A NEW FABRIC, SUITABLE FOR GOODS WRAPPERS, WAGGON COVERS, AND OTHER LIKE PURPOSES, AND CERTAIN PROCESSES EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE SAME
Year: 1846

page_text: HENSON'S SPE
TION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HENSON, of Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, 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 Fifth day of November, in the tenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Henson, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Henry Henson, my exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Henson, my exors,
admors, 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 expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "A NEW FABRIC, SUITABLE FOR GOODS
WRAPPERS, WAGGON COVERS, AND OTHER LIKE PURPOSES, AND CERTAIN PROCESSES
EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE SAME;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso, that I, the said Henry Henson, should cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same.

page_text: is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Henson, hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described in and by the
present Specification thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
I manufacture the said new fabric of two qualities, one very strong and
stout, and suited to out-of-door purposes, such as the covering of waggons,
stage coaches, carts, &c.; and the other of a slender texture, adapted to the
wrapping and covering of light goods not ordinarily exposed to the weather,
and for all other purposes to which the other variety of the fabric is inappli
cable. In making the fabric of the former of these varieties, I use for the
basis of it the same fibrous material as is ordinarily employed in the manu-
facture of canvass, namely, hempen thread; but, firstly, I interweave with tho
hempen thread a material of such quality that it will not rend or tear asunder,
and will not readily allow the materials with which it is interwoven to be rent
or torn; secondly, I subject the fabric which has been so composed to a process
of tanning, whereby the hempen portions of it are thickened and strengthened;
and, thirdly, I saturate and coat the fabric with certain compositions by which
it is rendered waterproof. And the manner in which these different processes
are performed and effects produced is as follows:-
Firstly, I interweave with the hempen threads while the fabric is passing
through the loom a certain number of strands or threads of copper wire
wound round with thread, or of iron wire which has been previously zinced,
or as it is commonly termed galvanized, and also wound round with thread,
or instead of either sort of wire very thin strips of cane. (I prefer covering
the wire with thread, but it may also be used uncovered.) The wires or cane
strips may be inserted at from one to six inches apart, according to the
degree of strength required and the thickness of the wire or cane strips
employed, and they may be inserted either in the warp or woof. I find that
for the general run of fabrics of this class, wire known in the market as of the
guage No. 28 is very suitable, and that when such wire is used every requisite
degree of strength and tenacity is obtained by inserting it at distances of two
inches apart.

page_text: Secondly, I immerse this compound fabric in a vat filled with tanning.
liquor of such strength as is to be obtained by using one and a quarter
hundredweight of good oak bark for every hundred gallons of liquor, and I
so proportion the piece immersed to the quantity of the liquor that for every
yard of the fabric there shall be about two gallons of liquor. I then beat the
liquor to about one hundred and fifty degrees, and keep it at this temperaturė
with the fabric immersed in it for about fifty hours, turning the fabric from
time to time in order that it may be in all parts as equally saturated as may
be with the liquor. I then remove the fabric from the vat and hang it up
to dry before subjecting it to the third, or waterproofing process. Should it be
desired to give the fabric still more of the quality of leather than is producible
by the preceding process, this may be effected by farther immersing it in
a weak solution of gelatine or albumen for about ten hours, and repeating this
operation two or three times, or oftener, according to the quantity of tannate
which it may be deemed expedient to precipitate upon the fabric. Instead
of employing the preceding process of tanning, either of the well-known
processes of tanning by exhaustion or hydraulic pressure may, if preferred, bo
employed.
Thirdly, after the fabric has been so far prepared, I render the whole water-
proof by first saturating it with what I call No. 1 composition, and when that
has become dry, coating it with another, which I call No. 2 composition. The
No. 1 composition is formed of turpentine, bees-wax, and tallow, in about tho
following proportions: turpentine, one gallon; bees-wax, one pound; and
tallow, one pound. The No. 2 composition is formed of the following ingre-
dients, in about the proportions annexed thereto respectively: raw linseed
oil, two quarts; boiled linseed oil (rendered drying by a mixture of litharge).
one quart; Stockholm tar, one quart; and lamp black or ground charcoal
(the finer the better), twenty ounces. To facilitate the application of these
compositions I make use of a steam table, of the description represented
in Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings hereunto annexed; Figure 1 being a
sectional elevation, and Figure 2 a plan of the same. A, A, is a basement or
foundation of brickwork which supports the hollow table A, A, which is
formed of horizontal iron plates, connected by and made fast to vertical iron
plates or beams, as shewn, and is closed in at the sides and ends, so as to
render the whole perfectly steam-tight; E, E, are pipes for the admission of
the steam; and F, F, other pipes for allowing any excess of steam to escape;
G is a cock, through which any water resulting from the condensation of the
steam may be drawn off. The fabric when about to be saturated or coated, as

page_text: aforesaid, is laid upon the table, and the composition No. 1 or No. 2 (as the
case may be), is laid on by means of a spatula or brush. It is to be observed,
however, that in applying No. 1 composition, the endeavor of the operater
should be to force the composition into and through the fabric; while in
applying No. 2, the object desired will be fully obtained by laying it on evenly
and smoothly.
In manufacturing the fabric of the second of the qualities before men-
tioned, that is to say, of a quality suitable for the wrapping or covering
of goods of a light quality not ordinarily exposed to the weather, or for
any other purposes not requiring a fabric of so stout a description as that
first herein before described, I manufacture it as follows:-I take a sheet or
web of paper, and paste, cement, or otherwise unite it to a sheet or web of
calico, or some other like textile fabric which has been previously waterproofed
and japanned by any of the well-known processes in use for those purposes..
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as of my
Invention is,-
First, the manufacture of the said new fabric of a quality suitable for
the covering of waggons, coaches, carts, and other vehicles, and for all other
like out-of-door purposes, by the weaving together of hempen thread and
metallic wire or cane strips, and afterwards tanning, saturating, coating, and
otherwise treating the compound fabric, as herein-before described.
Secondly, the employment, for the purpose of strengthening, waterproofing,
and otherwise improving the quality of goods wrappers, waggon covers, and
other like fabrics (of whatever materials the same may be composed), of the
tanning, saturating, and coating processes, all or any of them, herein-before
described.
And, thirdly, the manufacture of the said new fabric, of a quality suitable for
the wrapping and covering of light goods and other like purposes, by combining
'paper with calico or such other like textile fabric previously waterproofed and
japanned, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Henson, have hereunto set my
.
hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and
HENRY (L.B.) HENSON. 85

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of May, in the year
of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Henry Henson came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-seven.