according to my invention.
The treatment to which I subsequently subject the sheets of india-rubber thus
wrapped or encased in linen consists in exposing the latter to the action of liquid or
solid vaseline, paraffin, wax or grease or to that of any other suitable mixture of
these substances alone or mixed with suitable organic oils or fats, heat being used
when needed to facilitate the operation. I allow the substances to act on the india-
rubber until the latter has absorbed a sufficient quantity thereof and is sufficiently
softened, distended and swollen. Being held by the non extensible linen, the india-
rubber is compressed in all directions in such a manner that if the sheets thus
prepared are punctured the material returns forthwith to its original position and
thus closes the opening formed.
For the same reason, when the above mentioned sheets are cut by means of
scissors or otherwise the edges assume in the different cases set forth the form shown
in Rice 12 and 1

page_text: When gelatine or other analogous substances such as gums, lichenin and the like
are used as absorbents, I subject it to a similar treatment causing it to absorb a
suitable liquid such as glycerine, water and other suitable liquid; instead of using
slightly vulcanized india-rubber distended and swollen by vaseline or other suitable
substance, I may likewise apply distended or swollen india-rubber upon a fabric by
any suitable means.
This new or improved fabric may be advantageously used for the purpose of
rendering various articles air and waterproof and protecting them from exposure
and accidents resulting from punctures or perforations such as for instance boot
soles, carpets & c., floating bodies, boats, buoys and all kind of receptacles,
reservoirs, gas holders, by applying in any suitable manner by means of adhesive
or other means one or more sheets of the fabric thus prepared upon the surface
required to be protected and preserved either inside, outside or within the thickness
of the said articles or objects.
When the above described fabric is used for preserving from the effect of
punctures elastic receptacles capable of increasing in size in a given direction, such
as for instance the air chambers of pneumatic tyres which are liable to increase in
length or in diameter, I cut the fabric in the direction of the linen threads if one
one linen layer is used (Fig. 1) or in the direction of the threads of one of the linen
strips if several are used (Figs. 2 and 4) and they are not all placed in the same
direction. I thus obtain sheets or strips of my improved material which are not
extensible in the direction of their length and breadth and I cause these sheets or
strips to adhere upon that part of the air chamber or tube required to be preserved
from punctures either inside, outside or in the thickness of its walls and at any
stage of its manufacture.
Should the sheets aforesaid be required to be non extensible in one direction
only, I use a compound fabric consisting of non extensible threads in one direction
and of more or less elastic threads in the other such as wool or threads made of
ordinary vulcanized india-rubber; I may also replace the canvas or fabric made of
threads arranged at right angles to one another by any other fabric and even by
felt having fibres crossed in every direction such as wadding and the like.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :
1. A new or improved material having the form of sheets of suitable shape
consisting of one or more layers of linen, canvas, or other fabric not extensible at
least in one sense, combined with more or less vulcanized india-rubber or other
absorbent softened, swollen and distended by the absorption of a suitable substance
in such a manner that this india-rubber or other material being held by the non
extensible linen strip will be laterally compressed and will thus acquire the
property of closing by expansion any puncture taking place in the sheet, so long as
too much material has not been thereby removed from such sheet substantially as
herein described and shown.
2. The se of the above claimed sheets of material for ensuring the imper-
meability of tightness of punctured surfaces generally such as the wall surfaces of
floating bodies or of receptacles for liquids and gases either compressed or not, by
fixing the sheets upon these surfaces either in the course of their manufacture or
afterwards, substantially as herein described and shown.
Dated this 22nd day of Av100.1