IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF FABRICS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF
FABRICS." A communication from abroad by John Foster Greene, of
Warwick, Rhode Island, in the United States of America.
-
Sealed the 16th October 1863, and dated the 22nd May 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd May 1863.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
5 in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF
FABRICS," to be as follows:-
. This Invention consists in combining with a surface of india-rubber, either
in sheets or attached to any textile or felted fabrics, the fibres of fur or dis-
integrated felted or woven fabrics. These fibres may also be combined with
india-rubber spread upon leather, and the fabric thus produced may be called
"furred leather." Other substances or fabrics may also be prepared in the same
manner. Many attempts have been made to use fibres of some length in the

page_text: manufacture of india-rubber fabrics with napped surfaces, but the difficulties
in causing the nap to be attached with sufficient tenacity to the india-rubber
surface and of laying it only evenly and with the fibres in parallel lines or nearly
so, so as to form a nap, have been so great that these processes have been
abandoned, and flocks of wool without length of staple and of an almost dusty
fineness form the material in general use for covering the surface of rubber and
giving it the appearance of cloth. Fibres with any length of staple prepared
from felted or other fabric or from fur have never been used for this purpose.
In carrying out the present Invention the rubber is prepared either in sheets
or attached by pressure to the fabric to be used as a base in any of the modes
known to india-rubber manufacturers. The fibres are then to be sifted upon the
surface of the rubber and to be attached by pressure to that surface; the fibres
should be laid evenly and smoothly and as nearly as possible in parallel lines
upon the surface of rubber, for which purpose I prefer to use an apparatus for
which I have this day applied for Letters Patent.
The several mechanical contrivances mentioned in the Provisional Specifi-
cation of the Patent thus applied for as aforesaid may be used separately, or
'other devices well known to rubber manufacturers may be used for the purpose
of performing portions of the process required for the completion of the
manufacture, but the combination of parts in the before-mentioned apparatus
have been found to be the best for the purpose. After the fibres are combined
with the coated fabric by means of the pressure of heavy rollers or otherwise
the flocked surface may be subjected to a brushing operation in a brushing
machine, and the fibres may then be sheared and dressed like other napped
fabrics. The water-repellent properties of this fibre also give the finished
article an additional value as a waterproof fabric.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st November 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our-Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the

page_text: said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WATERPROOF FABRICS," a communication
to him from abroad by John Foster Greene, of Warwick, Rhode Island,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Edward Newton, 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 Edward Newton, 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 (that is to say) :-
:-
This Invention of " Improvements in the Manufacture of Waterproof
Fabrics consists in combining with the surface of india-rubber, either in sheets,
or attached to any textile or felted fabric, the fibres of fur flock, or the fibres of
disintegrated felted or woven woollen fabrics, silk, hair, or other suitable fibres
of convenient length to form a pile. The fibres of fur or the hair of skin may,
also be combined with india-rubber spread upon leather, and the fabric thus
produced may be called "furred leather." Many attempts have heretofore been
made to use fibres of some length in the manufacture of india-rubber fabrics
with flocked surfaces, but the difficulties of causing the fibres to be attached
with sufficient tenacity to the india-rubber surface and of laying the fibres on
evenly and in or nearly in parallel lines, so as to form a nap, have been so great
that these processes, so far as I have been able to learn, have been abandoned,
and in order to produce a waterproof fabric with somewhat the appearance of
woollen cloth flocks of wool without length of staple and of an almost dusty
fineness have been the only material that have been generally used for covering
the surface of rubber and giving it the appearance of cloth.. Long fibres pre-
pared from felted fabric or from fur have never, so far as I have been informed,
been used for this purpose.