IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS. PARASOLS, HATS OR HAT COVERS, CAPS, CAPES Come MD PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Barnwell, of Coventry, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, and Alexander Rollason, of Birmingham, in
the samie County, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS. PARASOLS, HATS OR HAT COVERS, CAPS, CAPES
Come MD
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. left by the said Stephen Barnwell and
Alexander Rollason at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
о their Petition, on the 14th April 1859.
We, STEPHEN BARNWELL, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, and ALEXANDER ROLLASON, of Birmingham, in the same County,
Cheinist, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS, HATS OR HAT COVERS,
CAPS, CAPES, COATS. MANTLES, DRESSES, GLOVES AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," to
be as follows, that is to say -
The Invention consists in covering or manufacturing the above-named
articles with a silk, cotton, worsted, or other woven fabric that has previously
been dressed or coated with a preparation of collodion and oil, in pre-
paring which we proceed in the following manner :-Assuming the material
undér óp éràtion to be silk, we take collodion and mix it with a vegetable oil,
I Prich

page_text: such as either hemp seed, rape, olive, almond, cotton seed,and linseed, and we
find that such oils uudergo a change upon being subjected to heat, which
change is highly advantageous in the subsequent processes to which the silk
will be applied. This mixture of collodion and oil is spread or poured upon
plates or cylinders of metal or glass, and before it is quite set the silk is laid
or rolled over it and immediately removed, bringing away with it a thin
fibre of collodion and oil.
The silk thus coated is now removed to a stove or drying oven, and submitted
to a heat of from one hundred to two hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit,
by which the mixture undergres a change or decomposition, and the result is,
that a slightly glazed appearance is imparted to the silk, which is at the same
time considerably strengthened or thickened, and may be rendered almost
opaque by the admixture ofcoloring orthickening matter with the collodion and
oil. A thin silk is thus rendered equal in strength to a much more costly one,
and for some of the purposes to which we apply this coated material,the quality
of imperviousness to water which the material possesses in a high degree will be
of service. In making hats, we take the common plush at present in use and
attach it to a body composed of, or partly of, our collodionized silk or other
similar woven material, by which a light and waterproof hat is formed; or for
summer hats or caps, we cover an ordinary hat or cap body with sarcenet, or
other thin and light silk, or with cotton or other similar woven fabric, which
shall first have received a coating of the preparation named; or we make hats
of sarcenet or other napless silk upon a common hat body in place of using
plush, such hats being extremely light and novel in appearance. A thin silk
attached to a calico lining prepared in the manner above stated will, for
some description of hats, require no other body, as it can be blocked or
made up in the usual manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Stephen Barnwell and Alexander Rollason in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 14th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, STEPHEN
BARNWELL, of Coventry, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, and
ALEXANDER ROLLASON, of Birmingham, in the same County, Chemist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Stephen Barnwell and Alexander Rollason, Her special license that we,
the said Stephen Barnwell and Alexander Rollason, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Stephen Barnwell and
Alexander Rollason, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully night make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, au Invention for "IM
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS, HATS, OR HAT COVERS,
CAPS, CAPES, COATS, MANTLES, DRESSES, GLOVES, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Stephen Barnwell and
Alexander Rollason, by an instrument in writing under our 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 mouths next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Stephen Barnwell and Alexander
Rollasou, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, that is to say :-
Our invention consists, firstly, in covering the above-named articles with or
manufacturing them of a silk, cotton, worsted, or other woven fabric that has
previously been dressed or coated with a preparation of collodion and oil, in
preparing which we proceed in the following manner:-Assuming the material
under operation to be silk, we take collodion and mix with it vegetable oil,
such as either hemp seed, rape, olive, almond, nut, poppy, castor, cotton, or
linseed oil in the purest possible state, and we find that such oils when mixed
with collodion undergo a change upon being subjected to heat, and this change
or decomposition is highly advantageous in the subsequent processes to which
the silk will be applied. The mixture of collodion and oil is spread or poured
upon plates or cylinders of metal or glass, and before it is quite set the silk is
laid or rolled over it and immediately removed, bringing away with it a thin
film of collodion and oil. The silk thus coated is now removed to a stove or
drying oven and submitted to a heat of from one hundred to three hundred
degrees Fahrenheit, by which the mixture undergoes the before-nained change
ordecomposition, and the resultis, that a slightly glazed appearance is imparted
to the silk, which is at the same time considerably strengthened or thickened,

