IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROVISIONAL SP
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthias Edward Bowra, of Upper Norwood, in
the County of Surrey, and Thomas Wood, of Adelaide Road, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthias Edward Bowra
and Thomas Wood at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 20th January 1873.
WC, MATTHIAS EDWARD BOWRA, of Upper Norwood, in the County
of Surrey, and THOMAS WOOD, of Adelaide Road, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ELASTIC FABRICS," to be as follows:-
First. We prepare webbing or other cloth made of silk, wool, cotton,
or other suitable material, with a preparation of india-rubber or other
elastic gums in a soluble state as usual to impart the
sub.
necessary
stance or strength.

page_text: Second. The webbing or cloth so prepared we then unite by heat and
pressure with sheets of india-rubber or other elastic gums to impart the
requisite solidity and elasticity.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Matthias Edward Bowra and Thomas Wood in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, MATTHIAS
EDWARD BOWRA, of Upper Norwood, in the County of Surrey, and
THOMAS WOOD, of Adelaide Road, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Matthias Edward Bowra and Thomas
Wood, Her special licence that we, the said Matthias Edward Bowra
and Thomas Wood, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as wc, the said Matthias Edward Bowra and Thomas Wood, our
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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ELASTIC FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Matthias Edward Bowra and Thomas Wood,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Matthias Edward Bowra and
Thomas Wood, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and S

page_text: in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
First. We take materials suitable for our purpose such as silk, wool,
cotton, or other appropriate substances, which we make into webbing or
cloth having loose meshes or gauges, larger or smaller, as may be fitted
to develop a larger or smaller measure of expansion. This cloth or
webbing when made with such loose meshes has then to be stretched
lengthwise either by hand or by any suitable machine. When this is
effected the cloth or webbing is increased in length, but is much reduced
in width, rendering it capable of expansion in width, and therefore fitted
to allow elasticity. Having provided such cloth or webbing stretched
lengthwise, but narrowed and contracted in width, we then apply a
prepared solution of india-rubber as the most convenient and effective
for our purpose in order to give the webbing or cloth the requisite
tenacity so that it may be acted upon and act in conformity with the
sheets of vulcanized india-rubber or other clastic gums as described in
the next following article of this Specification.
It is necessary to state that we do not limit ourselves to india-rubber
alone, but employ where convenient any other elastic gums suitable for
accomplishing our object.
We have hitherto found vulcanized india-rubber to be the most
suitable material to accomplish this object, and therefore we prefer it.
Second. After provision of suitable webbing or cloth, as above men-
tioned, we prepare sheets of vulcanized india-rubber or other suitable
clastic gum in order to unite with the webbing or cloth. This union we
are careful so to effect that the materials may not be damaged or injured
by excess of heat, while the heat is yet sufficient to effect the complete
union we desire. If the heat should be less than 160 degrees Fahrenheit
then the webbing and the gum may not be effectively united. If the
heat should exceed 212 degrees Fahrenheit the strength of the materials
may be diminished. We have found that heat of about 190 degrees
Fahrenheit will very fairly accomplish the union. This union should be
so complete that subsequent wear and tear in any moderate measure
should not disjoin the materials nor damage the prepared elastic fabric.
The method we prefer to effect this junction is to place the sheets of
india-rubber on a smooth metal table or other surface sufficiently heated,
and then by pressure moderately applied to effect the desired union.

page_text: Third. Having prepared the sheets of elastic india-rubber webbing as
above indicated whenever it is desirable we perforate them by rolls or by
any other suitable mechanical method in order to allow opportunity for
ventilation. The proportion of this perforation must be governed by the
purpose to be accomplished.
We claim as our Invention such an application and such a combination
of the processes herein mentioned that the elastic fabrics we produce
shall be effective for their intended purposes, and that the materials
composing them shall not be injured or enfeebled by the manufacture.
In witness whereof, we, the said Matthias Edward Bowra and 1
Thomas Wood, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-three.