MENTS IN WATERPROOFING AND ENAMELLING TEXTILE AND OTHER FABRICS IN IMITA- ITION OF AND TO BE USED IN LIEU OF LEATHER, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1855

page_text: (This Invention received Provisional Protection, but notice to proceed with the
application for Letters Patent was not given within the time prescribed
'by the Act.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Frederick William East at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
December 1855.,
:
I, FREDERICK WILLIAM EAST, of 185; Bermondsey Street, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVE
MENTS IN WATERPROOFING AND ENAMELLING TEXTILE AND OTHER FABRICS IN IMITA-
ITION OF AND TO BE USED IN LIEU OF LEATHER, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES, to
be as follows
:
The first part of my Invention has reference to improvements in machinery
for coating or. covering fabrics with the materials to form an enamelled surface.
The fabric to be coated is wound upon a roller, and this is placed in a machine
constructed for the purpose of spreading or distributing an even coat of the
enamelling materials over the surface. The machine consists of a pair of
standards, to which the bearings of the cloth roller are secured; parallel to
the cloth roller is an oblong frame or box, in which are wedged or otherwise
secured a number of pieces of pumice stone, the surfaces of which are made
level. In front of the pumice, stone. box is a horizontal cylinder covered with
zinc or other metal; on; the uppers part of which is fitted a strip of stout
vulcanized india-rubber or other elastic material; this is covered with a slip

page_text: of thin sheet brass, parchment, or enamelled cloth, upon which the edge of a
broad metal knife rests; the pressure of the knife upon the india-rubber is
regulated by levers. The cloth passes over the pumice stone surface, round
the horizontal cylinder, and under the knife; the end is secured between two
pieces of wood, one of them having a number of projecting points, and the
other a series of holes corresponding therewith; the end of the cloth is placed
between these, and both are firmly wedged together. A rope is attached to
the back of the cloth holder, which is carried away to a windlass placed
at a distance equal to the length of the cloth upon the roller. The coating
material or composition is placed in a trough or hopper, so as to fall upon the
surface of the cloth before it passes under the knife, or the composition may
be supplied by hand; the knife spreads a thin even coat over the cloth as it
is drawn through the machine. The coating or distributing machine is placed
upon a moveable platform fitted in front of a drying chamber; another plat-
form is fitted at the opposite end of the chamber, which carries the windlass
for drawing the cloth off the coating machine.
The construction of the drying chamber forms the second part of my Inven-
tion. It is fitted with frames one above another; to these frames lengths of
cloth are fastened, forming a series of shelves, upon which the coated fabrics
rest during the operation of drying. The shifting platforms enable the operators
to place a length of prepared fabric upon each shelf in succession, until the
series are filled. The drying chamber is heated by a furnace beneath, or by
steam pipes or other convenient means. The process of varnishing the prepared
cloths is effected by a roller filled with brushes, and fitted at the back of the
knife of the coating or distributing machine. When the surface of the pre-
pared fabric is required to be made quite smooth, it is subjected to the action
of a roller, the surface of which is formed of pieces of pumice stone wedged
together; this machine smooths the surface of long lengths of cloth with great
rapidity.
To give a "grained" or or embossed surface to the prepared fabrics, and
this forms the third part of my Invention, I use an electrotype plate taken from
the surface I wish to imitate, and force the coated fabric into the interstices
of the plate by means of pressure, so as to obtain an exact copy of the
plate. Woollen, cotton, or felted fabrics may be prepared as described.