CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FABRICS, WHICH MAY, IF REQUIRED, BE MADE AIR AND WATERPROOF, A PART OF THE MATERIALS EMPLOYED HEREIN, WHEN COMBINED WITH OTHER MATTERS, BEING INTENDED TO PRODUCE COVER-, INGS FOR VESSELS OF CAPACITY
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY BURKE, of Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twentieth day of January, in the ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Henry Burke, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege, and
authority, that I, the said William Henry Burke, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William Henry Burke,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FABRICS, WHICH MAY, IF
REQUIRED, BE MADE AIR AND WATERPROOF, A PART OF THE MATERIALS EMPLOYED
HEREIN, WHEN COMBINED WITH OTHER MATTERS, BEING INTENDED TO PRODUCE COVER-,
INGS FOR VESSELS OF CAPACITY;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said William Henry Burke, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain. the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, and to cause, the same to be, inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters. Patent, as in and by the same, refererence.
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Henry Burke, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
The first object of this Invention is to produce a smooth uniform surface
upon the face of woven or felted fabrics of several kinds, by applying thereto
a covering of peculiar material called "Clarke's cloth," or of soft filamentous
material such as carded cotton wool, by the agency of a cement, which may
be made waterproof.
The second is a similar mode of combining such fabric or a soft filamen-
tous material with paper for the purpose of giving it additional strength and
rendering it impervious to water.
The third is the production of a thin membranous air and waterproof
material, and coating or combining it with metal for useful purposes, one of
which is its applicability to covering the mouths and necks of bottles, jars,
and other vessels of capacity, for the purpose of rendering them air-tight, in
the same way as bladders and thin pliable sheet metal has been commonly
employed.
In carrying out this Invention I effect the first of these objects in the
following manner :-I take any desired lengths of woven cloth, made of cotton
or other suitable material, or of felted fabrics, and having wound such
fabric tightly upon a roller, place it in connection with a corresponding length
of a material known as Clark's cloth, made by a combination of cotton wool
and caoutchouc, as described in the Specification of a Patent granted to
James Clark, of Glasgow, dated at Westminster, the First day of February,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-three. This Clark's cloth I also wind
tightly upon a roller, and having placed both rolls of fabric in a suitable
frame, bring their surfaces into even contact by conducting them together
between a pair of pressing rollers, similar to ordinary calender rollers. At the
pinch of these rollers, between the two cloths, I place a quantity of caoutchouc
or other gummy material, composed in part of caoutchouc or gutta percha,
rendered plastic by rolling or masticating in a warm state, and further
softening it by spirits of naptha or turpentine, as is well understood. This
plastic material is to be laid along the whole length of the rollers, and as
the rollers pass round it becomes spread over the surface between the two cloths,
and firmly cements them together. The so combined cloth, delivered up at
the back of the rollers, is then taken up upon a receiving roller, and when the

page_text: desired length of combined cloth has been thus obtained, the rolling operation
is to be suspended. The next operation is to surface-coat that side of the
united fabric made of "Clark's cloth" for the purpose of rendering it per-
fectly waterproof. The motion of the rollers must then be reversed in order
to repass the combined cloth between them, at which time a further supply of
caoutchouc, mixed with gutta percha or any other suitable material, is applied
to give additional substance and color to the combined cloth. This caoutchouc
or gutta percha and other matters is to be applied as a dressing upon that.
face or surface which is covered with Clark's cloth, which is done by placing
and spreading the plastic material upon the face of the fabric at the opposite
side of the rollers, when, by repassing it between the rollers, the surface of
the fabric becomes covered with the gummy material, and is thus rendered per-
fectly impervious to air or water, and when dried in the air or in a warm
room is fit for use as a waterproof covering. Instead of employing "Clark's
cloth," I sometimes combine a series of slivers of cotton wool, conducted from
a series of carding engines, which slivers of cotton wool. I combine in con-
tinuous lengths by passing them in connection between pinching rollers
so as to form them into a consistent fleece. After the slivers have thus been
combined, I bring the fleece into contact with the woven or felted cloth and
the plastic material by similar means to those already explained. This
combined fabric may be coated with a plastic substance and coloring matter
in like manner, if desired, so as to give it a smooth impervious surface, or the
cloth and the cotton wool of which the fleece is to be formed may be dyed
previously to their being combined.
In the accompanying Drawing I have represented four similar ordinary
carding engines arranged for this last described purpose, two of which
engines are placed upon the level floor, and two are elevated. The ordinary
laps of cotton wool are placed in the engines at a, a, a, a, from whence the
cotton is drawn off and conducted over the carding cylinder and through the
carding engine in the usual manner, and it is doffed at the parts b, b, b, b, by tho
doffer combs, and falls from the doffer cylinders in broad sheets of sliver, say
from three to five feet wide, according to the width of the engines constructed
for producing suitable breadths of sliver. These broad sheets of sliver are all
brought together and conducted from the doffer between pressing rollers c, c,
which leads the fleece thus formed into a can or receiver below at d, when
it is laid in loose folds or laps, caused by an oscillating motion given to the can,
which need not be further described. The can when full of lapped sliver
containing nearly one hundred yards in length, ready for nse, as described
above, is removed and brought near to the pinching roller of the machine, by

