IMPROVEMENTS IN AND IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING OR PURIFYING AND TREATING MINERAL WOOL, AND MANUFACTURING THE SAME INTO WADDING, FELTING, PAPER, AND •ANALOGOUS SUBSTANCES FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
AND IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING OR PURIFYING AND TREATING MINERAL
WOOL, AND MANUFACTURING THE SAME INTO WADDING, FELTING, PAPER, AND
•ANALOGOUS SUBSTANCES FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES." A communication from
abroad by Alexander Daniel Elbers, of Hoboken, in the County of Hudson,
State of New Jersey, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th June 1877.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middle-
sex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING
OR PURIFYING AND TREATING MINERAL WOOL, AND MANUFACTURING THE SAME
INTO WADDING, FELTING, PAPER, AND ANALOGOUS SUBSTANCES FOR VARIOUS PUR-
POSES." [A communication from abroad by Alexander Daniel Elbers, of Hoboken,
in the County of Hudson, State of New Jersey, United States of America.]
This Invention has for its object to provide means for purifying mineral wool
during or after its manufacture, and for preparing it for use in the arts, for the
lining of refrigerators, for fireproof structures, for use in the manufacture of paper,
and for other purposes.
The Invention consists in a new arrangement of apparatus for separating the
mineral wool from the shot or sand-like impurities which are usually developed
during its manufacture; also in improved apparatus for receiving the wool and for
compressing it into wadding; also in a new manner of preparing said wadding
made from mineral wool to render it properly cohesive, and in treating said wool
with bituminous, resinous, or gummy substances under heat for making the mineral
wool, wadding, or felting more or less waterproof, and to protect it against atmo-
spheric influences; and also in treating the mineral wool with an acid for adapting
it for use in the manufacture of paper or felting, all as is herein-after more fully
described.

page_text: Mineral wool is made by blowing a jet or jets of steam or air through, or by
mechanically agitating a small stream of molten scoriaceous substance, converting
the latter into vitrified fine fibres, which are, however, intermixed with imperfectly
separated globular matter having the appearance of sand or shot. These vitreous
fibres possess little elasticity; they break easily while being sifted from said sand
or shot, or when handled or subjected to any kind of mechanical action. If the
receptacle, into which the spray of mineral wool is propelled by the jet or device
producing it, is of large size, a current of sufficient strength is created to blow part
of the fibres upwards to the ceiling or into recesses or shelves remote from the
direct course of the spray, which recesses or shelvings the shot, on account of its
greater weight, does not reach. The quantity of mineral wool gained in this way
is, however, insignificent, in comparison with the bulk of the material remaining
mixed with shot.
To provide a more perfect separation I use an extra jet or jets or currents of air
or steam, or both combined, to be blown through or against the spray as it flies
from the stream of scoriaceous matter, said extra jet or jets forcing..the fibres into
another direction than the shot.
Thus, in the apparatus of this Invention, a stream of scoriaceous matter is
allowed to flow into a trough or conduit from a suitable furnace or from a receptacle,
which, after being supplied with the said matter, is removed from the furnace to or
with the said trough to discharge the scoriaceous matter in proper vicinity to a
pipe, through which a jet of air or steam is projected against the small stream of
scoriaceous matter that issues from the trough or conduit, and blows it into a
suitable apartment.
In place of the jet a mechanical agitator may be used. Another pipe is placed
with such reference to the current which is produced by the first jet that it will
discharge another current of air, steam, gas, or liquid against or through the spray
of mineral wool thrown by the said jet. This extra first current will change the
direction of the mineral wool, but not materially that of the shot or sand, which is
heavier than the wool. The wool will by the second current be carried into an
adjacent compartment to ensure its separation from the shot, but may if desired bo
by the said current deposited on elevated shelves or in elevated recesses in the first
or an upper compartment, which it will also reach free from shot or globules.
In connection with or in place of the second jet I may use an exhaust or suction
apparatus placed in the upper compartment for drawing the fibres of wool away
from the sand or shot. As the shot is from, say, ten to a hundred fold heavier than
the fibres, it is a very simple experiment to so regulate the draft, currents, or
exhausts as to leave the shot unaffected, and merely attract or propel the fibres and
conduct the same into separate receptacles or shelving, where they will settle down
free from shot. Even when the mineral wool is obtained in this manner it cannot.
be made into felting or wadding in the well-known ways in which organic
substances are treated for the like purpose," because the vitreous fibres break at
every handling, so that when once packed in bags or cases they form lumps of
different degrees of compactness which cannot be loosened again like cotton or
other organic fibre to form a uniform material.
