CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATER OR LIQUID PROOF FABRICS OR SURFACES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Whittaker, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF WATER OR LIQUID PROOF FABRICS OR SURFACES."
Sealed the 17th October 1868, and dated the 22nd April 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Whittaker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd April 1868.
I, THOMAS WHITTAKER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATER OR LIQUID PROOF FABRICS OR
SURFACES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to a description of waterproof fabric now
manufactured of coarse hempen cloth saturated with tar, pitch, or
similar material, and also to improvements which are in contradis-
tinction to a certain description of such waterproof fabric, to one side of
which paper is applied after the process of tarring in order to produce
a clean paper surface thereon so that the tar may not adhere to the

page_text: goods enclosed thereby, such paper being applied after the process of
tarring, and remains plain and untarred.
My improvements consist in the application and combination of paper
having a corrugated, ribbed, or uneven surface, to the surface of the
ordinary coarse hempen or other suitable material, such combination to
be made during and simultaneously with the process of tarring, both
paper and cloth being tarred or waterproofed together, the peculiar
description of paper adapted for the purpose being described in the
Provisional Specification of Provisional Protection previously granted to
me dated March 6, A.D. 1868, No. 776. The ordinary coarse hempen
or other suitable fabric and the corrugated or ribbed paper are passed
through the heated tar, pitch, or similar material together in an ordinary
machine, and as they emerge or issue therefrom they pass between
"doctor" blades or rollers which press them into close contact, such
blades being well known means whereby also the surplus tar or pitch is
removed, and I employ the corrugated or uneven surfaced paper in
contradistinction to plain paper, which I find not adapted for the
purpose, and by this means I obtain a waterproof paper attached to and
combined with a waterproof woven fabric, the whole producing or
constituting a fabric surface or manufacture possessing great water or
liquid-resisting properties, both sides of the paper and both sides of the
woven fabric being coated with waterproof material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Whittaker in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd October 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WHITTAKER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Whittaker, Her
special licence that I, the said Thomas Whittaker, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Whittaker, 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
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATER OR LIQUID PROOF
FABRICS OR SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Whittaker, my executors or administrators, 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 Thomas Whittaker, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
My Invention relates to a description of waterproof fabric now
manufactured of coarse hempen cloth saturated with tar, pitch, or
similar material, and also to improvements upon a certain description of
such waterproof fabric, to one side of which paper is applied after the
process of tarring in order to produce a clean paper surface thereon
so that the tar may not adhere to the goods enclosed thereby, such
paper being applied after the process of tarring and remains plain and
untarred.
My improvements consist in the application and combination of paper
having a corrugated, ribbed, or uneven surface to the surface of the
ordinary coarse hempen or other suitable material, such combination to
be made during and simultaneously with the process of tarring, both
paper and cloth being tarred or waterproofed together, the peculiar
description of paper adapted for the purpose being described in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted to me on the Sixth day of
March 1868, and numbered 776. I pass the ordinary coarse hempen or
other suitable fabric and the paper upon which an embossed, corrugated,
ribbed, or uneven surface has been produced as described in my former
Specification herein-before mentioned through the heated tar; pitch, or
similar material together, and as they emerge or issue from such water-

page_text: proofing liquid they pass between "doctor blades" or rollers, thereby
removing the surplus tar or pitch and pressing the cloth and paper into
close contact; the material thence passes over rollers arranged at a
distance apart in order to dry it before being folded. I employ the
corrugated or uneven surfaced paper in contradistinction to plain paper,
which I find not adapted for the purpose, and by this means I obtain a
waterproof paper attached to and combined with a waterproof woven
fabric, the whole producing or constituting a fabric surface or manu-
facture possessing great water or liquid-resisting properties, both sides
of the paper and both sides of the woven fabric being coated with
waterproof material.
It is found that waterproof material manufactured according to this
Invention possesses advantages over the ordinary tarpauling and over
tarpauling having a clean paper surface inasmuch as by being coated on
both sides with the waterproofing material when being used for packing
purposes a perfectly water-tight package or bale may be produced as the
folds or laps of the material stick or adhere together thus preventing
damp or moisture from entering at such folds or laps.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
my said Invention, together with the best means with which I am
acquainted for carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be
understood that I claim the use and application of paper having a
corrugated, embossed, ribbed, or uneven surface combined with the
coarse hempen cloth or other suitable fabric during and simultaneously
with the process of coating both sides of the paper and both sides of the
woven fabric in the manufacture of liquid and waterproof fabrics as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Whittaker, have hereunto
set my hand and affixed my seal, this Twenty-first day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.