AN IMPROVED STRAP OR BAND FOR DRIVING MACHINERY, AND FOR OTHER PUR- POSES
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
EDWARDS, of Cow Cross, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Ninth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and forty-
one, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Edwards, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Edwards, my exors, adors,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said John Edwards, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of Her said
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her
Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"AN IMPROVED STRAP OR BAND FOR DRIVING MACHINERY, AND FOR OTHER PUR-
POSES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I, the
said John Edwards, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, under
my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and inmediately after the date of the said in

page_text: part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said John
Edwards, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully shewn and set forth
in the following Specification thereof (that is to say):
:-
Whereas the flat straps, or belts, or bands, hitherto commonly used for
driving machinery, are made of leather or of some woven fibrous substance, as
hemp or wool, and all such straps or bands wear away rapidly under the great
degree of friction to which they are subjected.
And whereas catgut has also been made use of for the purpose of driving
machinery with great advantage in point of durability, but has been so
employed in the form of cords only, consisting of strings or threads of catgut
twined together, and adapted to run in grooves only.
Now, the nature of my said Invention consists in making flat straps or bands
of catgut suitable for running on plain surfaces or drums, and of any required
breadth or length, or of endless lengths or pieces, without any joinings being
visible, or at least without there being any inequalities of surface at the
joinings; and the manner in which my said Invention is performed is as
follows:-
I weave (by means of a loom of the sort used for wire weaving, and by
following the same methods as are used by wire weavers) strings or threads of
catgut into flat straps or bands, either plain, or tweeled, or otherwise; and
when it is desired to form an endless strap or band, or a strap or band
of great length without the joinings being visible, or at least without
any inequalities of surface at the joinings, I adopt any of the well-
known methods of splicing, taking care to cut or burn off the ends of
the interwoven threads or strands close to the surface of the strap or
band. And I declare that flat straps or bands made of catgut in the manner
herein-before described may be advantageously used, not only for the driving of s
machinery, but also for suspending, lifting, and drawing great weights, and
generally for all purposes where flat straps or bands of great strength and
flexibility are required.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as of my 3
Invention is the making of flat straps or bands suitable for driving machinery,
and for the other purposes before specified, of catgut, and of any required breadth
or length, or of endless lengths or pieces, without any joinings being visible

page_text: or at least without there being any inequalities of surface at the joinings, and
that either by weaving and splicing in the manner herein-before described or
by any other equivalent and suitable methods.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
Ninth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
JOHN (L.s.) EDWARDS.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of May, in the year
of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid John Edwards came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.