science · 13 March 1834 · 190 years ago
birth
Born 13 Mar 1834; died 16 May 1928 at age 94.
English inventor who invented linoleum (pat. app. 19 Dec 1863, No. 3210). His 88 patents included artificial leather, distillation, plastics, flexible metal tubing, and Lincrusta, an embossed linoleum wall covering (1877). He was a self-described “practical utilitarian of the nineteenth century,” with no education in chemistry or engineering. Before linoleum, he patented (Sep 1861) a varnish applicable to the waterproofing and coating of fabrics. In Jan 1862 he applied with his brother for a patent in which textile card brushes had the short wire bristles held in an india rubber backing. Walton started in the family business of processing India rubber. He developed linoleum from observing the plastic dried surface layer of linseed oil-based paint, which he first investigated as an alternative to rubber and led to linoleum.
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