THE DEADENING OF SOUND, AND THE PREVENTION OF VIBRATION AND CONCUSSION IN .CONNECTION WITH MACHINERY, GUN AND MORTAR BOATS, AND GENERAL ORDNANCE, AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Haines, Patent Agent, of 22, Lime
i
Street, City, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "THE
DEADENING OF SOUND, AND THE PREVENTION OF VIBRATION AND CONCUSSION
IN .CONNECTION WITH MACHINERY, GUN AND MORTAR BOATS, AND GENERAL
ORDNANCE, AND OTHER PURPOSES."
Scaled the 1st July 1856, and dated the 3rd January 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Ilaines at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd January 1856.
I, FREDERICK HAINES, Patent Agent, of 22, Lime St., City, in the County of
Middlesex, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
THE DEADENING OF THE SOUND, AND THE PREVENTION OF VIBRATION AND CONCUSSION
IN' CONNECTION WITH MACHINERY, GUN AND MORTAR BOATS, AND GENERAL ORDNANCE,
AND OTHER PURPOSES, to be as follows:-
The application of cork of any necessary thickness, in conjunction with lead,
to various kinds of ordnance, guns, mortars, gun carriages, and mortar beds of
gun boats; also for preventing the vibration of machinery, steam hammers,.

page_text: &c.; also for spring blocks of carriages, and in lieu of springs fer railway
carriages, trucks, &c. I also propose using cork in some parts of the wheels
of ordinary vehicles or carriages, and in the shocing of horses and cattle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Haines in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st July 1856.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
HAINES, Patent Agent, of 22, Lime Street, City, London, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Frederick Haines, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick
Haines, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Frederick Haines, 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 THE DEADEN-
ING OF SOUND, AND THE PREVENTION OF VIBRATION AND CONCUSSION IN CONNECTION
WITH MACHINERY, GUN AND MORTAR BOATS, AND GENERAL ORDNANCE, AND OTHER
PURPOSES, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick
Haines, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Frederick Haines, 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 tho
following statement :-
My Invention consists in the application of cork in various forms, and for
various purposes for which it has not been, hitherto generally applied. I use

page_text: 1
it in connection with guns, mortars, gun carriages, mortar beds, and general
ordnance. For these purposes I employ cork, in conjunction with lead or
other material, if necessary, or cork only, as found most convenient and
effective. I employ cork to the heel of mortar and gun carriages, and also
partially or wholly to the stocks of fire-arms, and thereby considerably lessen
the concussion, and preventing in a measure the rebounding of the mortar or
gun, or fire-arms, after discharge. The cork is of less expence than leather,
which is now used for gun carriages, and lighter than wood for gun and pistol
stocks, and is not liable to be affected by damp or changes of temperature.
For mortar beds, I use cork of any necessary thickness, cut into sections, and
laid down with sheet lead, of any requisite thickness, in alternate layers by
means of marine glue, cement, bolts, or otherwise placed upon the timbers,
and in conjunction with the timbers of the said boats or ships. I do not mean
to imply that the mortar beds are built entirely of cork, but also of timber, and
the cork, &c. introduced in certain parts where found necessary and effectivo
in deadening sound and concussion.
I also apply cork, in conjunction with hemp or other suitable material, in
certain parts of machinery, railway and other carriages, as follows:-I apply
cork of any necessary thickness, cut into sections or otherwise, for the packing
of stuffing boxes, slide rods, piston rods, air pumps, suction valves, feed and
force pumps. I also use cork of any necessary substance over steam boilers,
or any requisite parts connected with engines, in order to prevent not only
vibration, but to protect the heated surfaces of boilers, pipes, &c. being in
contact with the atmosphere, thereby effecting a saving of steam. Cork is
also applicable to Nasmyth's and other steam hammers, in lieu of wood and
leather, as it is more clastic and a non-conductor of sound, and for placing
under machinery of most kinds. For railway and other carriages, I use a
block of cork, of any necessary thickness and form, between the springs and
beds of the carriages, in conjunction with layers of woollen or other fibrous
material; secured by means of an iron plate, or straps of iron or other metal,
thereby preventing, when a railway or other carriage is heavily laden, the
thumping and jolting motion between the spring and bed of the carriage. I
also use a ring or rings of cork, in connection with woollen or other fibrous
material, between the buffer rod plate and spring, thus casing and assisting
the spring when the carriages are upon the point of stopping. The price of
these buffer rings will be about one-fourth of those now in use. For tho
journals or boxes of railway or other carriages, I use a ring or collar of cork
to prevent the grease or other lubricating material from escaping between the

page_text: arm of the axle and collar of the wheel. The great desideratum of the cork
collar is, that in cases where the journal becomes heated the cork collar is not
liable to become charred or fixed, as is the case of those at present in use;
and as the cost of the cork collars and buffer rings are considerably less in
price, they cannot but become of general use and of great advantage to rail-
way companies and others. These collars, of the necessary form, may be
applied to axles of vehicles of all descriptions. Cork is also applicable to
lathe collars and general bearings of machinery.
1 use cork in the shocing of horses and cattle, in lieu of leather, and for
knee and other pads. The cork sole for horses is prepared with or without
linen, sheet gutta percha, or woollen fabric. Horses shod on this principle, if
affected with disease in the fect, soon become sound. It is also a preventivo
for lameness in high action horses, and those continually on the stones of
London, or paved towns.
I also apply cork to saddle trees, in lieu of wood, and for horse collars, 1
which I pad or stuff with cork stuffing. For saddle trees, the cork is shaped
or moulded in any particular form I may see fit for such purpose, and some of
the advantages derived are elasticity, lightness, cheapness, and its not being
operated upon by heat or cold.
Cork is also applicable for splints and various surgical purposes, where wood a
and zinc are now employed.
Flower pots made of cork are also of great service to nurserymen and
others for potting off plants, and many valuable plants have been preserved
by the use of them, where other means have failed. The price of these are also
much in their favour.
Floors of warehouses covered with cork are a preventive to the transmission
of sound from the rolling of casks & trucks, and the moving of bales, boxes, &c.
where offices or dwellings are situated below.
For some of the purposes herein mentioned it is necessary that the cork
should be in some way prepared, and for others it is necessary that it should s
be compressed before using, in order to destroy a certain amount of its
elasticity, which in some instances increases the strength without giving the
rigidity which timber possesses. For the steam hammers and machinery, tho
spring blocks of railway carriages, omnibuses, and other vehicles, this becomes
of great importance. Doors and door frames partially lined with cork will s
prevent the unpleasant slamming experienced, particularly in railway and other
carriages.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion
to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of my said Invention; but what
I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the
application of cork, either in conjunction with other materials, or cork, only,
to the various purposes herein named.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Haines, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
FREDERICK HAINES. (L.S.)
FREDERICK HAINES. (L.S.)