IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING, SEASONING, AND PRESERVING. WOOD AND MAKING IT WATER AND FIREPROOF
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Cocker, of 21, Cockspur Street, Charing,
Cross, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Publisher of the
Scientific Review and Journal of the Inventors' Institute, for the.
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING, SEASONING, AND PRESERVING.
WOOD AND MAKING IT WATER AND FIREPROOF."-A communication from
abroad by Theodore William Heinemann, of the City of New York
in the United States of America.
Sealed the 24th July 1868, and dated the 25th April 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Cocker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on.
the 25th April 1868.
I, RICHARD COCKER, of 21, Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, West-
minster, in the County of Middlesex, Publisher of the Scientific Review'
and Journal of the Inventors' Institute, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING, SEASONING, AND
PRESERVING WOOD AND MAKING IT WATER AND FIREPROOF," communicated to;
me from abroad by Theodore William Heinemann, of the City of New,
York, in the United States of America, to be as follows:-
The modes worthy of consideration hitherto known may be divided
into four classes:-
T

page_text: 1st. Such as wash out some of the nitrogenous substances contained
in wood.
2nd. Such as convert these by metallic salts into insoluble com-
pounds.
3rd. Such as fill up the pores with bituminous or fatty substances.
4th. Such as are combinations of the two last named.
As disadvantages of the methods of the 1st class may be mentioned,
that none of those now in use remove all nitrogenous matter; that they
all increase the capacity of the pores for water and the fermenting
substances conveyed by it in proportion to their effectiveness, and thereby
contribute to the liability of the wood to decay, attacks of insects, and
infusoria, and bursting from frost.
The methods of the 2nd class are very expensive. The metallic salts
used are themselves decomposed by combining with the nitrogenous
compounds of the wood, and as a consequence either acid or base is
disengaged to act injuriously upon it. The pores also remain liable
to absorb water, and the dangers mentioned above as depending its
presence.
..
The methods of the 3rd class generally penetrate thick or long pieces
but imperfectly, and leave them therefore subject to dry rot, particularly
so because the materials used always contain substances which have a
tendency to ferment, only partially counteracted by the presence of
a small per-centage of carbolic acid. Besides all this the substances
used are generally easily washed out by the flow of fresh or salt water,
and when once washed out the wood becomes as liable to decay and
the attacks of infusoria and insects as it was before subjected to any
preserving t
"treatment:"
The methods of the 4th class are very expensive, and wood treated
by them remains liable, although in a less degree, to all the disadvantages
of the two last-mentioned classes.
My Invention purposes to obviate the defects of all these methods,
and in a simple, cheap, and perfect manner combines all their merits
as follows:-I first boil the wood in a weak solution of carbonate of soda
or any other alkali, or muriatic acid (pure, crude, or waste material will
answer equally well; but of the pure one part-in from 50 (fifty) to 200
(two hundred) of water is enough) until the liquor ceases to abstract
colour from the wood, which then is free from nitrogenous piatter, and

page_text: consequently no longer subject to spontaneous decay, and after dryingí
in the usual ways, if intended for use where it will not be exposed tot.
the inroads of water, insects, infusoria, and bursting from frost, needs
no other treatment; but if it is intended for railway sleepers or purposes
where it may be much exposed or come in contact with nitrogenous or
fermenting substances, I subject it to a second treatment in a close.
boiler, of suitable size and shape, strong enough to bear a very high.
pressure, conveniently fitted with an air-tight door, also with horizontal
cross bars screwed or rivetted to strong rings outside, which bars serve
as braces to strengthen the boiler, and at the same time to keep the
wood from floating, with the usual safety valve, pressure guage, discharge
pipe, and a thermometer. Into this boiler I put the wood, and with it
enough resin when liquified to cover it, and sufficient water to fill, when
converted into superheated steam of very high pressure, the whole of the;
remaining space in the boiler... I then close the door tightly and. heat
the boiler gradually until the thermometer shews the contents to be at
about 306° Fahrenheit, when the resin is as liquid and penetrating as
boiling water, and the steam being of a very high pressure forces the
resin through all the pores of the wood. I keep the same temprature.
up just long enough to have the wood evenly heated all the way through, a
the time varying according to the thickness of the pieces treated. After;
that I lessen the heat gradually until the thermometer shews the mass,
in the boiler to. have cooled to about 200° Fahrenheit, when I suddenly.
raise the temprature again, and as soon as the resin has become
sufficiently liquid I open the discharge cock and allow it to drain off.
The wood may then be taken out, and on cooling will be found very
compact, hard, elastic, impervious to water even if left in it for ever so
long a time, not subject to shrinking, warping, or the attacks of insects,
and indestructible, except by fire. If it be desireable, however, to make
the wood effectually resist even the power of the last-mentioned agent
of destruction I.substitute soda or potash-waterglass instead of the resin
in the process last mentioned (modifying it of course by applying a lower
temprature and not specially adding any water, since I disolve the
waterglass before introducing it through the safety valve into the boiler),
and after thoroughly impregnating it, dry it, and allow it to lay for some>
time in muriatic acid or some concentrated solution of such a metallic
salt as will form an insoluble silicate. The waterglass may also be,
introduced into the boiler in a solid state (even if mixed with insoluble
impurities, i. e. (that is to say) crude from the furnace in which it has

