AN IMPROVED PROTECTIVE MATTING OR FABRIC FOR SHELTERING PLANTS, SHRUBS, AND OTHER VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS, PITS, FRAMES, AND OTHER SIMILAR STRUCTURES, TOGETHER WITH MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME, AND THE MODE OF SUPPORTING IT WHEN IN USE
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
PROTECTIVE MATTING OR FABRIC FOR SHELTERING PLANTS, SHRUBS, AND OTHER
VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS, PITS, FRAMES, AND OTHER SIMILAR STRUCTURES,
TOGETHER WITH MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME, AND THE MODE OF
SUPPORTING IT WHEN IN USE."-A communication from Jules Guyot.
Sealed the 21st July 1857, and dated the 28th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald Brooman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th January 1857.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED PROTECTIVE MATTING OR FABRIC FOR SHELTERING PLANTS,
SHRUBS, AND OTHER VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS, PITS, FRAMES, AND OTHER SIMILAR
STRUCTURES, TOGETHER WITH MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME, AND THE
MODE OF SUPPORTING IT WHEN IN USE," (communicated to me by Jules Guyot, a
foreigner residing abroad;) to be as follows:
This improved fabric is suitable for sheltering plants, trees, shrubs, and
other vegetable productions from the inclemency of weather, intense heat,
&c., whether in 'the open air, or 'in pits, frames, greenhouses and similar
structures.

page_text: The fabric is composed of a weft of straw, cane, bass, rush, reed, or other
similar material, woven into or combined with a warp consisting of two sets of
warp threads, each set composed of two wires or, stout cords twisted together,
and it is manufactured as follows:-
The bass, straw, or other material is cut into even lengths and spread on a
table with a central slot or channel from end to end, where by means of a
comb or reed with conical teeth the mass is divided into clusters (the thickness
of each cluster, being according to the space between every two adjoining
teeth); the comb is driven into the straw just over the channel.. The table is
then brought to the weaver, who takes a cluster at a time and feeds it in a
loom or frame, in which the warp cords or wires are delivered off in twos from
4 reels set in the same spindle, mounted in the standards of the frame, and are
passed through eyes and grooves in plates, which act as heddles, being con-
nected by a double escapement or otherwise to treadles, by which they are
depressed, and are brought up again by springs at top, whereby the warp
threads are crossed two by two alternately, each set being opened to form a
shed through which the weft is introduced.
The fabric as it is woven is wound off on a beam, made to revolve by a
weighted lever; the weight also effects the draught and tension of the warp
threads, being brought back from the end of its stroke by hand or otherwise;
or the beam may be turned, and the warp threads delivered off and opened to
form the shed, by steam or other power which may be employed to work the
frame. Pins may be let in the fabric to fix it in place; or it may, be
mounted on stakes with cross pieces, or on swivelled rods, or on adjustable
frames, so that the position of the matting may be varied when used for
sheltering a plant; or it may be mounted on rollers like a blind to cover
conservatories, &c.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, Í, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by, Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 "AN IMPROVED PROTECTIVE MATTING OR FABRIC FOR SHELTERING
PLANTS, SHRUBS, AND OTHER VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS, PITS, FRAMES, AND OTHER
SIMILAR STRUCTURES, TOGETHER WITH MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME,
AND THE MODE OF SUPPORTING IT WHEN IN USE," (a communication from Jules
Guyot, a foreigner residing abroad,) upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is to say:
This improved fabric is suitable for sheltering plants, trees, shrubs, and¸
other vegetable productions from the inclemency of weather, intense heat,
&c., whether in the open air, or in pits, frames, greenhouses, and similar
structures.
The fabric is composed of a weft of straw, cane, bass, rush, reed, or other
similar material, woven into or combined with a warp consisting of two sets of
warp threads, each set composed of two wires or stout cords twisted together,
and it is manufactured as follows:-
The bass, straw, or other material is cut into even lengths and spread on a
table with a central slot or channel from end to end, where by means of a
comb or reed with conical teeth the mass is divided into clusters (the thick-
ness of each cluster being according to the space between every two adjoining
teeth), the couib is driven into the straw just over the channel. The table is
then brought to the weaver, who takes a cluster at a time and feeds it in a
loom or frame, in which the warp cords or wires are delivered off' in twos

