CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING AND PREPARING THE SUBSTANCE CALLED WHALEBONE, AND THE FINS AND SUCH LIKE OTHER PARTS OF WHALES, AND RENDERING THE SAME FIT FOR VARIOUS COMMERCIAL AND USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1841

page_text: KORTRIGHT'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LAWRENCE
KORTRIGHT, of Oak Hall, East Ham, in the County of Essex, Esquire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventeenth day of March, in the fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Lawrence Kortright, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Lawrence Kortright, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Lawrence Kortright, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING AND
PREPARING THE SUBSTANCE CALLED WHALEBONE, AND THE FINS AND SUCH LIKE OTHER
PARTS OF WHALES, AND RENDERING THE SAME FIT FOR VARIOUS COMMERCIAL AND
USEFUL PURPOSES," being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Lawrence
Kortright, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Lawrence Kortright, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by.the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say).:-.
"
This Invention consists in a novel or improved manner, method, or process
of treating and operating upon strips or pieces or lengths of "whalebone,"
as it is commonly termed, as an article of commerce, in order to compress
them in.width, and thereby increase their thickness so as to render that
material applicable for forming of walking sticks, whip handles, parasol and
umbrella sticks, ramrods, archery bows, and many other articles of common
use to which such strips.or-pieces would not otherwise be applicable; and also
in new or improved machinery or apparatus for effecting, the compression of
the said strips of whalebone. It is well known that "whalebone," as it is
called, is generally sold by the merchant to the manufacturer in bundles of
long strips or pieces, or as they are split from the "fin," and whose breadth or
width, greatly exceed their, thickness, and it is-but seldom (when so split or
separated from the fin or mass) that any piece or strip can be obtained of
sufficient. thickness to form any of the articles above mentioned, and even
when this may happen, to be the case the middle parts of such pieces are found
to be of a different quality, and more porous or less.compact then the outsides;
whereas by this, Invention or process these lengths, strips, or pieces are pressed
edgewise, which.condenses all the parts into a round, oval, or other shape or
form, and, when properly dressed and polished, will be applicable to the above-
named purposes or to the production of various articles, or to be cut up into
pieces for other purposes.
I will proceed, first, to describe the preparatory process or treatment to
which the whalebone is submitted for the purpose of softening it so as to allow
of its being readily compressed, and then the novel or improved machinery or
apparatus by which it is condensed into the required forms or figures; and
would first remark, that, when submitting the "whalebone" to the required
pressure, it is found desirable and requisite that, some yielding or partially
clastic material should be placed next to each side of the strips or lengths of
whalebone,when under the action of the press, in order to allow of the gradual
compression of the strips of whalebone without bending them sideways, such
clastic or yielding, material giving way to the, superior tenacity of the whalec-
bone; and I have found in practice.that laths of wood, such as soft deal or pine,
or any other soft wood free from knots, answers this purpose well. The strips

page_text: of whalebone are first to be assorted as to length, thickness; -and breadth, and
are then placed between two laths of wood or other suitable substance, and the
whole slightly bound together, and then introduced into a steam-tight tube or box
open at one end, and in immediate connection with a steam boiler placed over a-
suitable furnace and supplied with water as required by means of a force pump.
or other means, and also a safety valve and steam guage; if thought desirable
the steam box or tube may be placed either horizontal or vertical, or at any
required angle, and its other end closed by a steam-tight lid or cover capable
of being opened and enclosed at pleasure, in order to introduce or remove the
slips of whalebone which, being confined between the laths of wood, are sub-
mitted to the action of the steam for the required space of time according to;
their size or thickness, so as to render them sufficiently soft for the next opera-
tion, viz, that of compressing. The steam acts on the wood and whalebone at
the same time, and by softening the wood renders it more fit for this purpose,
or hot water may be used to act upon the wood and whalebone, or even dry
heat upon the whalebone alone; but it has been found by experience that
neither of these have such good effect upon the materials as steam, which may
readily be used at any pressure or degree of heat required.
The compressing machine represented in the accompanying Drawings consists
of a table or bed, having strong arches thrown over it with powerful levers, .
their longer arms being connected to chains or ropes, and windlasses, and their.
other or shorter ends acting upon one or more presser bars placed over the
opening or space between two moveable side chaps or clamp bars lying upon
the table or bed of the machine. Between these two side chaps the strips or
pieces of whalebone are placed, and these side presser bars are brought together;
by any suitable mechanical agents or means, so as to prevent the bending of
the pieces of whalebone edgwise while they are being compressed; and,.,if
required, these side presser bars may be allowed or caused to move aparţ
during the operation of compression, in order to allow for the expansion of the.
whalebone in breadth during its compression in the other direction. Fig. 1 is
a side elevation of one construction or arrangement of compressing machine;
Fig. 2 is a partial plan or horizontal view of the left-hand end of the same;
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section taken vertically through the middle of the press,
exhibiting the interior; Fig. 4 is a transverse or cross section taken vertically.
in front of the middle lever of the machine, or in the line a, b, in Fig. 1; a, a, is
a strong bench or table composed of wood or metal, supported on legs or by
any other suitable means; b, b, is a metal plate forming the top or slab of the
bench; c, c, c, are strong metal arches, through which the table 6 is passed, the
arches embracing or encompassing the bed. Upon the bed are placed the side
:

