A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OR PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING OR FABRICATING LEATHER, AND OF BLEACHING, DYEING, AND STAINING THE SAME. PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Frederick Neville, of Teddington, in
the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A
NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OR PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING OR FABRICATING
LEATHER, AND OF BLEACHING, DYEING, AND STAINING THE SAME.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Frederick
Neville at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 5th September 1873.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK NEVILLE, of Teddington, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING OR
FABRICATING LEATHER, AND OF BLEACHING, DYEING, AND STAINING THE SAME," to
be as follows :—
These improvements have for their object the manufacture of leather,
in sheets or otherwise, from refuse scraps of leather produced in the
manufacture of boots and shoes, and in other similar manufactures
wherein leather is employed; the cuttings and shavings of tawed or

page_text: suitable norous vegetable material.
The means by which I propose to attain the said object of my present
Invention are as follows:-
In order that my improved leather fabrics may be suited to different
purposes, I vary the relative quantities of tho materials and occasionally
alter the composition thereof.
For ordinary leather I take, say one hundredweight (112 lbs.) of tho
refuse scraps of leather from boot and shoe and similar manufactures;
28 lbs. of calf, sheep, or other skins or hides, before their conversion
into leather; 28 lbs. of the cuttings or shavings of tawed leather. These
materials are then cleansed from dirt and other foreign matters or
impurities by a process of sorting, and sifting in or through wire sioves,
or by other suitable and efficient means. The said materials thus
cleansed are operated upon in a dry state or condition by a disintegrating
machine or other suitable mechanical contrivance until they are reduced.
to a fine fibrous or filamentous soft mass, free from knots, and resembling
wool. I now place these fibrous materials in a washing and breaking
engine, such as is used by paper makers for cleansing rags, and add
thercto about 7lbs. of common soda dissolved in about 20 gallons of
warm soft water, with as much cold soft water as may be required to
carry or float the said fibrous mass under the roller of the engine, and
woll wash them; I then let down the said roller on to the plato of the
engine and beat the said fibres into the required consistency or into
"leather pulp". When this condition is attained I add to the mass from
7lbs. to 9lbs. of alum (or other suitable chemicals in licu thereof)
dissolved in from 10 to 15 gallons of warm, hard, or spring water, and
allow the wholo to remain until the crystals disappear. This latter
process increases the non-inflammability of tho leather, and also causes
the water therein to leave the pulp more freely, and the latter to "work"
better on the machine. The leather pulp is then removed to a chest or
vat, and may at once be formed into sheets of any suitable and con-
venient sizo and thickness by the
presses, or other suitable appliance.
leather may be dried by passing them
above 90 degreess of Fahrenheit's scale, or by suspending them in
ordinary millboard moulds and
The said shects of my improved
over metal cylinders heated not

page_text: suitable drying chambers. When dry the said sheets are passed between
warm smooth rollers and finished in the same way as millboards, and
the sheets are ready for use.
When my improved leather is intended for floor covering or for any
other purpose where it is required to be of a light color, or to be dyed,
or otherwise colored or partially colored, or printed upon, I bleach the
materials when in the fibrous state, after they are well washed and
cleansed, as herein-beforo described, I strain from the mass about onc-
third of the water therein, and add to the remaining mass about 4lbs. of
sulphuric acid (the oil of vitriol of the retail shops) diluted with about
12 gallons of water, and beat the whole for about 10 minutes to allow
the acid to be absorbed by the fibres; I now strain into the said mass
about 7lbs of chloride of lime dissolved or mixed in a sufficient quantity
of warm soft water and allow the whole to circulate under the roller of
the engine until the fibrous materials are sufficiently bleached, when the
acid and chloride are washed out or "killed" and the process of pulping
is proceeded with; it will then be ready (having been treated with alum
as before described) to be made into sheets on the paper-making
machine, or by any other suitable means, and dried in the usual way.
My improved non-inflammable leather is especially suited for
covering the floors of powder magazines and other places where com-
bustible or highly inflammable materials are made or stored, it also
forms a durable and economical substitute for "floorcloths" in general,
and may be used for or applied to many other useful purposes, being
equally safe and durable as tanned hides, and about half the cost of the
latter, and less than half the cost of the best domestic floorcloths.
When my improved leather is required to be harder or stiffer I tako
from 5 to 10 per cent. of horn shavings or cuttings, and dissolvo thic
same in a weak lixivium of caustic soda; when thus dissolved I was
out the soda and add to the horn pulp about a gallon of water, in which
water about one-eighth of a pound of sulphuric acid has been previously
mixed in a separate vessel. I now dissolvo about one-fourth of a lb.
of chloride of lime in about half a gallon of water, and when the mixture
is clear pour it into the vessel containing the dissolved horn and mix
the whole together, and then the semi-fibrous gelatinous mass is added
to and combined with the other fibrous materials; the subsequent
process being as herein-before described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said George Frederick Neville in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
FREDERICK NEVILLE, of Teddington, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said George Frederick Neville, Her special licence
that I, the said George Frederick Neville, my exccutors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Frederick Neville, 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 Ircland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED METHOD OR PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING OR FABRICATING LEATHER, AND
OF BLEACHING, DYEING, AND STRAINING THE SAME," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Frederick Neville, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 immc-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Frederick Neville, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:
:―
These improvements have for their object the manufacture of leather,
in sheets or otherwise, from the refuse scraps or pieces of leather pro-
duced in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and in other manufactures
wherein leather is employed, incorporated with tlie cuttings and shavings
of skins or hides produced during their conversion into leather, the

