AN IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE FOR HAIR CLOTH
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE FOR HAIR CLOTH."—A
communication from abroad by Joseph J. Comstock, of Providence,
Rhode Island, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th May 1871.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE FOR HAIR
CLOTH," a communication, to be as follows:-
The object of the said Invention is the production of a novel fabric
to be used as a substitute for the hair cloth now commonly used for
covering chairs, sofas, and other articles of furniture, and for other like
purposes.

page_text: The said Invention consists in the application to this novel purpose of
the fibres of the stem of the manilla or wild plantain tree, which fibres
are strong, durable, and clastic, and moreover can be made to imitate
closely the appearance of horsehair.
In practising my Invention the manilla fibres are softened and dressed
in a scutching machine of any suitable construction. The fibres are
then hackled or combed to further separate the long fibres from the
short fibres and the woody or refuse portions. The said fibres are
then dyed black or any other suitable colour, and are woven into cloth
in the same manner as horsehair; or they may be woven into cloth
before being dyed if preferred. The cloth thus manufactured will be
much cheaper than the hair cloth hitherto used for upholstery purposes
without being inferior thereto in point of appearance and durability.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions-of-the-Letters-Patent,-|
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, hearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign; did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis- 2
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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
Lerm therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the a
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
SUBSTITUTE FOR HAIR CLOTH," a communication to me from abroad by
Joseph J. Comstock, of Providence, Rhode Island, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Robert Lake, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in 3

page_text: Writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:—
The object of the said Invention is the production of a novel substance
to serve as a substitute for the hair cloth now commonly used for
covering chairs, sofas, and other articles of furniture, and for other like
purposes.
The said Invention consists in the application to this novel purpose
of the woody fibres of the stem of the manilla or wild plantain trec,
indigeneous to the Spice and Phillipine Islands, and known commer-
cially as manilla hemp. These fibres are strong, durable, and elastic,
and morcover can be made to imitate closely the appearance of horse-
hair.
In manufacturing cloth to be used as a substitute for hair cloth
according to my Invention the manilla fibres are used for the weft only
of the fabric, the warp being usually of linen or cotton; and it must be
observed that the manilla fibres are not spun into yarn but are woven
singly into the fabric. The said fibres should be cut into lengths
exceeding by about six inches the desired width of the fabric to be
woven; they should then be immersed and boiled in soapy water. A
strong solution of Castile soap will be found to answer the purpose well.
I prefer to use a wooden vessel in this process, and to boil the water by
means of a steam jet. The length of time the fibres should remain in
the softening liquid will vary in different cases. The average time will
be from one and a half to two hours. The fibres will then become soft
and pliable, and the gummy matters of the plant or some of them
will be extracted. I then remove the boiled fibres to a draining vat to
expel the water and hang them up to dry. The fibres may be further
softened if necessary by passing them through a scutching machine.
They are then hackled or combed to separate the long fibres from the
short fibres, and to remove the woody or refuse portions. They should
be subjected to this treatment while in a damp state, and are therefore

page_text: removed from the drying lines before they are quite dry. After being
hackled they may be returned to the said lines to completely dry them.
They are then woven by single fibres in a loom furnished with a cotton
or linen warp, the loom being of the same construction as that used for
weaving hair cloth. The fabric when taken from the loom should have
its superfluous fibres singed off or sheared, and it should afterwards be
dyed and calendered by processes well known to manufacturers of cloth.
The fabric after being woven and trimmed is dyed black or any other
suitable colour, unless the materials have been dyed before being woven.
It is then pressed between rollers with stiff paper between the layers,
and I use cither hot calender rolls or hot plates in this part of the
manufacture. This fabric when completed, though produced at much
less cost than hair cloth, is for every useful and ornamental purpose
equal to the same. It is quite as durable as hair cloth, and because it is
more pliable wears more evenly, and is better suited to form a covering
for furniture.
Having thus fully described the nature of the said Invention as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the
same is to be performed, I claim the improved substitute for hair cloth
as herein set forth.
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
Wч. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.).