Improvements in Subdivided Sheet Rubber.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Jan., 1899-Accepted, 25th Feb., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Subdivided Sheet Rubber.
I, WILLIAM ARTHUR FORCE, residing at 438, Franklin Avenue, Brooklyn, in
the County of Kings, and State of New York, United States of America, Machinist,
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:-
-
The present invention relates to a rubber sheet, preferably made of soft rubber,
the surface of which is subdivided by channels into blocks, the blocks remaining
attached to the rubber or to a fabric sheet, and hence each block is adapted to
yield on its own account without reference to the adjoining blocks. This allows
the rubber sheet to be used as a mat for any purpose, but it is especially adapted
to small mats upon which coins or other articles may be laid, so that they are
picked up with greater facility than when laid on a smooth or hard surface; but
such subdivided sheet rubber can be used for any purpose to which it is available,
such for instance as in printing presses or in hand stamps, or for the surfaces of
chairs or tables.
In the present invention crossing bars of metal or other suitable materials are
made use of and the rubber is forced into the recesses between the crossing bars
in an unvulcanized condition, and one surface of the mould comes close to the
crossing bars at one edge, and the other side of the mould comes at a short distance
from the other edges of the crossing bars, so that the rubber may remain to form
a sheet that unites or holds together the blocks after the rubber has been vul-
canized; and it is to be understood that the rubber alone may be made use of,
or a sheet of muslin or other fabric can be employed at the smooth side of the
sheet rubber for uniting the blocks together, and after the sheet has been vulcanized
the strips are to be removed from the rubber sheet so that there are parallel
grooves in the rubber at one side and the connecting sheet at the other side.
In the drawing, Figure 1 illustrates one corner of a sheet of rubber with the
grooves or channels crossing each other at right angles. Fig. 2 is a similar view
with the grooves or channels parallel but crossing at an inclination, and Fig. 3
is a section in larger size representing some of the blocks and the connecting
sheet.
It is to be understood that the bars separate the rubber while being cured or
vulcanized and after the vulcanizing and the removal of the bars, the rubber
blocks will stand up or project and these will yield much more easily than a rubber
sheet that is smooth on both sides, and when used for a mat the projecting blocks
form a surface that is well adapted for the ordinary uses of a mat, and when
formed as a small mat or surface for a counter the blocks yield easily and allow
a person to pick up coins or articles laid upon the surface of the mat with great
facility, and the channels or grooves in the sheet rubber become guides by which
it can be easily cut up into any desired sizes and shapes.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
First. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet of rubber having crossing
channels that subdivide one side into blocks, and a continuous sheet at the other
side holding the blocks together, substantially as set forth.
Second. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet of rubber with parallel
channels in two ranges crossing each other at an inclination and subdividing the
sheet into blocks at one side and a continuous sheet at the other side holding the
blocks together, as set forth.
Do this Month day of January 1809
WILLIAM ARTHUR FORCE.
Witnesses-
GEO. T. PINCKNEY,
140, Nassau Street, New York, N.Y.
CHAS. H. SMITH,
140, Nassau Street, New York, N.Y.