IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ELASTIC MATS AND COVERINGS FOR FLOORS
Year: 1866

page_text: LITERS PATENT to Thomas Forster, of Streatham, in the County of
Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
ELASTIC MATS AND COVERINGS FOR FLOORS."
Sealed the 15th January 1867, and dated the 3rd October 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Forster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
October 1866.
I, THOMAS FORSTER, of Streatham, in the County of Surrey, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU.
FACTURE OF ELASTIC MATS AND COVERINGS FOR FLOORS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
elastic mats and coverings for floors.
In the manufacture of mats and coverings for floors when india-rubber
compounds are employed various articles have been produced composed of
numerous cells, in some cases with tubular or hollow upright cells open at top,
and generally (but not in all cases) open also at bottom, so that the dirt may
freely drop on to the floor or surfaces covered by such mats or coverings. In
some cases such upright cellular forms have been produced from strips or'
fillets of sheet india-rubber compounds, and in other cases thick sheets of the
india-rubber compounds have been formed into mats or coverings for floors by
perforating such thick sheets; and in other cases the plastic india-rubber

page_text: compounds have been pressed into moulds of a suitable form to produce
mats or coverings for floors of a cellular form. In all these cases the india-
rubber compounds have been prepared with sulphur and treated by heat in
order to convert or vulcanize the material, and render the mats so formed
permanently elastic. In mats or coverings for floors heretofore constructed
in these manners the parts composing their upper surfaces have been made
of a uniform height.
Now according to my Invention I employ tubes or forms of different heights,
so that in constructing an elastic mat or covering for a floor the upper surface
of each such mat or covering shall stand at two or more levels, the higher
parts being arranged in straight or irregular lines on the lower surface of
the mat or covering, the cells or sides of the cells which are of the
greater height forming ridges or projecting lines above the lower level
of the mat or covering; those ridges or projecting lines form as it were
scrapers which serve to wipe or scrape the soles of boots or shoes, and the
cleansing of the lower parts of the boots or shoes will be far more effective
than by the use as heretofore of elastic mats or coverings having one uniform
level of surface. And in order that such elastic mats or coverings may be
made of an ornamental character in place of using one uniform preparation of
india-rubber compound for making up the tubular parts or forms by which the
perforated cellular character is produced, I use various colored preparations of
india rubber compounds of like or different shapes or forms; and in building
up or forming the desired cellular structure I einploy different colored pieces
of india-rubber compound and put them together in such manner as to
produce various patterns, or what may be termed mosaic work.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Forster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd April 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
FORSTER, of Streatham, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Forster, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Forster, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said Thomas

page_text: Forster, 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 OF ELASTIC MATS AND COVERINGS FOR FLOORS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Forster, 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 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 1, the said Thomas Forster, 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 it object improvements in the manufacture of elastic
mats and coverings for floors.
In the manufacture of mats and coverings for floors when india-rubber
compounds are employed various articles have been produced composed of
numerous cells, in some cases with tubular or hollowupright cells open at top,
and generally (but not in all cases) open also at bottom, so that the dirt may
freely drop on to the floor or surfaces covered by such mats or coverings. In
some cases such upright cellular forms have been produced from strips or
fillets of sheet india-rubber compounds, and in other cases thick sheets of the
india-rubber compounds have been formed into mats or coverings forfloors by
perforating such thick sheets; and in other ca sesthe plastic india-rubbercom-
pounds have been pressed into moulds of a suitable form to produce mats or
coverings for floors of a cellular form. In all these cases the india-rubber
compounds have been prepared with sulphur and treated by heat in order to
convert or vulcanize the material and render the mats so formed permanently
elastic. Inmats or coverings for floors heretoforeconstructed in thesemanners
the parts composing their upper surfaces have been made of a uniform
height.
Nowaccording tomy Invention I employtubes or forms of different heights,
so that in constructing an elastic mat or covering for a floor the upper surface
of each such mat or covering shall stand at two or more levels, the higher
parts being arranged in straight or irregular lines on the lower surface of the

page_text: mat or covering; the cells, or sides of the cells which are of the greater
height forming ridges or projecting lines above the lower level of the mat or
covering; these ridges or projecting lines form as it were scrapers, which
serve to wipe or scrape the soles of boots or shoes, and the cleansing of the
lower parts of the boots or shoes will be far more effective than by the use as
heretofore of elastic mats or coverings having one uniform level of surface.
And in order that such elastic mats or coverings may be made of an orna-
mental character in place of using one uniform preparation of india-rubber
compound for making up the tubular parts or forms by which the perforated
cellular character is produced, I use various colored preparations of india-
rubber compounds of like or different shapes or forins, and in building up or
forming the desired cellular structure I employ different colored pieces of
india-rubber compound and put them together in such manner as to produce
various patterns, or what may be termed mosaic work.
In carrying out my improvements in the manufacture of elastic mats and
covering for floors I takeindia-rubber 10 lbs., oxide of zinc 5 lbs.,sulphur 1 lb..
and ground rags 2 lb., or any of the suitable compounds of india-rubber
(which are well understood by india-rubber manufacturers) rolled into sheets
of of an inch, or any other thickness suitable for the article required. If it
is to be an upright cellular nat I cut it into slips or fillets, the width in all
cases being the depth of the mat at its deepest part, say 1 inch wide for a
mat 1 inch deep, and then cut the fillets transversely and bevelled in suitable
lengths to lap round tin or metal tubes of the desired form. In Figure 1
they are oblong, being xx 1 inch deep; I lap them round, letting the
bevelled joints overlap, and then cement two of them together side by side,
and when together 1 again cover them as before (Figure 2). The metal tubes
are then withdrawn and blocks of wood substituted, while the sides formed by
the ends or the tubes or tius are cut away about of an inch in depth
(Figures 3) in order to produce the lower level and scraping surfaces of the
mat. When a sufficient number of these are prepared I unite them (as shewn
Figure 4) by india-rubber cement. The border is formed of another pattern,
as shown in Figure 5, by simply varying the shape of the metal tubes, two or
three plain fillets being put round the whole as a border. The mat being now
completed the metal tubes are returned to their places until after the process
of vulcanizing.
Figure 6 shows a sample of a mat of the same design as heretofore manu-
factured, but made in accordance with this Invention, each alternate row of
the tubes being of different levels. To make this form of mat I cover one set.
of tubes with strips or fillets cut about of an inch narrower than the

