AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN AIR BEDS, CUSHIONS, AND OTHER ARTICLES MANUFACTURED FROM CAOUTCHOUC OR INDIAN-RUBBER, OR OF CLOTH OR OTHER FLEXIBLE MATERIAL COATED OR LINED WITH CAOUTCHOUC OR INDIAN-RUBBER
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
HANCOCK, of Goswell Mews, Goswell Street Road, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Waterproof Cloth Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King William the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fourth day of June
now last past, did give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Hancock, His
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Thomas Hancock, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Thomas Hancock, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS
IN AIR BEDS, CUSHIONS, AND OTHER ARTICLES MANUFACTURED FROM CAOUTCHOUC
OR INDIAN-RUBBER, OR OF CLOTH OR OTHER FLEXIBLE MATERIAL COATED OR LINED
WITH CAOUTCHOUC OR INDIAN-RUBBER;" in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said Thomas Hancock, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Hancock, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascertained
as follows, that is to say:-
The nature of the said Invention consists in the application of strips of
india-rubber to caoutchouc, or to india-rubber cloth or other material of
which the said air beds, cushions, or other articles intended to be inflated with
air are made, so as to contract or gather up the cloth, india-rubber, or other
material, in order to cause or increase elasticity therein. And the manner in
which the same Invention is to be performed is as follows; that is to say,
if the material to be used in making the said air beds, cushions, or other
articles, be india-rubber only, a flat piece of india-rubber should be obtained
sufficient to form one side or half of the article. For this purpose india-
rubber in sheets may be conveniently used, such as are sold in the shops; and
if the sheets are not sufficiently large, two or more sheets may be joined
by the well-known process of cutting their edges straight, and after making
them quite warm, bringing the edges into contact and pressing them together.
The piece or sheet of india-rubber should be then laid upon a flat board
or surface of somewhat larger dimensions than the skeet of india-rubber itself.
Some of the best india-rubber should then be procured, and that known by
the name of bottle india-rubber being of good quality will answer the purpose.
This should be cut into thin strips, which may be called contractile strips.
For cushions and other articles requiring a similar elasticity, the strips may be
one-sixteenth of an inch thick and three-eighths of an inch wide, and for beds
and articles requiring a similar elasticity, one quarter of an inch thick
and half an inch wide. The particular dimensions of these strips are not
essential. If the thickness be increased and the width diminished in the
same proportion, the effect will be nearly the same, and by diminishing
the sum of the dimensions the force of contraction will be diminished, and by
increasing the dimensions it will be increased. These strips should then be
heated to a temperature of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred degrees,
by which means they become less liable to crack or break when extended or
stretched. This may be easily accomplished by putting the strips into water
heated to that temperature. This temperature is not essential, as the effect
may be accomplished, but not so well, without the high temperature men-
tioned. The strips when dry and cut of the proper length should be extended
or stretched almost as much as they can bear without breaking, and should be
laid across the flat piece or sheet of india-rubber, and fastened in their state of
extension, which may be easily effected by a nail or tack driven through each

page_text: end, carried beyond the flat piece or sheet of india-rubber, and the upper sur-
face of the board, into the sides or edges, or to the under side of the board on
which it may be placed. The number of contractile strips must vary accord-
ing to the elasticity or contraction required; for cushions and articles requiring
similar elasticity, the strips may be placed from three to four inches apart, and
for beds and articles requiring similar elasticity, from six to eight inches
apart, and for other articles in proportion. The distance and arrangement
of the strips may be varied as the manufacturer shall choose to vary, or increase
or diminish their contractile effect. The contractile strips being thus placed
upon the said flat piece or sheet of india-rubber, they should be pressed down
upon it with a moderate force until they become united to it, which will be
effected in a short period. The piece or sheet of india-rubber must then be
coated with thin glue size and whiting, leaving uncoated, for cushions and
similar articles, about half an inch round the edge, and half an inch across
where each strip is placed (and of which half inch the strip will be better in
the middle), except that across or over each strip one or more spaces or lines
of about an inch broad must be coated with the whiting, so as to form a coated
or protected communication from space to space between each strip. For beds
and similar articles the space uncoated may be an inch broad, instead of half
an inch. To complete the article another piece or sheet of india-rubber, similar
to the first, should be prepared in the same manner, with the same number
of strips placed in the same relative situations, and coated in the same manner.
The two pieces or sheets of india-rubber, while remaining upon the boards,
must be placed one above the other, accurately bringing into contact the coated
and uncoated parts respectively of each sheet, and the whole submitted to
moderate pressure by weights or otherwise; after remaining about an hour the
parts which were uncoated will have become united, and those parts should be
further well rubbed down with the hand. The parts which were coated will
remain disunited, and form receptacles for the air. The article may then be
taken from the board, and the ends of the strips cut off. If the india-rubber
used is not perfectly clean, or has been long exposed to the air, or from any
other cause does not readily unite the parts upon which the contractile strips
are to be laid, and all the parts intended to be united should be coated with a
solution of india-rubber, taking care that such coatings are nearly dry before
the parts are brought into contact. Instead of thin glue, size, or whiting, other
similar preparations may be used; or the spaces intended to remain disunited may
be lined with cloth or thin kid, or other similar leather, such lining being made
to adhere to the india-rubber by coating it with a varnish or cement formed of
a solution of india-rubber, and applied when the coating is nearly dry. Articles
lined in this manner will be much stronger, but their flexibility will be lessened.

