IMPROVEMENTS IN NON-CONDUCTING COMPOSITIONS POR PREVENTING THE RADIATION OR TRANSMISSION OF HEAT COATING METALLIC OTHER SURFACES THEREWITH
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Spence, of Her Majesty's Dockyard, Ports-
mouth, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN NON-CONDUCTING
COMPOSITIONS POR PREVENTING THE RADIATION OR TRANSMISSION OF HEAT
"
Sealed the 17th April 1863, and dated the 22nd October 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Spence at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
October 1862.
I, JAMES SPENCE, of Her Majesty's Dockyard, Portsmouth, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
NON-CONDUCTING COMPOSITIONS FOR PREVENTING THE RADIATION OR TRANSMISSION
OF HEAT OR COLD, AND IN COATING METALLIC AND OTHER SURFACES THEREWITH," to
be as follows:-
Instead of employing felt and wood lagging with sheet lead covering or
other additions as a covering for steam boilers, cylinders, pipes, and such like,
and other vessels and bodies for prevention of the radiation of heat, as also for
protecting pipes and other vessels containing fluids or liquids against the
external action of extreme cold, and generally for coating vessels or bodies
subject to the action of heat or cold, and for preventing radiation therefrom,
or the transmission or passage inward or outward of heat or cold, I apply a
composition consisting of the following materials, or the chemical equivalents

page_text: for the same, combined in or about the proportions herein stated according to
the purpose or the character of the vessel or body for which the coating or
covering is intended.
In the non-conducting compositions made according to this Invention I take
argillaceous earth and grind it or beat it up, and mix it with water so as to
form a paste. I then mix oil cake, fish or train oil, cow hair, carbonaceous
matter, and the other materials as herein mentioned (or their equivalents) for
giving consistency, character, or color according to the purpose for which the
composition is required. The hair is well opened and beaten in or incorporated,
and the whole is mixed and compounded until it has obtained the requisite
degree of density or consistency.
For coating steam boilers and such like vessels subject to great beat and
for other similar purposes, I take, say, one thousand pounds in weight of
argillaceous earth, and grind or beat it up and mix it with water and so form
a paste, to this I add about twenty-four pounds of oil cake, about three gallons
of fish or train oil, and then introduce about twenty-four pounds of cow hair,
twenty-four pounds of soot, and three pounds of bone dust or bone ash, these
are thoroughly combined together and form a plaster or composition capable
of being applied in the manner of plastering walls and other surfaces.
For coating steam pipes or steam engine cylinders, and other. such bodies
and surfaces, I take, say, one thousand pounds of argillaceous earth prepared
as before, and added to this about thirty pounds of oil cake, two gallons of
fish oil, about thirty-six pounds of cow hair, fourteen pounds of soot, eighteen
pounds of bone dust, and fourteen pounds of ground carbonaceous matter, these
are well incorporated in a finely divided condition as before stated. For
purposes where a finer quality of coating is required there may be less
oil, less cow hair and dry matter introduced in proportion to the weight of
clay.
For a finishing coat to the previously described compositions the following
composition may be made:--To each one thousand pounds of argillaceous
earth, about one and a half or two gallons of fish oil, about thirty-two pounds
of oil cake, thirty-two pounds of cow hair, about half a gallon of linseed oil,
twenty-four pounds of ground charcoal, and about eight pounds of glue, to
these may be added about eight pounds of paint or coloring matter of any
color or tint which may be preferred.
Steam boilers may be coated whilst in use, and the composition may be
applied by hand or trowel to a depth of three-quarters of an inch or so, and
scored or grained across, and allowed to dry, and then a second or any additional
number of coatings may be added.

page_text: For coating circular pipes or such like surfaces a layer of small hay or
straw bands saturated in the composition (or any other convenient material)
may be lapped or coiled around the pipe or vessel, and the composition
plastered on and the coatings or layers added at intervals. Wood laths may
be introduced, and any of the well-known means of bonding or binding may be
employed, according to the form of the body to which the composition is
to be applied, and according to the nature of the action to which the material
is to be subjected.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Spence in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd April 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SPENCE, of Her Majesty's Dockyard, Portsmouth, Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
ine, the said James Spence, Her special licence that I, the said James
Spence, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Spence, 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 NON-CONDUCTING COMPOSITIONS FOR PREVENTING THE RADIATION
OR TRANSMISSION OF HEAT OR COLD, AND IN COATING METALLIC AND OTHER SURFACES
THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Spence,
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 Spence, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement in writing and accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Instead of employing felt and wood lagging (with sheet lead covering or
other additions) as a covering for steam boilers, cylinders, pipes, and such like
and other vessels and bodies for prevention of the radiation of heat, as also
for protecting pipes and other vessels containing fluids or liquids against the
external action of extreme cold, and generally for coating vessels or bodies
subject to the action of heat or cold, and for preventing radiation therefrom,
or the transmission or passage inward or outward of heat or cold, I apply
a composition consisting of the following materials, or the chemical equivalents
for the same, combined in or about the proportions herein stated, according
to the purpose or the character of the vessel or body for which the coating or
covering is intended.
In the non-conducting compositions made according to this Invention, I
take argillaceous earth and grind it or beat it up and mix it with water,
so as to form a paste. I then mix oil cake, fish or train oil, cow hair, car-.
bonaceous matter, and the other materials as herein mentioned (or their
equivalents), for giving consistency, character, or color, according to the
purpose for which the composition is required. The hair is well opened and
beaten in or incorporated, and the whole is mixed and compounded until it
has obtained the requisite degree of density or consistency.
For coating steam boilers and such like vessels subject to great heat, and
for other similar purposes, I take, say, one thousand pounds in weight of
argillaceous earth, and grind or beat it up and mix it with water, and so form
a paste. To this I add about twenty-four pounds of oil cake, about three
gallons of fish or train oil, and then introduce about twenty-four pounds of
cow hair, twenty-four pounds of soot, and three pounds of bone dust or bone
ash. These are thoroughly combined together and form a plaster or compo-
sition capable of being applied in the manner of plastering walls and other
surfaces.
For coating steam pipes, steam engine cylinders, and other such bodies and
surfaces, I take, say, one thousand pounds of argillaceous earth prepared as
before, and add to this about thirty pounds of oil cake, two gallons of fish oil,
about thirty-six pounds of cow hair, fourteen pounds of soot, eighteen pounds
of bone dust, and fourteen pounds of ground carbonaceous matter; these are
well incorporated in a finely divided condition as before stated. For purposes
where a finer quality of coating is required, there may be less oil, less cow
hair and dry matter introduced in proportion to the weight of clay.
For a finishing coat to the previously described compositions, the following

