IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING OR ENAMELLING PAPER, PASTEBOARD, CARDBOARD, CLOTH, SILK, OR OTHER SIMILAR. FABRICS.
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Ford, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Japanner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING OR
ENAMELLING PAPER, PASTEBOARD, CARDBOARD, CLOTH, SILK, OR OTHER SIMILAR.
FABRICS.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henry Ford at the Office.
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition. and Declaration,
on the 19th November 1860, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852..
I, HENRY FORD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Japanner, do.
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING.
OR ENAMELLING PAPER, PASTEBOARD, CARDBOARD, CLOTH, SILK, OR OTHER SIMILAR
FABRICS," and the manner in which the same is to be performed, to be as.
follows, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object, firstly, the coating or enamelling paper,
pasteboard, cardboard, cloth, or other similar fabric, so as to render the same
waterproof and highly useful for artists, draughtsmen, or other uses. In
carrying out my Invention, I take one pint of methylated spirits of wine, two
ounces of shell lac, one ounce of gum juniper, one quarter of an ounce of gum
mastic, and from one quarter to one half of an ounce of clear resin; but I do
not confine myself to these precise proportions, as they may probably admit of
considerable variation according to the material which I may desire to coat,

page_text: and any suitable solvent of the several gums and resins other than methylated
spirits of wine, may, if considered preferable, be employed; these proportions
and this solvent I have hitherto found to answer my purpose exceedingly well.
The gums and resins having been thoroughly dissolved in the solvent, and the
whole of the ingredients well amalgamated, I proceed to apply the mixture to
the paper or other surface I desire to enamel; and for the purposes of this
Specification I will assume that the article under operation is a sheet of
ordinary drawing paper. Employing a camel hair brush of any convenient
form or size, probably a flat brush of the description termed by artists a
softener will be found the most useful, I proceed to cover the surface of the
paper with the mixtures already described, brushing it over the surface rapidly,
and then allowing it to dry, which it does very quickly. I apply another
coating in the same way, and I repeat these coatings until a sufficient body of
the composition remains upon the surface of the paper; as soon as this is set
sufficiently hard I take the sheet if necessary to a pair of ordinary paper
pressing rollers, and lay it between plates of metal, passing it then through the
rollers the surface of the composition is smoothed, and any wave or irregu-
larities of surface which may have been left by the camel hair brush will be
removed. The paper thus treated is very much thickened in substance, is
rendered considerably stronger, has a surface very much resembling ivory,
both in colour and in gloss, is perfectly free from grease, and is much more
transparent than ordinary paper, in addition to which advantages I can, by
this treatment, take a very common description of thin cartridge, or still
cheaper paper, and render it superior for all artists' purposes to the best hand-
made drawing paper; its waterproof qualities are also highly useful. With the
paper at present employed a draughtsman requiring to correct an error or to
alter a drawing, if the drawing be in pencil, uses india-rubber, if it be indian
ink he employs a knife, a piece of glass paper, or a wet sponge, any one of
which removes the surface of the paper, as well as the line or lines to be
erased with my enamelled paper the moistened tip of the finger will remove
either pencil or ink lines without leaving the slightest trace, or in the least
degree injuring the remainder of the drawing or the surface of the paper, or if
it be desired to obliterate the entire drawing it may be done with a wet sponge,
.and the surface will be left as clear as in its original condition, and ready to
receive another drawing. This may be repeated as often as needed. The
peculiar qualities of this enamelled paper render it also highly serviceable as a
substitute for the material known as asses' skin, used by pocket-book manu-
facturers, and also on a thicker material such as pasteboard or cardboard, as a
substitute for children's slates, than which it will be considerably less liable to
;

page_text: damage, and of course much lighter and cheaper, whilst for painter's uses it
possesses the double advantage of serving both oil and water colour artists as
a sketching paper, as it will equally well receive either oil or water colours.
These are a few of its more important uses. In a common form the enamel
applied to cheap paper would make an excellent waterproof packing paper for
needles, plated wares, and steel goods, impervious to damp and free from salt
in its manufacture, articles wrapped in it would be protected from all liability
to rust or tarnish. The same wrappers may be used and re-used many times
until completely worn out, for any address or other writing, even if written with
most descriptions of common ink, may be washed off if desired, consequently
such wrapping paper would be far more economical than that at present used,
as fewer wrappers would be required, and those could be re-used several times.
The enamel when laid upon muslin, cloth, linen, canvas, or other woven
material of similar description, forms a very useful article for draughtsmen,
builders, and engineers, upon which to make their working drawings, which
would then become indestructible, and for bookbinders producing a cloth
uninjured by water; and this would likewise form a very excellent wrapper
for valuable goods. When silk or other similar woven fabric is selected for
the base, a waterproof material, suitable for a great variety of useful purposes,
may also be produced.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to any particular manner of applying the composition to the surface of
the paper or other material, though I prefer that which I have herein described,
nor do I limit myself to the exact proportions of the several ingredients
forming the enamel or composition herein described, nor to the particular
solvent, that is to say, methylated spirits, as other proportions and solvents of
the principal chemical constituents may be found to answer the purpose, but
that which I claim is the improvements in coating or enamelling paper, paste-
board, cardboard, cloth, silk, or other similar fabrics, in manner substantially
as herein more fully set forth and specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Ford, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
HENRY FORD. (L.S.)