Treating Feathers or Feather Products to Impart to them the Appearance of the Hairs of Animal Fur.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 11th Feb., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Treating Feathers or Feather Products to Impart to them the
Appearance of the Hairs of Animal Fur.
We, MORITZ LEWINSON, SIMON LEWINSOHN, and JOSEPH LEWINSOHN,
trading together as E. Lewinsohn, of 75 Kopnickerstrasse, Berlin, in the German
Empire Fancy Feather Manufacturers do hereby declare the nature of this
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 :-
Our invention relates to the treatment of feathers, or feather products, in order
to impart to them the appearance of the hairs of animal fur.
. Heretofore feather-fur made from the flue or down of feathers always has a
dull woolly appearance, due to the soft down possessed by each individual fibre
of the feathers, whereas the natural fur of the fur-animals has the appearance
of being composed of a number of separate hairs of glossy appearance.
Now the object of our invention is to so treat feathers, or feather products,
as to impart to them the appearance of the natural hairs of fur animals, and to
this end our invention consists in the employment of a liquid composition known
in commerce as "zapon," which is an enamel or lacquer, and consists of celluloid
dissolved in a mixture of amyl nitrite and acetone.
In carrying out our invention the feathers, or feather products, to be treated,
for the purpose in view, are immersed in the zapon, or the zapon is brushed over
them, or is well rubbed into them, or is otherwise applied to them.
By this
means the soft woolly down of the separate or individual fibres instantly dis-
appears and the feathers, or feather products, acquire the appearance of animal
fur-hair, that is to say, each individual fibre now possesses a glossy appearance
which renders it indistinguishable from the real article.
The feathers, or feather products, after being thus treated, have a dry touch,
and as the zapon adheres so thoroughly, it cannot be removed by dyeing or
washing.
It will thus be seen that the great feature of our invention is the discovery
and use of a polish or varnish which is in every way suitable for our purpose,
whereas all other polishes or varnishes, heretofore used for the purpose, led to no
practical result.
The feathers thus treated are then solutioned down to a backing or foundation,
as usual, of any suitable textile material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manuer the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. Treating feathers, or feather products with the enamel or lacquer known fas
zapon to impart to them the appearance of the hairs of animal fur, substantially as
described.
The use of zapon in the treatment of feathers, and feather products, as and
purpose described.
for the
Dated this 6th day of September 1892.
for the purpose described.
Dated this 6th day of September 1892.
ERNEST DE PASS,
Chartered Patent Agent,
78, Fleet Street, London, and 6, Victoria Street, Nottingham,
Agent for the Applicants.