IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTION HOF IMITATION LEATHER OR OTHER MATERIAL OR RAISED DESIGNS
Year: 1871

page_text: +
LETTERS PATENT to John Harrington, of Ryde, Isle of Wight,
• Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRODUCTION
HOF IMITATION LEATHER OR OTHER MATERIAL OR RAISED DESIGNS."
Sealed the 30th January 1872, and dated the 14th September 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Harrington at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th September 1871.
I, JOHN HARRINGTON, of Ryde, Isle of Wight, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PRODUCTION OF IMITATION LEATHER OR OTHER MATERIAL OR RAISED DESIGNS," to
be as follows:-
.or
For this purpose I first take a skin of morocco, hard grained ·
otherwise, or any other raised design, and take a cast impression of it
in any suitable material, such as shellac or plaster of Paris mounted on
a strong metal or other plate.

page_text: When using shellac as the material in which to produce the mould
I take by preference a cast-iron plate having a planed surface and cover
it with shellac. The plate is then heated until the shellac covers the
entire surface of the plate equally, and whilst the shellac is soft the skin
or other surface or design to be copied is placed in close contact
therewith and pressed firmly upon the shellac. When the shellac is
cold the skin is stripped off and the mould is ready for use.
In the preparation of the mould other plastic materials may be used
instead of shellac and in a somewhat similar manner, as will be well
understood.
Having obtained a negative mould of the skin or other design I then
take a sheet of paper of the colour required, damp it, and lay it upon
the mould, and pass it under rolling or other suitable pressure so as to
force the paper into the design, a second sheet of paper is then damped,
and gum, dextrine, starch, paste, or other suitable cement is applied to
the surface, which surface is put down upon the former embossed sheet,
and it also is passed under pressure, and so on according to the
thickness required, whether two, three, four, or more sheets are
necessary. This being decided the whole combination is lifted from
the mould and dried, after which it may be coloured upon the surface
with any suitable oil or water colour, or it may be bronzed or gilt, and
when dry if it is a hard grained paper the tips or top of the grain may
be burnished, polished, or varnished, which will render the imitation
perfect.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 25
filed by the said John Harrington in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th March 1872. .
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HARRINGTON, of Ryde, Isle of Wight, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 30
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight. hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Harrington, Her special licence.

page_text: that I, the said John Harrington, my exccutors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Harrington, 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
THE PRODUCTION OF IMITATION LEATHER OR OTHER MATERIAL OR RAISED DESIGNS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Harrington,
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
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 John Harrington, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
For this purpose I first take a skin of morocco, hard grained or
otherwise, or any other raised design, and take a cast impression of it
in any suitable material, such as shellac or compounds thereof, mounted
upon a strong metal or other plate.
When using shellac as tho material in which to produce the mould
I take by preference a cast-iron plate having a planed surface and
provided around its edge with a metal rim standing up above the
surface thereof. I then cover the plate with shellac and heat it until
the shellac covers the entire surface of the plate equally and flush with
the rim thereof, and whilst the shellac is soft the skin or other raised
design to be copied is placed in close contact therewith and pressed
firmly upon the shellac. When the shellac is cold the skin or other
raised design is stripped off and the mould is ready for use.
:
In the preparation of the mould other plastic materials and com-
pounds may be used instead of shellac and in a somewhat similar
manner, but it has been found that plaster of Paris does not answer the
purpose, as it warps and crushes under the necessary. pressure.
:

page_text: Secondly. I claim the employment of fac-simile moulds of morocco
or other raised designs prepared from shellac or other suitable plastic
substances or compounds, in manner and for the purpose substantially
as herein described.
Secondly. I claim the employment of fac-simile moulds of morocco
or other raised designs prepared from shellac or other suitable plastic
substances or compounds, in manner and for the purpose substantially
as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Harrington, have hereunto
In witness whereof, I, the said John Harrington, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Ninth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
JOHN HARRINGTON. (L.S.)