IMPROVEMENTS IN LINING WALLS OF HOUSES
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
COLLARD DRAKE, of Elm Tree Road, Saint John's Wood, in the County of
Middlesex, Land Surveyor, 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 Twenty-second day of August, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Collard Drake, Ier especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said John Collard Drake, my exors, adññors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Collard Drake, my exors, adiñors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LINING WALLS OF HOUSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said John Collard Drake, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Collard Drake, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists of lining walls of houses with calico, linen, or other
suitable fabric, previously coated at the back with india rubber. And in
order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect,
I will proceed to explain the means pursued by me. I cause one surface
of the calico or other fabric used to be coated over with india rubber,
as is well understood when preparing fabrics with a coating of india rubber
for other purposes. And I prefer cotton fabrics because of their cheapness.
And the surface of the fabric being well covered, so as to prevent mois-
ture passing through such coated surface, is to form the back of the lining, the
india rubber surface coming next the wall, leaving the other surface of the
calico or other fabric to be painted; or the fabric may be painted or decorated
before putting up, or it may have paper-hanging stuck thereto after it is up;
and it should be stated that, where the fabric is to be sized, it should be done
after applying the back coating of india rubber, and before the affixing the
lining to a wall. In applying linings of cotton or other suitable fabric as
linings to walls according to my Invention, I cause the fabric used and coated
over on the back with india rubber to be affixed to the wall which is to be
lined therewith in the following manner:-I prepare strips of fabric of three
or four inches wide, and I apply india-rubber cement (dissolved india
rubber) on both sides thereof, the one side of which is caused to adhere to the
wall by india-rubber cement. The other surface of these strips is to receive
the edges of the pieces of cotton or other fabric, which are coated at the back
with india rubber, as above stated; and these strips thereof act as battens, or
they may be affixed to battens where battens have been previously applied. If
the wall be newly built, and it is wished to substitute a lining according to the
Patent for the usual plaster, I subdivide the surface of the wall into com-
partments by perpendicular and horizontal divisions, such divisions being of
the width of the linen strips previously described. I then evenly lay on such
divisions compo or Roman cement, or any other quickly-setting cement, and
fill up the pannels between the divisions (which may be called styles) with
cement and sand, mixed in proper proportions. This filling in the pannels
renders the whole surface of the wall level or even. After the compo or cement
styles and annels are set, which takes but a few days to become so, I cover

page_text: m the manner sewn in the accompanying Drawing, and here described, I do
not confine myself thereto, as variations may be made without departing from
my Invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
The
Figure 1 is a side view, and Figure 2 a back view of apparatus used to
facilitate the applying lining to walls according to my Invention.
apparatus consists of two bars, a and b, each having at its end a horizontal
bar c.
This bar will usually be fixed, and have diagonal stays d, d; but where
the bars require to vary in position, such as for walls of staircases or other-
wise, then, in place of the diagonal stays, a semicircular stay e is to be used,
by means of which, and the set screw f, the bar c may be retained in any
required inclination. On the bars c are several points g, g, on to which the
ends of the fabric are placed, and then the fabric is stretched by sliding of the
bars a and b, which they are capable of, by means of the saddle pieces h and i.
The saddle piece h is capable of being fixed by the forked clamp j to the bar a,
and the saddle piece i is capable of being affixed to the bar b by the forked
clamp, and then the bars are capable of being slided endwise in respt to
each other, by means of the screw in the standards m affixed to the saddle-
pieces, by which means the fabric on the points will be stretched, and be held
most advantageously for being applied to a wall. Through the sides of the
saddle-pieces are formed holes at n, n, and each of the legs of the forked
clamps have projecting points, which pass through the holes in the saddle-
pieces, and penetrate into the wood, and the two parts of each forked clamp
are caused to be held together and tightly press to the sides of the saddle-
pieces by means of a slide n', there being a wedge o, which, entering between
the end of the clamps, causes the other ends to press closely, and thus retain
the points in the bars a and b.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I
am acquainted with for performing the same, 1 would have it understood that
I do not claim the application of india rubber to fabrics in order to render