In order to make a felting from mineral wool of sufficient compactness to be
wound around steam pipes, nailed or glued to floors, or to be used in a similar
manner, I employ pans or vats placed or hung on shelves, floors, or ceilings in the
compartment where the mineral wool free from shot is to settle down. I construct.
these pans of such length and width as the sheets of felting which I wish to obtain,“
and of such depth as may be requisite to contain sufficient wool to be compressed
to a given thickness. The mineral wool is caused to settle into these pans in a
very loose state, so that, for instance, a heap three feet high would be easily com-
pressed to three inches thickness or less. In fact it is merely a question of formula
to determine the necessary contents of a pan for the required thickness or consis-
tency of felting, and to construct the pans accordingly. When these pans contain
the requisite amount of wool I press the wool by means of a lid in any other well-

page_text: known mechanical way, or the bottoms of the pans may be set loose, so that by
reversing a pan the bottom may serve as a lid for compressing the wool. These
various devices are obvious, the effect always being to compress the mineral wool
without previous handling into felting or wadding, thereby preventing as much as
possible the breaking, and facilitating the uniform intertwining of the vitreous
fibres.
The pressing of the mineral wool may be done when the pans are more or less
filled, so that the contents of a pan may be pressed, and then the process of blowing
or gathering the wool in the pans continued, another pressure made, and so forth.
In this manner I may have several compressed sheets of felting or wadding in the
pans, and yet allow new or more fibres to accumulate or settle down on the material
already pressed.
In order to give more compactness to or to strengthen the sheets of mineral
wool thus made, I size, paint, powder, or mix the mineral wool while in the pans or
after the sheets have been taken out therefrom; this is best done in pans with
loose bottoms The admixture for this purpose may be plain glue if the sheets
shall be allowed to become stiff, or if they are to remain pliable a mixture of glue
and glycerine or equivalent substance may be used, which will keep the sheets
pliable.
I also propose to use bituminous, resinous, or gummy substances either in a
powdered or liquid state, according to the purpose for which the felting is required,
and to apply the same as follows:--As the spray of fibres and shot, before men-
tioned is red-hot, the heat in the compartment where I keep the pans may be high
enough to melt these bituminous, resinous, or gummy snbstances which are placed
into the same compartment, and to partly transform them into vapor, which con-
denses on the fibres of mineral wool before they reach the pans; or I may apply
these materials in layers or coats between or upon the layers of mineral wool, and
then re-heat the pans. These substances molt and become partly vaporized at a
comparatively low temperature, and they burn at a higher temperature, leaving a
spongy carbonic residue. Being hydrocarbon, their vapors, especially under sub-
limation, permeate the mass of fibres thoroughly, and condense thereon, thereby
coating them in such manner as to render them almost waterproof, and to protect
them against the influence of atmospheric gases, such as carbonic acid gas.
For feltings to be used in the lining of refrigerators, or for similar purposes
where the incombustibility of the lining is of no particular value, it may be
sufficient to only melt these substances, which after cooling will form with the fibres
a stiff felting.
When the felting is to be used for fireproof purposes I burn said bituminous,
resinous, or gummy substances to such an extent that the residue contained in the
felting will be no longer combustible. This kind of felting is soft, pliable, and less
compact, but may be made more so by applying to it the afore-mentioned mixture
of glue and glycerine, or equivalent substance.
The different treatments of melting, distilling, and burning these bituminous,
resinous, or gummy substances in the mineral wool will partly or entirely prevent
the subsequent formation of sulphuretted hydrogen from the sulphide 'of calcium
which is often contained in furnace slag, and in the wool made therefrom. This
sulphide of calcium when brought into contact with carbonic acid and water, or
with certain diluted acids, changes into carbonate of lime, emitting during such
transformation sulphuretted hydrogen, which is very objectionable and injurious to
licalth. To prevent this I may either treat such mineral wool with diluted acids
or acid vapors, in order to change the sulphide of calcium, as afore-mentioned;
or I may obtain substantially the same result in a more convenient way by the
melting, burning, or distilling of the hydrocarbon before mentioned, whose vapors
partly react on and dissolve the sulphide of lime in the manner before described,
and which, besides, cover or coat the fibres in such a manner as to protect them
from the further action of gases and moisture on any possible remnants of such
njurious substances.