page_text: been made) with water sufficient when boiling to dissolve it, and enough:
to spare for keeping up the required volume of superheated steam.
It will be found desireable that the boiler used in this process should
be heated by suitable flues capable of being regulated by dampers,
and the wood is best impregnated in a slanting position at an angle of
30° above the horizontal, and in this position also afterwards most
thoroughly cleansed and polished by the action of the steam in driving
off the resin through the discharge cock.
Any organic or inorganic resin, pitch, or asphalte or any similar
substance, may be substituted for common resin if desireable.
The following are the main points in the Invention above described.
First. The method herein described of purifying, seasoning, and
preserving wood by first freeing it from substances liable to spontaneous
decay, in the manner described, and afterwards impregnating it with any
of the substances herein specified or their equivalents by means of high
steam pressure, substantially as described.
Second. The method herein described of impregnating wood with any
of the substances specified, or any other substances by means of high
steam pressure when the steam is generated and superheated in the same
boiler or retort in which the wood and impregnating substances are
contained and subjected to steam pressure, substantially as set forth.
Third. The method herein described of subjecting any objects or
substances to high steam pressure when the steam is generated and
superheated in the boiler in which the objects or substances are contained
and subjected to high steam pressure, substantially as specified.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Cocker in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th October 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
COCKER, of 21, Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, Westminster, in the 30
County of Middlesex, Publisher of the Scientific Review and Journal of
the Inventors' Institute, send greeting.
"WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign; did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Richard Cocker, Her special licence
that I, the said Richard Cocker, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Cocker, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thercafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercisc,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FURIFYING, SEASONING, AND PRESERVING WOOD AND MAKING IT
WATER AND FIRE-PROOF," a communication to him from abroad by
Theodore William Heinemann, of the City of New York, in the United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Richard Cocker, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Richard Cocker, 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 :-
The modes worthy of consideration hitherto known for purifying,
seasoning, and preserving wood, and making the same water and fire-
proof, may be divided into four classes.
First. Such as wash out some of the nitrogenous substances contained.
in wood.
Second. Such as convert these by metallic salts into insoluble
compounds.
Third. Such as fill up the pores with bituminous or fatty substances.
Fourth. Such as are combinations of the two last named.
As disadvantages of the methods of the first class may be men-
tioned that none of those now in use remove all nitrogenous matter,
that they all increase the capacity of the pores for water and thef
:

