IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF LINEN, COTTON, AND OTHER FABRICS TO PRODUCE A FACTITIOUS LEATHER
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Edwin Piper, of New Road, Parish of St.
Pancras, in the County of Middlesex, Operative Chemist, for the
Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF LINEN, COTTON, AND
OTHER FABRICS TO PRODUCE A FACTITIOUS LEATHER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Edwin Piper at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th June 1854.
1, JOHN EDWIN PIPER, of New Road, Parish of St. Pancras, in the County
of Middlesex, Operative Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF LINEN, COTTON, AND OTHER
FABRICS TO PRODUCE A FACTITIOUS LEATHER," to be as follows:-
My said Invention relates to the manufacture of an article having much of
the external appearance of leather, and which is particularly adapted for appli-
cations to certain parts of spinning machinery and many other useful and
ornamental purposes.
The preparation I employ is composed of 10 lbs. litharge, 9 lbs. red lead,
4 lbs. of umber, and 200 gallons boiled linseed oil, or other suitable oil. I
find these proportions answer the purpose intended, but they may be varied,

page_text: and especially by additions of different gum resins capable of combining there-
with, as gutta percha and others. 1 also add various colouring ingredients.
The whole must be ground or otherwise well incorporated.
The linen, cotton, or other fabric should be free from size dressing. The
surface or surfaces are to be spread over in a regular even manner with
the composition, and finished by the method called "travelling," to smooth the
surface.
I do not limit myself to the particular kind of boiled oil, dryers, or colours
employed, nor to any particular fabric to be coated with the composition, nor
to any particular application of the material so prepared.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Edwin Piper in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
EDWIN PIPER, of New Road, St. Pancras, in the County of Middlesex,
Operative Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Edwin Piper, Her special licence that I, the said John
Edwin Piper, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Edwin Piper, 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 law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF LINEN, COTTON, AND OTHER
FABRICS TO PRODUCE A FACTITIOUS LEATHER," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Edwin Piper, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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..

page_text: D
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Edwin Piper, 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 thereof (that is to say):--
My Invention relates to the formation or production of a fabric or material
possessing the external appearance and some of the qualities of leather, which
said material is particularly adapted for covering the rollers employed in
machinery for preparing and spinning cotton and other fibrous substances, and
to a variety of other useful and also ornamental purposes. I employ any suit-
O able kind of linen, cotton, or other woven or felted fabric, according to the
ultimate use for which the factitious leather is intended to be applied. The
preparations which I employ for giving to the said material the appearance
and qualities of leather are, firstly, common flour paste, and, secondly, a mixture
or paste composed of the following ingredients, viz., the best pure white lead,
reduced to the consistency of paste by the addition of boiled linseed oil (pre-
pared as hereafter described), and colored by the addition thereto of as much
ground yellow ochre or other suitable coloring matter as will produce the
color desired. The linseed oil which I employ for the above purpose is
prepared as follows:-
To each gallon of the best linseed oil add―
Litharge
Red lead
Turkey umber
onc pound.
half do.
quarter do.
The linseed oil and these ingredients in the above proportions must be
boiled together for about six hours, and may then be stored in casks or other
vessels, ready for use. The method of preparing the linen, cotton, or other
fabric is as follows:-The fabric, being stretched or strained over a suitable
frame, is first covered with a thin coat of the flour paste (which may be laid on
with a brush or trowel, or in any other suitable manner), in order to fill up
0 the meshes or interstices of the fabric. When this coat of paste is perfectly
dry, a coat of the prepared oil, paint, or composition, as above described, is to
be laid on by means of a trowel, and spread evenly over the whole surface.
Three coats (or thereabouts) of the said prepared oil, paint, or composition
must be thus laid on, care being taken that each coat is perfectly dry before
5 the next is applied; a coat of the best copal varnish is then laid on, and when
this last coat is perfectly dry, the material is ready for use. The material
thus prepared will possess very much the external appearance, as well as the
durability, elasticity, and other qualities, of leather, and will consequently
be especially applicable as a substitute for leather for covering the rollers

page_text: employed in machinery for preparing and spinning cotton and other fibrous
materials, and for other purposes, both useful and ornamental, for which
leather is or has been hitherto employed.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said Invention of Im-
provements in the Preparation of Linen, Cotton, and other Fabrics to Produce
a Factitious Leather, together with the best means I am acquainted with for
carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that I
do not limit or confine myself to any particular kind of cloth to be prepared,
nor to the precise nature or quantity of the coloring matter employed, as these
will depend upon the ultimate use for which the factitious leather is to be
employed, nor to any particular method of spreading the composition, as
machinery may be employed for that purpose; nor do I confine myself to any
particular applications of the factitious leather so prepared or produced; but
what I claim as my Invention is, the preparing linen, cotton, or other fabrics
with flour paste and a composition of white lead and boiled linseed oil, pre-
pared as herein-before stated, and mixed with any suitable colouring matter, so
as to produce a factitious leather, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Edwin Piper, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Patent Agent,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross.
J. E. PIPER. (L.S.)