AN IMPROVED FLOOR COVERING
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Robley, of Brooklyn, New York, United States
of America, Manufacturor, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED FLOOR
COVERING."
Sealed the 6th December 1878, and dated the 8th July 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Robley at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th July 1878.
JOSEPH ROBLEY, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of America, Manu-
facturer. "AN IMPROVED FLOOR COVERING."
The object of my improvement is to form a new covering for floors, which shall
be better and more durable and substantial than any other floor covering now
in use.
The principal substance used in practising my Invention is wood or other
vegetable fibre. For the purpose of making the wood or other vegetable fibre
adhere to the canvas, which forms the base of the said floor covering, I use copal or
other varnish; I also use French ochre or whiting, or mineral or metallic dry paint
to give any color which it is desired my improved floor covering shall have.
The composition which I use to spread on the canvas may be made in any desired
quantity, but the following are proper proportions for a suitable quantity, that is to
say-To 160 pounds of wood or other vegetable fibre I add 80 gallons of copal or
other varnish. To these quantities of the said ingredients I add either 160 pounds
of French ochre, or 100 pounds of whiting, or 100 pounds of mineral or metallic
dry paint for giving the desired coloring to said ingredients, namely, the wood or
other vegetable fibre and the varnish, but I do not intend to confine myself to the
proportions above specified, as the proportions and quantity can be varied as desired.
The materials above named are then thoroughly mixed in a suitable mixer, or may
be otherwise thoroughly mixed. If the mixture thus obtained is too thick it
should be diluted by adding naphtha and varnish in equal parts. The mixture is

page_text: then ready for spreading on the canvas which forms the base of the floor covering,
and which is stretched on a frame.
The mixture may be spread with a brush and smoothed with a trowel, or drawn
through a scraping machine, or spread in any other suitable manner. After the
first coat of this mixture is spread on the canvas it should be dried, and then
repeated coats of the mixture should be applied, repeating the drying process between
each application of the mixture.
The said floor covering may be made of any thickness desired, and its thickness
may be varied according to the different purposes to which it is desired to apply the
floor covering; a good average thickness is 1/8 of an inch. The floor covering so
produced may then be printed, stamped, or embossed in the ordinary manner.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Joseph Robley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd January
1879.
JOSEPH ROBLEY, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of America, Manu-
facturer. "AN IMPROVED FLOOR COVERING."
The object of my improvement is to form a new covering for floors, which shall
be better and more durable and substantial than any floor covering heretofore
in use.
The principal element or substance used in the manufacture of my Invention is
sawdust, ground wood, or other vegetable fibre. For the purpose of making the
sawdust, ground wood, or other vegetable fibre adhere to the canvas which forms
the base of the said floor covering I use copal or other varnish; I also use French
ochre or whiting, or mineral or metallic dry paint to colour my improved floor
covering.
I make any required quantity of the composition which I use to spread on the
canvas in the following proportions, that is to say:-To one hundred and sixty
pounds of sawdust or ground wood or other vegetable fibre I add eighty gallons of
copal or other varnish. To such quantities of these ingredients I add either one
hundred and sixty pounds of French ochre, or one hundred pounds of whiting, or
one hundred pounds of mineral or metallic dry paint for the purpose of giving the
desired coloring to the said ingredients, namely, sawdust or ground wood or other
vegetable fibre and the varnish; I do not intend however to confine myself to the
exact proportions above specified; the above-named materials are then thoroughly
mixed. If the mixture thus obtained is too thick it should be diluted by adding
petroleum, naphtha, and varnish, as above specified, in equal parts. The mixture
is then ready for spreading on the canvas which forms the base of the floor covering,
and which is stretched on a frame.
The said mixture can be spread with a brush, smoothed with a trowel, drawn
through a scraping machine, or spread in any other suitable manner. After the
first coat of this mixture is spread on the canvas it should be dried, and then
repeated coats of the mixture should be applied, repeating the drying between each
application of the said mixture.
The said floor covering may be made-of any desired thickness, and its thickness
may be varied according to the different purposes to which it is desired to apply
the floor covering; a convenient average thickness is one-eighth of an inch. The
floor, covering so produced can be printed, stamped, or embossed in the ordinary
manner.
Having thus fully described the said Invention and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I am aware of some of the ingredients herein men-
tioned having been combined with mineral menstrua for the purpose of forming
compositions for coating various objects, and therefore I do not claim such com-
positions, but I claim, a covering for floors, consisting of sawdust, ground wood, or
other vegetable fibre combined with copal or other hard varnish, with which is
incorporated mineral coloring or dry paint to form a thick paste or coating, and
spread upon a canvas textile or fibrous base, either with or without ornamentation,
as above described, and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Robley, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-third day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.