IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING THE MATERIAL KNOWN AS 'PARKESINE,' AND IN APPLYING IT TO Dora
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Lewthwaite, of Woburn Place, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TREATING THE MATERIAL KNOWN AS 'PARKESINE,' AND IN APPLYING IT TO
Dora"
aled the 28th August 1868, and dated the 4th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Lewthwaite at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th March 1868.
I, JOHN LEWTHWAITE, of Woburn Place, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TREATING THE MATERIAL KNOWN AS 'PARKESINE,' AND IN APPLYING IT TO
VARIOUS USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to apply parkesine to various useful
and ornamental purposes to which it has not been hitherto applied, or
to which it has been applied inefficiently; and my Invention primarily

page_text: consists in certain modes or methods of treating and manipulating such
compound in order to apply it as aforesaid.
I take the parkesine in a plastic or pasty state, spread it upon the
surface to which I wish to apply it, and then immediately subject it
to pressure, which must be sufficient to drive out all atmospheric air.
I continue to press for about two hours or longer; then if the surface of
parkesine thus obtained is required to be polished, I allow it to become
sufficiently fixed or dried by exposure to the atmosphere for about two
months or otherwise, and I then polish it by rotating brushes or
otherwise. The thickness of the coating of parkesine will in all cases.
be regulated by the purpose to which it is to be applied.
Having described the manner in which I treat the parkesine I proceed
to explain the manner in which I apply it to various purposes.
To manufacture a printed fabric or a plain pliable fabric or surface,
I take a textile or other fabric of any desired make, smooth, ribbed, or
otherwise, pass it from a roller over a table or straightedge, and cover
it with the parkesine in a pasty or plastic state in any ordinary manner.
From another roller I carry a sheet of paper lithographed or printed
upon if a printed fabric is desired, and plain if a plain surface be
desired, and immediately upon the fabric being coated the fabric and
paper meet between two pressure rollers by which they are united by
the interposed parkesine, all the atmospheric air being pressed out. The
united fabric is then wound tightly upon another roller on which it
is left for about two hours or longer, when it may be unwound. Then
if a polished surface be required the parkesine is allowed to become
fixed, as before mentioned, and the fabric is then submitted to the
action of one or more rotating brushes immersed or partly so in water,
whereby the paper is removed from the parkesine, the surface of which
becomes polished, any design which was printed or lithographed on the
paper being left on the parkesine. Sometimes I mix chalk or other
material with the water in which the brushes revolve to facilitate the
polishing. For small articles the cleaning and polishing may be per-
formed by hand. Instead of paper a sheet of zinc may be employed
prepared with a drawing, as in zincography; after the parkesine has
become fixed the sheet is stripped off and the surface of the parkesine
may then be polished; or embossed paper may be used, or any other
suitable surface plain or otherwise. I do not limit myself to the
employment of rollers for obtaining the necessary pressure, as a press

page_text: or other contrivance may be used. Any number of fabrics may be
united in the manner described, and when so united used for any suitable
purpose.
When I wish to unite more than two fabrics or surfaces I proceed as
follows:-I unite the first two fabrics in the manner before explained,
and carry the double fabric over a table or straightedge on which it
is coated with the parkesine; the third fabric from a separate roller
then passes with the coated double fabric between a pair of pressure
rollers, so that I obtain a triple fabric, which may in like manner have
one or more other fabrics or thicknesses joined thereto. If the thick-
nesses thus joined be paper they may be readily separated by wetting
or damping one end and then stripping them asunder, and I obtain
paper which is made thoroughly waterproof by the parkesine. When it is
desired to afterwards separate several thicknesses of textile fabric I
introduce a film of water between the thicknesses immediately after
pasting and before pressing, or I allow time to elapse before uniting
them, so that the adhesion is imperfect. A substitute for parchment
or imitation parchment may also be obtained by coating a sheet of
paper or cloth with a suitable thickness of the parkesine in the manner
described.
In applying parkesine to making shoes and other like articles I take
an inner mould, preferably made in pieces, and being when put together
like an ordinary last, and I cover this with felt or other fabric; I then
surround the covered inner mould with an outer mould, a space being
between the moulds corresponding with the required thickness of the
shoe. I then force in the parkesine by a pump or otherwise so as to
fill this space, and after leaving the moulds for about two hours the
shoe composed of the felt and parkesine is removed; the shoe may
be made in one piece, or the uppers, soles, and heels may be made
separately, and afterwards united by stitching or otherwise. The mode
described of making shoes also applies to making other hollow articles.
In applying parkesine to the manufacture of razor strops and other
surfaces for sharpening, brightening, or polishing, I mix a suitable
quantity of titanic iron sand or other sand or grit with the parkesine,
and cause by pressure, as before explained, a suitable thickness of the
parkesine to adhere to a cloth or other surface; soles for shoes and boots
may be made in the same way.
Among the various useful and ornamental purposes to which parkesine

