IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERINGS FOR INTERNAL WALLS AND SURFACES."
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jost Mahler, of No. 471, Obergrund Lucerne, in the
Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COVERINGS FOR INTERNAL WALLS AND SURFACES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jost Mahler at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd April 1867.
I, JOST MAHLER, of No. 471, Obergrund Lucerne, in the Canton of
Lucerne, Switzerland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERINGS FOR INTERNAL WALLS AND SURFACES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved substitute for ordinary paper
hangings whereby the effect of wood pannelling may be obtained combined
with cheapness and durability.
The essential feature of novelty of this Invention consists in the manu-
facture of bangings for covering walls of very thin vineers of wood in lieu of
using paper as heretofore, such veneers being cut into the form of sheets or
long webs by veneer cutting machines of any well-known construction, and
then cemented to or backed with paper or other fabric to give stability to the
sheets. These thin sheets or webs of wood are to be used for the purpose of
ornamenting the walls or other interior surfaces of buildings, whether of wood
or plaster, they being manufactured and sold in "pieces" of a length and

page_text: width about equal to that of ordinary French paper hangings ready for use,
and are applied to an ordinary wall surface, or on to doors or other wooden
surfaces in the same way as paper hangings are now applied, viz., by the aid of
paste or other adhesive cement. By suitably staining the wood or producing
ornamental designs thereon either by hand or by the aid of printing machinery
it is obvious that various ornamental effects may be obtained which will not
only be durable but cheap as compared to ordinary wood pannelling, whilst
the application of my improved hangings or coverings to doors and other
wood surfaces produces the effect of hand graining at about the same cost,
but having the advantage of greater durability. If desired solid wooden or
other cornices or mouldings may be combined with the improved wooden
hangings, so as to give the effect of panelling. In order to obtain long
lengths of the improved hangings I join several shorter lengths of the wood
veneer end to end; and with a view to concealing such junction I form
irregular points and indentations accurately corresponding to each other on
the ends to be united, so that one will fit into the other without materially
interfering with the direction or continuation of the natural grain or fibre,
as would be the case were the junction formed on the straight line.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jost Mahler in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd
October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOST
MAHLEB, of No. 471, Obergrund Lucerne, in the Canton of Lucerne,
Switzerland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Jost Mahler, Her special license that I, the said Jost Mahler,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Josh
Mahler, my executors, administrators, or 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

page_text: COVERINGS FOR INTERNAL WALLS AND SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Jost Mahler, my executors or administrators, by an in-
strument 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 Jost Mahler, 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 bad to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to an improved substitute for ordinary paper
hangings whereby the effect of wood pannelling may be obtained combined
with cheapness and durability.
The essential feature of novelty of this Invention consists in the manu-
facture of hangings for covering walls of very thin veneers of wood in lieu of
using paper as heretofore, such veneers being cut into the form of sheets or
long webs by veneer cutting machines of any well-known construction, and
then cemented to or backed with paper or other fabric to give stability to the
sheets. These thin sheets or webs of wood are to be used for the purpose of
ornamenting the walls or other interior surfaces of buildings, whether of
wood or plaster, they being manufactured and sold in "pieces" of a length
and width about equal to that of ordinary French paper hangings ready for use,
and may be applied to an ordinary wall surface, or on to doors or other wooden
surfaces in the same way as paper hangings are now applied, viz*, by the
aid of paste or other adhesive cement. By suitable staining the wood or
producing ornamental designs thereon either by hand or by the aid of printing
machinery, it is obvious that various ornamental effects may be obtained
wbich will not only be durable but cheap as compared to ordinary wood
pannelling, whilst the application of my improved hangings or coverings to
doors and other wood surfaces produces the effect of hand graining at about
the same cost, but having the advantage of greater durability. If desired,
solid wooden or other cornices or mouldings may be combined with the
improved wooden hangings, so as to give the effect of pannelling. In order
to obtain long lengths of the improved bangings I join several shorter lengths
of the wood veneer end to end, and with a view to concealing such junction I
form irregular points and indentations accurately corresponding to each other
on the ends to be united so that one will fit into the other without materially

page_text: interfering with the direction or continuation of the natural grain or fibre, as
would be the case were the junction formed on a straight line. This may be
effected by laying the end of one length of veneer upon the end of another
length, causing the two to overlap each other to an extent equal to the
longest point to be produced. The irregular points are then cut by the aid of
a sharp pointed cutter or knife, which is made to cut through both thicknesses
This is shown in the perspective plan Figure 1 on the annexed
Sheet of Drawings, the proposed cut being shown in red lines; Figure 2
shows the two pieces of veneer a, b, after they have been cut, as above
described, and with their ends brought together, so as to fit accurately into
each other, the result being the obtaining of wooden hangings of any desired
length wherein the joints are almost imperceptible.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the manufacture of wooden hangings
or coverings for walls and other surfaces in the form of long lengths, "pieces,"
or rolls ready for application in the manner adopted for paper hangings by
joining together two or more lengths of thin wood veneer along a broken or
irregular line, and strengthening such hangings by a backing of paper or woven
fabric, as in-before described.
JOST MAHLER. (L.S.)