IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING IRON SHIPS WITH ASPHALTE, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO COATING OTHER SURFACES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT' to James Meikle, of 79, Rumford Street, Glasgow, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING IRON SHIPS WITH ASPHALTE,
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO COATING OTHER SURFACES."
Sealed the 20th December 1859, and dated the 21st June 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Meikle at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st June 1859.
I, JAMES MEIKLE, of 79, Rumford Street, Glasgow, do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING IRON SHIPS WITH
ASPHALTE, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO COATING OTHER
SURFACES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in coating iron ships with
asphalte, which improvements are also applicable to coating other surfaces.
When asphalte in a melted state is applied to the surface of iron and wood,
the adhesion is very imperfect unless the surface has been previously prepared
with a suitable compositon.
For this purpose I employ a composition prepared in the following manner :-
I take a portion of the distillate of coal tar, usually called pitch oil or heavy
oil, and purify it by treatment with alkali and acid and by distillation. In
the purified oil I dissolve india-rubber or gutta percha, and I add to the
solution light pitch oil and naptha.

page_text: The surface to be coated with asphalte is prepared by painting it with the
composition above described, and when the composition is hard, melted
asphalte is run over the surface or is applied with a brush, and it then forms a
hard surface or shell, adhering very firmly to the surface.
This Invention is very applicable for coating the interior of iron ships to
prevent the oxidation otherwise occasioned by the bilge water, and also for
coating the interior of iron and wooden tanks, and for other similar uses.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Meikle in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MEIKLE, of 79, Rumford Street, Glasgow, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Meikle, Her special licence that I, the said James Meikle,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Meikle, 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 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 SHIPS WITH ASPHALTE, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE
TO COATING OTHER SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Meikle, 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 James Meikle, 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:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in coating iron ships with

page_text: .
asphalte, which improvements are also applicable to coating other surfaces.
When asphalte in a melted state is applied to the surface of iron and wood
the adhesion is very imperfect unless the surface has been previously prepared
with a suitable composition.
For this purpose I employ a composition prepared in the following manner:-
I take a portion of the distillate of coal tar, usually called pitch oil or heavy
oil, and purify it by treatment with alkali and acid and by distillation. In
the purified oil I dissolve india-rubber or gutta percha, and I add to the
solution light pitch oil and naptha.
The surface to be coated with asphalte is prepared by painting it with the
composition above described; and when the composition is hard, melted
asphalte is run over the surface or is applied with a brush, and it then forins
a hard surface or shell, adhering very firmly to the surface.
This Invention is very applicable for coating the interior of iron ships to
prevent the oxidation otherwise occasioned by the bilge water, and also for
coating the interior of iron and wooden tanks, and for other similar uses.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I
prefer to conduct the operation.
I take a portion of the distillate of coal tar, usually called pitch oil, and
purify it by treatment with alkali and acid and by distillation. For this
purpose I mix the pitch oil with caustic soda ley, which after agitation is run
off, and then treated with sulphuric acid; when the acid sludge is run off it
is again mixed with caustic soda ley and distilled. In the purified oil I
dissolve from four to five per cent. of india-rubber or gutta percha (preferring
india-rubber), heating up the oil by means of a steam coil to a temperature
of 240° Fahrenheit, and agitating occasionally for 12 hours; at the expiry of
which period of 12 hours the steam is shut off and the oil allowed to cool
down to 120° of Fahrenheit's thermometer. It is then passed through a very
fine sieve, and is nixed with light pitch oil and naptha, in about equal pro-
portions of the three materials.
The surface of iron or other material to be coated with asphalte is prepared
by painting or brushing on the above-described ground wash or composition,
and after an hour or two melted asphalte is run over the surface, and it then
forms a hard cement, which prevents oxidation of the iron in all time coming.
Or, at times, to expedite the cementing process, as soon as the ground wash is
applied, it is wiped over with a mop of slips of cotton cloth, and the melted
asphalte applied immediately afterwards.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of

page_text: performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the exact details described, but what I claim is, the use of a ground wash
or composition consisting of the distillate of pitch oil, india-rubber, or gutta
percha, naptha, and light pitch oil.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Meikle, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
་
JAMES MEIKLE. (L.S.)