US1356920A - Process for treating fibrous material and the products obtained thereby - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED E. JURY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,

TO MORGAN & WRIGHT, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

PROCESS FOR TREATING- FIBBOUS MATERIAL AND THE PRODUCTS OBTAINED Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

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1,356,920, Specification of Letters latent.

N0 Drawing.

Thereby, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to processes for treating fibrous material and to the products obtained thereby. It is more particularly directed to a process for providing fibrous materials for use for example in rubber tires or in other articles where there is excessive wear due to flexing and abrasion; and to the products obtained by such process.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a simple process of the kind described adapted to treat the fibrous material thoroughly and uniformly. Another object is to provide an eificient process of the kind mentioned adapted to prepare the fibers without impairing the flexibility of materials made therefrom and practicall without preventin the penetrability of suc materials by ru ber or similar plastic. Another object of the invention is to provide an article having heightened resistance to wear which shall exhibit a marked re sistance to the action of the various agents encounted in vulcanizing rocesses.

The invention covers both the product and a method of producing same, the latter, briefly stated, comprising applying to fibrous material a lubricant in a volatile solvent, impregnating the materials, evaporating the solvent and applying a coating of rubber or' similar plastic substance to the' so-treated fibrous material.

In carrying out the process in its preferred form, the fibrous material preferably in the form of single ply yarn is immersed for approximately ten seconds in an impreg natin medium serving to coat the indivi ual fi ers preferably containing the follo Application filed June 25, 1919. Serial No. 305,531.

ing ingredients in about the proportions stated:

Castor oiL -Q'parts by weight Beeswax 1 Carbon tetrachlorid 97 The immersion of the yarn is accomplished by passin the several strands thereof on the way to t e twisting frame through a trough or pan which contains the coating medium. The pan is arranged between the spools of.yarn and the rollers between which the single strands pass immediately before they are twisted together. After immersion, the yarn is subjected to pressure by rolls to remove any excess of the coating medium. The solvent is" then preferably evaporated by any. well-known drying method with or without the use of artificial heating means. The yarns so treated may then be twisted in the usual manner and woven into fabric or manufactured into any desired form. Rubber or other plastic material may be applied to the fibrous material in the form of fabric or otherwise. The plastic material may be applied in any well known manner, for example, by frictioning" the fabric. The oil is substantially nondryingand this together with the wax serve as a lubricant and the quantity of the lubricant employed is such that the fibers are thinly coated while the. spaces normally present between the individual fibers are maintained substantially open. Where the fibers cross one another the lubricant serves to prevent friction.

lthough the coatin solution is preferably applied to single p y am as mentioned above, it may also be app ied to the fibrous material in other forms, for example, it may be applied after the fibrous material has been woven into fabric or twisted into cord, or while it is in theform of plied yard,

or in any of'the forms through which it It will also be observed that, although castor oil and beeswax are preferably employed together in the coating medium, good results have been obtained by the use of these substances separately, and that these substances are simply representatives of a large class of materials with which I have made experiments and which have been found suitable for the purpose mentioned, examples of these being cotton seed oil, olive oil, paraflin and carnauba. Carbon tetrachlorid is preferred as a solvent, but it has also been found that benzol, kerosene, and gasolene may be similarly used with good results. 7

As mentioned above, the coating of the fibers in the manner indicated appears to form lubricated joints where the fibers cross or overlie one another, and such joints reduce the internal friction'and wear due to flexing and abrasion. The formation of such lubricated oints, may be brought about in a somewhat similar manner to that recited in the process above by treating fibrous material, ordinarily provided with a natural protective coating, for example, cotton with its coating of waxy material with a volatile solvent. In carrying out such process in its preferred form, the fibrous material is immersed in carbon tetrachlorid at a high temperature for a short period. The solvent is then driven off by any desired drying means. By this treatment the natural waxy material appears to be brought to a fluid or pasty condition and in this condition lubricated bonds are formed between the adjacent fibers. In carrying out this process the fibrous material may be treated in the form of threads, cords or fabric, and various solvents other than carbon tetrachlorid, such as benzol and kerosene may be employed with good results.