page_text: treated and manipulated, as herein-before explained, may be applied,
I may mention the following in addition to those already named:-
Gaiters, leggings, cricketers' pads, overalls, coats, waterproof suits,
baths, boats, pontoons, trunks, bags, boxes of various kinds, wrappers
and covers for boxes, covers for the seats and backs of sofas and chairs,
covering the tops of tables, of washstands and sideboards, fringing book
shelves, tapestry, curtains, sun blinds, awnings, boat, waggon, and rick
covers, tobacco pouches, cigar cases, drinking cups, sandwich boxes,
playing cards, bottle stoppers and capsules, sails for vessels and wind-
mills, saddles and harness, carriage linings and seats, driving aprons,
splash boards, gun cases, coverings for roofs and emigrant. houses, tents,
hose, tubing, washable picture books for children, ornamental backs for
books and other articles, luggage and other lables and tickets, hangings
for walls, soldiers' belts, knapsacks and pouches, uniting cloth garments
in lieu of sewing, substitute for sacking or canvas for bed bottoms,
hospital sheets, backs of cards for machinery, maps, charts, sign and
advertisement boards, cab plates, buttons, badges, linings for cisterns,
packing cases and coffins, busts, anatomical models, corporate and other
seals, printers' blankets, inking and printing rollers, covering rollers of
washing and wringing machines, carriage suspenders, cuffs, collars,
neckties, braces, cap peaks, hats, caps, sheathing vessels, portable gas
holders, clock and other dials, pickers for looms, canisters, jars, buckets,
horse-shoes, corn plaisters, wheel tyres for velocipedes, perambulators,
and other carriages, chest protectors, armour for ships.
The parkesine may be of any desired color, the surface may be
plain or ornamented by embossing, printing, or otherwise, and other
substances may be mixed with it according to the use to which it is to
be applied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Lewthwaite in the Great Seal Patent Office 30
on the 4th September 1868.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Lewthwaite, Her special licence
that I, the said John Lewthwaite, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Lewthwaite, 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
TREATING THE MATERIAL KNOWN AS PARKESINE, AND IN APPLYING IT TO VARIOUS
USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Lewthwaite, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Lewthwaite, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
The object of my Invention is to apply parkesine to various useful and
ornamental purposes to which it has not been hitherto applied, or to
which it has been applied inefficiently; and my Invention primarily
consists in certain modes or methods of treating and manipulating such
compound in order to apply it as aforesaid.
I take the parkesine in a plastic or pasty state, spread it upon the
surface to which I wish to apply it, and then immediately subject it to
pressure, which must be sufficient to bring it in close contact with the
surface. I continue to press for about two hours or longer; should it be
required to have the material pliant or supple I continue the
pressure for
several days. I find it important that the evaporation of the spirit in
the parkesine should be slow and gradual, especially when making

