IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-RUBBER AND GUTTA PERCHA
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Seager, of Peter Street, Ipswich, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-RUBBER AND GUTTA
PERCHA."
Sealed the 30th March 1860, and dated the 24th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Seager, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th October 1859..
I, ROBERT SEAGER, of Peter Street, Ipswich, do hereby declare the nature
of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-RUBBER AND
GUTTA PERCHA," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in compounds of india-
rubber and gutta percha. In preparing compounds of india-rubber and gutta
percha I add to these gums the fibre obtained from leather by the following
chemical process:-I soak leather cuttings in an alkaline ley until they become
sufficiently softened, and I then press the cuttings to separate the ley as far as
possible. Afterwards I steam the cuttings until a pulpy mass is obtained.
This I rub through a fine metal sieve, and the resulting fibre I mix with india-
rubber or gutta percha, the same being reduced to a plastic state by heat.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Seager in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
SEAGER, of Peter Street, Ipswich, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert Seager, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Seager, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Robert Seager, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-RUBBER AND GUTTA PERCHA," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert Seager, my executors or admins-
trators, 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 I, the said Robert Seager, 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 fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in compounds of india-rubber
and gutta percha. In preparing compounds of india-rubber and gutta percha,
I add to these gums the fibre obtained from leather by the following chemical
process I soak leather cuttings in an alkaline ley until they become suffi-
ciently softened, and then press the cuttings to separate the ley as far as
possible; afterwards I steam the cuttings until a pulpy mass is obtained.
This I rub through a fine metal sieve, and the resulting fibre I mix with india-
rubber or gutta percha, the same being reduced to a plastic state by heat.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same. I prepare the leather
cuttings by soaking them in an alkaline ley, preferring soda as being the

page_text: cheapest for the purpose. The strength of such ley may be varied, but I
usually employ at the rate of about one pound of soda of commerce to three
gallons of water. The cuttings are soaked for about three days, they are then
removed from the ley and pressed, then steamed, and again pressed; or the
cuttings are subjected to the action of steam for about an hour, they are then
pressed to separate the ley and the moisture completely therefrom. The
cuttings thus prepared are then passed through a fine sieve; I generally
employ a sieve having about one hundred holes to the square inch. The
fibrous parts of the leather cuttings are then in a condition to be combined
with india-rubber or with gutta percha, or with a combination of those sub-
stances. The proportions in which the prepared fibrous parts of leather may
be employed will depend on the purpose to which the compound is to be
applied when for the soles of boots and shoes. I find about equal proportions
of the prepared leather fibres and of india-rubber or gutta percha, or of a
combination of these substances to be a good compound. Where the com-
pound is not required to be so flexible as that required for boots and shoes,
such as picture frames and like uses, then more of the leather fibre may be
employed. These matters are to be mixed in a masticating machine, using
sufficient heat in the process, as is well understood when mixing gutta percha
or india-rubber with other substances.
In addition to the prepared fibres of leather, coloring and other matters
may be also mixed therewith, but I make no claim thereto, as it has been
usual to combine coloring and other matter with india-rubber and gutta percha.
What I claim is the combining prepared fibres of leather with india-rubber
and with gutta percha, as herein mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Seager, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
ROBERT SEAGER. (L.S.)