page_text: from four reels set in the same spindle, mounted in the standards of the frame,
and are passed through eyes and grooves in plates, which act as heddles, being
connected by a double escapement or otherwise to treadles, by which they are
depressed, and brought up again by springs at top, whereby the warp threads
are crossed two by two alternately, each set being opened to form a shed
through which the weft is introduced.
The fabric as it is woven is wound off on a beam, made to revolve by a
weighted lever; the weight also effects the draught and tension of the warp
threads, being brought back from the end of its stroke by hand or otherwise; or
the beam may be turned and the warp threads delivered off and opened to form
the shed, by steam or other power which may be employed to work the frame.
Pins may be let in the fabric to fix it in place; or it may be mounted on
stakes with cross pieces, or on swivelled rods, or on adjustable frames, so that
the position of the matting may be varied when used for sheltering a plant;
or it may be, mounted on rollers like a blind to cover conservatories, &c.
The Drawings hereunto annexed illustrate the manner in which the Inven-
tion is carried into effect.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation, partly in section, of an apparatus
(which may be called a loom) to be used in the manufacture of the im-
proved fabric; Figure 2 is a plan of the same; Figure 3 is an end view
of a portion of the same. Figure 4 is a plan of the frame for preparing the
materials; Figure 5 is a cross section of the same. Figures 6 and 7 are
views (on a larger scale than Figure 5) of the rakes or combs; and Figure 8
is a modification of the loom or manufacturing apparatus.
.
A is the fabric, which is rolled as it. is made upon the roller or drum B;
D, D', are two leaves formed with slots c, c, and holes f, f, through which
pass the iron wires d, d, g, g¹. The leaves D, D¹, are suspended by two
strong springs H, H', which raise them after they have been depressed by
means of the treddles I, I', so as to cross the iron wires d, d, g, g', two and
two as the straws or other materials are interposed. J, J, J", J, are four
reels on a single shaft K, on which reels the wires d, d, g, g', are wound;
I is a lever on the axis of the drum B, along which lever slides a weight M,
which causes the drum B to revolve; 1, l, are escapement arrangements,
which control the motion of the reels J, J, J, J, by means of the treddles.
N is a roller for supporting the fabric; and O is a board against which the
straw is abutted as it is laid by the handful between the wires; C is a seat;
and b, a foot-board. The whole is supported by a framework Y. The wind-
ing of the fabric A, and the tension and onward motion of the wires d, d, g, g',
are simultaneously produced by the action of the weight M on the lever L.

page_text: When this weight has reached its lowest position it is raised again by the
band of the operator, or by means of a cord passed over a pulley. The straws
or other materials which are to compose the weft are cut into equal lengths by
any suitable instrument and laid in regular bundles; they are then taken by
handfuls and spread uniformly upon a bed which has a groove formed in it,
and the teeth of a comb or reed Q are pressed down into the groove. This
comb or reed has its teeth spaced, so as to correspond with the quantity of
straw required in each bundle, see Figures 5, 6, and 7. The materials thus
divided are placed on trestles P, P, for the use of the weaver, who applies it.
as before explained.
The following is the method of applying the improved fabric to the protec-
tion of vines, for example, when grown in rows, as in the vineyards of France.
Along the rows of the vine stocks, and parallel to them, in the earth are placed
the supports 9, 7, shewn in Figures 9, 10, and 10 bis, with their upper ends on
the same level. At the upper ends of these supports are nailed the cross
bars r, r, which are about as long as the fabric is broad. In these bars r, r,
are placed the sharp pins or spikes s, s, which enter the fabric (when the latter
is laid upon the bars r, r,) near to the longitudinal wires of the same. The
stakes or supports q, q, and the bars r, r, should all range in the same respec-
tive planes, as indicated in Figure 11, and the fabric be stretched over them
and fastened to them, by connecting each of the bars r, r, to its stake or
support s by a single pin or bolt the bars r, r, and therefore the fabric may be
made capable of assuming various inclined positions to suit the different
requirements of the various seasons of the year or the conditions of the
weather. The whole area of any given space may be covered by placing the
breadths of fabric sufficiently near to each other, and by connecting the corre-
sponding extremities of the bars r, 'r, to a single rod, and this rod to a suitable
lever, as shewn in Figures 12, 13, and 14, the several breadths may be set at
any suitable inclination for the purpose of exposing more or less of the ground
beneath to the air or the sun. A somewhat similar arrangement may evidently
be applied for the protection of wall fruits, hot beds, greenhouses, &c.; but in
the case of wall fruits, it would probably be found well to pivot the cross bars
at one or other of their extremities, as indicated in Figures 15 and 16. Other
modifications may also be made. The improved fabric may also be applied, as
indicated in Figures 17 and 18, to the protection of delicate trees; or it may
be formed broad, as in Figure 19, and connected to standards driven into
the soil, as in Figure 20, either upright, or at any required angle.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―

page_text: First, the manufacture of a matting or fabric for sheltering plants, shrubs,
and other vegetable productions, pits, frames, and other similar structures, as
herein-before described.
Secondly, the employment of looms or apparatuses for manufacturing such
matting or fabric, as herein-before described, and represented in the Drawings
hereunto annexed.
Thirdly, the several methods herein-before described of applying such
matting or fabric to the sheltering of plants, shrubs, and other vegetable pro-
ductions, pits, frames, and other similar structures, as herein-before described,
and represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of July, Ono
thousand eight hundred & fifty-seven.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)