page_text: pressers or clamp pieces d, d, and the vertical presser bar or bars e, e, which are
brought down by the force or leverage of the shorter ends of the powerful
levers ff. The ends of these levers are formed cam shaped, or as excentric
wedges, and when they are forced forwards act between the under side of the
arches c and the top of the presser bar e, and in depressing it cause the
material or whalebone placed underneath it to be compressed. The outer
ends of these levers fare connected by suitable strong chains or ropes g to a
powerful crab or windlass, in order to draw them down and force their reverse
or wedge-formed ends between the under side of the crown of the arches c and
the top of the presser bar e, which causes the lever to depress the bar e. To
the outer ends of these levers ƒ are also attached other chords or chains h,
passing upwards over pullies (placed above) having counterbalance weights at
their ends in order to draw up the ends of the levers f when the windlass or
capstan is "let go," and the pressure removed from off the material under
operation. The ends of the shorter arms of the levers fare attached or con-
nected to the upper part of the arches c by connecting links, or hooks and eyes,
as at i, i, and serve to keep the ends of the levers in their proper place, which
are also further guided by the side plates or pieces k, k, fixed within the arches.
The wedge-formed ends of the two outer levers f.f, are also connected by
means of the link pieces 7, 1, to the presser bar e. In this machine (see Fig. 1)
the side pressers d, d, are represented as forced together by means of wedges
m, m, m, placed between them and the upright standards of the arches c, but
other means may be used as herein-after shewn and described. The operation
of the machine is as follows:-The pieces of whalebone, having been softened by
steam in the process above described, are placed together with the wooden laths
edgwise upon the surface of the table or plate b, and between the two side pressers
or bars d, d, (see Fig. 4), which are opened to receive the material by knocking
or forcing back the wedges m, m. The levers f, f, being raised, together with
the vertical presser bare, through the connecting links 1, by means of the
counterbalance weights attached to the chains or cords h, as before named, on
the introduction of the laths and material into the press the side bars d, d,
are made to approach each other by forcing in the wedges m, m, (which may
be done by striking with a hammer or other means). The inner edges of the
side. bars are by these means brought into contact with the laths partially
passing them upon the material under operation. When the "whalebone" is
thus situated in the machine, and supported by the side bars d, d, the crabs or
windlasses are put in motion by any suitable ineans, which by the agency of
the cords g draw down the levers f, and force their shorter ends between the
under side of the arches c and the top of the vertical presser bar c. By these

page_text: means the bar e is pressed downwards upon the material with great force,
the wooden laths giving way to the lateral pressure of the whalebone. After
the material has been thus submitted to the required pressure for a sufficient
length of time, according to the size of the picces under operation, the pressure
may be relieved by opening the side bars, or removing them from contact with
the laths of wood. This is done by driving back the wedges m, m, and then
letting go the crab or windlass, and raising the bar e, as before described, when
the material may be removed and a fresh charge of whalebone introduced into
the press, and the above-described operation repeated.
I have hitherto described the mechanical agents used for compressing the
material as levers and wedges, but other means may be used; and I have
therefore shewn, in Figs. 5, 6, and 7 of the accompanying Drawings, different
applications and modifications of machinery. Fig. 5 represents an end view
of a press or machine, wherein screws are to be turned by levers, to give the
pressure both downwards and sideways; and Figures 6 and 7 partial side and
top views of a machine, wherein excentrics and levers are applied for the same
purpose; the screws o, o, in Fig. 5, and the excentrics p, p, and screws o, o, in
Figs. 6 and 7, answering in effect to the levers fand wedges m in the former
Figures. The excentrics p, p, are or may be mounted on axes or shafts, turning
in suitable bearings in the framework, or in the arches c, and the levers are to
be connected to the excentrics or their axes in any suitable manner. Similar
letters of reference are marked on the corresponding parts of the machine, as
in the former Drawings, and therefore no further description will be required.
I would here remark, that steam or hydraulic power may be employed to effect
the required compression of the material, such elastic force operating upon
suitable pistons placed in cylinders, and connected with followers or rams or
rods acting upon the presser bars.
Having now particularly described this Invention, and the manner in
which it is to be performed, I, in conclusion, desire it to be observed that I
claim as the novel feauture of this Invention, first, the mode, manner, process,
method, or means above described and set forth, of operating or acting upon
strips of the article generally known or called "whalebone," for the purposes
above named; and, secondly, the machinery, press, or apparatus, for effecting
the said operation of compression.
In witness whereof, the said Lawrence Kortright, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
LAWRENCE (L.s.) KORTRIGHT.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Sixteenth day of -Sep-
tember, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Lawrence Kortright came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above
written. And also the Specification 'aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Tavelled the Savantoanth day of Santambox in the woan ahavo muitton