Re: patently frustrated

> Hi Bob,

Well hello there.

> It is a patent on casein. I have the inventor/applicant, a John Robert
> Johnson, and a possible date (1870) and a possible number (201) but I
cannot
> locate anything with those parameters. I think the date or the number is
> wrong but I can't just scroll thru all the patents, it seems, of the year
> 1870. Oh, I think it is a British patent. I've tried the uspto.gov and
the
> http://gb.espacenet.com/ but still cannot seem to get to what I want.
I've
> tried boolean operators too. I'm obviously either doing something wrong
or
> one of my details is wrong.

Very small world. Except for a few lists devoted to fountain pen makers and
collectors, nobody asks about casein much past why is it so special, what is
it about casein, why is the material no longer available to crafters, or (in
my case) fountain pen makers?

Casein is a well misunderstood plastic and quite wonderful indeed. It is my
second favourite plastic for pen manufacturing; the first being celluloid
nitrate.

I know all about casein. However, I guess I must first ask you if you are
talking about the commercial plastic once widely available and used by
various manufacturers of items like pens, decorative items like jewellery or
other such items? In other words, Casein Formaldehyde and its variants? Why
are you interested in casein?

I have written about its history, its manufacturer, and the more than 100
trade names and/or manufacturers of casein. So perhaps I can fill in
whatever blanks you need filled in, if you cannot find the patent you seek.
I am quite knowledgeable about casein.

Were you aware that making casein takes more than a year? Imagine that, one
year to make an inch thick slab of plastic. No wonder modern materials took
over. Generally speaking, the raw material is laid down one millimetre per
day then cured in formalin/formaldehyde. There is more to the process; it is
time consuming and I have simplified for brevity.

For those that are confused and wondering what the heck casein is, casein is
a plastic made from milk.

So pick Bob's brain, it is filled with the arcane, profound, and
frightening.

Bob
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Received on Wed May 11 15:57:27 2005