page_text: and may be rendered almost or quite opaque by the admixture of coloring or
thickening matter with the collodion and oil. A thin silk is thus rendered
equal in strength to a much more costly one, and for some of the purposes to
which we apply this coated material, the quality of imperviousness to water,
which the material possesses in a high degree, will be of service. In making
hats, we take the cominon plush at present in use, and attach it before applying
heat to a body composed of or partly of our collodionized silk or other similar
woven material, by which a light and waterproof hat is formed; or, for summer
hats or caps we cover an ordinary hat or cap body with saracenet or other
thin and light silk, or with cotton or other similar woven fabric which shall
first have received a coating of the preparation named; or, according to a
second part of our Invention, we make hats of saracenet or other napless silk
upon a common hat body in place of using plash, such hats being extremely
light and novel in appearance. A thin silk attached to a calico lining prepared
in the manner above stated in the first part of our Invention will for some
description of hats require no other body, as it can be blocked and made up in
the usual manner.
The collodion employed may be either that which is well known as being
made from gun cotton, or it can be made from flax, hemp, jute, straw, saw-
dust, or starch, or of materials made of either of these or of other substances
containing cellulose; the process would be by firstly depriving these ingredients
of any silica, gums, resins, oils, or earths which they may contain, or of any
impurities which may have become incorporated with them, cleansing and
preparing them so that the cellulose they contain may be as free as possible
from any agent that would be deleterious to the following process, which is
that of submitting the fibre to the action of nitric and sulphuric acids,after the
manner practised in making gun cotton, or they may be treated with nitrate of
potash and sulphuric acid, and after the fibre has been thoroughly washed and
dried, it may be dissolved in any of the solvents of gun cottou, taking care
that the solution shall be thorough and complete, after which it must be
allowed to settle previous to the withdrawal of the supernatent or superfluous
solvent by distillation. We then mix with this collodion the oils or any of them
already alluded to, adding only so much oil or mixed oils as will freely be taken
up by the solution; and here considerable judgment and experience will be
requisite, as the oils are taken up in varying proportious by the several solvents
of gun cotton; and for some special purposes herein-after more particularly
alluded to, we should not exclude the use of animal or mineral oils, gums,
resius, balsams, or colors of any description, for instance, if we desire the
coated silk or other fabric to be soft and pliable in its nature, a small quantity

page_text: of animal oil added to the solution, will have the desired effect whilst if it be
needful to impart to the coated fabric a stiff and harsh nature. a slight
admixture of mineral oil will be advisable. In the same way, gums, balsams
or resins capable of solution in the collodion will impart a substance and glaze
to the finished goods. The solution having been thus prepared, it is next to
be applied to the silk or cotton or other goods, and this application may be
effected in the manner specified in a former Patent, granted to Alexander
Rollason, and bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. by pouring the fluid upon
polished surfaces of glass or metal. The goods when coated must be carefully
removed to the drying stove or oven, which should be so arranged that hot air
could be thrown into it, up to any temperature, varying according to circum-
stances, from one hundred to three hundred degrees of Fahrenheit's thermo-
meter. This operation of drying will occupy from one to four days, according
to the temperature, and when completed, it will be found that the coating or
solution would have undergone a radical chauge, it will have become
decompose and firmly attached to the silk or other covered fabric, and quite
inseparable from it by ordinary means.
For some purposes we combine two or more fabrics, such for instance, as
one of silk and one of cotton, and having attached then by means of the
solution, the whole has to be subjected to heat in manner above stated. In
further illustration of our process, and for this we will still assume that the
material under operation is silk, we then apply to this silk, in manner
already stated, a solution composed of about three hundred parts by weight
of ether with one hundred parts of spirits of wine, thirty parts of linen,
Hlax, jute, or other fibre before named, and which shall have been
previously treated with acids, as described, from seventy-five to one hun-
dred parts of vegetable oils (by preference selecting the oils before named),
aud as much coloring matter as may be requisite to impart the desired tint or
opacity, adding mineral or animal oils, according to the rigidity or flexibility
which the goods may be required to possess, whilst if it be desired that the
silk be coated to a great degree of stiffness, a small proportion, for instance,
from one to three per cent. of any suitable gum, balsam, or resin capable of
being held in solution, must be added. This solution is then allowed to evapo-
rate in a still, until it arrives at such a density that it will only just flow evenly
over a glass plate, so as finally to leave a substantial film behind it; we should
then proceed to coat the silk with the solution, applying one coat or more,
if necessary, in manner already specified, after which it is ready for the stove
or drying oven. Previous to coating the goods with our solution, we sometimes

page_text: prepare them with any well-known size or mucilage, by which still further
strength and substance can be imparted to them. The material thus coated
and dried is in a state to be fabricated into the articles enumerated in our
title.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do not con-
fine ourselves to these precise details, but that that which we claim is the
improvements described in manufacturing umbrellas, parasols, hats, or hat
covers, caps, capes, coats, mantles, dresses, gloves, and other similar articles,
as herein described, or of materials covered, coated, or dressed, in manner
herein more fully set forth and specified.
In witness whereof, we, the said Stephen Barnwell and Alexander
Rollason have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twelfth day
of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-nine.
STEPHEN BARNWELL.
(L.S.)
ALEXANDER ROLLASON. (LS)