IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OR MANUFACTURE OF CAOUTCHOUC
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the Cor
Britain, Gentlema
of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE TREATMENT OR MANUFACTURE OF CAOUTCHOUC."-A communica-
tion from Charles Eugene François Guibal and Louis Philippe
Bernard Edouard Cumenge, of Paris, in the Empire of France,
Manufacturers.
Sealed the 16th May 1854, and dated the 1st December 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry
Johnson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 1st December 1853.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
TREATMENT OR MANUFACTURE OF CAOUTCHOUC," Communicated to me from
Charles Eugene François Guibal and Louis Philippe Bernard Edouard
Cumenge, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Manufacturers, to be as
follows:-

page_text: This Invention relates to a system or mode of preventing the waste
by evaporation of volatile ingredients employed for dissolving the
caoutchouc, preparatory to or in the course of its manufacture, and
consists in traversing webs of cloth containing layers of soft caoutchouc
through closed chambers having a refrigerating top and a heated
bottom over which the cloth is traversed. The heat produces the
evaporation required, and the vapor on coming in contact with the cold
top of the chamber is condensed and runs into suitable gutters, whence
it passes into a main trough or other receptacle. By this means a
great saving is effected in the process of evaporation, since in place of
the whole of the volatile ingredients being evaporated into air and lost,
they are condensed and collected for further use. The condensing or
refrigerating top is composed of a series of metal plates forming ridges,
which are united at three apices, and turned over at the edge to form
gutters. The inclination of these plates forms a series of cold water
reservoirs and affords, also a large condensing surface, the condensed
vapor trickling down the inclination into the gutters before mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her, reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special
license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, or 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,

page_text: and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE TREATMENT OR MANUFACTURE OF CAOUTCHOUC," a communi-
cation from Charles Eugene François Guibal and Louis Philippe
Bernard Edouard Cumenge, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Manu-
facturers, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, by an instrument in writing under hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say:-
The said Invention relates to a system or mode of preventing the waste
by evaporation of the of the volatile ingredients employed for dissolving
the caoutchouc, preparatory to or in the course of its manufacture, and
consists in traversing webs of cloth containing layers of soft caoutchouc
through closed chambers having a refrigerating top and a heated
bottom over which the cloth is traversed. The heat produces the
evaporation required, and the vapour on coming in contact with the
cold top of the chamber is condensed and runs into suitable gutters
whence it pours into a main trough or other receptacle. By this
means a great saving is effected in the process of evaporation, since in
place of the whole of the volatile ingredients being evaporated into air
and lost, they are condensed and collected for further use. The
condensing or refrigerating top is composeil of a series of metal plates
forming ridges, which are united at their apices and turned over at the
edge to form gutters. The inclination of these plates forms a series of
cold water reservoirs or ducts, and affords also a large condensing
surface, the condensed vapour trickling down the under side of the
inclination into the gutters before mentioned.

page_text: Fig. 1 of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings represents a vertical
transverse section of the vapour condensing apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a
corresponding plan and partial horizontal section of the same. A, is a
horizontal table of sufficient width to admit the india-rubber cloth
which is to be traversed over it. This cloth is passed over the table
immediately on leaving the cylinders which spread the india-rubber
paste over its surface. The length of the table A, will vary according
to the speed at which the cloth is traversed over its surface, and to the
volatility of the dissolvents contained in the caoutchouc. This table,
which is composed of two plates of cast or sheet iron a, and a', is
heated by steam, hot water, or heated air. It is covered by two thin
metal plates B, set at a convenient angle, and forming a kind of roof
over the heated table A. In order to enclose a space for the con-
densing of the vapour, a triangular plate C is placed vertically at each
end of the roof, a space being left between the lower edge of the plates
and the surface of the heated table to allow of the passage of the cloth.
To keep the roof cool, the plates B are covered with felt b, which is
kept constantly saturated, by means of the reservoir D, from which
the water falls in drops or in small streams on to the felt or other
absorbent material on the surface of the roof, which becomes uniformly
saturated thereby, and keeps the plates constantly cool, whilst the
saturating water flows off the lower edges of the roof into the gutter
E. The cloth to be submitted to the evaporating process on leaving
the spreading cylinders or other spreading apparatus enters the eva-
porating chamber by passing through the opening left under the plates
C. The heat of the table A, produces the requisite evaporation of the
dissolvents, and the volatile vapours arising therefrom fill the space E
of the evaporating chamber, and become condensed upon the inner
surface of the inclined refrigerating plates B. This condensed vapour
runs down the plates until it arrives at the longitudinal strips or ledges
of angle iron d, fitted thereto by rivets or otherwise. These ledges
cause the condensed vapour to fall into the inclined channels or gutters
F fitted inside the chamber at the bottom of each slope of the roof.
Along these channels the liquid flows in to the suitable receptacles
placed at one end to receive it. In order to collect the liquid arising

page_text: from the condensation of the vapour on the insides of the plates C,
suitable channels F' are fitted to their lower edges which communicate
with the longitudinal channels F. Among the different modes of
constructing the refrigerating roof the following is the one most
preferred. Plates of zinc, sheet iron, or other metal are employed of
about three feet in width, and their edges are turned up longitudinally
at right angles to form a flange. The plates are then bent in the
middle to produce the requisite slope or inclination of the roof. A
number of these plates bent into the shape above described are laid
side by side, and their respective flanges are nipped together by the
bars G, the whole being traversed and held secure by the bolts and
rivets g. The number or size of plates employed will of course be
regulated according to the length and width of the heating table.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of
the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be
used or carried into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do
not confine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements
which I have had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations
may be made therefrom, without deviating from the principles or main
features of the said Invention; but what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
The system or modo of economising the dissolvents employed in the
manufacture or treatment of caoutchouc by condensing the vapours
arising therefrom on incline plates placed over the heating table, such
plates being kept cool by streams of water in combination with some
absorbent material, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the First day of June, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.s.)