IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPOUNDS OF COLLODION
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Thomas Henley and
Daniel Spill, junior, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 6th October 1870.
We, WILLIAM THOMAS HENLEY and DANIEL SPILL, junior, both of
North Woolwich, in the County of Essex, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE
OF COMPOUNDS OF COLLODION," to be as follows:-
In order to make the application of the machinery or apparatus
understood we purpose describing so much of the process or processes as
is requisite.
In producing a flexible material (for insulating purposes) we use
vegetable, mineral, or animal oils, fats, pitch, tar, resins, or gums in
suitable proportions, according to the material required to be produced.
Firstly. According to the process well known in connection with gun
cotton for the purposes named we take, say, 100 parts of our fibre referred
to in the Specification of our Patent dated the Sixth of April 1870,
No. 1017, and dissolve it in any suitable solvent, or in a mixture of a
solvent and oil, fat, tar, or gum, and add thereto, say, 100 parts, more or

page_text: less, of the oil, fat, tar, or gum, or a mixture of the above-named com-
pounds. We then purify it by filtering or straining whenever required.
The material is then placed in a still heated by preference by steam by
means of a steam jacket, and fitted with a powerful agitator or mixer
and a condensing apparatus. The compound thus treated will be similar
to india-rubber or gutta percha dough, and may be worked in like manner
according to the various purposes.
For hard or rigid materials we take to every 100 parts of the dis-
solved fibre, say 100 parts, more or less, of pigments or colours such
as are used for compounding india-rubber. We then work it in the
before-mentioned still with the agitator, or grind it between rollers
working in a closed heated chamber of the following description :-'
-The
chamber or vessel is fitted with double walls containing steam between
the same (steam jacket). This steam jacket extends, all along the
bottom, which by preference is made flat, and the steam jacket may in
some cases extend nearly round the sides and top. The ends of the
vessel may also be steam jacketed. A suitable door is provided for
filling in and removing the material to be treated, and means are pro-
vided for turning over the mass of the material, which is requisite at
certain intervals. The grinding rolls are either of a corrugated or
undulating shape, or they are made taper, the small end of each roller
working against the large end of the other. To prevent the material
from charring by direct contact with the hot bottom walls of the chamber
perforated inner screens may be provided, or wire gauze when required.
The solvents pass off through a worm fitted to the top of the chamber,
the worm acting as a condenser. After being ground or kneaded
sufficiently in this manner it may be worked in a manner similar to
india-rubber in a soft state by rolling or pressing it into sheets or other
forms, as required. We prefer, however, for the sake of recovering part
of the remaining solvents and for improving the quality of the material,
to roll it by means of hollow steam-heated rollers similar to calendering
rollers, but enclosed in a chamber which is heated by a steam or hot-air
jacket.