AN IMPROVED MODE OF PREPARING SEWING SILK FOR THE MARKET
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Brown, of Gresham Street, in the City of
London, Warehouseman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF
PREPARING SEWING SILK FOR THE MARKET"
Sealed the 25th May 1855, and dated the 24th March 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Brown at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
March 1855.
I, WILLIAM BROWN, of Gresham Street, in the City of London, Warehouse-
man, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF PREPARING SEWING SILK FOR THE MARKET" to be as follows:-
It has heretofore been the practice to prepare sewing silk for the market
in banks, which are twisted or coiled up, and secured in that state by thread or
bands. In this state the silk is liable to become discolored while in the hands
of the dealer, and when purchased it requires reeling off before being used.
This latter operation is not only tedious, but in unskilful hands causes great
waste of the material by getting entangled.
Now, the object of this Invention is to avoid these inconveniences, and this
we effect by winding it directly from the swifts or bobbins on to reels, by
preference stamped out of cardboard, and the ends of silk are securely attached
thereto by suitable notches formed to receive them. The silk thus reeled off
I pack in cardboard trays, which will secure it from the dust, and permit of
the silk being inspected without removal therefrom.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
September 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROWN, of Gresham Street, in the City of London, Warehouseman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of IIer reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Brown, Her special licence, that I, the said William Brown, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Brown, 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF PREPARING
SEWING SILK FOR THE MARKET," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Brown, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 William Brown, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
It has heretofore been the practice to prepare sewing silk for the market in
hanks, which are twisted or coiled up, and secured in that state by thread or
bands, but when thus prepared it is liable to become discolored while in the
hands of the shopkeeper, and when purchased it requires reeling off before
being used. This latter operation is not only tedious, but in unskilful hands
causes great waste by the material getting entangled.
Now, the object of this Invention is to avoid these inconveniences, and this
I effect by winding the silk directly from the swifts or bobbins on to reels, by
preference stamped out of cardboard, and I secure the ends of the silk in
suitable notches formed in the reels for that purpose. Silk thus reeled off I

page_text: pack in trays, so as to permit of its inspection by the intending purchaser
without the necessity for removing the reels therefrom.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews the kind of reel which I prefer
to employ, the same being stamped out of stcut cardboard and filled with silk
thread, about equal in length to the ordinary silk skein.
The mode of packing these cards in trays for the retail dealer is shewn at.
Figures 2 and 3. Figs. 2 represent an open box fitted with trays divided
into compartments for receiving the various tints and shades of silk intended to
be kept in stock by the dealer, and Fig. 3 is a cross section of the same.
a, a, is a rectangular box, made by preference of wood, and fitted with a loose
lid b. This box is furnished with two trays c, but more may be adapted to one
box if thought desirable. These trays are divided into compartments d, d, of a
size suitable for containing any given number of cards of the same colored silk
or of varying shades of the same color. I set the cards up edgewise, so that
the top edge of the reeled silk will be exposed at once to view on the removal
of the lid of the box or other covering which protects the silk from the dust.
For the convenience of the dealer in giving his orders, I have found it desirable
to reel on to slips of cardboard samples of the different tints and shades of silk
contained in the compartments, and to attach the same permantly to the lid
of the box. To the several tints and shades I have appended a number, which,
when stated in an order, will enable the manufacturer to supply the dealer with
the precise tint required.
My improved mode of arranging cards of sewing silk in groups of the same
tint or shade, it will be understood, affords great facilities for matching colors,
and at the same time renders it unnecessary to displace or touch any cards but
those which are selected by the purchaser, thus avoiding the liability of soiling
and otherwise wasting the silk.
Having now set forth the nature and object of my Invention, and explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that,
under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim preparing sewing silk
for the market in the manner and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brown, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM BROWN. (L.S.)