page_text: adjoining tubes, thus for an inch mat half the tubes would be covered with
1-inch fillets and the other halfwith illets of wide, or narrower if required.
I sometimes employ other modes of producing a like result, one of which is
shown in Figure 7. In this case the rubber compound is rolled out to half the
thickness of the depth of the mat when finished, viz, if it is to be of an inch
deep then the sheet is rolled of an inch thick and cut into strips or fillets of
inch wide. I then proceed to interlace the one into the other at equal
distances by any ready means, taking especial care to cement them with india-
rubber at the points of intersection. I prefer using a guide board, Figure S,
which is marked off into squares of two inches and pegs placed where each line
intersects the other, and if the heads of the pegs are 1 inch they will admit of
strips of an inch wide passing between them, thus giving form and regularity
to the mat as well as speed in the manufacture. A board of these dimensions
will give interstices or cells 1 inch square, and for other widths of mat rial
or to vary the shape or size of the interstices I use other suitable boards. If
this fabric is to be made in long lengths I fill the board and then remove the
finished portion, putting the last finished row upon the first row of pegs aud
then go on again until the required length is obtained, when it is rolled lightly
on a cylinder of three or four feet diameter with a cloth between each layer,
and thus placed into the heater to vulcanize. But any of the mats herein
spoken of I prefer (when practicable) to place upon flat sheets of iron or zinc
in the usual way during vulcanizing. It will be readily observed that mats
so inade present at every intersection scraping or rubbing surfaces, and if I
desire to increase them then I corrugate or emboss the sheets of india-rubber
compounds by rollers, using the under roller smooth and the upper one figured
or grooved, and cut the corrugated sheet longitudinally or transversely into
fillets as above described. Specimens of mats so made are shown in Figures
9 and 10. When I require a thinner mat of an upright cellular structure I
take a piece of the india-rubber compound, rolled as before described, and
emboss it by means of metal plates (which is well understood), embossing
up so much only as will form the scraping surfaces of the intended mat and
then puuching out the interstices by suitable punches. Figure 11 shows a
portion of an embossing plate; Figure 12 shows rubber embossed; Figure
13 shows after punching and vulcanizing.
Another part of this Invention consists in ornamenting the mais or other
coverings for floors by cementing on to them veneers or thin sheets of
colored india-rubber, so as to form a pattern or what may be termed "mosaic
work. As most colors are inuch deteriorated during the process of vul-
canising it is necessary to use a large quantity of color to a small portion of

page_text: rubber, using by preference in all cases sulphurets such as those obtained
with arsenic, zinc, antimony, and mercury, also the oxides of zinc and of
chronium. The proportions I find best with those of mercury are, 16 rubber,
32 vermillion, 1 sulphur, but in all the other colors 16 rubber and 16 color
will produce good results. These colored rubbers I have rolled into sheets,
and if it is a tubular mat that is to be ornamental I make a cylinder of the
colored rubber either of one color or combinations of colors, taking care that
the cylinders shall be just the thickness or size of the tubes of which the
cellular mat is to be formed. If they are to be of an inch deep when
finished make those that are to be ornamented of an inch less and
proceed to cut up the colored cylinder into rings thick, and having covered
the tin or metal cylinder with the strips or fillets as before described I coat
one end of it with the cement and slip the colored ring over the tins, and
adhere it perfectly to the other, and then build up the mat in any design that
such sections are capable of producing; Figures 14 and 15 are examples.
For a thin covering for a floor I take india-rubber or its compounds, and
roll it out to 1 of an inch or any other required thickness, and form a design
on it by slips or fillets of coloured rubber about of an inch thick, and punch
out other portions; Figure 16 is an example. These slits or fillets of
colored rubber are made by rolling the rubber previously softened with a little
solvent upon paper that has been sized on its surface, and which paper has
previously been ruled on the reverse side to the width of the fillets or other
designs required; the paper will enable the workman to handle these thin
fillets conveniently, and may be removed when the work is finished or after
vulcanizing, at the pleasure of the workman, by simply wetting it.
Backs may be placed to any of these mats if required, the dirt which is
collected in the cells or interstices being easily removed by turning the mat
upside down.
I wish it to be understood that in all cases 1 am speaking of india-rubber
compounds with sulphur, and that I do not claim for any compounds of india-
rubber named herein, nor for the process of applying heat to convert or
vulcanize the mats or covers produced, nor do I claim or confine myself to
any proportions of the materials nor to the pattern or shapes of mats or
coverings which are shown in the Drawings; but what I do claim is, the
making of elastic mats and coverings for floors, the parts of which are of
tubes or other forms of different heights, so that the parts of the surfaces
of such mats and coverings shall be at different levels, and thus more
effectively serve to wipe or scrape boots and shoes as herein described.
1 also claim the mode herein described of ornamenting elastic mats and

page_text: other perforated coverings for floors with vencers of colored india-rubber, as
herein described.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Thomas Forster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
THOMAS FORSTER. (L.s.)