IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MATS, COVERINGS FOR FLOORS AND OTHER SURFACES, AND OTHER CELLULAR ARTICLES, WHEN INDIA-RUBBER COMPOUNDS ARE USED
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater, of the Strand, in the
County of Middlesex, India-rubber Manufacturer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MATS, COVERINGS FOR FLOORS
AND OTHER SURFACES, AND OTHER CELLULAR ARTICLES, WHEN INDIA-RUBBER
COMPOUNDS ARE USED."
Sealed the 18th March 1859, and dated the 13th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Manuel Leopold Jonas
Lavater at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th November 1858.
I, MANUEL LEOPOLD JONAS LAVATER, of the Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, India-rubber Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MATS, COVERINGS FOR
FLOORS AND OTHER SURFACES, AND OTHER CELLULAR ARTICLES, WHEN INDIA-RUBBER
COMPOUNDS ARE USED," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of mats,
coverings for floors and other surfaces, and other cellular articles, when india-
rubber compounds -are used. Various cellular articles have been before made
of compounds of india-rubber by combining numerous short tubes of india-
[Price 8d.]

page_text: rubber compounds (whether of a cylindrical or other section) by causing the
sides of such tubes to adhere one to the other, and then subjecting such
articles to heat, so as to cure or change the india-rubber by the action of the
sulphur, or sulphur compound mixed therewith. Now, my improvements
consist in rolling out or otherwise producing sheets of india-rubber compounds,
each of the thickness I desire for the depth of the cells of which the finished
article is to consist, and I then, by suitable punches or cutters, remove
portions of such sheets, leaving other portions to form the walls or sides of the
several cells, of which the article, whether a mat or covering for a floor or
other surface, or other cellular article, is composed; or I make such cellular
articles of india-rubber compounds, by moulding the same in or through
moulds or dies; and having produced the cellular article desired. I cause the
same to be changed or cured by heat and the action of the sulphur contained
in the compound of india-rubber, as is well understood.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 12th May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME. I, MANUEL
LEOPOLD JONAS LAVATER, of the Strand, in the County of Middlesex, India-
rubber Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater, Her special licence that I, the said
Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF MATS,
COVERINGS FOR FLOORS AND OTHER SURFACES, AND OTHER CELLULAR ARTICLES, WHEN
INDIA-RUBBER COMPOUNDS ARE USED," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater, my executors or administrators,

page_text: 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 Inven-
tion, 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 I, the said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of mats,
coverings for floors and other surfaces and other cellular articles when india-
rubber compounds are used. Various cellular articles have been before made
of compounds of india-rubber by combining numerous short tubes of .india-
rubber compounds (whether of a cylindrical or other section) by causing the
sides of such tubes to adhere one to the other, and then subjecting such articles
to heat, so as to cure or change the india-rubber by the action of the sulphur
or sulphur compound mixed therewith. Now, my improvements consist in
rolling out or otherwise producing sheets of india-rubber compounds, each of
the thickness I desire for the depth of the cells, of which the finished article
is to consist, and I then, by suitable punches or cutters, remove portions of
such sheets, leaving other portions to form the walls or sides of the several
cells, of which the article, whether a mat or covering for a floor or other
surface, or other cellular article, is composed; or I make such cellular articles
of india-rubber compounds by moulding the same in or through moulds or
dies; and having produced the cellular article desired, I cause the same to be
changed or cured by heat and the action of the sulphur contained in the
compounds of india-rubber, as is well understood.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
I take sheets of sulphurized india-rubber of the thickness I require for the
mats or other articles I am about to make, and by means of the common
wadding punches, or other suitable tools, I cut out such portions as to leave a
cellular or pierced fabric having solid walls, I then submit the sheet so pierced
to the vulcanizing or curing process, which is well understood, and will not
require any description in this my Specification. When desired, a back is
applied by affixing thereon a sheet of india-rubber or india-rubber and canvas
to one side of the pierced fabric before vulcanizing; I also make beds, pillows,
seats, saddles, cushions, brushes, and similar articles in like manner, varying

page_text: the portion of material I cut away, and also by varying the quantity of
material left to constitute the walls or partitions, according to the degrees of
elasticity required.
Where a greater thickness of sheet is required than it is convenient to
punch or cut through, I pierce two or more sheets, and put or cement them
together before subjecting them to the vulcanizing process. I sometimes,
when using two or three thicknesses or layers, place the openings opposite
each other, as if the piercings were made through a solid sheet of the thick-
ness of the two or more layers; at other times I break joint in respect to the
piercings. In place of cutting or perforating sheets of sulphurized india-rubber
before vulcanizing them, I mould the plastic sulphurized india-rubber by
pressing it into or through dies or moulds; for this purpose I prefer to use a
mould constructed in the following manner :-
I first make a mould or "chill" of iron for casting studs of a hexagonal
form, which form I prefer, though other forms may be used, and I construct
the mould so as to produce each stud with a stem to it, and I cast a sufficient
number of these studs to form a mould or die for receiving the india-rubber;
I then prepare a tray, consisting of a plate of iron of about a quarter of an inch
thick, with a raised edge all round, of the depth desired, and of the dimensions
I require, and I pierce holes in the bottom to receive the stems of the studs,
the shoulders bearing against the upper surface of the plate. I take a shect
or quantity of sulphurized india-rubber, which I prefer warm, from the rolls,
and I place the same over the mould, and I then pass the mould or die, with
the sheet upon it, through or between a pair of rollers so adjusted as to force
the india-rubber into the spaces between the studs; I then place a plate over
the mould, and submit the india-rubber therein to the vulcanizing process.
When the vulcanized product is cold, it is removed from the mould and from
the studs. I do not confine myself to the mode of producing the hexagonal or
other shaped studs by casting them in iron moulds or chills, as they may be
made of malleable iron, as rivits are made for boiler work, or otherwise. I
prefer that the application of heat to produce the change called vulcanization,
should be when the moulded india-rubber is retained in the mould, but it will
be evident that the plastic india-rubber may be pressed out or through the
mould employed, and have the requisite heat applied separate from the mould,
in which case I place the moulded cellular product on suitable trays or plates,
and fill the cells with sand, and then subject the article to the process of
.vulcanization.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of

page_text: performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
manufacture of cellular sheets of vulcanized india-rubber by cutting or
moulding the plastic compound, and then vulcanizing the same, as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Manuel Leopold Jonas Lavater, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
M. L. J. LAVATER. (L.S.)