A NEW (OR IM- PROVED) MATERIAL FOR MANUFACTURING CASINGS OR COVERINGS FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER SUCH LIKE ARTICLES. APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Richardson, of Wapping, in the County
of Middlesex, Merchant, for the Invention of "A NEW (OR IM-
PROVED) MATERIAL FOR MANUFACTURING CASINGS OR COVERINGS FOR BOTTLES
AND OTHER SUCH LIKE ARTICLES. APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Sealed the 26th February 1869, and dated the 29th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Richardson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th August 1868.
I, EDWARD RICHARDSON, of Wapping, in the County of Middlesex,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A
NEW (OR IMPROVED) MATERIAL FOR MANUFACTURING CASINGS OR COVERINGS FOR
BOTTLES AND OTHER SUCH LIKE ARTICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention has principally for its object the preparation of a
material for wholly or partially casing or covering bottles or other glass
or carthenware vessels. Such material is however applicable to other
·Price Ed

page_text: purposes, such as those to which papier machiè is applied, and may be
used to form sheets, slabs, mouldings, ornaments, or vessels.
The crude material which I employ is that which is generally known
in the trade as spent hops. 1 reduce these to a soft mass or pulp, to
which I add glue, horn, size, with treacle and certain alkaline or
other chemical substances, such as alum and bichromate of potass, so as
to give the material more or less hardness, elasticity, or tenacity. The
pulp so prepared I either roll into sheets, slabs, or cast, mould, or
press into the desired shapes. Sometimes when additional strength or
tenacity is required I introduce paper or fibre, or to give the surface a
finish I cover it with paper and colour, paint, varnish, or otherwise coat
it. In preparing the material I sometimes introduce a greater or less
quantity of paper pulp, and for the particular purpose of casing or
covering wholly or partially bottles and other fragile vessels I sometimes
use paper pulp alone, moulding or otherwise forming it into the shapes
required; such casings or coverings may be used not only for protecting
the vessels to which they are applied but also for containing liquids and
serving as drinking cups, as may be readily understood.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Richardson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
RICHARDSON, of Wapping, in the County of Middlesex, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by He
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, given and grant unto me, the said Edward Richardson, Her
special licence that I, the said Edward Richardson, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Richardson,
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

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"A NEW (OR IMPROVED) MATERIAL FOR MANUFACTURING CASINGS OR COVERINGS
FOR BOTTLES AND OTHER SUCH LIKE ARTICLES, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR OTHER PUBPOSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Richardson,
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Richardson, 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, that is to say-
My Invention has principally for its object the preparation of a
material for wholly or partially casing or covering bottles or other glass
or earthenware vessels. Such material is however applicable to other
purposes, such as those to which papier maché is applied, and may be
used to form sheets, slabs, mouldings, ornaments, or vessels.
The crude material which I employ is that which is generally known
in the trade as "spent hops." I reduce these to a soft mass or pulp, to
which I add glue or size with treacle and certain alkaline or other
chemical substances, such as alum and bichromate of potash, so as to
give the material more or less hardness, elasticity, or tenacity. The pulp
so prepared I either roll into sheets or slabs, or cast, mould, or press into
the desired shapes. Sometimes when additional strength or tenacity is
required I introduce paper or fibre, or to give the surface a finish I cover
it with paper, and colour, paint, varnish, or otherwise coat it. In
preparing the material I sometimes introduce a greater or less quantity
of paper pulp, and for the particular purpose of casing or covering wholly
or partially bottles and other fragile vessels I sometimes use paper pulp
alone, moulding or otherwise forming it into the shapes required; such
casings or coverings may be used not only for protecting the vessels to
which they are applied but also for containing liquids and serving as
drinking cups, as may be readiy understood.
I will now describe more particularly how I manufacture according to
my Invention a casing for an ordinary bottle. I take either a bottle or a

page_text: mould made to the shape of a bottle; on this I
wrap paper and secure
it by gluing its edges together. I then serve the paper with a coating of
glue, and while the glue is moist I roll it over a layer of spent hops. A
certain thickness of these hops adheres to the glued paper, and this is
smoothed down by rolling on a surface. When greater thickness of
hops is desired I serve the surface. first prepared with another coating of
glue and repeat the process as many times as may be necessary. When
the required thickness is attained I remove from the mould the casing so
prepared, of which the paper forms the internal surface, colouring,
painting it, or coating it with tin foil, paper, or other material if desired.
For casings or vessels of other shapes I employ the same process, using
moulds of suitable form. I also find it convenient so to form the
surface on which the layer of hops is placed and on which the mould
is rolled that it shall correspond with the outline of the mould, and that
thus the mould shall receive a uniform coating and uniform pressure.
Sometimes instead of using glue alone I use it in combination with
treacle and bichromate of potass, which renders the material more soft
and elastic. One such mixture which I find suitable consists of 200
parts of glue to 100 parts of treacle and 1 part of bichromate of potass.
When the material is to be employed in forming sheets or slabs I use a
backing which may be canvass, calico, paper, or other fabric. I pass
this through or over rollers and serve it with glue; I strew the spent
hops over this glue, and then pass the whole between rollers so as to
press down the material and equalize the thickness. The surface thus
prepared being again glued receives a fresh supply of hops and is again
rolled, and this process may be repeated as often as may be necessary to
form the desired thickness. In forming mouldings or ornaments I also
use a backing as above described which I serve with glue; over this I
strew the spent hops and then press the whole between moulds made to
the desired shape. Instead of using spent hops alone I sometimes use
shreds of paper or fibres mixed therewith so as to give greater strength
and tenacity to the material. Sometimes I find it desirable to give the
surface a better texture by coating it with finer material, such as paper
pulp or spent hops ground; this may be done either by rolling a
thickness of moist pulp over the glued surface, or by strewing or dusting
the dry powdered material thercon before finally rolling.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that

page_text: I do not limit myself to the particular modes which I have described of
forming the articles which I prepare, as these may be made in various
ways of the materials which I employ.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Richardson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
EDWP. RICHARDSON. (L.S.)