IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ELASTIC FABRICE
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Bowra, of Upper Norwood, in the County
of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
ELASTIC FABRICE."
Sealed the 2nd May 1862, and dated the 5th November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Bowra at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th November 1861.
I, EDWARD BOWRA, of Upper Norwood, in the County of Surrey, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU.
FACTURE OF ELASTIC FABRICS," to be as follows:-.
First, I prepare one or more elastic woven cloths with a preparation of
india-rubber or other elastic gums, according to the substance or strength
required for springs of boots, shoes, belts, braces, doors, and windows.
Second, I form, shape, or impress them with suitable patterns for springs
of boots, shoes, belts, braces, doors, and windows.
Third, to give additional elasticity I perforate and ventilate by means of
rolls or other mechanical means.

page_text: SPECIFICATION
in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Bowra in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th May 1862.
1
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I. EDWARD
BOWRA, of Upper Norwood, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edward Bowra, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Bowra, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Bowra, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC
TURE OF ELASTIC FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edward Bowra, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under mine, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, 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 Edward Bowra, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment:-
Know ye, that I, the said Edward Bowra, of Upper Norwood, in the County
Surrey, 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, that is to say:-
I propose to take. 50 lbs. of clean masticated india-rubber, gutta percha, or
other elastic gums, and add to this 25 oz. of chloride of sulphur, and 25 oz. of
dry hypochlorate of lime, and well work them in at a temperature of 60 degrees
Fahrenheit, and when properly amalgamated, roll them into sheets with cold
rollers; I then elongate such sheets into a suitable form or pattern, and apply
sheets of cloth (woollen, silk, cotton, or other suitable fabrics), in transverse
forms or otherwise, and when such cloths or fabrics are firmly adhered to the

page_text: sheets of india-rubber, gutta percha. or other elastic gums, I then place such
manufactured goods or sheets so combined into a heated chamber or steam
chest at 100° Fahrenheit for two hours, and by this process it becomes perfectly,
equally, and permanently vulcanized, and the most delicate colors either in
silk, woollen, cotton, or leather are vulcanized, without injury to the colors or
finish of such fabrics.
÷
2ndly, I use the same cold process and the same mixtures for solid india-
rubber, gutta percha, or other elastic gums, with more or less of the chloride
of sulphur and dry hypochloride of lime, as may be required, and I either roll
them into sheets or blocks, or make them into articles of any pattern or design,
and submit to the heat above described. By this means I obtain a perfect
and more equal vulcanization of thick and heavy articles, such as are made of
india-rubber, gutta percha, or such like gums.
3rdly, I prepare canvass, or other cloths with a solution of india-rubber or
other elastic gums, and cover such cloths with a compound or mixture of
elastic gums, with the cuttings or refuse of leather, waste vulcanized rubber,
mineral tar, chalk, and oxide of zinc, well ground in with vegetable or other
fibres, and add the chloride of sulphur and hypochlorate of lime with colors or
otherwise, and roll them with cold rollers, whereby I obtain a lasting, elastic,
and superior floorcloth of any suitable substance. I then submit cloths so
manufactured to 100° of Fahrenheit for two hours (or, in heavy and thick floor
and other cloths, three hours).
4thly, I ventilate such cloths or manufactured articles, when required, by
perforating and corrugating by means of curing cloths either in metal or woven
fabrics, or other suitable materials, such cloths having pins, needles, or sharp-
pointed metal placed on or in them at required distances, and to produce the
required ventilation, configuration, corrugation, design, or pattern, I roll or
confine the so manufactured sheets in curing sheets, and submit the same to
the heat, as described in No. 1.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and how the same is
constituted, combined, and formed, I wish it understood that what I claim and
desire to be secured by the before part recited Letters Patent,-
1stly, the manufacture of elastic fabrics composed of india-rubber. gutta
percha, or other elastic gums combined with chloride of sulphur and dry hypo-
chloride of lime, and the covering of linen, woollen, silken, or other fabrics, as
described in Nos. 1 & 2.
2ndly, the combination or covering of elastic cloths with the refuse or cut-
tings of leather or other fibrous material and waste vulcanized india-rubber,

page_text: gutta percha, or other elastic gums, and chloride of sulphur and hypochlorate
of lime, as described in No. 3. *
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Bowra, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
EDWARD BOWRA. (L.S.)