IMITATION LEATHER
Year: 1859

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Jozé Luis at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th July 1859.
-A communication from abroad by Auguste Legeay, No. 10, Rue
Mogador, Paris, in the Empire of France.
I, JOZE LUIS, of the British & Foreign Office for Patents, No. 1º, Welbeck
Street, Cavendish Square, London, in the County of Middlesex, (Patent
Agent,) do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMITATION
LEATHER," & that it has been communicated to me from abroad, by Auguste
Legeay, No. 10, Rue Mogador, Paris, in the Empire of France, to be
as follows:-
The object of the present Invention is the production of a stuff serving
principally for the foundation work in the manufacture of cards for carding
(taking the place of the leather hitherto generally used), and also for straps or
endless bands used for communicating movement.
The advantages obtained by the present Invention are, 1st, an equal
thickness all over the piece; 2nd, the pieces can be made of any required
length, whereas leather can only be obtained in uncertain lengths & of different
thicknesses.
This imitation leather is composed of a cotton warp and wool and cotton
web; it is woven, milled, & stretched, and, lastly, it is soaked in a solution of
molasses 4 parts, glue 2 parts, pine tree oil 1 part, and water 5 parts (weight),
to give it the consistancy and color of leather; thus finish, it has the form,

page_text: pliability, thickness, and consistancy of leather. The rest of the work is
performed with as much facility as leather. In former attempts, those who
have sought to produce a stuff for the foundation for cards have generally
depended on the milling for the necessary thickness, but in the present case
the stuff has the desired thickness on leaving the loom, and is only subjected
to the operation of milling in order that the wool being subjected to the
operation of milling may fill the defects resulting from a simple weaving.
The warp of cotton is divided in 7 parts; 6 parts are in 6 lames or sleys in
equal parts, and are on a single beam, they are woven in the same manner
with cotton equally fine as the warp, the 7th part of the warp is on a
separate beam; this part serves in the weaving to cross before and behind on
a web placed in a second shuttle. The web can be fine or coarse, according
to the thickness desired. The loom on which it is worked is of ordinary make,
worked by hand or otherwise; it differs only in that it has two beams, placed
one above the other. The principal beam carries the six parts of the warp at
the will of the weaver, the other, on the contrary, must be free, as the part of
the warp it contains is spent four times as quickly as the warp placed on the
principal beam; it is held either by a weight or lever, &c., but always free to
divide by degrees as the weaving goes on; this little warp ought to be four
times the length of the principal warp. After being milled, stretched, and
dried, it is placed in the solution above mentioned till it is completely soaked,
by which it acquires the color and pliability of leather. The liquid above
mentioned is prepared by boiling till it is perfectly mixed, after being well
soaked in this solution it is pressed between two rollers; it is then stretched,
dried, and pressed between two other indented rollers, to impart softness, and
the operation is complete.