US909168A - Waterproofing fibers and fabrics. - Google Patents

Description

T 0 all whom it may concemt' UNITED STATES PATENT oFFro THOMAS A. EDISON, O'F LLEWELLYN PARK, 0

RANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO NORTH JERSEY PAINT COMPANY, OF STEWARTSVILLE, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF. NEW

JERSEY.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-Jan. 12, 1909.

Application filed June 1, 1908. Serial No. 436,104.

Bait known that I, THOMAS ALVA EDISON, a c1t1zen of the United States, residing at Llewellyn Park, Orange, county of Essex,

and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements for Waterproofing Fibers andl abrics, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to waterproofing fibers and fabrics and to an improved method of rendering fibers and fabrics waterproof which is cheap and extremely efficacious.

While materials treated according to my invention may of course be usedfor any purpose for which waterproof fibers and abrics are available, the particular use which I contemplate therefor is the waterproofing of bags for containing ground Portand cement so as to protect the cement contained therein from moisture. A

The material which I 'use for the treat-.

ment of fibers orfabrics to render them waterproof is the petroleumresiduum known in the petroleum trade as B. S. This residuum settles in the tanks which are used for containing crude petroleum and is solid at ordinary temperatures. I have secured very 1s to be shipped on a .protracted sea voyage,

good results by merely melting the B. S. and adding a little benzin or other solvent to. thin it somewhat; then immersing the bag or other object to be water roofed therein. The canvas bags used for olding cement, when thus treated, after having been allowed to dry will answer very well for containing cement under any ordinary conditions. I Where the waterprbofe'd fabric is to .be.

subjected to harder usage and its waterproof 'qualities' must be made as perfect as ossible, as for example, when the cement I make the ag substantially perfectly water- ,proof in the following manner: I first diesolve the B, S. in a solvent, preferably warm; this solvent is preferably petroleum benzin, although other solvents as, for example, benzol or turpentine may-be used.

I then allow it to cooland remain quiescent,

' until the insoluble portion settles at the bottom; or, it ma be filtered for the same pur ose. The so ution isthen drawn off and the solvent isdistilled off until a point is reached where the residue is pasty or,

.onto acement fioor untilthe standard bags semi-solid. This material is then melted, preferably by means of steam coils at a temperature above 212 degrees 1*. when it becomes substantially as limpid as water.

The fibrous object to be treated, as for ex-' ample, the bag'for containing cement, is immersed in the waterproofing agent so prepared until the water'of the fiber has been driven off. The bag, when cooled and dried, is ready for use. dered more perfectly water roof than when treated with the B. S. wit out the portion thereof which is insoluble in petroleum benzin or equivalent solvent having 'been removed. This insoluble portion is practically without waterproofing qualities and acts merely as an adulterant of the waterproofing material. Its use, however, is permissible in all cases except when extrao dinarywaterproofing qualities are required to be imparted to the fiber. I

- hen bags are treated in either of the manners described above, they are rendered very flexible and will not crack before being Worn out, the strength of the bag is greatly increased by the treatment and a bag so treated is of very great utility for containing any material very sensitive to moisture, such as Portland cement.

@ The fact that bags treated in the manner here described are rendered more flexible and are given greater strength by the treatment than they would otherwise'possess is shown by a series of exhaustive tests conducted on both treated and untreated bags. These test consisted in filling the bag with 95 pounds of cement and drop ing it 7 feet ag broke. A great number of'tests, on a large number of ment, have'shown that in the case of the bags treated with the B. S. 25% drops were required to rupture the average bag, where- The bag so treated is lien intendedfor carrying ce-.

as in the case of untreated bags the average number of drops per bag before breaking was only 4.

Having now described ,my invention, I claim: I

1. Fiber impregnated with the petroleum residue known as B. Si, substantially as set forth. I

2. As a new article of manufacture, abag waterproofed by impregnating it with the.

tially as set forth." this 27th day of May 1908;

3. Fiber impregnated with the portion of the etroleum residue known as B. S. which v 5 .isso uble' in petroleum benzin and'free from Witnesses:

the insoluble portion'thereof,. substantially FRANK L .'DYER, 7 as set forth. v ANNA R. KLEHM;

THOS. A-. EDISON.

petroleum residue known BL S.,' silbgtiin- I This specification signed end witnessed V