A METHOD OF FORMING A FABRIC OR FABRICS, APPLIC ABLE TO VARIOUS USES, BY COMBINING CAOUTCHOUC, OR CERTAIN COMPOUNDS THEREOF, WITH WOOD, WHALEBONE, OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, VEGETABLE OR ANIMAL, MANUFACTURED OR PREPARED FOR THAT PURPOSE, OR WITH METALLIC SUBSTANCES MANUFACTURED OR PREPARED
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HANCOCK, of Numbers 1 and 2, Sidney Square, Mile End, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eighth day of
February, in the third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Hancock, Her especial
licence, that I, the said James Hancock, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Hancock, my exors, adiñors, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Ber-
wick-upon-Tweed, and also within all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, my Invention of "A METHOD OF FORMING A FABRIC OR FABRICS, APPLIC
ABLE TO VARIOUS USES, BY COMBINING CAOUTCHOUC, OR CERTAIN COMPOUNDS THEREOF,
WITH WOOD, WHALEBONE, OR OTHER FIBROUS MATERIALS, VEGETABLE OR ANIMAL,
MANUFACTURED OR PREPARED FOR THAT PURPOSE, OR WITH METALLIC SUBSTANCES
MANUFACTURED OR PREPARED;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said James Hancock, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause
the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Hancock, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which same is to be performed, is described and ascer-
tained as follows, that is to say:-
My Invention may be generally described as the obtaining a film or stratum
of caoutchouc, supported by wood, whalebone, or other fibrous materials,
vegetable or animal, manufactured or prepared for that purpose, or with
metallic substances manufactured or prepared, or either or all of them, or as
the application of one or more coatings or coverings of caoutchouc, or a com-
pound thereof, upon an intermediate substance formed of wood, whalebone, or
other fibrous materials, vegetable or animal, manufactured or prepared for that
purpose, or with metallic substances manufactured or prepared, or either or all
of them, according to the uses to which I may desire to apply them, which
fabric or fabrics are then themselves applicable to various uses, and may either
be used separately for many purposes, or may be combined with or covered by
well known materials, so as to be applicable to various purposes, of which I
may mention, merely by way of example, that by this method articles may be
produced applicable for sheathing for ships' bottoms; secondly, for roofing
houses and other buildings, in describing which, I shall also point out the mode
of making my fabric or fabrics, as well as some of the applications thereof.
My Invention as applied to sheathing for ships' bottoms, is performed as
follows. I first take thin strips of whalebone of the width of a quarter of an
inch, and of the thickness of from th to th of an inch, and of the length
which I intend the sheathing hereafter mentioned to be, that is, about thirty-
four inches long, but it will be obvious that these dimensions are not essential,
and admit of much variation according to the strength of material required.
These strips are then to be platted, crossed, or woven together, the strips
crossing, and each strip being alternately above and below in
such a manner as to leave an open space between each strip of
from one quarter to half an inch, thus-
Or I use thin strips of metal or metal wire, either flatted
or round, (preferring copper,) and interweave or work it into
the required size, according to the well-known method used and
practised by metal and wire workers. I also use the whalebone and
metal and metal wire, prepared in the manner before mentioned, and
flatted, crossed, or interwoven together alternately, according to the
method which I have already described. I then take two sheets of felt
of the size of the fabric required. I then place one of the platted or woven
fabrics which I have last before described, of whalebone or metal, or of

page_text: both combined, between the two pieces of felt referred to, and saturate the
whole completely with the compound solution of caoutchouc hereinafter
described, in the manner hereinafter mentioned, so that the felt shall be
entirely surrounded by and embedded in, and coated over and covered by the
said compound. The method which I adopt for saturating the said fabric
with the compound solution of caoutchouc is as follows:-I use two rollers,
either wooden, metal, or padded, which are made to work in bearings in a
metal trough or pan (in a steam bath), into which trough or pan the
said compound is to be put. At one end of the trough is a roller, either
wooden, metal, or padded, from off which the said fabric is conducted into and
through the compound in the said trough, between the rollers therein fixed,
and then submitted to pressure by being passed between two similar rollers,
made to work in bearings over the trough, in order to free the fabric from any
superfluous quantity of the compound, and also to give it smoothness. It is
then conducted over another roller at the other end of the trough. I then
pass
the whole through a pair of rollers at a greater pressure, or obtain the pressure
by means of a screw or hydraulic press. I then cut or trim the fabric to
whatever size I may require it, generally about twenty inches by thirty-four
inches, by placing the same on a table with an iron top of that size, and passing
a sharp knife or other proper instrument round the edges of the same fabric.
I then bevil the edges thereof with a knife or other suitable instrument, which
done, the fabric is fit for use.
The caoutchouc compound mentioned herein by me is to be made as
follows:-Take any quantity of caoutchouc and steep it in coal tar oil or oil of
turpentine, or a mixture of both, sufficient to dissolve it, (coal tar oil is much
cheaper than oil of turpentine, but it has an offensive smell, which makes it
desirable to use a proportion of oil of turpentine or oil of turps altogether, for
all purposes where the smell of coal tar oil would be objectionable,) when
dissolved it must be passed through an iron strainer. Then take pitch, and
either Archangel or Stockholm tar in equal quantities. These ingredients (the
pitch and tar) are to be heated in a steam bath or other suitable apparatus,
and whilst in a warm and fluid state the said caoutchouc solution is to be
added in the proportion of one part of the compound to eleven parts of pitch
and tar; whilst the said ingredients are mixing, they must be kept well stirred,
by which means the said caoutchouc compound before mentioned will be pro-
duced in a proper state to saturate the said fabric, as previously set forth.
Should the said compound be too thick, it may be rendered thinner by the
addition of tar, of if not sufficiently thick, by adding pitch. However, the
exact proportions of these materials one to the other will depend on circum-

