AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHUTTLECOCKS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaac Livermore, of 5, Shrubland Grove East,
Queen's Road, Dalston, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHUTTLECOCKS."
Sealed the 12th May 1859, and dated the 18th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaac Livermore at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th November 1858.
I, ISAAC LIVERMORE, of 5, Shrubland Grove East, Queen's Road, Dalston,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHUTTLECOCKS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object an improvement in the manufacture of
shuttlecocks. For this purpose, in order to render shuttlecocks more suitable
to be used with solid bats, and otherwise to improve the same, india-rubber,
and by preference vulcanized india-rubber, is applied to the under surface of
a shuttlecock in which the feathers are stuck. In carrying out the Invention
it is found desirable to use a disc of gutta percha on the upper surface of a
shuttlecock into which the feathers or wings are stuck; or cork, or wood, or
other material may be used for this purpose; or the feathers or wings may be
stuck into the india-rubber. It is, however, believed that gutta percha will
hold the feathers or wings of shuttlecocks better than any other material
'heretofore used.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Isaac Livermore in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISAAC
LIVERMORE, of 5, Shrubland Grove East, Queen's Road, Dalston, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of November, 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 Isaac Livermore, Her special licence that I, the said Isaac
Livermore, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Isaac Livermore, 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 "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHUTTLECOCKS," upon the condition,
(amongst others,) that I, the said Isaac Livermore, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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
İnvention, 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 Isaac Livermore, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say -
This Invention has for its object an improvement in the manufacture of
shuttlecocks. For this purpose, in order to render shuttlecocks more suitable
to be used with solid bats, and otherwise to improve the same, india-rubber,
and by preference vulcanized india-rubber, is applied to the under surface of a
shuttlecock in which the feathers are stuck.
. In carrying out the Invention, it is found desirable to use a disc of gutta
percha on the upper surface of a shuttlecock, into which the feathers or wings
are stuck; or cork or wood, or other material may be used for this purpose; or
the feathers or wings may be stuck into the india-rubber. It is however

page_text: believed that gutta percha will hold the feathers or wings of shuttlecocks better
than any other material heretofore used.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same. The great object to be
accomplished in making shuttlecocks is to obtain the advantage consequent on
the use of india-rubber, and by preference vulcanized india-rubber, or india-
rubber so treated as to retain its elasticity in cold as well as warm weather.
And in making a shuttlecock according to my Invention, the body into which
the feathers or wings are struck may be all of india-rubber, either hollow or
solid, moulded, or shaped into the form desired; but it is desirable that the -
upper surface into which the ends of the feathers are stuck should be of a
somewhat harder material, and therefore I apply a disc of gutta percha or of
cork, or of leather, or of paper, or of any suitable material to give to the upper
surface of the body of a shuttlecock a greater degree of hardness than the
lower end or part that is struck by the bat, which I prefer to be as elastic as
possible. It is not essential that the india-rubber portion of the body should
be pure india-rubber, whether vulcanized or not, as the india-rubber used may
be ground up with other material, such as cork dust or other matter, but care
should be taken not materially to reduce the elasticity of the india-rubber
should other foreign matters be mixed therewith. When using a disc or
covering on the upper surface of the body of a shuttlecock of india-rubber, it
is desirable to dip the ends of the feathers or wings in india-rubber cement,
or other suitable cement, before inserting them into the holes which are formed
through the upper surface to receive them, and such cement may also be used
when inserting the ends into the body of a shuttlecock made wholly of india-
rubber.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isaac Livermore, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine
0
Witness,
E. BARKER.
ISAAC LIVERMORE. (L.s.)