IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DOMESTIC AND OFFICE FURNITURE, AND OTHER USEFUL AND TATAT AND TY MIN ELOYMENT OF GERMAN HAMERTATS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philip Brannon, of 54, Parliament Street, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF DOMESTIC AND OFFICE FURNITURE, AND OTHER USEFUL AND
TATAT
AND TY
MIN ELOYMENT OF GERMAN HAMERTATS
Sealed the 5th December 1874, and dated the 10th June 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Philip Brannon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th June 1874.
I, PHILIP BRANNON, of 54, Parliament Street, in the County of
5 Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF DOMESTIC AND OFFICE FURNITURE, AND
OTHER USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL ARTICLES, AND IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF CERTAIN
MATERIALS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR," to be as follows (that is to say) :
My Invention has reference to the employment of compound material
formed of mineral, ligneous, and fibrous substances firmly united by

page_text: calcareous, gummy, oily, or bituminous cementings solidly bound
together and compressed in moulds, or between or upon plain surfaces,
so as to form therewith articles of furniture of various descriptions, or
sheets suitable for floor or wall coverings, thereby securing great facility
and cheapness in the production, together with durability, variety, and
elegance of form; and consists in composing the said material of hard
comminuted substances such as crushed stone, burnt ballastings, or
grits, as ordinarily used for concrete, cob, or mortar, or the refuse
material of manufactures, crushed or blown slag, or clinkers, cocoa-nut
fibre refuse, sawdust, or any torn hard wood, and uniting such substances
into solid coherent bodies, cementing the same according to the nature
of the said ballastings or refuse and the work to be executed, so that the
strong calcareous cements, gums, drying oils, resins, tar, pitch, or
asphalt are employed seperately or in combination therefor as required.
And in order to give these united substances toughness and flexibility
they are thoroughly mixed and intimately worked together with strong
short fibre adopted to the form and nature of the articles to be manu-
factured, such as, for example, cocoa-nut fibre for bed posts and rails,
hemps and New Zealand flax for thin slabs and pannels, or fine jute,
cotton, and the like for very thin and fine work. The fibrous body
material being disposed so as to surround and be supported and
powerfully tied together into one piece by an imbedded open fabric of
stiff framings or trussings of wooden or metallic rods, and strong wire or
cordage passing directly through the heart of the piece or article, and
serving as a rigid support, or as a flexible running bond to bind the
whole perfectly into one piece and give to the masses the requisite
finished surfaces and appearances. The materials used therein are
taken without fibre and ground very fine in combination with the
requisite colors and surfacing additions, and then applied to the work as
facing, graining, and marbling stuffs, so as to blend in one with the
hearting itself in a continuous operation with the formation thereof, so
that all the materials composing the entire article shall be run and set
together.
My mode of exercising the said Invention is to prepare the requisite
moulds for entire articles or for pieces to be afterwards united together,
and, when all is ready the fine stuffs are run in for the facings on the
surfaces of the moulds, the fibrous compound is laid therein, and the
bonding fabric placed on, that is, also overlaid with more fibrous

page_text: hearting, and this again with the fine facing stuffs on the surface of
the back mould, and then the whole is subjected to pressure as
required.
When the article is to be one-faced pannelling or a sheet of floor
covering the mould, or plain moulding table, platform or floor receives
the colored or plain facing stuffs, and the fibrous stuff is laid thereon
next the bonding web, and this is covered with more fibre stuff, and
direct rolling or percussive pressure applied to the whole back surface.
I thus form all kinds of fixed or moveable domestic or office furniture
with similar ornamental and useful articles, and wall and floor coverings
with colored and finished decorative surfaces, or omitting the fine
decorative treatment of the surface I form plainer articles in like
manner for workshops, factories, stables, or byres.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Philip Brannon in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 8th December 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PHILIP
BRANNON, of 54, Parliament Street, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of June, in the. year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Philip Brannon, Her special licence that I,
the said Philip Brannon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Philip Brannon, my exccutors, 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 MANUFACTURE OF DOMESTIC
AND OFFICE FURNITURE, AND OTHER USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL ARTICLES, AND IN
THE EMPLOYMENT OF CERTAIN MATERIALS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Philip Brannon, my
"

