US312286A - Gomery - Google Patents

Description

U ITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

. ALPHEUS \VOODS MONTGOMERY, OF ,NElV YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING TARRED ROPES AND YARNS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 312,286, dated February 17, 1885.

Application filed November 2, 1883. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALPHEUs W. MONT- GOMERY, a'citizen of the United States, resid- Yarns and ropes are tarred because the preservative qualities of the tar render them impervious to moisture and dampness and prevent decay.

The practice of my invention hereinafter de scribed causes the tar to permeate and protect more perfectly the structure and fibers of the rope, while the rope itself, when coated with tar by said process, is far more pliable in all temperatures than that manufactured by the methods at present employed;

I have discovered that the chief difficulties in the way of producing a more perfect product under the processes of tarring ropes now in use arise from the fact that the fibers of the yarns or ropes to be treated contain a certain amount of natural and artificial moisture, which prevents the tar entering andthoroughly permeating all the fibers, interstices, and cells of the material; also, that said fibers and cells, when brought in contact with the tar, are in a contracted and inefficient condition, and tend to stiffen and congeal the melted tar; and, also, that the most valuable constituents of the tar for protecting the fiber of rope or yarns and keeping them pliable, being very volatile, are to a large extent vaporized and lost by heating the tar bath to the temperature necessary to obtain and maintain a proper degree of fluidity under ordinary conditions.

The hemp used in the manufacture of yarns and ropes as it is usually received in bales by rope-makers contains a certain amount of natural moisture. It is also usual in the process ofmanufacture to moisten or dampen the hemp before it goes to the spindles, for the purpose of preventing waste and insuring easy working. The conseqence of this natural and artificial moisture in the fiber is that when the tar is applied it does not thoroughly permeate and saturate the fibers, which are therefore more liable todecay than they would be if thoroughly saturated.

The process of tarrin g yarns and ropes heretofore commonlyin use has been to pass them, while in a state containing more or less natural and artificial moisture,as above described, and while at normal temperature, through a tar bath made by placing the'tar in a tank or other receptacle of a convenient size and shape, and heating it, bymeans of steam-coils or other applications of heat, to a temperature of, say, 200 Fahrenheit and upward, the precise degree of heat employed depending somewhat upon the condition and temperature of the surrounding atmosphere. Through this bath the yarns or ropes are passed by any convenient mechanism.

In this process there are the following defects: First,the presence of moisturein the fiber prevents the due absorption of the tar into its structure and fiber; second, the rope being atnormal temperature when it enters the bath tends to congeal the tar which comes in actual contact therewith and makes it incapable of entering into the smal-lerinterstices of the ma terial; third, heatingthe bath to the temperature above described causes the more volatile portions of the tar, and such as more readily permeate the fiber and are mostvaluablein preserving it, to evaporate and escape. Ropes made from yarns tarred in such a manner lose their pliability to a great extent, and in cold weather particularly the tar in the ropes becomes hard and rubs and wears the fiber.

In the process which I have invented and for which I claim a patent I have avoided these defects in the following manner: I thoroughlyheat and dry the ropes or yarns before they are treated with tar, and while they are in this heated condition I pass them through the tar bath, for the purposes described.

By thoroughly heating and drying the yarns or ropes before they are immersed inthe tar I expel therefrom all moisture and dampness,

and expand and distend the cells,whereby their receptivity and capacity for absorbing the tar are greatly increased, and by passing the ropes and yarns through the tar bath while they are, in this heated condition I am able to keep the tar'in the bath at a lower temperature than is possible under the processes heretofore employed, whereby evaporation and waste of the most valuable constituents of the tar are avoided, and consequently the quality of the product greatly improved. It will be observed that, to whatever temperature the tar bath may be raised, the heated rope will absorb more tar than it would if introduced at normal temperature, because the fibers are eX- particles of tar in actual contact therewith,

which do not, under these conditions, lose by evaporation their more volatile portions,being confined within the inclosing mass of cooler tar. In this case the rope itself is used as a means of raising the temperature of the tar with which it is saturated to the necessary point, and introducing and applying the heat in this manner is an important feature of my invention. In other words, the tar is only partially heated by the application of heatto the bath as a whole, it being subsequently raised to the temperature necessary in rope-treating by the heat introduced with the rope itself, whereby, as herein described, improved results areefi'ected.

In the caseof yarns, the method I employ and which I prefer is to pass them, just before immersion in the tar bath, over heated cylinders. In the ease of ropes, alonger exposure to the action of heat maybe necessary, according to the-size of the rope, and this maybe accomplished by placing the coil of a rope in a hot oven, or by any other means by which it may be thoroughly dried and heated to the proper temperature immediately previous to being passed through the tar bath.

The yarns or ropes, before being passed through the tar bath, should be heated to as high a degree of temperature as is possible without injuring the fiber.

In concluding this specification I desire to remark that instead of passing the dried rope or yarn through the tar bath while in a heated state I may allow the rope to cool before it is introduced therein, and still produce a product far superior to those manufactured by the ordinary processes at present employed.

I am aware that papers and felts have been heated preliminarily to coating the surfaces thereof with wax, parafiine, varnish, and other waterproofing material, for the purpose of making them absorb the same more readily; but that is not the point of my invention, the object of which is to improve the rope by caus ing it to absorb the more volatile elements of the tar without heating the tar bath itself high enough to drive off the elements with which I desire to impregnate the rope, as stated in the following claim.-

What I claim as'my invention, and desire to secure by Letters'P-atent, is-

The process herein described of treating rope with tar to cause it to absorb the more volatile portions thereof,'which process consists of heating the tar to a temperature just high enough to render it fluid, but not high enough to expel its lighter oils, and of then introducing into the tar bath rope raised to a temperature higher than that of the tar, to produce a tarred rope which is limber and pliable at all temperatures, substantially as described.

. ALPIIEUS WOODS MONTGOMERY.

Vitnesses: WM. MONTGOMERY, J r., R; A. RUoKoLD.