page_text: In some cases, where greater care is intended, free admission of air throughout
the whole cushion, or other article, may be insured by keeping open the
passages across the contractile strips by a tube formed of coiled wire, and
covered with sheet india-rubber put into the said passages. For some articles,
such as pillows, where it is not necessary or advantageous that the two opposite
sides should be united except at the edges, the whole pieces or sheets, except the
edges, should be coated with the whiting or other preparation when upon the
boards, before the pressure to unite the edges is applied. If it be intended that
the article should remain permanently inflated, a small taper tube of metal may
be introduced into or through any part of the edges intended to be joined, and
air forced in by the mouth or any other convenient means, and when filled
sufficiently the tube may be withdrawn and the opening left by the tube
quickly closed by pressure; great care must be taken to prevent wetting
the opening. Or, if the article is intended to be occasionally inflated, a
small cock may be fastened into the united edges, by covering the part
to be inserted with sheet india-rubber, bound tightly round it, and introducing
it either at the time the union of the edges is effected, or a slip of stiff
paper may be laid to prevent the union until the other parts are finished,
and the slip of paper then withdrawn, and the cock, prepared as before directed,
inserted. And in order to facilitate the introduction of the said cock, and
more effectually insure its perfect junction to the side of the aperture. into
which it is inserted, the surface of that part of the said cock which is to enter
the said aperture should be coated with a solution of india-rubber, and the
cock introduced whilst the solution yet remains in the moist state, or
previously to its becoming dry. In an hour or two after this operation, or
when the said solution becomes dry, care must be taken to make the junction
secure by pressure all round the inserted parts of the said cock. The article
being completely manufactured, except as to this last operation, must be
exposed for some time to a moderate heat, (and the placing or holding it near
a fire will produce the desired effect,) when the strips of india-rubber, which
will have been previously in an extended state, will exert their contractile force,
and gradually contract or gather up the sheet of india-rubber, and give the
intended elasticity. Instead of the sheet or flat piece of india-rubber, the
patent india-rubber cloth or leather, or any other flexible material coated or
lined with india-rubber, may be used. In such cases the solution of india-
rubber may be used as a cement where the parts are intended to be united in
the same manner as is herein-before directed, when the india-rubber sheet has
been long exposed to the air. Cushions or other articles may be made exactly
in the form and manner in which they are now made with the patent india-rubber
cloth or leather, only first applying the contractile strips of india-rubber: to the

page_text: inside or varnished side of the india-rubber cloth or leather in the manner herein-
before described, and when the said cushions or beds are completed, applying the
same to the fire or a moderately high temperature, to produce the contractile
action of the strips, in manner herein-before described. Contractile strips of
india-rubber may also be applied to articles already made of patent india-
rubber cloth or leather, or other flexible material lined or coated with india-
rubber. For this purpose the article should be coated with the solution of
india-rubber where the contractile strip and the ribbon or tape herein-after
mentioned are intended to be applied, and the contractile strips may then be
laid across the outside of the said articie in the same manner as across the
sheets of india-rubber herein-before described; and the contractile strips should
be covered with ribbon or tape, which may be made to adhere by means of the
cement of dissolved india-rubber, and then the contractile force of the india-
rubber may be excited by the fire or heat in manner herein-before described.
The solution of india-rubber is well known, and may be made for the purposes
herein-before mentioned, by cutting sheet india-rubber into shreds and putting
it into essential oil of turpentine, in the proportion of about eighteen or twenty
ounces of the india-rubber to one gallon of the oil of turpentine, and stirring it
occasionally for one or two days, when it is fit for use.
The benefit of this Patent is not claimed to extend to the manufacture of
the solution of india-rubber, nor to the method of inflating articles with air by
means of tubes or cocks, as herein-before described; but is claimed only
to extend to the use or application of strips of india-rubber to air beds, air
cushions, and other articles to be inflated with air, manufactured from caout-
chouc or india-rubber, or of cloth or other flexible material coated or lined with
india-rubber, in order to produce contraction, in the manner herein-before
described. And for this purpose the said use or application is not intended to
be limited to the specific dimensions, distances, or directions of the said con-
tractile strips; these may be varied to a considerable extent at the pleasure of
the manufacturer.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Hancock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.
Taken and acknowledged by the above-
named Thomas Hancock, at the Public
Office, Southampton Buildings, in the
County of Middlesex, this Fourth day
THO. HANCOCK. (L.S.)

page_text: The Inrolment of the above Specification having been stolen from the Office,
the above copy was made from the original Specification for the purpose of
inspection and examination only; but no office copy can be issued, nor can the
above transcript be used as evidence.