An Improved Fabric or Material to be used as a Substitute for Leather, Boards, or the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 28th May, 1898
Complete Specification Left. 29th Aug., 1898-Accepted, 19th Nov., 1898
An Improved Fabric or Material to be used as a Substitute for
Leather, Boards, or the like.
A communication from FREDERICH ALEXANDER JONE, of 74, Wittenbergerstrasse,
Dresden-Striesen, in the Empire of Germany, Manufacturer.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The inventor has discovered that the diagonally woven bast mats which are
used for instance as a packing for goods transported by sea, more particularly
at the utmost used by
for tobacco, and then generally thrown away, burnt or
gardeners to cover plant, form owing to their durability and other qualities a
splendid material for manufacturing woven plates or material to be used as a
substitute for leather in various industries.
Such plates could be manufactured at an extremely small cost, from the nearly
valueless used or extremely cheap new bast-mats, and at the same time owing
to their toughness flexibility and lightness would be quite as good or better
than, for instance the well known woven plates made of Spanish cane or willow
fibres. Owing to the small thickness of the bast-matting, much thinner plates
can be produced than has hitherto been possible, having regard to the material
and its durability. Owing to the extreme cheapness of the material it is possible
to combine together as many mats or layers of matting as is necessary to satisfy
the greatest requirements as to strength.
The inventor has, however, met in his experiments with the difficulty that the
glues of different kinds which are generally suitable for similar purposes, will not
adhere sufficiently to the glassy surface of the material. The plates especially
when tested by bending, came apart and it was impossible to connect layers
matting together or with the covering layers (canvas or. the like) in a satisfactory
manner.
This difficulty has been obviated by the use of intermediate layers of gauze
between each two mat-layers or between a mat and a covering layer.
The layer of gauze which may be replaced by a layer of some other net or
similar fabric, or not made of thin thread and having large meshes, becomes
embedded in the layer of glue and ensures the adhesion by retaining the glue
fast in its meshes. "The action of the layer of gauze may be best compared to
that of wire net insertions in glass slabs. The result is that the glue even if
it be of a slightly brittle nature, adheres extremely well to the surface of the
matting and does not come off, when the finished plates are subjected to reason-
able bending.
The process of manufacturing by stretching, glueing, rolling and pressing
does not differ in any essential point from the usual process of manufacturing
similar materials. If several layers of matting are used, a gauze layer is placed
.

page_text: matting and does not come off, when the finished plates are subjected to reason-
able bending.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing is a view of a section of the material
showing the order of the layers.
Figure 2 is a cross section.
A is the layer of matting, bb layers of gauze glued to the matting A for the
purpose specified. cc the covering layers of canvas, thin leather paper or the
like.
The process of manufacturing by stretching, glueing, rolling and pressing
does not differ in any essential point from the usual process of manufacturing
similar materials. If several layers of matting are used a gauze layer is placed
between each two. It is preferable to arrange the matting diagonally relatively
to the layers of fabric as regards the directions of the strips or warp and weft,
the gauze layers being, for choice, placed in the way shown in the drawing.
The woven plate may be used for many purpose: in the manufacture of
trunks, boxes and other receptacles, card board articles, light walls or partitions
for the foundations of signboards and for other purposes for which a light or
strong board or material is required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:-
A new material consisting of one or more layers of bast matting as a foundation
or body of the material and a canvas leather or other cover ou one or both sides and
intermediate layers of gauze or other open fabric or net made of thread said
netting being inserted between the matting and cover or between two layers of
matting, substantially as described.
Dated this 29th day of August 1808
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.