page_text: imitation leather, in order to prevent brittleness or harshness; for this
purpose a layer of cloth may be interposed between the layers or rolls
of the fabric while they are being submitted to pressure. If the surface
of parkesine thus obtained is required to be polished I allow it to become
sufficiently fixed or dried by exposure to the atmosphere for from, say five
days to a month, or otherwise, and I then polish it by rotating brushes
or otherwise. The thickness of the coating of parkesine will in all cases
be regulated by the purpose to which it is to be applied, and any number
of coatings of parkesine may be applied one above another in order to
obtain the required thickness.
Having described the manner in which I treat the parkesine I proceed
to explain the manner in which I apply it to various purposes.
To manufacture a printed fabric or a plain pliable fabric or surface
I take a textile or other fabric of any desired make, smooth, ribbed, or
otherwise, pass it from a roller over a table or straightedge and cover
it with the parkesine in a pasty or plastic state in any ordinary manner.
From another roller or other appliance I carry a sheet of paper litho-
graphed, or printed upon if a printed fabric is desired, and plain if a
plain surface be desired; and immediately upon the fabric being coated
the fabric and paper meet under a straightedge, by which they are
united by the interposed parkesine, the atmospheric air being pressed
out; the united fabric is then wound tightly upon another roller, on
which it is left for several days, or if preferred it may in about two hours
be unwound from the roller and submitted to pressure for several days
in any other convenient manner. Then if a polished surface be required
the parkesine is allowed to become fixed, as before mentioned, and the
fabric is then submitted to the action of one or more rotating brushes
immersed or partly so in water, whereby the paper is removed from the
parkesine, the surface of which becomes polished, any design which was
printed or lithographed on the paper being left on the parkesine. Some-
times I mix chalk or other material with the water in which the brushes
révolve to facilitate the polishing. For small articles the cleaning and
polishing may be performed by hand. Instead of paper a sheet of zinc
may be employed prepared with a drawing, as in zincography. After
the parkesine has become fixed the sheet is stripped off and the surface
of the parkesine may then be polished. Or embossed paper or a veneer
of wood may be used, or any other suitable surface, plain or otherwise.
I do not limit myself to the employment of a straightedge for obtaining

page_text: the necessary pressure as a press or other contrivance may be used.
Any number of fabrics may be united in the manner described, and
when so united used for any suitable purpose.
When I wish to unite more than two fabrics or surfaces I proceed as
follows:-I unite the first two fabrics in the manner before explained
and carry the double fabric over a table on which it is coated with the
parkesine; the third fabric from a separate roller then passes with the
coated double fabric under a straightedge, so that I obtain a triple
fabric, which may in like manner have one or more other fabrics or
thicknesses joined thereto. If the thicknesses thus joined be paper they
may be readily separated by thoroughly wetting or damping, and then
stripping them asunder, and I obtain paper which is made thoroughly
waterproof by the parkesine. When it is desired to afterwards separate
several thicknesses of textile fabric I introduce a film of water between
the thicknesses immediately after pasting and before pressing, or I allow
time to elapse before uniting them, so that the adhesion is imperfect.
A substitute for parchment, or imitation parchment, or leather may also
be obtained by coating a piece of cloth or paper with a suitable thickness
of the parkesine in the manner described. Or I obtain a fabric composed
entirely of parkesine by coating a piece of sized calico or other sized
surface with a suitable thickness of parkesine in the manner before.
described and by stripping off the parkesine after it has set; this
parkesine fabric may be applied to book covers and other articles by
being glued or otherwise secured thereon. A mode in which I obtain
an embossed fabric is by coating a woven fabric with parkesine, covering
the parkesine with tissue or thin paper, then placing the fabric so covered
between two pieces of flannel or other soft fabric, india-rubber being in
some cases placed outside the flannel, and next submitting the whole
to pressure, so that the parkesine and paper are driven by the softness
of the fabric and the elasticity of the rubber into the interstices or
pattern of the fabric. When the parkesine has become set, say in three
days, the pressure and the flannel and rubber are removed and the paper
is afterwards rubbed off by brushes or otherwise, leaving an embossed
fabric the surface of which is parkesine. To apply a design to a surface
of parkesine at any time after such surface has been made according to
my Invention, I place the paper or surface carrying the design, say a
photograph, upon the parkesine surface, the paper and parkesine being
both previously wetted with wood naptha or other suitable spirit; over
the paper I place a cloth, and over the cloth a heated iron; I then exert