page_text: If the mineral wool is to be used in the manufacture of paper I do not at first
compress it into sheets, as heretofore described, nor do I treat it with the
bituminous, resinous, or gummy substances, but I steep the fibres of the mineral
wool into or let them be acted on by a diluted acid, preferably an organic acid such
as acetic acid, but any other suitable acid may be used. This acid will affect the
sulphide of lime in the fibres of the wool, and soften or attenuate the same by
changing the sulphide of lime into carbonate of lime, emitting sulphuretted hydrogen
gas. The fibres of the mineral wool which were already very fine, but rather stiff
and inflexible, are weakened or reduced in body by the acid, and become softer and
more pliable.
After the mineral wool has remained in the diluted acid for & sufficient length
of time to properly reduce the fibres, or during this process, it may be agitated
either by a mechanical agitator or by currents of boiling water, or by other suitable
means. This will cause the heavier. residue or shot in the mineral wool to settle
at the bottom, while the finer fibres will float near the top. These finer fibres are
then taken out of the acid and mixed in any desired proportion with the paper
pulp, which is then subjected to the action of the paper-making machine in the
customary manner; or the mineral wool may be agitated and treated as before
described in connection with the organic admixtures of the pulp.
The mineral wool, after its treatment with the acid, may also be advantageously
mixed with other substances that may be worked into matter analogous to paper,
such as felt or the like, to which stiffness or consistency is to be imparted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th December 1877.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middle-
sex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND IN APPARATUS FOR SEPAKATING OR
PURIFYING AND TREATING MINERAL WOOL, AND MANUFACTURING THE SAME INTO
WADDING, FELTING, PAPER, AND ANALOGOUS SUBSTANCES FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES."
A communication from abroad by Alexander Daniel Elbers, of Hoboken, in the
County of Hudson, State of New Jersey, United States of America.
Figure 1 in the Drawing represents a sectional elevation of the apparatus used
for making, cleaning, and collecting the mineral wool.
.Figure 2 is a detail sectional view of one of the pans used in the manufacture of
wadding.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both Figures.
This Invention has for its object to provide means for purifying mineral wool
during or after its manufacture, and for preparing it for use in the arts, for the
lining of refrigerators, for fireproof structures, for use in the manufacture of paper,
and for other purposes.
The Invention consists in a new arrangement of apparatus for separating the
mineral wool from the shot or sand-like impurities which are usually developed
during its manufacture; also in improved apparatus for receiving the wool, and for
compressing it into wadding; also in a new manner of preparing said wadding made
from mineral wool to render it properly cohesive, and in treating said wool with

page_text: bituminous, resinous, or gummy substances under heat, for making the mineral
wool, wadding, or felting more or less waterproof, and to protect it against atmo-
spheric influences; and also in treating the mineral wool with an acid for adapting
it for use in the manufacture of paper or felting, all as is herein-after more fully
described.
Mineral wool is made by blowing a jet or jets of steam or air through or by
mechanically agitating a small stream of molten scoriaceous substance, converting
the latter into vitrified fine fibres, which are, however, intermixed with imperfectly
separated globular matter having the appearance of sand or shot. These vitreous
fibres possess little elasticity; they break easily while being sifted from said sand
or shot, or when handled or subjected to any kind of mechanical action. If the
receptacle, into which the spray of mineral wool is propelled by the jet or device
producing it, is of large size, a current of sufficient strength is created to blow part
of the fibres upwards to the ceiling or into recesses or shelvings remote from the
direct course of the spray, which recesses or shelvings the shot, on account of its
greater weight, does not reach. The quantity of mineral wool gained in this way
is, however, insignificent in. comparison with the bulk of the material remaining
mixed with shot.
To provide a more perfect separation I use an extra jet or jets, or currents of air
or steam, or both combined, to be blown through or against the spray, as it flies
from the stream of scoriaceous matter, said extra jet or jets forcing the fibros into
another direction than the shot.
