GB Patent: GB-186,501,313
|
| Improvements in the manufacture of Parkesine or compounds of pyroxyline, and also solutions of pyroxyline, known as collodion
|
|
Patentee:
|
|
| Alexander Parkes (exact or similar names) - Birmingham, county Warwick, England |
| Manufacturer: |
| Not known to have been produced |
|
|
Patent Dates:
|
| Granted: |
May 11, 1865 |
Espacenet patent
Report data errors or omissions to steward
Jeff Joslin
|
|
Description: |
| Alexander Parkes used nitro-benzole, aniline and acetic acid, plus camphor, to dissolve pyroxyline to create what is now recognized as the first plastic, which Parkes called "Parkesine"; it was an early form of Celluloid. Parkesine was shown to the world at the 1862 International Exhibition in London, where visitors and judges were impressed by the colored transparent items. Parkes tried to commercialize his invention, establishing the Parkesine Co. in 1866, but failed. One reason was that he wanted to keep costs low and sacrificed quality. Another was that his process relied on molding objects using a material still containing solvent; as the solvent evaporated the product would shrink and crack. In 1870, brothers John Wesley Hyatt and Isaiah Hyatt created an improved process that used cellulose nitrate and camphor to create a material that was not as flammable as Parkesine, did not shrink when molded and instead could be heated to create plasticity during the molding process. |
|
