IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING IRON
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Barnabas Daft, of Tottenham, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COATING IRON."
Sealed the 24th July 1860, and dated the 28th January 1860.
PROVISIONAL. SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Barnabas Daft
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th January 1860.
I, THOMAS BARNABAS DAFT, of Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COATING IRON," to be as follows:-
These improvements consist in coating iron with sulphurized and cured
india-rubber. For this purpose, the surface of iron is cleaned with acids or
otherwise, as is well understood, so as to render it perfectly free from oxida-
tion; then sulphurized india-rubber is applied so as to exclude the air from
between the surfaces, and then the same is retained under pressure when
submitting the india-rubber to the process of vulcanization or curing, by which
perfect adhesion is effected between the surface of the iron and the cured
india-rubber.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Barnabas Daft in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, THOMAS
BARNABAS DAFT, of Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Barnabas Daft, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Barnabas Daft, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Thomas Barnabas Daft, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 COATING IRON," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Barnabas Daft, 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 Thomas Barnabas Daft, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
These improvements consist in coating iron with sulphurized and cured
india-rubber. For this purpose, the surface of iron is cleaned with acids or
otherwise, as is well understood, so as to render it perfectly free from oxidation;
then sulphurized india-rubber is applied so as to exclude the air from between
the surfaces, and then the same is retained under pressure, when submitting
the india-rubber to the process of vulcanization or curing, by which perfect
adhesion is effected between the surface of the iron and the cured india-
rubber.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I prefer to

page_text: conduct the operation of coating some articles of iron with vulcanized india-
rubber.
:
For example, when I wish to coat sheets of iron so as to render them:
suitable for sheathing ships, I take sheet iron of a suitable, size and guage, say
4 feet by 14 inches, and of a guage equal to 24 oz. per 'superficial foot, and I
clean the surface by acid and scouring, or otherwise free it from all spots of
rust, grease, or other extraneous matter; I then place the sheet of iron, in a
dry and clean state between two thin sheets of sulphurized india-rubber large
enough to allow of the sheet of iron being hermetically sealed up by uniting:
together the edges of the sheets of india-rubber projecting beyond the edges of
the sheet of iron. And before performing the operation of sealing up the iron
sheet, I am careful to get rid of any air that may be between the sheet of
india-rubber and the iron, by rubbing down the india-rubber on to the iron
from the centre of the sheet outwards, or the air may be removed from
between the india-rubber and the iron by passing the sheet of iron, together
with the sheets of india-rubber, between rollers. The projecting edges of the
sheets of india-rubber are then pressed together so as to unite them together,
and enclose the sheet of iron. Having prepared several dozens of these..
bermetically encased sheets of iron, I place them all between suitable plates
of iron forming parts of a press, taking care to interpose between each layer
of combined iron and india-rubber a sheet of ordinary tinned iron or other
separating media, by which, after vulcanization, they may be easily separated.
I then bring the iron plates of the press in close contact with the pile of sheets
between them, and cramp them as tight as possible, that is to say, to cause a
considerable pressure of the sheets of india-rubber upon the iron, and then I
submit the whole to the vulcanizing process which is well understood, and I
find that, after the usual exposure to heat so as to vulcanize the india-rubber,
that the india-rubber is perfectly attached to the sheet iron. If I wish to
produce an elastic washer to be used with the ordinary bolt and nut, in order
to prevent the nut getting loose by vibration, I proceed as follows:-I take
two iron washers and clean them as before described, and cut out by punches
or otherwise a washer from india-rubber prepared for vulcanizing, and place
the same between the metal washers; then put the three together on to a bolt
made to fit the washers, and proceed to place as many more pairs of iron
washers with the rubber between them as will go upon the bolt, at the end of
which I screw on the nut as tightly as may be necessary to exclude the air
between the rubber and iron washers, and bring them into close contact. I
then bind up the outside of the washers with canvas or cloth for the purpose
of keeping the india-rubber from oozing out during the vulcanization. I

page_text: place a number of such bolts charged with washers into the vulcanizing
chamber, and cause the india-rubber, by the process of vulcanization, to
adhere perfectly to the washers. When coating the exterior of articles of iron
of a circular, oval, or other like section, after the iron has been cleaned and
coated with prepared india-rubber, the india-rubber may readily be kept in
contact with the iron during the process of vulcanization, by being bound
round with tape or other material. From the examples above given, a
workman will readily be able to coat other articles of iron with vulcanized
india-rubber.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the coating
iron with sulphurized or cured india-rubber, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Barnabas Daft, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
THOMAS B. DAFT. (L.S.)