IMPROVED FABRICS SUITABLE FOR THE COVERING OF FLOORS, WALLS, AND OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Dunn, of Hammersmith, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
FABRICS SUITABLE FOR THE COVERING OF FLOORS, WALLS, AND OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 21st June 1859, and dated the 22nd December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Dunn at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd December 1858.
I, EDWARD THOMAS DUNN, of Hainmersmith, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
FABRICS SUITABLE FOR THE COVERING OF FLOORS, WALLS, AND OTHER LIKE PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:-
Upon a foundation of cotton or other textile material, I lay on one or
more coatings of a mixture of caoutchouc with or without sulphur, gutta
percha, or other like gum and ground cork, or one or more of these gums
with ground cork, wool, and other substances in a state of grain or fine
division, and. I then emboss plain or in colors, or not, according to the use of
the intended fabric. And in order to vary the effect, I sometimes dye the
cork and other materials.mixed with the gum or gums before named.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Thomas Dunn in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd June 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS DUNN, of Hammersmith, in the County of Middlesex,- Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for-Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Thomas Dunn, Her special licence that I, the said Edward
Thomas Dunn, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Edward Thomas Dunn, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVED
FABRICS SUITABLE FOR THE COVERING OF FLOORS, WALLS, AND OTHER LIKE PURPOSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Thomas Dunn,
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 Edward Thomas Duin, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
,
Upon a foundation of cotton or other textile material, I lay on one or more
coatings of a mixture of caoutchouc with or without sulphur, gutta percha, or
other like gum, and ground cork, or one or more of these gums with ground
cork, wool, and other substances in a state of grain or fine division, and I
then emboss plain or in colors, or not, according to the use of the intended
fabric. And in order to vary the effect, I sometimes dye the cork and other
materials mixed with the gum or gums before named.
In carrying my Invention into effect, I take by preference canvas of any
degree of thickness or coarseness of weft as may be suitable for the purpose

page_text: required, and I stretch this canvas on a frame in such a way that it may be
tightened by rollers, over which it travels; I then coat it with a solution of
india-rubber, in the manner well known as waterproofing. When the
solution is sufficiently dry, but while still retaining its stickiness, I spread over
it either by means of rollers or by a knife attached to the machine, as the
cloth rolls round it, a mixture of cork, wool, cotton, or any other fibrous or
non-fibrous material in a fine state of subdivision or powder, or otherwise, as
may be suited to the purpose for which it is intended; these ingredients
being mixed with a solution of india-rubber, gutta percha, or other like gums
either with or without sulphur accordingly as it may be intended to vulcanize
it or otherwise, as is well known. This mixture may also be varied in colors
and proportions as may seem best, care being always taken that the mixture
is kept sufficiently liquid, that when spread it may not crumble, while, on the
other hand, it may not show the rubber on the face; the ingredients may be
dyed or not as taste dictates. When the mixture has been spread, it is
necessary to pass the coated cloth between heavy rollers, to solidify it and
give it a smooth even surface. When it is wished it may also after this
process be passed between rollers embossed or engraved with any pattern that
may be suitable, and the fabric be produced with the embossed pattern
thereon.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I do not claim the coating
of canvas or any other material with rubber; but what I do claim is the
manufacture of improved fabrics suitable for the covering of floors, walls, and
other like purposes, by laying upon a foundation of cotton or other textrile
material a coating of caoutchouc, gutta percha, or other like gum and ground
cork, or of one or more of such gums mixed with ground cork, wool, and
other substances in a state of fine division, and then either embossing plain or
in colors or not according to the use of the intended fabric.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Dunn, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
EDWARD THOMAS DUNN. (L.S.)