A NEW FABRIC OR COMPOSITION SUITABLE FOR SOLES AND HEELS OF BOOTS AND. SHOES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Wadsworth, of the City of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, for the Invention of "A
NEW FABRIC OR COMPOSITION SUITABLE FOR SOLES AND HEELS OF BOOTS AND.
SHOES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 4th December 1868, and dated the 5th June 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Wadsworth:
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th June 186s.
.
I, JAMES WADSWORTI!, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "A NEW FABRIC OR COMPOSITION SUITABLE FOR SOLES AND HEELS OF BOOTS
AND SHOES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in saturating jute, hemp, or other fibre, woven
into canvas cloth or in its unmanufactured state, with gutta percha in
a soft or liquid state, and pressing layers of such saturated fibre or
canvas cloth together whilst warm so as to form a tough fabric of any

page_text: required thickness, which may be usod for the soles and heels of boots
and shoes, and for other purposes,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Wadsworth in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WADSWORTHI, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Wadsworth, Her special licence
that I, the said James Wadsworth, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Wadsworth, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW FABRIC OR
COMPOSITION SUITABLE POR SOLES AND HEELS OF BOOTS AND SHOES, AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said James Wadsworth, my executors or administrators, by an in-
strument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Wadsworth, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-

page_text: This Invention consists in saturating jute, hemp, or other fibre, woven
into canvas cloth or in its unmanufactured state, with gutta percha in
a soft or liquid state, and pressing layers of such saturated fibre or
canvas cloth together whilst warm so as to form a tough fabric of any
required thickness, which may be used for the soles and heels of boots
and shoes, and for other purposes.
In performing this Invention I dissolve the gutta percha in bi-sulphate
of carbon or in mineral naptha, and I cause the cloth woven out of jute,
hemp, or other suitable fibre to pass through or be immersed in such
liquid, and thus become saturated with it, so that when layers or sheets
of such saturated cloth are laid together and placed between hot
metallic plates, heated to a temperature of about 212 degrees Farenheit,
and subjected to pressure, a compound fabric is produced suitable for
soles and heels of boots and shoes, and for other purposes.
I also manufacture this fabric by placing a layer of thin gutta porcha
between every sheet of the saturated cloth, which causes such layers to
adhere more securely together.
In the case of the gutta percha being dissolved in bi-sulphate of
carbon I prefer to extract such bi-sulphate of carbon from the fabric
after being manufactured by placing such fabric in a heated vessel or
chamber heated not above 200 degrees Farenheit, from which I exhaust
all the vapour by means of an air pump, and I pump the vapour into
another vessel so as to subject it to a pressure and thus condense it into
the liquid form again, when it may be used again for dissolving the
gutta percha.
This fabric possesses advantages over the ordinary gutta percha inas-
much as it does not so readily adhere to warm surfaces and does not
spread out, whilst it may be cemented or stitched to the uppers in the
same manner as leather and can be repaired the same as gutta percha,
the shavings, parings, or fragments of such fabric being useful for
building up the heels by being pressed together. It is also found to
be durable in wear as well as perfectly waterproof.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
my said Invention, together with the best means with which I am
acquainted for carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be
distinctly understood that I claim manufacturing a fabric suitable for

page_text: the soles and heels of boots and shoes, and for other purposes, sub-
stantially as herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Wadsworth, have here.
unto set my hand and affixed my seal, this Third day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
JAMES WADSWORTH. (L.S.)
Witness,
JOHN G. WILSON,
Patent Office,
Cathedral Gates,
Old Millgate,
Manchester.