page_text: fermenting substances conveyed by it in proportion to their effectiveness,
and thereby contribute to the liability of the wood to decay, attacks of
insects and infusoria, and bursting from frost.
The methods of the second class are very expensive. The metallic
salts used are themselves decomposed by combining with the nitro-
genous compounds of the wood, and as a consequence either acid or
base is disengaged to act injuriously upon it. The pores also remain
liable to absorb water and the dangers mentioned above as depending
its presence.
The methods of the third class gencrally penetrate thick or long
pieces, but imperfectly, and leave them therefore subject to dry rot,
particularly so because the materials used always contain substances
which have a tendency to ferment, only partially counteracted by the
presence of a small per-centage of carbolic acid. Besides all this the
substances used are generally easily washed out by the flow of fresh
or salt water, and when once washed out the wood becomes as liable to
decay and the attacks of infusoria and insects as it was before subjected
to.any. preserving treatment.
The methods of the fourth class are very expensive, and wood treated
by them remains liable, although in a less degree, to all the disadvantages
of the two last-mentioned classes..
This Invention purposes to obviate the defects of all these methods,
and in a simple, cheap, and perfect manner combines all their merits,
as follows: I first boil the wood in a weak solution of carbonate of
soda or any other alkali, or muriatic acid (pure, crude, or waste materials
will answer equally well; but of the pure one part in from 50 (fifty)
to 200 (two hundred) of water is enough), until the liquor ceases to
abstract colour from the wood, which then is free from nitrogenous
matter, and consequently no longer subject to spontaneous decay, and
after drying in the usual ways, if intended for use, where it will not be
exposed to the inroads of water, insects, infusoria, and bursting from
frost, needs no other treatment. But if it is intended for railway
sleepers or purposes where it may be much exposed or come in contact
with nitrogenous or fermenting substances I subject it to a second
treatment in a close boiler of suitable size and shape, strong enough to
bear a very high pressure, conveniently fitted with an air-tight door,
also with horizontal cross bars screwed or riveted to strong rings outside,
which bars serve as braces to strengthen the boiler and at the same time.

page_text: to keep the wood from floating, with the usual safety valve, pressure
gauge, discharge pipe, and a thermometer. Into this boiler I put the
wood, and with it enough rosin when liquified to cover it and sufficient
water to fill, when converted into superlicated steam of very high
pressure, the whole of the remaining space in the boiler. I then close
the door tightly and heat the boiler gradually until the thermometer
shews the contents to be at about 306° Fahrenheit, when the rosin.is as
liquid and penetrating as boiling water, and the steam being of a very
high pressure forces the rosin through all the pores of the wood. I keep
the same temperature up just long enough to have the wood evenly
heated all the way through, the time varying according to the-thickness
of the pieces treated. After that I lessen the beat gradually until the
thermometer shews the mass in the boiler to have cooled down to about
200° Fahrenheit, when I suddenly raise the temperuture again, and as
soon as the rosin has become sufficiently liquid I open the discharge cock
and allow it to drain off. The wood may then be taken out, and on
cooling will be found very compact, hard, elastic, impervious to water,
even if left in it for ever so long a time, not subject to shrinking,
warping, or the attacks of insects, and indestructible except by fire.
If it be desirable however to make the wood effectually resist even the
power of the last-mentioned agent of destruction I substitute soda or
potash-waterglass instead of the rosin in the process last-mentioned
(modifying it of course by applying a lower temperature and not specially
adding any water, since I dissolve the waterglass before introducing it
through the safety valve into the boiler), and after thoroughly impreg-
nating. it, dry it, and allow it to lay for some time in muriatic acid or
some concentrated solution of such a metallic salt as will form an
insoluble silicate. The waterglass may also be introduced into the
boiler in a solid state (even if mixed with insoluble impurities, i.e. (that
is to say) crude from the furnace in which it has been made) with water
sufficient when boiling to dissolve it, and enough to spare for keeping up
the required volume of superheated steam.
.
It will be found desirable that the boiler used in this process should
be heated by suitable flues capable of being regulated by dampers, and
the wood is best impregnated in a slanting position at an angle of 30°
above the horizontal, and in this position also afterwards most thoroughly
cleansed and polished by the action of the steam in driving off the rosin
through the discharge cock.

page_text: Any organic or inorganic fosin, pitch, or, asphalte, or any similar
substance may be substituted for common rosin if desirable.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed
and put into practical operation, I hereby declare that I claim in
regard to the Invention above described,―
First. Purifying, seasoning, and preserving wood by first freeing it in
the manner described from substances liable to spontaneous decay, and
afterwards impregnating it with any of the substances herein specified,
or their equivalents, by means of high steam pressure, substantially as
described.
Second. Impregnating wood with any of the substances. specified or
any other substances by means of high steam pressure when the steam
is generated and superuted in the same boiler or retort in which the
wood and impregnating substances are contained, and subjected to
steam pressure, substantially as set forth.
Third. Subjecting any objects or substances to high steam pressure
when the steam is generated and superheated in the boiler in which
the objects or substances are contained and subjected to high steam
pressure, substantially as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Cocker, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
RP. COCKER. (L.S.)
Witness,
ALEX. P. WRIGHT,
Secretary to the Inventors' Patent Right Association, Limited,
21, Cockspur Strect,
Charing Cross.