IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL WHALEBONE.
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Rowland, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
ARTIFICIAL WHALEBONE.'
Sealed the 30th September 1858, and dated the 8th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Rowland at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th April 1858.
I, GEORGE ROWLAND, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL WHALEBONE," to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to the production of an article in imitation of
whalebone from horn, by softening the horn under the influence of steam and
then flattening or compressing by rolling processes; the horn thus prepared.
I then cut into the forms desired to be used for purposes such as for which
whalebone is now used:

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Rowland in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ROWLAND, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Rowland, Her special licence that I, the said George
Rowland, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Rowland, 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 MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL WHALEBONE," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Rowland, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument 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 George Rowland, 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 fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say:―
The improvements relate to the production of an article in imitation of
whalebone from horn, by softening the horn under the influence of steam and
then flattening or compressing by rolling processes; the horn thus prepared I
then cut into the:forms desired to be used for purposes such as for which
whalebone is now used. .
But that the nature of these my improvements may be fully understood, I
will proceed to describe more in detail, aided by the accompanying Drawing,
the means pursued by me.
Having sawn or otherwise cut- the horn into size desired, I scour or clean
such pieces, and for this latter purpose I employ a circular rasp or other
scrapers, I then place the pieces of horn thus prepared in a vessel hermetically

page_text: closed, into which I introduce oil and water mixed together by means of an
alkali (preferring for the purpose either carbonate of soda or potash), or other
fatty matter may be used; I then introduce into this vessel a jet of steam at a
pressure of, say, five or six atmospheres; after a short time the horn becomes
soft and supple and ready to be submitted to the processes of rolling and
flattening.
To obtain the horn of equal thickness I make use of a machine such as that
represented in the Drawing as No. 1, of which the Figure 1 is a side elevation;
Figure 2, a longitudinal or front elevation, and Figure 3, a plan; some of the
parts are represented in section, in order that they may be the better under-
stood. The same letters refer to the same parts in each of the three Figures
representing this machine, No. 1.
A, A, are the side frames, which are connected together by means of the
cross bars a. The hollow cylinders or rollers B, B', are formed with necks
which rest upon, with capability of freely rotating in, the bearings C, C',
and their rolling surfacos are milled with worm lines, to allow the horn passed
between them to enlarge itself in proportion to its length during the rolling
process.
In order that the horn rolled may have an exact and uniform degree of
thickness, and that this thickness may be capable of adjustment, the machinery
is thus arranged:
There is an endless screw D, the teeth of which take into tho teeth of the two
horizontal wheels E, E, fixed upon the upper ends of the screws F, F, the lower
ends of which act upon the encased wedge in the upper parts of the bearings
or chairs C of the cylinder B. These screws F, F, pass freely in the frame A,
and are embraced and guided by the female screws formed in the nuts D¹
carried thereby. The chairs or bearings C are guided and maintained in the
frames A by means of the ribs G, and the two bolts G', which connect together
the two half parts of each of the moveable chairs or bearings C, and pass
freely through openings formed for them in the frames A to the moveable
plate H, to which they are fixed. This plate H rests upon necks formed in
the upper ends of the screws F, F, and thereby supporting the chairs or
bearings C (to cause them to rise with screws F), as also the bearings of the
endless screw D, which takes into and operates the toothed wheels E, E, and
has affixed upon each end thereof a fly wheel O; the two cylinders B, B', are
worked the one by the other, by means of toothed wheels i, i, which are
themselves worked by the toothed wheels j, j, fixed upon the principal shaft.
In order to facilitate the flattening of the horn, and to prevent its being
affected by any sudden difference of temperature during the operation, the

page_text: cylinders are made hollow, and a continual jet of steam is introduced into them
by means of the pipes or conduits a, and the condensed water is discharged
therefrom by pipes y; cocks are placed conveniently and handy for the work-
man to regulate the introduction to and the blowing off of steam from the
cylinders. Uniformity of thickness is obtained by passing the born once or
twice, or more times, as may be found desirable, through the rolling machine,
according to the thickness desired to be obtained. It is to be observed, that
the fibres of the horn are all parallel to the length of growth, and in conse-
quence the fibres of the horn, when in a soft state and being rolled, only
become lengthened without being destroyed, whereby, although they are com-
compressed and conserved, they yet retain all their elasticity and solidity.
For the fabrication of ribs for umbrellas and parasols, after the horn has been
rolled to the proper size, and whilst it is sufficiently soft and supple, I pass it
through a circular cutting machine or drawing machine, such as represented
by the machine 2, which is formed as follows:-Upon the shafts a, a¹, are
mounted steel discs in such a manner, that those on one shaft cross others of
the same diameter on the other shaft, and thereby form between them circular
cutters, whilst the larger surfaces at the same time press the horn upon the
smaller surfaces d, as more fully illustrated by the full size Figure 4. It will
easily be seen that the thickness of the discs b, b, forming the width of the
ribs, and more or less crossing of the said discs will form the thickness of the
rib. This disc cylinder is worked by means of toothed wheels e, e, and motive
power is applied thereto by means of the pulley f. The frames for these disc
cylinders are of a form resembling the machine No. 1, but the dimensions less,
and proportional to the necessary power.
The horn coming from the external division of the machine enters for a
moment in the receiver, to be there resoftened, then receives its finish, and is
brought to the size by drawing processes, which are performed either by hand
or machine. A draw plate such as I employ is illustrated by Figure 9.
During the operation, the ribs as well as the drawing plates are well oiled
and greased, and acquire this means, besides their necessary length, their
thickness, their finish, and their polish. These forms or calibres may vary,
but forms such as I generally employ are indicated by Figure No. 10.
For the fabrication of riding whips, whip handles, walking sticks, &c. &c.,
I employ rollers or cylinders, such as shewn by Figures 5 and 6. I first pass
the horn between the cylinders, Figure 5, to obtain thereby a flat conique
of the form represented by Figure 7. This plate is then passed after-
wards into a circular cutter resembling that above described, except that the
parts of horn so divided pass successively into the moulds of the cylinders

page_text: Figure 6, from which they come out with the form indicated by Figure 8, of
a cylindro-conical character. To produce this effect, the cylinders, Figure 6,
are turned spirally in the cylindrical part of their circumference, as shewn by
the cross section of rollers; the length of spiral depends upon the diameter of
the cylinders which are represented in the Drawing for the length of one yard.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details of the processes as herein explained, so long as
horn is prepared as a substitute for whalebone, by softening it by the appli-
cation of steam, and then flattening or giving form to it by rolling processes,
substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Rowland, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
F. W. BILLINGS,
24, Rue du Tin,
Bruxelles.
GEORGE ROWLAND. (L.s.)