Coating with oil and wax in a volatile solvent effects a thorough, ra id and uniform penetration of the fiber. he uniformity of the coating is insured through the use of these materials in solution. The thoroughness of the penetration is insured b employing a volatile organic solvent.

xperiment has shown that such solvent is better adapted for penetration of fibrous material than a vehicle such as water. Further with the use of such solvent there is substantially no distortion through swelling of the threads, and consequently the spaces between the threads are uniformly left open. The maintenance of these spaces is particularly desirable when rub; her is applied to the fabric as it flows therethrough and upon subsequent vulcanization rubber rivets are formed. The rocess has also been found toicoat the individual fibers without depositing an excess of lubricant therebetween. Thus the flexibility of the treated material is not impaired and the formation, of the rubber rivets mentioned is not interfered with. The advantages mentioned due to the use of an organic solvent are also secured where a naturallv coated material is treated with such solvent is greatly heightened both where lubricant is added and where simple treatment of the fiber with solvent is carried on. A particular advantage of this increased resistance resides in the fact that a less strong cotton fabric may be employed in the manufacture of tire fabrics. At the present time practically all tire fabrics are manufactured from Egyptian or sea island cotton which has a long staple fiber. Short staple cotton such as American upland or peeler cotton is not sufiicientl wear-resisting for the manufacture of high-grade tire fabrics. By the present process these short-staple cottons may be employed since their resistance to wear may be increased to equal substantially that of the Egyptian and sea island cotton. Such substitution of the shortstaple cotton, of course, effects a relative savin in the cost of the tires.

he process may also be applied to fibers such as hemp, jute, and the like which have no natural waxy coating to impart to them the lubricant with the resulting resistance to abrasion which as heretofore noted is present to some extent in cotton.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the s irit thereof, it is to be understood that I 0 not intend to limit myself to the specific form of the invention as set forth except as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: p

. 1. The process of treating fibrous material which comprises applying thereto a substantially non-drying oil serving as a lubricant dissolved in a volatile solvent, evaporating the solvent and treating the so prepared material with a vulcanizable plastic, the proportion of the oil being relatively small to obviate deleteriously aflecting the bond between the fiber and plastic.

2. The process of treating fibrous material which comprises applying thereto a lubricant dissolved in a volatile solvent, evaporating the solvent and treating the so prepared material with a vulcanizable' plastic, the proportion of the lubricant being relatively small to obviate deleteriously affecting the bond between the. fiber and plastic.

3. The process of treating fibrous material which comprises applying thereto an oil containing wax serving as a lubricant dissolved in a volatile solvent, removing the solvent, and treating the so prepared mate-- rial with a vulcanizable plastic, the roportion of the oil bein re atively smal to obviate deleteriously a ecting the bond between the fiber and plastic.

4. The process of treating fibrous material which comprises applyin thereto a lubricant dissolved in an organic solvent in sufficient quantity to coat the fabric while maintaining the spaces normally present between the fibers substantially open, and treating the so prepared material with a vulcanizable plastic, the proportion of the lubricant being relatively small to obviate deleteriously affecting the bond between the fiber and plastic.

5. The process of treatin fibrous material which comprises applying thereto an oil serving as a lubricant dissolved in a solvent, removing the solvent, and treating the so prepared material with a coating of vulcanizable rubber, the proportion of the oil being relatively small to obviate deleteriously affecting the bond between the fiber and rubber.

6. The process of treating fibrous material which comprises applying thereto a quantity of oil and wax sufiicient to coat the fibers While maintaining the spaces normally present between the fibers substantially open, and treating the so prepared material with a plastic, the proportion of the oil being relatively small to obviate deleteriously affecting the bond between the fiber and plastic.

7. The process of treating fibrous matevent, removing the solvent,'and treating the 'so prepared material with a coating of rubber.

9. As an article of manufacture fibrous material having the individual fibers coated with a waxy lubricant in sufiicient quantity to cover the fibers while maintainin the spaces normally present between the %bers substantially open, and a layer of rubber intimately associated with the fibrous material, the proportion of the lubricant being relatively small to obviate deleteriously affecting the bond between the fiber and rubber. Y 1

10. As an article of manufacture fibrous. material evenly coated with an oil in sufiicient quantity to cover the fibers while maintaining the spaces normally present between the fibers substantially open, and a layer of rubber intimately associated with the fibrous material, the proportion of the oil being relatively small toobviate deleteriously affecting the bond between the fiber and rubber.

11. Asan article of manufacture a layer of fibrous material impre nated by a lubricant residue from a so ution containing waxand ,a layer of rubber intimately associated with the fibers, the proportion of the lubricant being relatively small to obviate deleteriously affecting the bond between the fiber and rubber. 12.'As an article of manufacture, fabric, a mixture of oil and wax residue from a solution impregnating said fabric, and a layer of rubber intimately associated with said fabric.

Signed at Newark, county of Essex and State of New Jersey, this 20th day of une,

, ALFRED E. JURY.