PREPARING WOOD SO AS TO BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CURLED HAIR IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MATTRESSES, AND IN THE OTHER PURPOSES TO WHICH CURLED HAIR AND ITS SUBSTITUTES ARE APPLIED
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Briggs Smith, of Marietta, in the State of
Ohio, and United States of America, for the Invention of "PREPARING
WOOD SO AS TO BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CURLED HAIR IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF MATTRESSES, AND IN THE OTHER PURPOSES TO WHICH CURLED
HAIR AND ITS SUBSTITUTES ARE APPLIED."
Sealed the 3rd May 1859, and dated the 5th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Briggs Smith
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th November 1858.
I, THOMAS BRIGGS SMITH, of Marietta, in the State of Ohio, and United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"PREPARING WOOD SO AS TO BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CURLED HAIR IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF MATTRESSES, AND IN THE OTHER PURPOSES TO WHICH CURLED HAIR
AND ITS SUBSTITUTES ARE APPLIED," to be as follows:-
I employ poplar, cedar, hickory, or any other wood that may be suitable;
and my Invention consists in cutting these woods into thin elastic shavings of
any desired length, width, and thickness, and at the same time dividing them
longitudinally, and curling them so as to form compound shavings or conical
springs, consisting of numerous thread-like fibres compactly & spirally coiled
within one another, and then subjecting these to the action of steam in a
suitable chamber.

page_text: By means of a machine which I propose to make the subject of a separate
Patent, I can control the length, width, and thickness of the shaving and of
the fibres, and the amount of curl imparted to each.
When the article first comes from the machine it presents the appearance
of a small long conical minutely divided and tightly-rolled shaving. In this
state it is subjected for a few moments to the action of steam, which expands
it, and imparts to it the requisite amount of softness and elasticity. After
being steamed it is ready for use, and forms an admirable and economical
substitute for curled hair.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Briggs Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, TпоMAS
BRIGGS SMITH, of Marietta, in the State of Ohio, and United States of
America, 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 fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Briggs Smith, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas Briggs Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Briggs Smith, 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 theroin 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 PREPARING WOOD SO AS TO BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CURLED HAIR IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF MATTRESSES, AND IN THE OTHER PURPOSES TO WHICH CURLED
HAIR AND ITS SUBSTITUTES ARE APPLIED," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Thomas Briggs Smith, 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 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Briggs Smith, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, in
which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cone of spiral fibres of wood as it
first comes from the machine; Figure 2 shows a single fibre; Figure 3 is a
view of the cone after it has been subjected to the action of steam; Figure 4
is an enlarged view of two of the fibres, showing how they are arranged in
the cone; and Figure 5 shows the cone in the act of being cut from the
block.
The nature of my Invention consists in cutting hickory, poplar, cedar, or
other suitable wood into thin elastic shavings of any desired length, width,
and thickness, and at the same time dividing said shavings longitudinally, and
coiling them so as to form compound shavings or conical wood springs, con-
sisting of numerous thread-like fibres compactly and spirally coiled one within
another, and then subjecting these to the action of steam in a suitable chamber.
The machinery by which the conical springs are produced I propose to make
the subject of another application; I will not therefore further describe it in
this Specification than by saying that the wood is divided longitudinally and
vertically into fibres of any desired minuteness by a number of cutters, and
that these are followed by a series of planing tools, which successively raise
the fibres thus previously vertically divided by a horizontal cut, and coil them
within one another, in the manner shown by Figure 4.
When the article first comes from the machine it presents the appearance
(as shown in Fig. 1) of a small long conical minutely divided and tightly
rolled shaving. In this state it is subjected for a few moments to the action
of steam in a suitable chamber, by which it is expanded (as seen in Fig. 3),
and rendered soft and clastic, and ready for use, when it is found an admirable
and economical substitute for curled hair. A due admixture of the cones
formed from red cedar with those produced from other woods will prevent.
effectually the approach of vermin to the mattress in which this stuffing may
be employed.
The shavings produced by the ordinary operation of planing are often
spirally curled, but being formed of a single sliver they have not the requisite
strength and elasticity to sustain the weight to which mattresses, &c., are
subjected; they immediately mat down, and become hard and useless. I do
not therefore claim a shaving or coil consisting of a single piece, but what I
do claim is the compound coil of spiral woody fibres, herein-before described

page_text: and represented, when prepared substantially as described, and used as a
substitute for curled hair.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Briggs Smith, have hereunto set
my hand and affixed my seal, this Fourth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witnesses,
CHAS. B. WAY.
A. W. McCORMICK.
FRANKLIN BUELL.
THOMAS BRIGGS SMITH. (L.S.)