IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL LEATHER
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Hawthorn Micklewood, of No. 28, Coburg Street,
Plymouth, in the County of Devon, Engineer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL LEATHER."
Sealed the 23rd December 1879, and dated the 27th June 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Hawthorn Mickle-
wood at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th June 1879.
EDMUND HAWTHORN MICKLEWOOD, of No. 28, Coburg Street, Plymouth, in the
County of Devon, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTI-
FICIAL LEATHER.”
My Invention has for its object the utilization of waste cuttings or old pieces of
leather, either alone or in combination with other substances, in the manufacture of
an artificial leather, which possesses ductility and strength in a degree not hitherto
obtained.
"
In carrying out my Invention I take pieces of leather and reduce them by
mechanical means into small strips or coarse fibre, and then treat them with a
strong solution of alkale until they are freed from dirt, grease, and tannin, which
are then washed off in the ordinary manner. I then put the mass into a suitable
mill, where it is more thoroughly disintegrated, and it may be then mixed or
amalgamated with manilla, jute, flax, hemp, esparto-grass, or other material, such as
is commonly used in the manufacture of paper. After being beaten to the requisite
degree of fineness the material is run into a 'stuff-chest," and thence delivered on
to an ordinary millboard-making machine, a weak solution of chromic acid being
added to the pulp as it passes into the mixing chest. I then provide a hot mixture
or solution of glycerine, glue, and resin, for the purpose of imparting ductility and
strength to the compound; and this is brought to and amalgamated with the
material immediately before it enters the press-rollers, where the whole is made
into sheets of the required thickness, after which they are dried and finished by
heated rollers or cylinders in the usual manner.
25 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Edmund Hawthorn Micklewood in the Great Seal Patent Offico
on the 24th December 1879.
EDMUND HAWTHORN MICKLEWOOD, of No. 28, Coburg Street, Plymouth, in tho
County of Devon, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTI-
OFICIAL LEATHER."
T

page_text: leather, either alone or in combination with other substances, in the manufacture of
an artificial leather which possesses ductility and strength in a degree not hitherto
obtained.
In carrying out my Invention I take pieces of leather and reduce them by
mechanical means (where size requires it) into small strips or coarse fibre, and then
treat them with a strong solution of alkali until they are freed from dirt, grease,
and tannin, which are then washed off in the ordinary manner.
If soda-ash be the alkali used for the above process the quantity required will be
about one third (by weight) that of the leather acted on, varying slightly according
to its strength and the nature of the leather.
The partly reduced leather is then put into a suitable mill, where it is more
thoroughly disintegrated, and it may be then mixed or amalgamated with manilla,
jute, flax, lemp, esparto-grass, or other material, such as is commonly used in the
manufacture of paper.
The proportion of vegetable fibre will vary considerably acccording to the purpose
for which the leather is intended when finished, but will seldom exceed four hundred-
weight to a ton of leather scraps, and may if desired be omitted altogether.
After being beaten to the requisite degree of fineness the material is run into a
"stuff chest," and thence delivered on to an ordinary millboard making machine, a
weak solution of chromic acid bein added to the pulp as it passes into the "mixing-
chest."
F
Immediately in front of the press rolls I have a perforated tube extending across
the machine, communicating with an overhead reservoir or chest, by means of which
I convey to the wet web a hot solution consisting of glycerine, glue, and resin, in
the proportion of about 8, 2, and 1. The thin web is then wound up on the press
roll until the desired thickness is attained, after which it is removed, and after
drying is finished by being passed between heated rollers or cylinders in the usual
manner.
The hot mixture above mentioned in combination with the previous treatment
set forthi, imparts great flexibility and strength to the material, but I by no means
confine myself to the exact proportions of glycerine, glue, and resin, as a much
smaller proportion of glycerine would be sufficient where only a small degree of
flexibility is required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed or put in practice, I would
have it understood that what I claim is, the manufacture of leather from leather.
waste acted on by an alkali, with or without combination with vegetable fibre, and
amalgamated with glycerine, glue, and resin, substantially as hereinbefore set forth
and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Hawthorn Micklewood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of December, in the year of
11
Witness,
A. MOORE,
28, Richmond Street,
Plymouth.
E. H. MICKLEWOOD. (L.S.)