IMPROVE- MENTS IN RENDERING WOOD UNINFLAMMABLE, APPLICABLE TO BUILDING AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Jones, of St. Austell, in the County of
Cornwall, Clerk in Holy Orders, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RENDERING WOOD UNINFLAMMABLE, APPLICABLE TO BUILDING AND
OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 13th March 1874, and dated the 16th September 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Jones at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on 1.the
16th September 1873.
I, THOMAS JONES, of St. Austell, in the County of Cornwall, Clerk
in Holy Orders, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RENDERING WOOD UNINFLAMMABLE, APPLICABLE TO BUILDING
AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The object of the Invention is to render wood for building and other
purposes uninflammable and more durable. This is done by soaking the
timber in or pressing into it a solution of tungstate of soda in water.
The solution should be of the specific gravity of 1·19 for deal and the
lighter kinds of wood, and of 1.14 for oak and the heavier kinds.

page_text: When the wood is impregnated by soaking (as in kyanizing) it should
be left in the solution until thirty-five gallons per load has been ab-
sorbed by the lighter kinds, or thirty gallons per load by the heavier kinds
of wood. I do not however bind myself to these specific gravities nor
to the number of gallons per load (of 50 cubic feet).
When the wood is impregnated by pressure it should be put into
exhausting tubes as in the creosote process.
After the wood has been impregnated it should be allowed to stand
until it is thoroughly dry before being used. It will then be found that
the wood is almost perfectly uninflammable, and will not burn even if
saturated with paraffin or turpentine.
When the wood is dry it may be painted or polished like wood not
thus treated if thought desirable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Jones in the Great Seal Patent Office on 1
the 16th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
JONES, of St. Austell, in the County of Cornwall, Clerk in Holy Orders,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her :
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Jones, Her
special licence that I, the said Thomas Jones, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Jones,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 RENDERING WOOD UNINFLAMMABLE, APPLICABLE TO BUILDING
AND OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said

page_text: Thomas Jones, 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 Jones, 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:-
}
The object of this Invention is to render wood for building and other
purposes uninflammable, and to prevent dry rot and decay in the same.
This is done by soaking the timber in or pressing into it a solution of
tungstate of soda in water. The solution should be of a specific gravity
hereafter described.
When the wood is impregnated by soaking (as in kyanizing) it should
be left in the solution until sufficient has been absorbed.
When the wood is impregnated by pressure it should be put into
exhausting tubes as in the creosote process.
After the wood has been impregnated it will be found that the wood
is very hard and durable, and almost perfectly uninflammable even if
saturated with paraffin or turpentine.
When the wood is dry it may be painted or polished like wood not
thus treated if thought desirable..
Thus far I have particularly described and ascertained the nature of
the said Invention, and I will now in further compliance with the said
condition in the aforesaid Letters Patent contained proceed to particu-
larly describe and ascertain in what manner the same is to be performed
or carried out in practice, wherein resort in aid is to be made to the
foregoing statements for the better understanding thereof, that is to say,
to carry out my Invention the following process should be adopted :-
Make a solution in water (hot or cold) of the common tungstate of soda
of commerce in the proportion of from 2 to 3 lbs. of the salt to every
gallon of water so that the solution may have a specific gravity of from
1.14 to 1.20. The timber is then to be impregnated with this solution
1

page_text: (either hot or cold) either by soaking or pressure. It is best to press
the solution while hot through the timber, but this is not a necessary
condition. When the timber is dry it will be found exceedingly hard,
durable, and uninflammable; the fibres, the intercellular spaces, and
any minute granulés contained therein will be found coated with the
mineral. The spowles and mycellium of the fungi (such as polyporius
destructor, merulius vastator, and merulius lacrymaus), which produce
dry rot, thus become encased in a hard mineral containing neither
nitrogen, water, nor any phosphates (which enter so largely into the
chemical constitution of these fungi), nor indeed any single element fit
for their nourishment; the developement of the fungi therefore becomes
impossible. The timber is also made so exceedingly hard that white and
red pine are rendered both in appearance and hardness like teak and oak
respectively, and would be found cheap and valuable substitutes for these
more expensive kinds of timber.
Having/now particularly described and ascertained the nature and
object of my said Invention, I hereby declare that I claim the herein
described Invention of "Improvements in Rendering Wood Uninflam-
mable, applicable to Building and other Purposes," amongst others, for
preventing dry rot and decay in the same, wherein an important point is
using a solution of tungstate of soda without other substances, such as
phosphates or sulphates, and so forth, which neutralize or destroy its
effects, and it is to be understood that I do not bind myself to the
specific gravities herein-before described, because the heavier kinds of
timber require less of the salt than the lighter kinds.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Jones, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of March, in the year
´of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
H. L. KEMPTHORNE,
Callington.
THOMAS JONES. (L.S.)