Improvements in the Stuffing of Mattresses, Beds and other Articles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Sept., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 28th June, 1897-Accepted, 14th Aug., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Stuffing of Mattresses, Beds and other Articles.
I, JOSEPH THEODOR SZEK of 96 Brompton Road London S.W. (now temporary at
Baden-Baden Germany) manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
In comparison with straw, seaweed, wool and feathers etc. which at present are
employed for filling beds, the chippings of horn and hoofs possess far greater advantages
over the former, which fact was unknown before.
The chippings of horn and hoofs are soft, white, warm, elastic, do not lie or press
hard, do not rot, and besides the advantages of greater cheapness and lightness have
the further superiority, that no vermin can live in them.
There are great masses of such chippings in the comb and horn industry, and
besides these, the waste pieces also, as well as all qualities of horn and hoof can be
worked into chippings by means of machinery.
They are very suitable also for filling the so called straw-sacks, pillows, bed-coverings,
which as wool or down-covers can be quilted, also for the insoles of shoes, etc., etc.
The filling of mattresses can be executed in this way: for example, a mattress can
be divided into little lengths by sewing in strips of material and then the lengths can
be filled. In this way an uneven shifting of the masses of chippings in the mattress
cannot take place. Or, sacks of corresponding lengths made of a kind of muslin can be
filled with chippings and then bound at equal distances, by which means such a sack
takes the form of balls lying beside one another. If these sacks are fixed firmly side
by side in the matress, the later can be quilted in the usual way.
The chippings after long use can be purified from the brocken pieces by means of
sieves and then utilised again.
The smell which horn and hoof chippings develop in heat and damp, I dissipate by
means of deodorisation or bleaching process, which is effected by means of Oxide,
particularly Geroxide of Hydrogen and Permanganate of Potash and possibly by
impregnation with Extract of juniper-berries, etc., etc. etc.
Baden-Baden, dated this 26th day of September 1896.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Stuffing of Mattresses, Beds and other Articles.
I, JOSEPH THEODOR SZÉK of 63 and 64 Chancery Lane in the County of London
(formerly of 96 Brompton Road, London S.W.) Manufacturer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has for its object to provide a soft, elastic, white material for stuffing

page_text: mattresses, beds,,cushions, bolsters, and the like. The new material is preferable to
feathers, wool, flock, straw, and the like.
According to this invention I take horns, or hoofs of various animals, for cheapness
sake the waste pieces from other manufactures (comb-making for instance) and by any
suitable means produce therefrom curly slivers or elastic shavings of suitable length
and these are the new filling material.
A convenient method of carrying this invention into practice is as follows:
I take the pieces of horn or hoof and soften the same by steaming. They are then
formed into blocks of cylindrical, circular, globular or other convenient shape by
pressure in suitable moulds. From these blocks the shavings or slivers are turned in
the lathe as will be readily understood by competent workmen and the slivers as they
leave the tool curl up into coils.
It is best to make each sliver as long as practicable for the particular use for which
it is intended but length, and width may vary within wide limits.
In order to get rid of the objectionable smell of horns and hoofs I treat the same
with any suitable oxydising agent, peroxide of hydrogen being preferred, although
permanganate of potash and the like may be used.
I may also impart an agreeable odour to the product by impregnating the same,
say with extract of juniper berries or the like.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. As a filling or stuffing material for mattresses, beds, pillows, cushions and the
like curled slivers of horns or hoofs made as hereinabove set forth.
2. The process hereinabove described of making a filling or stuffing material for
mattresses, beds, pillows, cushions, and the like from horns or hoofs.
3. In the process of producing from horns or hoofs a filling or stuffing material for
mattresses, beds, pillows, cushions or the like, deodorisation by means of peroxide of
hydrogen or other suitable oxidising agent.
Dated this 28th day of June 1897.
BERNHARD DUKES,
226 High Holborn, London, W.C. Agent for the Applicant.