page_text: cuttings and shavings of tawed (or alum and salt dressed) hides, and
the cuttings, parings, and shavings of horns, in combination with silk
waste, Indian grass, hemp, flax, or other suitable fibrous material; and
bleaching and dyeing or staining the same in the fibrous state, or when
in pulp.
The means by which I propose to attain the said object of my present
Invention are as follows:-
In order that my improved leather fabrics may be suited to different
purposes, I vary the relative quantities of the materials thereof and
occasionally alter the composition, as herein described.
For ordinary leather I take one hundredweight (112 lbs.) of tho
refuse scraps of leather produced in the manufacture of boots and shoes
and other manufactures of leather articles; and 28 lbs. of calf, sheep, or
other skins or hides before their conversion into leather; also 28 lbs. of
the cuttings and shavings of tawed leather; which materials I clcanso
from dirt and other foreign matters or impurities by sorting and sifting
them in or through wire sieves, or by other suitable and efficient means.
The said materials, thus cleansed, are then operated upon in a dry state
or condition by a disintegrating machine or other suitable mechanical
contrivance until they are reduced into a fibrous or filamentous soft
mass free from knots and resembling wool. I now placo these fibrous
materials in a washing or breaking engine, such as is used by paper
makers for cleansing and reducing rags, and add thereto about 7lbs. of
common soda dissolved in about 20 gallons of warm soft water, with as
much cold soft water as may be required to carry or float the said fibrous
materials under the roller of the said engine and well wash them; I
then lower or put down tho said roller on to the plate of the engine and
beat the said fibrous materials into the required consistency or into
"leather pulp." When this state or condition is attained I add to the
mass from 7 lbs. to 9 lbs. of the alum of commerce mixed with about
3 lbs. of any non-inflammable chemical compound dissolved in about 10
to 15 gallons of warm, hard, or spring water, and allow the whole to
remain until the crystals disappear. This latter process increases the
non-inflammability of the leather, and also causes the water therein
to leave the pulp more freely, and the latter to "work" better on the
machine. The leather pulp is then removed to a chest or vat and may
at once be formed into sheets of any suitable size and thickness by the
ordinary millboard moulds and presses or other suitable appliance.

page_text: These sheets of improved leather may be dried by passing them over
metal cylinders heated not above 90 degreos of Falirenlicit's scale, or by
suspending them in suitable drying chambers, or by exposing them to
the air; when dry the said sheets are passed between smooth rollers and
finished in the same way as millboards usually arc, and the sheets of
leather are ready for sale or use for boots, shoes, or other similar manu-
factures.
When the improved leather is intended for floor coverings, or for any
other purpose where it is required to be of a light color, or to be dyed,
or otherwise colored or partially colored, or printed upon, I bleach the
materials when in the fibrous state; after they are well washed and
cleansed, as hercin-before described, I strain from the mass about one
third of the water therein, and add to the remaining mass about 4 lbs.
of the sulphuric acid of commerce diluted with about 12 gallons of
water; and beat the whole for about 10 minutes to allow the acid to bo
absorbed by the fibres. I now strain into the said mass about 7 lbs. of
chloride of lime dissolved in a sufficient quantity of warm soft water,
and allow the whole to circulato under the roller of the washing engine
until the fibrous materials are sufficiently bleached, when the acid and
the chloride are either "killed," as in the making of paper, or washed
out, and the process of pulping is then proceeded with; during which
process or immediately on its completion, when it is desired to dyo or
stain the mass I introduce into the pulp the requisite usual chemicals
and coloring matter. After being treated with alum &c., as previously
herein described, the pulp is ready to be made into sheets and dried, as
herein-before described. These bleached sheets are now ready to be
surface colored, wholly or in part, or to be printed upon as for floor-
cloths and for numerous other useful and ornamental purposes.
My improved non-inflammable leather is especially suited for covering
the floors of gunpowder magazines and other places wherein combustible
or highly inflammable materials are made or stored; it also forms a
durable and economical substitute for "floorcloths" in general, and may
be used for or applied to many other useful purposes, being equally safe
and durable as tanned hides, and about one half the cost of the latter,
and less than one half the cost of the best domestic floorcloths.
When my improved leather is required to be harder or stiffer I take
from 5 to 10 per cent. of horn shavings or cuttings and dissolve them in
a weak lixivium of caustic soda; when thus dissolved I wash out the