Thus, in the Drawing, the letter A represents the trough or conduit into which a
stream of scoriaceous matter is allowed to flow from a suitable furnace or from a
receptacle, which, after being supplied with the said matter, is removed fry the
furnace to or with the said trough to discharge the scoriaceous matter in proper
vicinity to the pipe B, through which a jet of steam or air is blown against the
small stream of scoriaceous matter that issues from the trough or conduit A ; C is
the apartment into which the mineral wool is blown by the jet B; D is a pipe
placed with such reference to the current which is produced by the jet B that it
will discharge another current of air, steam, or gas against or through the spray of
mineral wool thrown by the jet B. The extra lateral current D will change the
direction of the mineral wool, but not materially that of the shot or sand which is
heavier than the wool. The wool will by the current D be carried into another
compartment E to ensure its separation from the shot, but may if desired be by
the current D deposited on elevated shelves or in elevated recesses in the apartment
C, which it will also reach free from shot or globules.
In connection with or in place of the lateral jet D I may use an exhaust or suction
apparatus placed in the compartment E, as indicated at F in Figure 1, for drawing
the fibres of wool away from the sand or shot. As the sand or shot is from, say,
ten to a hundredfold heavier than the fibres, it is a very simple experiment to so
regulate the draught currents or exhausts as to leave the shot unaffected, and
merely attract or propel the fibres, and conduct the same into separate receptacles
or shelving, where they will settle down free from shot. Even when the mineral
wool is obtained in this manner it cannot be made into felting or wadding in the
well-known ways in which organic substances are treated for the like purpose,
because the vitreous fibres break at every handling, so that when once packed in
bags or cases they form lumps of different degrees of compactness, which cannot be
loosened again, like cotton or other organic fibre, to form a uniform material.
In order to make a felting from mineral wool of sufficient compaciness to be
wound around steam pipes, nailed or glued to floors, or to be used in similar manner
I proceed as follows:-G are pans or vats placed or hung on shelves, floors, or
ceilings in the compartment E, where the mineral wool free from shot is to settle
down. I construct these pans of such length and width as the sheets of felting
which I wish to obtain, and of such depth as may be requisite to contain sufficient
wool to be compressed to a given thickness. The mineral wool is caused to settle

page_text: into these pans in a very loose state, so that, for instance, a heap three feet high
would be easily compressed to three inches thickness or less. In fact it is merely a
question of formula to determine the necessary contents of a pan for the required
thickness or consistency of felting, and to construct the pans accordingly. When
these pans contain the requisite amount of wool I press the wool by means of a
lid, or in any other well-known mechanical way; or the bottom a of the pans may
be set loose, so that by reversing a pan, as in Figure 2, the bottom a may serve as a
lid for compressing the wool. These various devices are obvious, the effect always
being to compress the mineral wool without previous handling, into felting or
wadding, thereby preventing as much as possible the breaking, and facilitating the
uniform intertwining of the vitreous fibres.
The pressing of the mineral wool may be done when the pans are more or less
filled, so that the contents of a pan may be pressed, and then the process of blowing
or gathering the wool in the pans continued, another pressure made, and so forth.
In this manner I may have several compressed sheets of felting or wadding in the
pans, and yet allow new or more fibres to accumulate or settle down on the material
already pressed.
:
In order to give more compactness to or to strengthen the sheets of mineral
wool thus made, I size, paint, powder, or mix the mineral wool while in the pans or
after the sheets have been taken out therofrom. This is best done in pans with
loose bottoms a. The admixture for this purpose may be plain glue, if the sheets
shall he allowed to become stiff, or if they are to remain pliable a mixture of glue
and glycerine or equivalent substance may be used, which will keep the sheets
pliable.
I also propose to use bituminous, resinous, or gummy substances either in a
powdered or liquid state, according to the purpose for which the felting is required,
and to apply the same as follows:-As the spray of fibres and shot before men-
tioned is red-hot, the heat in the compartment E, where I keep the pans, may be
high enough to melt these bituminous, resinous, or gummy substances which are
placed into the same compartment, and to partly transform them into vapor, which
condenses on the fibres of mineral wool before they reach the pans; or I may
apply these materials in layers or coats between or upon the layers of mineral
wool, and then re-heat the pans. These substances melt and become partly
vaporised at a comparatively low temperature, and they burn at a higher tempera-
ture, leaving a spongy carbonic residue. Being hydrocarbon, their vapors, especially
under sublimation, permeate the mass of fibres thoroughly, and condense thereon,
thereby coating them in such manner as to render them almost waterproof, and
to protect them against the influence of atmospheric gases, such as carbonic
acid gas.
