A NEW OR IMPROVED FABRIC, INTENDED PRINCIPALLY AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEATHER
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED FABRIC, INTENDED PRINCIPALLY AS A
SUBSTITUTE FOR LEATHER."-A communication.
Sealed the 2nd July 1858, and dated the 26th January 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th January 1858.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED FABRIC INTENDED PRINCIPALLY AS A
SUBSTITUTE FOR LEATHER," to be as follows:-
The fabric which constitutes this Invention is composed of cotton or other
fibrous substance, either woven into cloth or in an unwoven state, saturated
and coated with a compound of linseed oil and burnt umber, prepared by
boiling in every gallon of oil about three pounds of umber in a powdered state
for such a length of time that the composition when cool will roll in the hands
without sticking. This fabric may be made in forms suitable for the various
purposes for which it is intended to be applied, as, for instance, for the soles of
boots and shoes, covering for trunks, travelling bags, caps, cap fronts, or as a
substitute for carriage and harness leather, or for hose, pipe, or machine
belting. The mode of producing the fabric differs to some extent according to its
form or the purpose for which it is intended to be used, but the elements thereof
are in all cases the same.
L

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by
the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th July 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent
bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of January, 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 William Edward
Newton, Her special license, that I, the said William Edward Newton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Newton, 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 the Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED FABRIC, INTENDED
PRINCIPALLY AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEATHER," being a communication from abroad,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Willian Edward Newton, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to he formed, 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 Willian Edward Newton, 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) :-
com-
The fabric which, forms the subject of the Invention, that has been
municated to me by my foreign correspondent, is composed of cotton or other
fibrous substance, either woven into cloth or in an unwoven state, saturated
and coated with a compound of linseed oil and burnt umber. This compound is
prepared by boiling in every gallon of oil about three pounds of umber in a
powdered state, for such a length of time that the composition when cool will roll
in the hands without sticking. This fabric may be made in forms suitable to the
various purposes for which it is intended to be employed, as, for instance, for the
sole of boots and shoes, covering for trunks, travelling bags, caps, cap fronts, or as
a substitute for carriage and harness leather, or for hose, pipe or machine belting.
The mode of producing the fabric differs to some extent according to the form in
which it is to be produced or the purpose for which it is intended to be used; but
the elements thereof are in all cases the same.
To prepare the compound for saturating and coating the fibrous substances, the
oil is put into a suitable vessel having a fire under it or heated by other suitable
ineans, and as it boils the burnt umber is added, stirring it while the latter is intro-
duced, and also stirring it constantly or frequently during the subsequent boiling,
so as to cause a perfect mixture of the umber and oil, and preverit the burning of
the oil. The boiling of the mixture should be continued as gently as possible for
from twelve to twenty-four hours, the time varying according to the state of the
weather or quality of the oil. The boiling will have been sufficient when a few
drops taken out and cooled will roll between the hands or the finger and thumb