page_text: soda and add to the horn pulp about a gallon of water, in which about
onc eighth of a lb. of sulphuric acid has been previously mixed in a
separate vessel. I now dissolve about one-fourth of a lb. of chloride-of
limo in about half a gallon of water, and when the mixture is clear pour
it into the vessel.containing the horn pulp and mix the whole together;
this semi-fibrous gelatinous mass is then added to and combined with
the other fibrous materials, the subsequent process being as herein-before
described.
When the leather is required to be more flexible and impervious to
water I add to the said fibrous materials about 25 per cent. thereof of
hemp or flax fibres previously reduced to fine filaments as well as the
horn pulp, the whole being then treated as before described.
Whenever I employ silk, grass, hemp, flax, or other similar fibrous
materials I first boil or steam them for about an hour in a sufficient
quantity of soft water in which 2lbs. of soda or other alkalino salts is
dissolved for every 112 lbs. of the said fibres; they are then washed
clean and placed in the beating engine and incorporated-with the-other
materials in the required proportions.
For making my improved leather suitable for book binding and for
other similar purposes I take 10 parts by weight of the filaments of
refuse scraps of leather, 5 such parts of parchment cuttings, or calf
skin or sheep skin fibres, previous to their conversion into leather,
10 such parts of the tawed leather fibres, and from 15 to 85 such parts
of silk waste, flax, or other suitable vegetable fibres, or by preference,
strong white pulp wlien ready to be made into paper, and proceed as
hercin-before described; for preparing the pulp for my improved ordinary
leather, and also for the bleaching process. When paper pulp is
employed the bleaching of the other materials must be done previous to
mixing the paper pulp therewith, this leather pulp to bo of such strength-
or consistency as-is required-for-the-fabrication-of-strong-white-paper,-
and to bo of a cream-color-or-a-whitish shade, or it may be dyed in the
pulp. It is made into sheets by the paper-making machine, or hand
made by moulds in the usual way, and dried and surfaced, as herein-
before described. It may also be embossed to give it the various
"grains" or appearance of the different skins used for book bindings and
other ornamental purposes.
Some of the advantages of my present Invention arc,—

page_text: integrating the materials in a dry stato previous to submitting thicm to
the operation of the washing and beating engine.
Secondly. The production of a non-inflammable material for covering
the floors of gunpowder magazines and similar places at a considerable
saving in the cost.
Thirdly. The production of leather more repellent of water and moro
durable than ordinary leather by the introduction of horn therein.
Fourthly. The production of a material for book binding which will
supercede cloth bindings and represont the most expensive of the present
› leather bindings in grain and color at half the usual cost.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
method of performing the same without binding myself to the precise
quantities of the several materials given herein, as they are capable of
much variation which a skilled workman will understand, according to
5 the quality of the articles required, I claim as my Invention and desiro
to secure by the before mentioned in part recited Letters Patent,-
Firstly. The method or process of reducing scraps or pieces of leather
and untanned skins in a dry state to a fibrous mass.
Secondly. The method of bleaching and dycing or staining the same
) whilst in the fibrous state, or in pulp.
Thirdly. The method of manufacturing leathor for general purposes,
such as making boots, shoes, and other useful articles.
Fourthly. The method of making a suitable material for ornamental
purposes, such as book bindings and other fancy or decorative articles.
Fifthly. The method of making a non-inflammable material suitable
for floorcloths or covers and other like purposes, all substantially as and
for the purposes herein, described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Frederick Neville, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Third day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
GEO E NEVILLE