IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMBS
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MOSES
POOLE, of the Patent Office, London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirtieth day
of September, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Moses Poole, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her
especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Moses Poole, my exors, adññors, or 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 Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COMBS;" communicated to me by
a certain Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that I, the said Moses Poole, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled
in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part 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
Moses Poole, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):-
This Invention is communicated to me by Mr. Goodyear, of America, and
consists of making combs from a material described under a Patent taken on
his behalf, in One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one (in the name of
Newton), consisting of india rubber (caoutchouc) in combination with sulphur,
heated to a high temperature, producing a horn-like substance, which is to be
cut or formed into combs; and in order that the Invention may be fully under-
stood and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means
pursued by the Inventor. India rubber is mixed with sulphur, or matters
containing sulphur, by means of masticating or kneading machines, in the
proportions of about two parts by weight of india rubber, and one part by
weight of sulphur, and it is preferred that no other materials, unless it be
coloring matters mixed with cement, and applied to the surface of the sheet,
and such compound being rolled into sheets, they are subjected to heat, till the
compound is converted into a hard substance, of a tortoiseshell or ivory like
texture, suitable for this manufacture, and combs are to be produced by cutting
them out of sheets of the hard substance, in like manner to that pursued in
making combs from sheets of horn, and as is well understood. This material,
in addition to being capable of being simply cut into form, after the sheets
have been converted by heat, is also capable of being improved by being
pressed thinner by the sheets being passed through between hard smooth
rollers, when it is at a temperature of about three hundred degrees Fahrenheit,
or when at this temperature the sheets may be pressed between metal dies
or moulds, and such dies or moulds may be engraved so as to give an orna-
mental character to as well as to mark out and partially form a comb, the
comb being then cut out; or the comb may be formed by cutting it out of a
sheet of the substance of a tortoiseshell or ivory like texture, in the ordi-
nary manner; and then at the temperature above mentioned it may be
subjected to pressure between moulds, whether with a view to give ornament
to the surfaces, or to give a pressed finished character thereto, according to
the character of moulds used; or sheets of the compound may be first subjected
to pressure between dies or surfaces, so as to cut out combs, and then sub-
jected to the process of heat in contact with powder of talc or soapstone.
order to convert the mixed materials above mentioned, in the best manner at
present known, into the substance of a tortoiseshell or ivory like texture
mentioned, it is found desirable gradually (say in six hours) to raise the heat
In

page_text: to which it is subjected to about three hundred and five degrees of Fahren-
heit, and with this view the heat is raised gradually, say in half an hour, to
two hundred and thirty degrees, at which it is retained for about an hour and
a half, the heat is then again raised gradually up to about three hundred and
five degrees during the remainder of six hours.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to the
combining of india rubber and sulphur with or without other matters, and sub-
jecting the same to heat; but what I claim is, the manufacture of combs by
the application in such manufacture of the hard substance of a tortoiseshell
or ivory like texture, produced by combining sulphur and india rubber, and
subjecting them to heat, as herein explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Moses Poole, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand night hundred and fifty thro