IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING OR TREATING HIDES, APPLICABLE FOR MACHINE BANDS AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Harris, of Wimbledon, in the County of
Surrey, Shoemaker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING OR
TREATING HIDES, APPLICABLE FOR MACHINE BANDS AND OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 20th March 1866, and dated the 7th October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Harris at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
. October 1865.
I, WILLIAM HARRIS, of Wimbledon, in the County of Surrey, Shoemaker,
do hereby declare the nature. of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TANNING OR TREATING HIDES, APPLICABLE FOR MACHINE BANDS AND OTHER
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
My improvements in tanning hides consist in so treating them as to render
the leather more enduring, and, in the case of machine bands, such that little
or no inconvenience arises from stretching, there being little or no stretch in
leather prepared according to my Invention.

page_text: I take hides and skins after being freed from the hair, offal, and other matters
in the usual manner, and tan them in a liquor consisting of one hundred gallons
of water and half a pound of sugar of lead combined with a sufficient quantity
of oak bark to color the skins. The hides are steeped in this liquor and drawn
out four times a day; I add oak bark every day, stirring and mixing the
whole together. When the hides are worked through the liquor in this way
for three weeks, I then remove and treat them in a fresh liquor consisting of one
hundred gallons of water, four ounces of white copperas, two ounces of burnt
alum, and half a peck of oatmeal, adding oak bark, as aforesaid, the whole to
be worked three times a day, stirring and mixing the contents of the pit well
together. The hides are treated in this solution for. a fortnight, after which
they are well dubbed (treated with dubbing), and subsequently tacked in
frames and hung up to dry.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Harris-in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th April 1866.
то
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE 'PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HARRIS, of Wimbledon, in the County of Surrey, Shoemaker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five,-in the- twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William. Harris, Her special licence. that I, the said William
Harris, my executors, 'administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Harris, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING OR TREATING HIDES, APPLICABLE FOR MACHINE BANDS
AND OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Harris, 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 Invention, and in what manner
1:1

page_text: 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 William. Harris, 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, that is to say:
My improvements in tanning or treating hides consist in so treating them
as to render the leather more enduring, and, in the case of machine bands,
such that little or no inconvenience arises from stretching, there being little or
no stretch in leather prepared according to 'my Invention.
I take bides and skins after being freed from the hair, offal, and other
matters by soaking in lime water and afterwards steeping them in
acidulated water, all as usual, using about one part of sulphuric acid to one
thousand parts of water. Having so prepared the skins in the usual manner,
I proceed to tan or treat them according to my Invention; to this end I
treat them in a liquor containing in every one hundred gallons of water half
a pound of sugar of lead combined with a sufficient quantity of oak bark to
colour the skins; the hides are steeped in this liquor, and drawn and turned
over four times a day. I add fresh oak bark every day to maintain the
colour and action of the liquor, stirring and mixing the whole together; in
this way the hides are worked through the liquor for three weeks, more or
less; I then remove and treat them in a fresh liquor combining in every
hundred gallons of water four ounces of white copperas, two ounces of alum,
say burnt or roche alum, and half a peck of oatmeal, adding oak bark, as in
the former case. The hides are to be worked and steeped in this liquor, as
before, and drawn three times a day, at same time stirring and mixing the
contents of the pit well together. The hides are treated in this solution for a
fortnight (more or less), after which they may be removed, well dubbed
(treated with dubbing), and subsequently tacked or fixed in frames and hung
up to dry. When dry the leather so tanned and prepared will be ready for
use, and may be used in the manufacture of mill bands, hose pipes, harness,
and other purposes where great durability is essential, as also where tendency
to elongate or stretch is objectionable. Leather so prepared will be supple,
and will possess great advantages for many purposes for which ordinary leather
is now used.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be

page_text: ..T
-protected by the herein-before in part recited. Letters Patent is, treating or
tanning, hides by the means and as herein-before described in the manufacture
of leather.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Harris, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
... thousand-eight hundred and sixty-six...
Witness,
. W. 'CLARK,
Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
--W. HARRIS. (L.S.)