For feltings to be used in the lining of refrigerators, or for similar purposes,
where the incombustibility of the lining is of no particular value, it may be
sufficient to only melt these substances, which, after cooling, will form with the
fibres a stiff felting.
When the felting is to be used for fireproof purposes I burn said bituminous,
resinous, or gummy substances to such an extent that the residue contained in the
felting will be no longer combustible. This kind of felting is soft, pliable, and less
compact, but may be made more so by applying to it the afore-mentioned mixture
of glue and glycerine, or equivalent substance.
The different treatments of melting, distilling, and burning these bituminous,
resinous, or gummy substances in the mineral wool will partly or entirely prevent
the 'subsequent formation of sulphuretted hydrogen from the sulphide of calcium
which is often contained in furnace slag, and in the wool made therefrom. This
sulphide of calcium when brought into contact with carbonic acid and water, or
with certain diluted acids, changes into carbonate of lime, emitting during. such
transformation sulphuretted hydrogen, which is very objectionable and injurious
to health. To prevent this I melt, burn, or distil the hydrocarbons before men-

page_text: tioned, whose vapors partly react on and dissolve the sulphide of lime in the
manner before described, and which besides cover or coat the fibres in such manner
as to protect them from the further action of gases and moisture on any possible
remnants of such injurious substances.
If the mineral wool is to be used in the manufacture of paper I do not at first
compress it into sheets, as heretofore described, nor do I treat it with the bituminous,
resinous, or gummy substances, but I steep the fibres of the mineral wool in or let
them be acted upon by a diluted acid, preferably an organic acid, such as acetic
acid, but any other suitable acid may be used. This acid will affect the sulphide
of lime in the fibres of the wool, and soften or attenuate the same by changing the
sulphide of lime into carbonate of lime, emitting sulphuretted hydrogen gas.
The fibres of the minoral wool, which were already very fine, but rather stiff and
inflexible, are weakened or reduced in body by the acid, and become softer and
more pliable.
means.
After the mineral wool has remained in the diluted acid for a sufficient length of
time to properly reduce the fibres, or during this process, it may be agitated either
by a mechanical agitator or by currents of boiling water, or by other suitable
This will cause the heavier residue or shot in the mineral wool to settle at
the bottom, while the finer fibres will float near the top. These finer fibres are then
taken out of the acid and mixed in any desired proportion with the paper pulp,
which is then subjected to the action of the paper-making machine in the customary
manner, or the mineral wool may be agitated, and treated as before described in
connection with the organic admixtures of the pulp.
The mineral wool, after its treatment with the acid, may also be advantageously
mixed with other substances that may be worked into matter analogous to paper,
such as felt or the like, to which stiffness or consistency is to be imparted.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The process herein described of separating mineral wool from globules by
subjecting it to the action of a lateral current, substantially as specified.
Second. In an apparatus for making mineral wool, the combination of the conduit
A and jet pipe B with the jet pipe D, for producing the lateral current, substantially
as specified.
Third. The combination of the apartment C, containing the trough or conduit A
and jet pipe B, with the compartment E which communicates with the apartment
C, substantially as herein shown and described.
Fourth. The pan or receptacle G, placed in an apparatus for making mineral
wool to receive and compress said wool, substantially as herein shown and
described.
Fifth. In the process of making wadding of mineral wool, depositing said wool
directly and without previous handling in the receptacle in which it is to be com-
pressed, substantially as specified.
Sixth. The process of treating mineral wool, wadding, or felting with a mixture
of glue and glycerine, substantially as specified.
Seventh. The process of treating mineral wool with bituminous, resinous, or
gummy substances, and subjecting the same to heat, substantially as herein shown
and described.
Eighth. As a new article of manufacture, mineral wool, wadding, formed into
sheets, substantially as herein specified.
Ninth. As a new article of manufacture, mineral wool, wadding, or felting treated
with glue, substantially as specified.
Tenth. As a new article of manufacture, mineral wool, wadding, or felting treated
with bituminous, resinous, or gummy substances, substantially as specified.
Eleventh. As a new article of manufacture, paper or paper bodies containing
mineral wool, substantially as specified.

page_text: Twelfth. In the manufacture of paper or analogous substance, the treatment of
mineral wool by an acid, substantially as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.