IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING COMPOUNDS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bridget French, of Rochester, New York, United
States of America, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING
COMPOUNDS."
Sealed the 5th November 1872, and dated the 9th May 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bridget French at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with her Petition, on the
9th May 1872.
I, BRIDGET FRENCH, of Rochester, New York, United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING COMPOUNDS," to be as follows:—
This Invention consists in the combination of beeswax with petrolcum
or other oils and plumbago for holding the plumbago in permanent
suspension; also in the combination with the beeswax, oil, and
plumbago of alkali and tallow (or their equivalent, soap) for saponifying
and solidifying the mass.
The proportion of the elements may be varied as circumstances
require, but I prefer about the following, viz:-Petroleum or other oils,

page_text: one gallon; plumbago, fourteen ounces; beeswax, half an ounce; tallow,
one and a half ounce; soda, half an ounce.
In some cases the alkali and tallow may be dispensed with, and thie
following proportions used, or they may be varied :-Petroleum or other
oil, one gallon; plumbago, fourteen ounces; Beeswax, five ounces.
These elements are all mixed and stirred while being raised to a
boiling heat. The mass is then cooled and subsequently stirred.
In this compound the plumbago is held in permanent suspension by
the adhesion of the particles of beeswax and plumbago, and the particles
floating through the body of oil cannot precipitate. This suspension is
necessary to form a compound in which the plumbago is equally diffused,
and which is applicable as a lubricant to all kinds of machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Bridget French in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BRIDGET
FRENCH, of Rochester, New York, United States of America, send
greeting.
•
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-fifth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Bridget French, Her special licence that I, the
said Bridget French, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Bridget French, 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 time 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 LUBRICATING COMPOUNDS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Bridget French, 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

page_text: was to be performed, and cause tlie 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 Bridget French, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
:
"This Invention consists in the combination of beeswax with petroleum
or other oil and plumbago for holding the plumbago in permanent
suspension; also in the combination with the beeswax, oil, and plum-
bago of alkali and tallow (or their equivalent soap) for saponifying and
solidifying the mass.
The proportions of the elements may be varied as necessity may
require, but I prefer about the following:-Petroleum or other oil, onė
gallon; plumbago,
ounces; beeswax,
ounce; tallow,
ounce; soda, one-half ounce.
"
In some cases, where it is not desirable to use alkali and tallow, the
following formula may be used:-Petroleum or other oil, one gallon
plumbago, fourteen ounces; beeswax, five ounces.
The elements of the compound are mixed together and thoroughly
stirred or agitated while being raised to nearly a boiling heat. The
mass is then cooled and subsequently stirred, which is the finishing step
of the process.
In this compound the plumbago is held in permanent suspension in
the oil by the adhesion of the particles of plumbago and beeswax, which
float through the mass and prevent the plumbago from precipitating
to the bottom, as is the case where the beeswax is not used. By this
means the plumbago is always equally distributed, which is desirable in
common uses, on the axles, journals, and bearings of machinery. The.
use of plumbago is desirable on account of its lubricating and cooling
qualities. The tendency of the beeswax is to hold the plumbago to the
journal or bearing so as to form the proper lubricating film without
sticking or clogging it; and the beeswax itself has none of the tarry and
sticky qualities which would otherwise render it objectionable.
The alkali and tallow (or their equivalent soap) saponifies the mass
and gives the necessary consistency to render the material a good

page_text: lubricant. The use of these materials also effects a chemical change
that is beneficial to the compound. There is no quality in any of the
constituents which can corrode or otherwise injure the machinery with
which the compound is brought in contact.
I have contemplated the use of paraffine and the dead oils of 5
petroleum in this connection, but do not consider them so effective as
beeswax for holding plumbago in permanent suspension in oil.
I am aware that it is not new to combine plumbago with oil as a
lubricant, and such I do not claim broadly. The object of my Invention
is to hold the plumbago in permanent suspension by the addition of 1
other parts.
What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,--
First. The combination of beeswax (either with or without alkali and
tallow) with petroleum or other oil and plumbago for holding the
plumbago in suspension, as herein described.
Second. The combination with an oil having plumbago in solution of
alkali and unctuous oil or tallow (or soap) for the purpose of saponifying
and solidifying the mass, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Bridget French, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of October, in the year of 2
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
PRIMAR ERENAT