page_text: stances, namely, the quality of the materials respectively, for which reason no
precise rule can be laid down.
In the application of my Invention for the purpose of roofing or covering
houses, I first prepare the fabric in the following manner :-I make use of a
common scale board cutting machine, made on the principle of a carpenter's
plane, placed in an inverted position, which machine may be of any size, and
worked either by horse, steam, or hand power, as may be required. In front
of the knife therein used I place several small steel points or cutters, at given
distances from each other. I then set my knife to the thickness I want to cut
into the plank or log of wood, (which plank or log of wood may be of any size),
and set my points or cutters so as to propel from the face of the machine or
plane (by penetrating the plank or log of wood) a shaving of the thickness
required, which will be from th to th of an inch. I then place the plank
or log of wood on the machine in the usual way. The machine is then to be
put in motion by one of the powers before mentioned, and produces a shaving
of the requisite thickness, and divided into slips of the requisite width, by the
aforesaid points or cutters. The strips are then to be platted, woven, or crossed,
to the size wanted in the manner before mentioned, with or without the inter-
mediate spaces
if a greater length of shaving be required than
that which can be produced from the plank or log of wood, by means of the
scale board machine, the lengths so produced may be joined end to end by
glue, sewing, or any other convenient means. Sometimes for the platting,
weaving, or crossing, I use whalebone or cane, cut into strips, according to the
well-known practice of cutting those materials instead of the wood. I then
take two sheets of felt, and place the fabric between them, and then completely
and effectually saturate the whole, as I have before described, with my said
compound solution of caoutchouc, prepared as aforesaid. Sometimes I only
apply the said felt after being saturated as aforesaid to one side of the said
fabrics. I then pass the whole between a pair of heated cylinders or rollers, or
other convenient pressure, for the purpose of extracting all the exerberant por-
tions of the said compound from the said fabric. When dry, I cut the said
fabric with a knife or other suitable instrument to whatever size I may require
it; this being done, it is fit for use.
One of the most prominent advantages of my Invention is, that this fabric
can be made of any given size that may be required within certain limits, so as
to form a roof in one piece.
I also form a fabric by platting or weaving strips of cane, whalebone, or
wood, separately or together alternately, according to the well know method
of platting or weaving. I then take two pieces of scaleboard, and cover the

page_text: surfaces thereof with my said caoutchouc composition, by spreading it in an
even manner thereon with a spatula or other convenient instrument. The
fabric last mentioned is then placed between the said scaleboard whilst in a
tacky or sticky state, and the whole is then submitted to pressure by passing it
through a pair of rollers or other convenient pressing apparatus. When this
has been done, the fabric is to be dried, when it is fit for use, and may be
applied for many purposes to which leather is now applicable.
I also produce another fabric applicable for hat bodies, by weaving or
platting as a weft strips of wood, obtained in the manner I have before set
forth, in conjunction with a flaxen thread or other fabric as a warp, and also
contrarywise, videlicet, the warp and woof reversed. Sometimes I cover fabrics
of whalebone, wood, and other materials as herein described with silk, muslin,
paper, or any common manufactured cloth made of wool, cotton, flax, hemp, or
common sheet caoutchouc, first covering their surface with my said caoutchouc
composition, and submitting them to pressure in the manner before described.
I also produce another fabric, by using metal wire, woven in the usual and
well-known method, as an intermediate substance, and cover it on both sides
with one of the said coverings prepared as herein-before mentioned. The
application of these fabrics is very numerous and varied, but, amongst others,
pannels and roofs for coaches, tilts for carts, vans, and other vehicles, military
caps, scabbard cases, and cartouch boxes, may be mentioned.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, I would remark that I
lay no claim to the construction of the machinery used in producing the said
fabrics; nor do I claim the mode of preparing the said caoutchouc compound,
or any of the separate materials used by me in making the said fabrics; but
what I claim is, the method of forming a fabric or fabrics, by combining
caoutchouc or certain compounds thereof with wood, whalebone, or other
fibrous material, vegetable or animal, manufactured or prepared for that
purpose, or with metallic substances, manufactured or prepared as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Hancock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty.
JAMES (L.s.) HANCOCK.
5 Signed, sealed, and delivered in the
presence of
RICH JONES, 1 & 2, Sidney Square, Mile End.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of August,
in the year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid James Hancock came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty.