IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND ORNAMENTING OR COATING PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Goodyear, of Avenue Road, Saint
John's Wood, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND ORNAMENTING OR COATING
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Goodyear
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th August 1853.
I, CHARLES GOODYEAR, of Avenue Road, St. John's Wood, in the
5 County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND ORNAMENTING OR
COATING OF ARTICLES WHEN COMPOUNDS CONTAINING INDIA-RUBBER ARE
USED" to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the making articles compounded of
india-rubber and sulphur (with or without other matters) with a view
to their being subsequently coated in parts or wholly by deposits of
metal by the aid of currents of electricity. For this purpose the
articles are to be made of india-rubber and sulphur, with or without

page_text: other matters, and subjected to heat to convert them as is now well un-
derstood. And in order to render the surfaces or parts of them suitably
conductive for receiving deposits of metal, in some cases they are
coated with plumbago or with powdered metal, and in other cases metal
is to be let or driven into the parts of the surfaces of the articles, and
deposits of metal or metals are then obtained by currents of electricity
obtained from any suitable source, and in like manner to that in which
electro-deposits are obtaineil on nietallic and other surfaces.*
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Goodyear in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd February 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
CHARLES GOODYEAR, of Avenue Road, Saint John's Wood, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in 'the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Goodyear, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles Goodyear, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Goodyear, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE AND ORNAMENTING OR COATING OF ARTICLES WHEN COMPOUNDS
CONTAINING INDIA-RUBBER ARE USED," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Goodyear, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the-Great Seal Patent Office

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Goodyear, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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):
:
This Invention has for its object the making articles compounded of
india-rubber and sulphur (with or without other matters) with a view to
their being subsequently coated in parts or wholly by deposits of metal
by the aid of currents of electricity. For this purpose the articles are
to be made of india-rubber and sulphur with or without other matters,
and subjected to heat to convert them as is now well understood. And
in order to render the surfaces or parts of them suitably conductive
for receiving deposits of metal, in some cases they are coated with
plumbago or with powdered metal, and in other cases metal is to
be let or driven into the parts of the surfaces of the articles, and
deposits of metal or metals are then obtained by currents of electricity
obtained from any suitable source, and in like manner to that in which
electro-deposits are obtained on metallic and other surfaces.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention; I will proceed
to describe the manner of performing the same...
The object of this Invention is to obtain ornament or coating of
metal to articles made of india-rubber combined with sulphur, and
with or without other matters. It is now well known that articles of
various kinds may be made by moulding and otherwise of india-rubber
combined with-sulphur, which, when subjected to high temperatures, arc
subjected to a change by which the articles (which when made were in a
plastic state) become hard and very enduring of rough usage. In some
cases articles, may be made by casting, whether hollow or solid, in one
piece; other articles may be made by casting or otherwise in parts, and
may be put together, and then subjected to heat; other articles may be
made out of the hard, substance after the change by heat has been
obtained. The making, however, of such articles forms no part of my
present Invention, except so far as concerns the preparing them for and
subjecting them to, the action of, electric currents when in solutions of

page_text: metals. It will not therefore be necessary for me to enter in this
Specification into any description of the making and treating such
articles in order to convert then (when formed) into the hard substance,
which results when applying heat to india-rubber properly combined
with sulphur, but 1 may state that I have in my Specifications to
former Patents given very full particulars thereof. In preparing
articles made of the hard material above mentioned in order to receive
electro-deposits of metals on such parts of the surfaces as it is desired
to coat or ornament with metal, such surfaces must be rendered con-
ductive. This may be done in various ways. If the whole exterior
and interior surfaces be desired to be coated, the most simple mode of
making the surfaces conductive is by obtaining a conting of plumbago or
powdered metal to such surfaces. This may readily be done by dusting
the same over the matter when in a plastic state, and pressing it into the
surfaces when moulding, and by retaining the same in moulds till the
process of heat has been performed. The whole or any portion of the
surfaces of the articles may by such means be made conductive of elec-
tricity, and consequently suitable to have electro-deposits of metals made
thereon. And in addition to so applying plunibago or powdered metal,
and pressing it into the surfaces, some plumbago or powdered metal may
be combined with the india-rubber when in a plastic state, or I combine
the plumbago or powdered metal with india-rubber cement, and apply
a coating or coatings to the surfaces or parts of the surfaces where
electro-deposits of metal are to take place. I have also found it
desirable, particularly when electro-typing parts of an article made of
the substance above described, and which has been subjected to heat, to
get the parts conductive of electricity by driving in pins of metal about
the parts desired to be coated, in addition to applying plumbago over
the surface according to the device desired to be obtained in deposited
metal, by which means the coating of metal which is produced will be
held secure by reason of the pins. The making of electro-deposits of
metal on to metal surfaces, and on to surfaces rendered conductive of
electricity, being well understood, it will not be necessary for me to
enter into any description thereof, and separately the same is not of my
Invention. The surfaces of metal obtained on such articles may be

page_text: polished or engraved, or otherwise treated, as is well understood in
order to obtain the finished result desired.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the sanie, I would have it understood that what I
claim is, the ornamenting or coating articles composed of india-rubber
and sulphur (with or without other matters) by electro-deposits of metal
thereon.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Goodyear, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
four.
Witness,
WILLIAM CARPMAEL, jun.
CHAS GOODYEAR. (L.S.)