IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURE OF Socks
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Adrien Bonneville, Patent Agent, of the
British and Foreign Patent Offices, 24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in
the Empire of France, and 38, Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MANUFACTURE OF Socks."-A communication by Pierre Dominique
Lacroix, residing at Passage Choiseul, Paris aforesaid.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 18th December 1863, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, HENRI
ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, Patent Agent, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices,
24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the Empire of France, and 38, Porchester
Terrace, Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF SOCKS," communicated to me by Pierre Dominique

page_text: Lacroix, a person residing at Passage Choiseul, Paris aforesaid, and have
petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
declaration that it is a communication.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, that is to say :-
For some time past socks, or moveable inner soles, have been manufactured
of many different forms and materials, but they have only obtained a partial
success and a far from general use, because they do not really possess the
advantages it was at first supposed they presented.
The principal object of these socks is to protect the feet from cold and
damp; but these properties imperfectly possessed by those ordinarily used
when new are soon entirely lost on account of the materials of which they are
composed. These inconveniences are removed by the application herein-after
described.
The application is made as follows:-A sheet of thin cardboard is cut to
the desired shape, and to it is secured a layer of horsehair, by sewing or other
suitable means. The horsehair should be previously curled as much as pos-
sible, thus producing an elasticity which prevents the foot coming in contact
with the sole of the boot or shoe. The cardboard may be replaced by any
suitable tissue, on by leather if preferred, and the thickness of the layer of
horsehair varied at will. If preferred, a sheet of leather or other suitable
material may be attached to the cardboard or other material to which the
horsehair is fastened, thus hiding the stitches and strengthening the whole.
The properties of horsehair are well known; it does not imbibe moisture,
therefore its interposition between the foot and the sole of a boot or shoe must
inevitably be a preventative of humidity; while, on the other hand, being a
bad conductor of heat, it presents the advantage of retaining the foot at its
natural temperature. The horse hair may be employed in different ways:
for instance, two soles of any suitable material may be united at the edges,
while leaving an opening at the ends or sides by which to introduce the horse-
hair, so that it may be withdrawn, opened out, and replaced whenever it
becomes crushed down, and by this means its elasticity renewed. The horse-
hair may otherwise be woven or agglomerated, and employed either separately
or combined with the materials above described or others for the same purpose.
Having thus fully described and ascertained the nature of the said Inven-

page_text: tion, what I claim is the application of horsehair to the manufacture of socks
applicable to boots, shoes, and coverings for the feet in general.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
H. BONNEVILLE. (L.S.)