IMPROVEMENTS IN DISSOLVING VUL- - Turi REBRED FAD TAXATERPROOFING AND LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Ford, of Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DISSOLVING VUL-
- Turi REBRED FAD TAXATERPROOFING AND LIKE PURPOSES."
Sealed the 17th March 1857, and dated the 20th September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Ford at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
September 1856.
I, ALFRED FORD, of Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
DISSOLVING VULCANIZED INDIA-RUBBER FOR WATERPROOFING AND LIKE PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:-
My said improvements refer to a mode of treating vulcanized india-rubber
with certain solvents in distillatory vessels heated by steam, and in recovering
the solvents by distillation. I take all kinds of vulcanized india-rubber,
whether waste or otherwise, and reduce it to small pieces, after which it is
soaked in oil of turpentine or naptha spirit until saturated therewith, and it is
then placed in suitable boilers or like vessels fitted with still heads, and having
steam jackets heated by steam, and supplied with stirrers; after being heated
therein for some time, the vulcanized india-rubber becomes completely
dissolved, and the process is continued until a sufficiency of the solvent has
distilled over. The dissolved vulcanized india-rubber is then drawn off, and
applied by the usual methods for waterproofing, moulding, and other like
manufactures.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Ford in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
FORD, of Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Ford, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred Ford, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Ford, 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 DISSOLVING VULCANIZED INDIA-
RUBBER FOR WATERPROOFING AND LIKE PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alfred Ford, 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 Alfred Ford, 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 state-
ment:-
My said improvements refer to a mode of treating vulcanized india-rubber
with certain solvents in distillatory vessels heated by steam, hot. water, or other
available means, and in recovering the solvents by distillation; such pre-
paration of the material rendering it suitable for waterproofing and similar
applications.
And for the better understanding of my said Invention, I will now proceed
to detail the particulars necessary for carrying the same into practical
operation.
I take all kinds of vulcanized india-rubber, whether waste or otherwise,
and reduce the same to small pieces, and afterwards soak them in oil of
turpentine or naptha spirit, either prepared according to my Patent, bearing

page_text: date the Fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord 1855, or otherwise,
until saturated therewith. The vulcanized india-rubber thus treated is then
to be transferred to suitable boilers or like vessels fitted with still heads, and
having steam or hot water jackets to heat such boilers or vessels; and they
should also be supplied with any convenient rotatory stirrers to agitate the
vulcanized india-rubber during the operation. After being heated and stirred
therein for some time the vulcanized india-rubber becomes completely dissolved,
and it is then only necessary to continue the process until a sufficiency of the
oil of turpentine or naptha spirit or other solvent has distilled over, and been
recovered for after use. The dissolved vulcanized india-rubber is then ready
to be drawn off, and applied by the usual methods for waterproofing and other
like manufactures.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, I desire it to be understood
that as the vessels and the means of heating the same may be very variously
modified, I do not restrict myself to any particular kind of heating or dis-
tillatory apparatus, only I recommend that when the vaporised solvent is not
intended to be distilled over, that the boilers, pans, or other similar vessels
should have their covers supplied with safety pressure and vacuum valves;
neither do I limit myself to any precise quality or articles of which vulcanized
india-rubber forms the whole or part, provided the nature of the same has not
been destroyed by carbonization or otherwise, so long as the principle of my
said Invention is substantially maintained; and I do declare that what I claim
as my Invention is, namely, the peculiar process of dissolving waste or other
vulcanized india-rubber in volatile solvents in suitably heated distillatory or
closed vessels, and the application of the dissolved material, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Ford, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
ALFRED FORD. (L.B.)