THE PRODUCTION OF A NEW COMPOSITION OR COMPOSITIONS, OF WHICH REFUSE LEATHER IS THE CHIEF INGREDIENT, AND MANUFACTURING THEREFROM ARTICLES OF UTILITY, PLAIN OR ORNAMENTED
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Gee, of the Town and County of the Town
of Nottingham, Engineer and Brass and Iron Founder, for the Invention
of "THE PRODUCTION OF A NEW COMPOSITION OR COMPOSITIONS, OF WHICH
REFUSE LEATHER IS THE CHIEF INGREDIENT, AND MANUFACTURING THEREFROM
ARTICLES OF UTILITY, PLAIN OR ORNAMENTED."
Sealed the 2nd August 1861, and dated the 6th February 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Gee at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th February
1861.
I, THOMAS GEE, of the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham,
Engineer and Brass and Iron Founder, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "THE PRODUCTION OF A NEW COMPOSITION OR COMPOSITIONS, OF
WHICH REFUSE LEATHER IS THE CHIEF INGREDIENT, AND MANUFACTURING THEBEFROM
ARTICLES OF UTILITY, PLAIN OR ORNAMENTED," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a new method of treating articles which have
hitherto been worthless, and manufacturing the same into articles of utility. I
take old or cast-off shoes or boots, old harness, strapping or belting, old book
backs. the cuttings, clippings, shavings, or waste leather of tanners, curriers,
boot and shoe makers, harness makers, or book-binders, and old or refuse
leather of any and every kind or description whatsoever. These materials [.
[Price 8d.1

page_text: cleanse by washing, steaming, soaking, rolling, or beating, and then I cut,
tear, beat, break, press. or pulp them by machinery or otherwise; and after
drying them I mix them with small quantities of hemp, flax, or other
vegetable or other fibre, or with textile, looped, or fibrous material, or fabric
produced therefrom, as may be found mosi practical or convenient, or with the
bark of trees. I also take iron, brass, or copper filings, or other hard refuse
substances. then mix the whole of these materials with mucilage or gluten,
whether made from hoofs, entrails, or sinews of animals or otherwise, or with
vegetable, animal, or mineral oil, gums, or with caoutchouc or gutta percha;
and after being so mixed, I shape and fashion them into sheets of leather to
be used for articles of utility, by pressing and rolling the same, and making
them of various lengths and widths to be used for sundry purposes, such as
driving belts used in machinery, boot, shoe, and clog soles and heels, and other
articles of various sizes and shapes, to obtain which use or employ moulds
of various sizes and shapes, together with hydraulic, screw, or lever pressure.
I also propose, where necessary, to perforate the articles which are thus pro-
duced, that they may receive nails, screws, or other fastenings, when required,
and to imbed a brass, copper, or other metal tip round the soles or heels.
.
I also propose, in some cases, to corrugate the soles or heels produced by
this my Invention for safer wear in frosty weather, or on slippery ground or
surfaces, and to produce any required pattern, design, or device upon the
articles, whether by pressing the same or otherwise on the upper leather or any
part thereof without seam or fastening.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Gee in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th
August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GEE, of the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham, Engineer and
Brass and Iron Founder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by ler Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors. give and grant unto me.
the said Thomas Gee, Her special licence that I. the said Thomas Gec.
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Gee, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any

page_text: time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "THE
PRODUCTION OF A NEW COMPOSITION OR COMPOSITIONS, OF WHICH REFUSE LEATHER IS
THE CHIEF INGREDIENT, AND MANUFACTURING THEREFROM ARTICLES OF UTILITY,
PLAIN OR ORNAMENTED," upon the condition (amongst others) that 1, the
said Thomas Gee, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said Thomas Gee, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
My Invention consists of a new method of treating articles which have
hitherto been worthless, and manufacturing the same into articles of utility.
I take old or cast-off shoes or boots, old harness, strapping or belting, old book
backs. the cuttings, clippings, shavings, or waste leather of tanners, curriers,
boot and shoe makers. harness makers, or bookbinders, and old or refuse
leather of any and every kind or description whatsoever. These materials I
cleanse by washing, steaming, soaking, rolling, or beating; and then I cut,
tear, beat, break. press, or pulp them by machinery or otherwise; and after
drying them I mix them with small quantities of hemp, flax, or other vegetable
or other fibre, or with textile, looped, or fibrous material, or fabric produced
therefrom. as may be found most practical or convenient. or with the bark of
trees. I also take iron, brass, or copper filings, or other hard refuse sub-
stances. I then mix the whole of these materials with mucilage or gluten,
whether made from the hoofs, entrails, and sinews of animals or otherwise, or
with vegetable. animal, or mineral oil, gums, or with caoutchouc or gutta
percha; and after being so mixed 1 shape and fashion them into sheets of
leather to be used for articles of utility by pressing and rolling the same, and
making them of various lengths and widths to be used for sundry purposes.
such as driving belts used in machinery. boot, shoe, and clog soles and heels,
and other articles of various sizes and shapes, to obtain which I use or employ
moulds of various sizes and shapes, together with hydraulic, screw, or lever
pressure.

page_text: I also propose, where necessary, to perforate the articles which are thus
produced, so that they may receive nails, screws, or other fastenings when
required; and to imbed a brass, copper, or other metal tip round the soles
or heels.
I also propose, in some cases, to corrugate the soles or heels produced by
this my Invention for safer wear in frosty weather, or on slippery ground or
surfaces; and to produce any required pattern, design, or device upon the
articles, whether by pressing the same, or otherwise, on the upper leather or on
any part thereof without seam or fastening.
Having thus set forth the nature of the said Invention, I now proceed
further more fully to describe the manner of performing the same. When I
use machinery for the cutting up of refuse leather, employ horizontal or
vertical knives or cutters, or circular serrated cutters similar in construction or
character to those used in bone or bark mills, and after mixing the leather with
a fastening material, such as mucilage, I add small quantities of fibrous
material in the manner herein-before mentioned, which acts on the whole
composition.
In manufacturing boot, shoe, or clog soles and heels and other articles of
similar size or sizes, or of smaller sizes. I place the leather in suitable sized
moulds, which I subject to hydraulic, screw, or lever pressure.
When desire to ornament the articles produced by this my Invention
with any required pattern, design, or device, I cut, engrave, mark, or otherwise
make such required pattern, design, or device on the moulds, so that on the
moulds being subjected to hydraulic, screw, or lever pressure, the article or
articles which they contain shall receive the required pattern. design, or device.
The same observations will apply equally to the forming of corrugations on the
leather.
In perforating the articles produced by my Invention I use moulds with
raised projections round the edges or sides thereof, or near the edges or sides
thereof; and I imbed brass, copper. steel, or iron tips round the soles or heels
of shoes, boots, or other articles by hydraulic, screw, or lever pressure.
In making or manufacturing large sheets of leather composition" to be
used in the building of ships, carriages. conveyances, or other articles of large
dimensions, place the same in suitable moulds, and subject them to the like
pressure herein-before mentioned, and I dovetail or make holes for fastening
and joining any such articles; and I roll and draw other articles which I make
into such shape of shapes as may be found convenient.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is, the pro-

page_text: duction of a new composition or compositions of which refuse leather is the
chief ingredient, and the manufacture therefrom of articles of utility, plain or
ornamented, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Gee, have hereunto set my
hand and seal. this Third day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
GEO. JON. ROBINSON,
Patent Agent,
Nottingham.
THOMAS GEE. (L.S.)