Fabric

Enclosing categories	Balloons
Subcategories	Silk, Goldbeater's skin, Rubber
Keywords	USPC 244/128
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Of woven materials, the most important are silk and cotton. Linen is sometimes used in forts in time of war, but seldom otherwise. Silk is both light and strong, but also expensive, and little capable of resisting the weather. Vegetable substances withstand atmospheric influences better than those of animal origin. In France, the military balloons are made of the so-called "ponghée" silk, which is of an inferior quality, and therefore cheaper. One layer is sufficient on account of the great strength of the material. When cambric is used, it is necessary to have two layers, which are placed diagonally, one on top of the other, so that the pattern of one is at an angle of 45 degrees to that of the other. This much increases the strength of the covering. It is necessary that it should be very closely woven throughout, and that it should be in all places of the same strength, special machines having been designed for testing its resisting power. All envelopes made of silk or cotton require to be varnished in some way. The oldest method is to coat it with rubber solution, as proposed by Charles, applied by hot rollers. This is also vulcanised with sulphur, which helps to preserve it. However, light has the effect of gradually disintegrating rubber, and this can to some extent be prevented by colouring it with a yellow paint. A better plan is to varnish the envelope with linseed oil, though it must be admitted that it has the unpleasant property of becoming very sticky in hot weather. Great care must be taken in storing such balloons, as they are very liable to catch fire spontaneously. The methods that were employed in making the old varnishes are unfortunately no longer known.

This wiki has 0 patents in category "Fabric". Other techtypes related to Fabric: CPC C14B1/00, CPC D06N7/00, Texture, USPC 114/68

Publications referring to Fabric

• Saco, 1873, Sur l'état actuel de conservation de l'étoffe de l'aérostat à hélice de M. Dupuy de Lôme (Simple title: On the current state of conservation of the fabric of the propeller balloon of M. Dupuy de Lôme, Journal: L'Aéronaute)
• Publication 8232, 1895, A new flying machine. Maxim's experiments in aerial navigation (Simple title: Maxim's experiments in aerial navigation, Journal: Century Mag.)
• Dienstbach, 1907, The second Gordon-Bennett race (Simple title: The second Gordon-Bennett race, Journal: American Aeronaut and Aerostatist)
• Publication 6298, 1908, Huge dirigible balloon collapses (Simple title: Huge dirigible balloon collapses, Journal: Pop. Mech.)
• Lougheed, 1910, Vehicles of the Air (Simple title: Vehicles of the Air)
• Avery and Avery, 1911, Testing fabric at the National Physical Laboratory (Simple title: Testing fabric at the National Physical Laboratory, Journal: Flight)
• Advisory Committee, 1910, Technical Report of the Advisory Committee for the year 1910-1911 (Simple title: Technical Report of the Advisory Committee for the year 1910-1911)
• Patterson, 1912, A composite hydroaeroplane (Simple title: A composite hydroaeroplane, Journal: Aeronautics (US))
• Publication B2p0555e10, 1912, Goodyear cloth on hydro (Simple title: Goodyear cloth on hydro, Journal: Fly Magazine)
• Cady, 1919, Helium as a Balloon Gas (Simple title: Helium as a Balloon Gas, Journal: Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science)