page_text: without feeling in the least degree sticky. When it has arrived at this state it
may be applied at once to the fibrous substances, but it may be allowed to cool
and be remelted by heat as required for use.
To make the fabric in a suitable form for coverings of trunks, travelling bags,
caps, cap fronts, or as a substitute for carriage or harness leather, a single sheet or
piece of cotton or other cloth must be spread upon a hollow iron table or slab,
heated by steam, and having the compound of oil and amber prepared, as before
described, at hand, then with a trowel or other suitable implement the compound
is to be spread all over the sheet or piece, first on one side and then on the other,
and by the heat of the table or slab the cloth will be caused to absorb a great
portion of the compound. Enough of the compound may be left on the two
surfaces of the cloth to cover it well and fill up as much as possible all the small
cavities between the threads, and afterwards, while it is still on the table, a heavy
metal roller should be passed over it, or else it should be removed from the table
and passed between a pair of metal pressure rollers, so as to press it as smooth as
possible. The fabric thus produced only requires to be exposed in a drying room
to a heat of from 100° to 130° Fahrenheit for about twenty-four hours, for the
purpose of curing it, and to render it fit for use. It may. then be enamelled in the
same way as leather, if desired.
Instead of using woven cloth, as before described, the fabric may be made for
some of the above purposes (where great tenacity is not so much an object as a
close texture and smooth surface, as, for instance, for covering trunks or other
articles) by saturating a sheet of cotton batting with the compound of oil and
umber. To apply the compound to a sheet of cotton batting, a sufficient quantity
of it should be spread on one side of a piece of cotton or other cloth; the batting
should then be laid on the steam table or slab before mentioned, and the piece of
cloth placed on the top of it with the compound next the batting and a heavy
metal roller passed over it, the pressure of which, together with the heat of the
table or slab, will cause the batting to absorb the compound, after which the cloth
may be easily stripped off. The same operation may be and sometimes will require
to be repeated on the opposite side of the sheet of batting. The saturated sheet
is then passed between a pair of metal pressure rollers to compress it and give it a
close texture. The fabric thus produced requires to be dried or cured in the same
way as that made in the manner first described, and it may be afterwards
enamelled.
To make a substitute for sole leather or other stout leather, two or more sheets of
batting may be laid together and treated as above described, or may have the
compound applied to them separately, in the manner above described, and bo
afterwards combined by pressing them together by the roller on the steam table or
between pressure rollers.
To make hose pipe, a woven tube or a pipe made by folding a piece of cotton or
other cloth, and sewing the edges together, is filled with the melted or still fluid
compound, and while one end of the tabe or pipe is closed, pressure is applied to
the compound within by means of a force pump or other apparatus, so as to force
the compound into and among the threads and fibres to saturate the same as far as
possible. The outside of the tube may be afterwards coated with the melted
compound, either by passing it through the compound in a suitable vessel, or by
applying the compound with a brush or other suitable implement to the exterior.
The pipe must be afterwards laid upon the steam table, and the roller passed over
it to cause the superfluous compound to be expressed from the exterior, and after
opening the pipe by forcing water through it, as soon as the outside is dry enough
to handle (viz.,) about two days, it must be hung up to cure in a dry spartment
for about three or four days, after which it is fit for use.
To make machine belting, several thicknesses or plies of strong cotton, cloth, or
canvas are employed; these are saturated, coated, and cemented together with the
compound. Sometimes the required number of plies are formed by taking a woven
tube or a tabe formed by folding a piece of canvas or cloth, and sewing the edges

page_text: together; it is then to be flattened out, and within it is laid a piece of cloth
folded, so that with the tube itself the required number of plies will be produced.
Sometimes a piece of cloth of the required width is folded the required number of
times to make the number of plies, and a seam run along the outer edge of the
piece through the whole of the plies by means of a sewing machine. Every one
of the spaces between the several plies is then filled with the melted or still fluid
compound of umber and oil in the same manner as above directed for preparing
the hose pipe, and then the belt is laid upon the steam table, and after coating the
exterior with the compound, the pressure roller is passed over it to force out all
the superfinous compound, and cause the cementing together of the several plies,
after which it is to be cured by being hung for a few days in a dry apartment.
When the exterior coating of the belt is hard it is sufficiently cured. The
compound in the interior being unexposed to the atmosphere, will remain soft, and
thus cause the belt to have the requisite flexibility, while the exterior surface is
very hard and tough, and capable of wearing for a very long time.
The fabric prepared in any of the ways herein-before described may be used for
steam or other packing.
Having now described the Invention of a new or improved fabric intended
principally as a substitute for leather, and having explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, what I
claim as the Invention which I desire to secure by Letters Patent is, the fabric,
above described, composed of cotton or other fibrons substance in a woven or
unwoven condition, saturated or coated with a compound of linseed oil and burnt
umber, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness.
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.B.)