page_text: which the fleece is to be combined with the woven fabric, as already explained.
I may here add that I sometimes coat the woven or felted cloth on both sides.
by similar means.
The second feature of my Invention, viz., the mode of coating paper with
fibrous material and adhesive matter, I will now describe.. I provide any
desired length of paper and wind it upon a roller, and having provided a
corresponding length of Clark's cloth, I. pass them together between calender
rollers, as described under the first head of the Invention, introducing the
adhesive material between them by the same means as already explained, by
which the surfaces of the paper and Clark's cloth become firmly cemented
together; or, instead of employing Clark's cloth, I place the roll of paper in
connection with the machinery by which the slivers of cotton wool are formed
into a fleece, and then bring the. surface of the paper and of a fleece of cotton
wool formed from the carding engines, as described, into contact between
rollers, by which they will be combined in a dry state, and made to adhere
together, and may be immediately wound up tightly upon a receiving roller.
This roller, with the paper and fleece. combined, is then taken to the calender
rollers, and the loose edges of the cotton.having been cut off from its end, the
combined sheet is to be passed between the calender rollers, with a roll of
plastic caoutchouc or other compound adhesive material laid upon the fleecy
surface, so that the rollers in passing the sheet shall effectually press the adhe-
sive material through the fleece, and cement the fibres of the fleece firmly to
the paper. Paper so prepared may be coloured, embossed, and ornamented,
and thereby rendered fit for the coverings of books, boxes, envelopes, buttons,
and other purposes. It may also be used in a variety of situations where it
may be desired to protect articles from damp, as paper hangings, packages,
window blinds, and various other uses.
Under the third head of this Invention I produce a membranous material
resembling thin metal, by taking a thin quality of Clark's cloth, coated with
the composition as above; or, instead of that, I take one or more slivers of
cotton wool, and pass it or them between calender rollers in connection with
the plastic gutta percha or caoutchouc, or combinations of them with other
materials, in the same way as above described; and when such sheet of
thin membranous material has been produced, I wash its surface over with a
solution of gutta percha or caoutchouc in spirits, containing fine powdered
metal, as gold dust, silver, bronze, copper, tin, &c., which, when dry, will
resemble thin plates of those metallic substances, and will be applicable to a
great variety of ornamental purposes. I sometimes prepare a thin membranous
sheet resembling metal by rolling out between heated rollers, at a temperature

page_text: of about one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, gutta. percha or caoutchouc;. or
combinations of those substances, without the Clark's cloth or cotton fleece;
constantly applying hot water during the rolling to prevent adhesion to the
rollers; and when a thin membranous sheet has been thus obtained I wash tho
same over with a metallic solution as before mentioned, which will give to the
membranous sheet a metallic appearance; or, instead of washing the surface
with a solution, I sometimes mix the pulverized metal (as gold dust, bronze
powder, &c.,) with the plastic material during its preparation, which, when
rolled out into sheets, will have the same metallic appearance. The latter
preparation of metallic membrane I chiefly apply to making the coverings of
vessels of capacity required to be kept air-tight, such as the mouths of bottles
and jars.. This I effect in the following manner:-I cut the sheets of mem-
brane according to the sizes required, and, if necessary, form the pieces into
shapes upon metal blocks or models rendered warm, by means of which the
material will readily accomodate itself to the like figure. When so formed the
model is to be immersed in cold water, which, by cooling the composition,
enables the shape to be withdrawn. from the mould, and is ready for use.
These shapes being made somewhat larger than the necks of the vessels they
are intended to cover, are readily passed over the neck of the vessel, and by
the application of heat before a fire, or immersion in boiling water, the
membrane is made to shrink, and instantly attach itself closely to the vessel.
This adaptation of the Invention produces the exact appearance of a metallic
capsule placed round the neck of a bottle or other vessel, and is intended to
supersede, at a cheap price, the use of tin foil capsules commonly used to
exclude air from wine, spirits, pickles, and other things required to be kept
air-tight.
Having now described my improvements in the manufacture of fabrics
which may if required be made air and waterproof, and that part of the
same which is intended to produce coverings for vessels of capacity, I desire it
to be understood that I do not intend to claim as new the cementing of fibrous
materials together, nor the uniting of two or more thicknesses of cloths by
means of gum elastic or caoutchouc, that having been practised upon an
extended scale for many years past; but I do claim, under the above in part
recited Letters Patent,-
Firstly, uniting, the means of gum elastic, a certain substance called "Clark's
cloth," with woven or felted fabrics, for the purpose of imparting thereto, when
coated with a composition of materials as above described, a smooth, compact,
and, if required, waterproof surface, not hitherto attained by such combinations
of fabrics...

page_text: Secondly, the mode in which I have produced a continuous fleece of.cotton.
wool, and combined such fleece in an indefinite length, by means of gum
elastic, with woven or felted fabrics, and rendering the same smoth, compact,
and waterproof, by a dressing on the face, as above described.
Thirdly, the combination of paper with that peculiar fabric called "Clark's
cloth," or the combination of paper with a continuous fleece of cotton wool,
cemented by gum elastic in the way described, for the purpose of giving
strength to such paper and rendering it waterproof.
Lastly, I claim the fibrous or membranous materials coated or impregnated
with pulverized metal as described, for the purposes above mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Burke, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six..