page_text: composition may be made: To each one thousand pounds of argillaceous
earth, about one and a half or two gallons of fish oil, about 32 pounds of oil
cake, thirty-two pounds of cow hair, about half a gallon of linseed oil, twenty-
four pounds of ground charcoal, and about eight pounds of glue; to these may
be added about eight pounds of paint or coloring matter of any color or tint
which may be preferred.
Steam boilers may be coated whilst in use, and the composition may be
applied by hand or trowel to a depth of three-quarters of an inch or so, and
scored or grained across and allowed to dry, and then a second or any addi-
tional number of coatings may be added.
For coating circular pipes or such like surfaces, a layer of hay or straw
bands saturated in the composition (or any other convenient material) may
be lapped or coiled around the pipe or vessel; and the composition plastered
on and the coatings or layers added at intervals. Wood laths may be intro-
duced, and any of the well-known means of bonding or binding may be
employed, according to the form of the body to which the composition is to be
applied, and according to the nature of the action to which the material is to
be subjected.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shown some of the applications to
which my Invention is adapted.
Figures 1 and 2 exhibit a section and elevation of a portion of a pipe and
elbow, together with a coating or covering of non-conducting material applied
in accordance with this Invention, and Figures 3 and 4 are cross sections of
Figure 1 and 2, taken on the lines a, b, and c, d.
In these Figures, a is the iron or metal pipe or elbow; b, circular wooden
clips or rings, of which there may be several in the length of the pipe, their
principal use being to enable the finishing coat or coats to be applied with
regularity so as to produce an uniform and even surface. The interior
diameter of these rings may be the same as the exterior diameter of the iron
or metal pipe, or they may be so much larger as to admit of a coat of greater.
or lesser thickness being applied to the pipe before the circular clip pieces or
balf rings are applied. C and C¹ and C³ are layers of composition applied in
accordance with the method herein described, and although they are for the
purposes of illustration shown as distinct, having been applied separately and
allowed to dry before the next coat was applied, and moreover the several
coatings may differ in their composition or proportion, they become united
thoroughly or combined together so that it would be difficult or impossible to
discover any line of separation or division upon a cross section being made.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 are views of a piece of straight pipe, shewing a series of
:

page_text: coatings applied without the use of the wooden rings before mentioned; hay or
straw bands, or spun yarn, saturated in the composition made in accordance
with this Invention, being coiled round the pipes in an open spiral, and the
composition applied or filled into the intervening spaces; the dowelling on of
the second coat upon the first, for the purpose of ensuring perfect contact and
adhesion, may be effected by the use of the pricker and tools ordinarily
employed by plasterers.
Figure 8 is a section of a Cornish boiler with a steam chest thereon, the
surface projecting above the brickwork, together with the steam chest, being
coated with the composition as herein described for the purpose of preventing
the radiation of heat. In this illustration the wood laths herein-before referred
to are shewn as being introduced for the purpose of assisting in bonding or
binding the series of layers of the composition, as, though in this illustration
and other views in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, the layers or coatings
appear separate and distinct, yet the whole series of coatings forming the
protective envelope would, if cut, when completed, present a nearly uniform
section.
The method of applying the non-conducting composition to the surface of
steam boilers, cylinders, and other heated surfaces for the prevention of the
radiation of heat, as also to water pipes and other surfaces for preventing the
injurious effects of intense cold or frost, must of course vary according to the
form or shape of the object to be covered and the particular purpose for which
it is intended to be employed; but, as a rule, the expedients which are usually
adopted by plasterers or workmen employed in coating ceilings, walls, and
other surfaces with plain or ornamental coatings of plaster or cement may be
adopted with advantage in applying the composition according to this Invention
to various metallic and other bodies. Especial care is to be taken that after
the first coating of the composition has been applied to any heated or other
surface, that this coating is pricked through in a sufficient number of places in
order to allow the air and moisture to escape freely when drying, this being
essentially necessary in order to ensure the adhesion of the composition to the
surface to be protected.
Although I have herein-before stated the ingredients which I have
employed with advantage for the purpose of forming several descriptions or
varieties of the non-conducting composition, and have also stated the propor-
tions in which such materials may be mixed or incorporated together, I wish it
to be understood that for any or either of the materials, any chemically
equivalent material may be substituted, and the proportions of the several
materials may be slightly varied; and moreover, I do not confine myself to the

page_text: employment of water alone for the purpose of forming the first paste, as any
suitable liquid with which the clay may be associated for the purpose of
reducing its consistency may be employed instead, and the paste-like material
so made may then be combined with the other materials as herein mentioned
or their equivalents in greater or lesser proportions as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Spence, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-first day of April, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-three
JAMES SPENCE. (L.S.)