page_text: 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 Philip Brannon, 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 and the Drawings therein referred to (that is to
say) :-
My Invention has reference to the formation of articles of furniture,
utility, and decoration of various descriptions, as also sheets suitable for
floor or wall coverings of compound materials formed of mineral,
ligneous, and fibrous substances firmly united by calcareous, gummy,
oily, or bituminous cementings, and solidly bound together by an
imbedded bonding fabric of webbing, netting, ties, and skeleton framing
compressed in moulds, or between or upon plain surfaces, whereby great
facility and cheapness of production, together with durability, variety,
and elegance of form in such articles is obtained; and consists in com.
posing the said compound material employed in the manufacture of the
said articles of hard comminuted substances, such as crushed or ground
stone, chalk, clinkers, or slag, burnt clay, ballasting, or the grits and
gravel ordinarily used for concrete, cob, and mortar, or of spent bark,
cocoa-nut fibre refuse, or sawdust, or any torn hard wood, and the like,
and uniting the said substances into solid coherent bodies by cementing
the same according to the nature of the work to be executed, employing
in like manner strong calcareous, hydraulic, and sulphatic cements,
gums, drying oils, resins, mineral or vegetable tar, pitch, or asphalt,
separately, or in combination, giving to the said united substances.
toughness and flexibility, by thoroughly mixing and intimately blending
the same together with strong fibre adapted to the form and nature of
the articles to be manufactured, as for example, cocoa-nut fibre for
thick bed posts and rails, hemp and New Zealand flax for thin slabs
and pannels, or jute and the like for very thin and fine work. Thus
the fibrous body material when thoroughly mingled and whilst quick or
in its soft and plastic state is disposed so as to surround and be
supported and powerfully. tied together into one piece by an imbedded

page_text: bonding fabric formed either of stiff framing or trussing of wood, cane,
bamboo, or metallic rods, and strong stretched wire, cordage ties, or
other fabric passing continuously and directly through the heart of the
piece or article, and through every rail, slab, or part thereof, or wrought
in an unbroken open netting continuously through sheets of any extent
or tenuity, serving as a rigid support, or as a flexible permeating and
running bond for uniting the whole perfectly into one piece. And in
order to give the masses or sheets the requisite finished surfaces and
appearance the materials are mixed without fibre and ground very fine
in combination with the requisite colors and surfacing additions, and
then applied to the work as facing, graining, and marbling stuffs so as
to blend in one with the fibrous hearting and in a continuous operation
with the formation thereof, so that all the materials composing the
entire articlo shall be run and set together in one solid and coherent
body.
To prepare the requisite moulds, tables, or platforms for entire articles
or for pieces to be afterwards united together, the fine stuffs to form the
solid substances of the facings or outside of the piece or sheet are run
and worked into the graining, marbling, or other required ornamentation
on the surfaces of the moulds, the fibrous compound forming the
hearting or body of the piece is then partly laid thereon, and upon and
into this material the internal bonding is set. This is again overlaid
and forcibly packed with the remaining fibre stuff, and, in two-faced
work finally covered with the fine facing stuffs, both by overlaying and
by the portion of the pattern wrought in the soft colored surface on the
back mould, the piece being subjected to heavy pressure as required.
When the article is to be onc-faced panneling, or thin slab decoration,
or sheeting for wall or floor coverings, the moulding platform or floor is
made to receive the colored or plain facing stuffs, and the fibrous
material is disposed thereon, as also the bonding web or net which is
held firmly in extreme tension whilst the piece is setting, and in overlaid
with the remaining thickness of fibre stuff, after which direct rolling,
treading, percussive or other pressure is applied to the whole back
surface. And when a member of a piece of furniture, such as a table,
pillar, or bold bed post, or rail is sufficiently bulky I form it hollow.by
employng a core for the said purpose, making the bonding skeleton and
netting pass through the middle of the thickness of the encircling skin.
I likewise form by the said means all kinds of fixed and moveable

page_text: and carried into effect, I would have it clearly understood that I do not
intend to confine myself to the precise details herein-before set forth
and described, as the same may be otherwise varied without departing
from the general principle of this my said Invention, nor do I claim as
new and of my said Invention the exclusive use of the several sub-
stances, combinations, and processes, except when the same
employed in and for the purposes of my said Invention, which I hereby
declare to consist,-
are
Firstly. In forming any or all of the aforesaid articles of the herein-
before described compound materials in one continuous piece or mass in
moulds under pressure, and giving to the same the requisite finished
surfacing and solidity during the process of moulding, and complete
incorporation of the particles with the fibrous hearting and body, as
herein-before described.
Secondly. In forming the said internal fibrous body or hearting of
each such article of the aforesaid compound materials, and disposing the
same so as to perfectly surround and invest, and be strengthened, sus-
tained, and bonded together by the imbedded rigid frame and tension
fabric.
Thirdly, and lastly. In forming thin slabs or flexible sheetings of the
aforesaid compound materials in combination with an imbedded con-
tinuous bonding or open fabric, with flexible selvaging or edging in
place of a rigid skeleton or stiffening members, as aforesaid.
In witness whereof, I, the said Philip Brannon, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
B. F. WEATHERDON,
Law Chambers,
Chancery Lane.
PHILIP BRANNON. (L.S.)