IMPROVEMENTS IN CRICKET AND OTHER BALLS
Year: 1869

page_text: I ETTERS PATENT to Mark Schmerl Wolfgang, of Fairfield Road,
Stratford-le-Bow, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CRICKET AND OTHER BALLS."
Sealed the 5th November, 1869, and dated the 10th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Mark Schmerl Wolf-
gang, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 10th May 1869.
I, MARK SCHMERL WOLFGANG, of Fairfield Road, Stratford-le-Bow,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CRICKET AND OTHER BALLS," to be as
follows:-
For this purpose I employ as usual a core of compressed cork, which
I bind by means of canvas, cotton, twine, or other suitable material
as heretofore; I then cover the core with india-rubber to obtain the
required size and shape, and submit it to the action of heat until the
.necessary degree of hardness is obtained; but as the application of heat
to the materials composing the ball as before described would tend

page_text: injure the core and the binding material, I place between the binding
and the core, and between the binding and the india-rubber, a coating of
asbestos, whilst I also mix with such india-rubber a suitable quantity of
asbestos. By these means when the ball is submitted to the action of
heat to cure the rubber, the core and the binding material are protected
from the heat, whereby a firmer and more durable ball is obtained than
by the processes heretofore employed. For balls where no core is re-
quired I simply form the ball of india-rubber with which a certain
proportion of asbestos is mixed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Mark Schmerl Wolfgang in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th November 1869..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARK
SCHMERL WOLFGANG, of Fairfield Road, Stratford-le-Bow, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by -Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the. Tenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Mark Schmerl Wolfgang, Her special
licence that I, the said Mark Schmerl Wolfgang, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Mark Schierl Wolf-
gang, 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 CRICKET AND OTHER BALLS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Mark Schmel Wolfgang, 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 Mark Schmerl Wolfgang, 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 following statement, that is to say:-
For this purpose I employ as usual a core of compressed cork,.. which
I bind by means of canvas, cotton, twine, or other suitable material as
heretofore. I then cover the core with india-rubber to obtain the
required size and shape, and submit it to the action of heat until the
necessary degree of hardness is obtained; but as the application of heat
to the materials composing the ball as before described would tend to
injure the core aud the binding material, I place between the binding
and the core, and between the binding and the india-rubber, a coating of
asbestos, whilst I also mix with such india-rubber a suitable quantity of
asbestos. By these means when the ball is submitted to the action of
heat to cure the rubber, the core and the binding material are protected
from the heat, whereby a firmer and more durable ball is obtained than
by the processes hitherto employed.
And in order that my Invention may be more clearly understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed, aided by the accompanying
Drawing, more fully to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
1.
which represents a section through the centre of a cricket ball, con-
structed according to my Invention.
12
Heretofore cricket and other balls have been made of compressed cork
bound round with canvas, cotton, twine, or other suitable material, and
then covered with india-rubber compound, after which they have been
submitted to the action of heat to cure them until the necessary: degree
of hardness is obtained..
Now I have found that balls constructed in this manner soon become
defective in consequence of the heat to which they are subjected,
injuriously acting upon the cork core and the binding material, which
in course of time become disintegrated by use when the ball falls out of
shape and becomes useless. But according to my Invention I protect
the core and the binding material from the action of heat by means of
asbestos.
The following is the mode in which I proceed to construct a cricket
or other similar ball:-I first unite together by means of india-rubber

page_text: solution a suitable quantity of cork, which is compressed to the required
degree to form the core a; I then apply a coating of asbestos b, shown
by a red circle, and I afterwards bind the core and the asbestos covering
with canvas, cotton, twine, or other suitable material c to retain the
core in proper, shape. This binding material is again covered with
asbestos d, shown by. a red circle, after which a coating of india-rubber
is applied thereto, as is well understood. This coating of india-rubber
has a quantity of powdered asbestos mixed therewith, and is painted to
any required color. The ball is now submitted to the action of heat to
cure the rubber until it has acquired the necessary degree of hardness,
after which it is then colored to the required tint, and printed if desired
in imitation of stitching. By the application of asbestos as aforesaid,
the core and the binding material, when the ball is submitted to the
action of heat, are protected from any injurious effect, whereby a firmer
and more durable ball is obtained than by the processes heretofore
employed
For balls where no core is required I simply form the ball of india-
rubber, with which a suitable quantity of asbestos is mixed, by which
means an improved ball is obtained.
Having thus described the nature of my said--Invention; and the mode
in which I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that
what I claim is, the application of asbestos in the manufacture of cricket
and other balls, in manner and for the purpose substantially as herein
shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Mark Schmerl Wolfgang, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine,
M. S. WOLFGANG. (L.S.)