IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER CLOTH, OR. IMITATION. DAY WARDING WAMED BROOD
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nicholas Charles Szerelmey, of No. 6, Park Terrace,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER CLOTH, OR. IMITATION.
DAY WARDING WAMED BROOD
"
Sealed the 27th June 1862, and dated the 1st January 1862..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nicholas Charlės Szerelmey
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st January 1862.
I, NICHOLAS CHARLES SZERELMEY, of No. 6, Park Terrace, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER CLOTH, OR IMITATION
LEATHER, AND IN RENDERING CERTAIN FABRICS WATERPROOF," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in combining the substances herein-after mentioned,
and applying them to linen, woollen, and cotton fabrics, as herein-after described,
by which the fabrics are saturated and coated, and a substance produced
resembling leather, and applicable for all purposes to which leather may be
applied, which I call panonia leather. The same process also renders the said
fabrics waterproof. The imitation leather can be prepared so as to resemble
different kinds of leather, amongst others, calf skin and cow leather, and these

page_text: can be blacked and polished with common blacking, and are particularly
suitable for boots and shoes.
My mode of proceeding is as follows:-I boil alum in infusion of oak
bark, such as is ordinarily used for tanning leather, I add gelatine, and boil
again, I then dissolve stearic acid in rosin oil, and add zopissa (dissolved in
linseed oil as herein-after described), I add the zopissa dissolved in linseed oil
to the above-mentioned infusion of oak bark, alum, and gelatine, and mix all
together. This I call composition No. 1. I then take linseed oil purified
according to my Invention, described in the Specification to my Letters Patent
dated the Seventeenth day of December, One thousand eight hundred and sixty,
and numbered 3092, and heat it until it takes fire spontaneously. When it
has burnt for a short time, the flame is extinguished by means of a close-fitting
cover to the vessel in which it is heated. The vessel is then removed from the
fire and allowed to cool for about a quarter of an hour. It is then returned
to the fire and heated until it burns again for a short time. The flame is
then extinguished as before. I then add zopissa to it, and heat the whole
until the zopissa is completely dissolved, I then add rosin, and heat till the
rosin is dissolved. When cool I add pure rosin lampblack. This I call com-
position No. 2. I saturate the fabric with composition No. 1, and when dry
I saturate and coat it three or more times with composition No. 2, allowing
the composition to dry between each saturation and coating. When I wish
to make the leather cloth resemble enamelled leather, I treat it as follows:-
After it has been prepared as above described, I coat it once or twice with a
composition prepared in the following way, namely:-I dissolve zopissa in
linseed oil prepared as above described, and when partially cooled I add
solution of tin. For an imitation of Morocco leather, I treat the fabric with
solutions Nos. 1 and 2, as above described, and then coat it with zopissa
dissolved in linseed oil, as above described, to which the requisite colouring
matter previously ground has been added. With reference to the proportions
in which the above ingredients should be mixed I find the following answer
the purpose:

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Nicholas Charles Szerelmey in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st July 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NICHOLAS
CHARLES SZERELMEY, late of No. 6, Park Terrace, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, but now of Field House, Clapham Common, in the said County,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Nicholas Charles Szerelmey, Her special licence that I, the said Nicholas
Charles Szerelmey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Nicholas Charles Szerelmey, 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 MANUFACTURE OF LEATHER CLOTH, OR IMITATION LEATHER,
AND IN RENDERING CERTAIN FABRICS WATERPROOF," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Nicholas Charles Szerelmey, my executors or adminis-

page_text: 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 I, the said Nicholas Charles Szerelmey, 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.:-
My Invention consists in combining the substances herein-after mentioned,
and applying them to linen, woollen, and cotton fabrics, as herein-after
described, by which the fabrics are saturated and coated, and a substance
produced resembling leather, and applicable for most purposes to which
leather may be applied, which I call panonia leather. The same process
also renders the said fabrics waterproof. The imitation leather can be
prepared so as to resemble different kinds of leather, amongst others calf
skin and cow leather, and these can be blacked and polished with common
blacking. The process does not render the fabric impervious to air, and
when used for the uppers of boots and shoes (for which it is very suitable) it
does not impede the perspiration.
My mode of proceeding is as follows:-I use three compositions, which I
have herein-after designated as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 respectively.

page_text: heated. The vessel is then removed from the fire and allowed to cool for
about a quarter of an hour. It is then returned to the fire and heated until
it burns again for a short time. The flame is then extinguished as before. I
then add the zopissa to it, and heat the whole until the zopissa is completely
dissolved
Solution of tin -
6 pounds.
In this composition the zopissa is dissolved in the linseed oil in the way
described for composition No. 1, and when the mixture has partially cooled I
add the solution of tin. The addition of about forty pounds of Prussian blue
brightens and improves the colour. I first saturate the fabric with composition
No. 1, and dry it in the air. When dry I saturate and coat it three or more
times with composition No. 2, drying it in the air between each saturation and
coating. For an imitation of enamelled leather, after the fabric has been
saturated and coated with compositions No. 1 and No. 2, as above described,
I coat it once or twice with composition No. 3, drying it in a stove in the
ordinary way used in making leather cloth. For an imitation of Morocco
leather; after the fabric has been saturated and coated with compositions No. 1
and No. 2, as above described, I coat it with zopissa dissolved in linseed oil,
as above described, in the proportions of about twenty pounds of zopissa to
two hundred and forty gallons of linseed oil, to which the requisite colouring
matter previously ground has been added, but these proportions must be
slightly varied according to the colouring matter used. The required grain is
produced by a roller, press, or any other known way. All the linseed oil used
used, be purified by the
in the processes above described must, before being
process described in the Specification filed in pursuance of Letters Patent for

page_text: "An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Purifying Oils and Varnishes,"
granted to me, and dated the Seventeenth day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two, and numbered 3092.
The substance which I have herein called zopissa is a mineral found in
Arabia, and in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea, and is known in Arabia 5
and Egypt by the names "zopissa" and "zorogh."
I claim as my Invention the use of the substance called zopissa in the
manufacture of leather cloth, or imitation leather, and in rendering linen,
woollen, and cotton fabrics waterproof.
I also claim as my Invention the compositions above described, and the 1
mode of making leather cloth, or imitation leather, above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nicholas Charles Szerelmey, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this First day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
N. C. SZERELMEY. (L.S.)