page_text: pressure for some time, say two days, and I then remove the pressure
and take off the cloth and paper, the design which was on the pape
having been transferred to the parkesine surface. To cement or unite
two thicknesses of calico or fabric coated with parkesine according to
my Invention I apply wood naptha or other suitable spirit to the parts
to be united, bring the parts together, place a cloth over them, and apply
a heated iron and pressure, as just explained.
In applying parkesine to making shoes and other like articles I take
an inner mould, preferably made in pieces, and being when put together
like an ordinary last, and I cover this with felt or other fabric; I then
surround the covered inner mould with an outer mould, a space being
between the moulds corresponding with the required thickness of the
shoe. I then force in the parkesine by a pump or otherwise, so as
to fill this space, and after leaving the moulds for about two hours the
shoe composed of the felt and parkesine is removed; the shoe may be
made in one piece, or the uppers, soles, and heels may be made sepa-
rately and afterwards united by stitching or otherwise. The mode
described of making shoes also applies to making other hollow articles.
In applying parkesine to the manufacture of razor strops and other
surfaces for sharpening, brightening, or polishing, I mix a suitable
quantity of titanic iron sand, or other sand or grit, with the parkesine,
and cause by pressure, as before explained, a suitable thickness of the
parkesine to adhere to a cloth or other surface. Soles for shoes and
boots may be made in the same way.
Among the various useful and ornamental purposes to which parkesine
treated and manipulated as herein-before explained may be applied
I may mention the following in addition to those already named :-
Gaiters, leggings, cricketers' pads, overalls, coats, waterproof suits, baths,
boats, pontoons, trunks, bags, boxes of various kinds, wrappers and
covers for boxes, covers for the seats and backs of sofas and chairs,
covering the tops of tables, of washstands and sideboards, fringing book
shelves; tapestry, curtains, sunblinds, awnings, boat, waggon, and rick
covers, tobacco pouches, cigar cases, drinking cups, sandwich boxes,
playing cards, bottle stoppers, and capsules, sails for vessels and wind-
mills, saddles and harness, carriage linings and seats, driving aprons,
splash boards, gun cases, coverings for roofs and emigrants' houses,
tents, hose, tubing, washable picture books for children, ornamental
backs for books and other articles, luggage and other labels and tickets,

page_text: hangings for walls, soldiers' belts, knapsacks, and pouches, uniting cloth
garments in lieu of sewing, substitute for sacking or canvas for bed
bottoms, hospital sheets, carpets, backs of cards for machinery, maps,
charts, sign and advertisement boards, cab plates, buttons, badges,
linings for cisterns, packing cases and coffins, busts, anatomical models,
corporate and other seals, printers' blankets, inking and printing rollers,
covering rollers of washing and wringing machines, carriage suspenders,
cuffs, collars, neckties, braces, cap peaks, hats, caps, sheathing vessels,
portable gasholders, clock and other dials, pickers for looms, canisters,
jars, buckets, horse-shoes, corn plaisters, wheel tyres for velocipedes,
perambulators and other carriages, chest protectors, top rollers for
spinning and drawing frames, billiard cloths, cricket balls, rubbers for
piecing wool. The parkesine may be of any desired color; the surface
may be plain or ornamented by embossing, printing, or otherwise, and
other substances may be mixed with it according to the use to which it
is to be applied.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 is an elevation showing the
apparatus I employ for applying parkesine to two fabrics or surfaces to
be united.
a is a table, and b a frame, the lower end c of which is a straight-
edge. The distance of the straightedge c from the table a is adjustable
by the mechanism d or otherwise. The table a and the frame 6 must
be as wide as or wider than the fabrics to be united. e is a roller on
which one of the fabrics is wound, being led therefrom over the table a;
fis another roller on which the other fabric is wound, being led there-
from over the top and down the front of the frame b, and then under
the straightedge c. The parkesine is placed upon the lower fabric at
the place 9, as shown. The two fabrics come together under the edge c
and are carried to a winding roller h. Motion being given to this roller
it draws the two fabrics, which in their motion become coated with the
parkesine before passing under the edge c; this edge exerts sufficient
pressure to unite the two fabrics and press out the atmospheric air
between them. The fabrics are wound round the roller h, and when
found desirable I lead a third fabric from a roller i over the roller h, this
third fabric being thus interposed between the rolls of the united fabric.
The rollers should all be so fitted as to be easily removed or unshipped
in order that others may be put in their places with facility. The
frame 6 is free to turn on the point k to allow the fabrics to be led under

page_text: it, or for other purposes; is a stop to prevent the frame being drawn
too far in that direction when the fabrics are travelling; m is a plate or
frame to keep the fabric coming from the roller close against the
face of the frame b. In most cases it is desirable to have the winding
roller as near as possible to the table a; but where, as in some
instances, as before explained, it is required to have imperfect adhesion
of the united fabric I place the winding roller hat some distance from
the table a, as seen in Figure 2.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lewthwaite, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-eight.
JNO. LEWTHWAITE. (L.S.)