IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING IMITATIONS OF LEATHER ON CLOTH, PAPER, OR OTHER FABRICS. PRODUCING IMITATIONS OF LEather on ClotH, PAPER, OR OTHER FABRICS. PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Thomson, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRODUCING IMITATIONS OF LEATHER ON CLOTH, PAPER, OR OTHER FABRICS.
PRODUCING IMITATIONS OF LEather on ClotH, PAPER, OR OTHER FABRICS.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Thomson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th June 1874.
I, THOMAS THOMSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING IMITATIONS OF LEATHER ON CLOTH, PAPER, OR OTHER
FABRICS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in producing imitations
of leather on cloth, paper, and other fabrics, has for its object to
make imitation leather more flexible and more impervious to damp or
moisture than obtains with imitation leathers as hitherto produced.
The substances employed in the manufacture of such imitation leathers
in accordance with the present improvements, consist of glue, water,

page_text: rape, or other non-drying oils, glycerine, and boiled linseed oil, with
the addition thereto of such colouring matters as are necessary to
produce the colour of imitation leather desired.
The Invention consists in the employment of rape or other non-
drying oils and in oxidising the boiled linseed oil, whereby a greater
quantity thereof can be employed in conjunction with the other sub-
stances than hitherto, and imitation leather more flexible and more
impervious to damp is thereby obtained.
Of the materials herein-before set forth the following are good pro-
portions to employ, namely, of glue 16 ounces by weight, of water
16 ounces by measure, of rape or other non-drying oil 4 ounces by
measure, of glycerine 8 ounces by measure, and of boiled linseed oil
18 ounces by measure.
To form the composition these ingredients are heated together, and
whilst the mixture is still liquid atmospheric air is blown, forced, or
injected thereinto, whereby the boiled linseed oil is oxidised, and any
excess of water present in the composition is expelled or driven off.
The composition after being so treated and whilst still hot is spread by
suitable means over the surface of the cloth, paper, or other fabric, and
it is preferably allowed to partially harden or solidify, after which it
is impressed with a stereotype or other mould having the grain of the
leather required to be produces moulded thereon. When the com-
position has set or hardened the surface thereof is treated with a
solution of common chrome or other alum, tannic acid, sulphate of iron,
copper, or zinc, to protect it, or the surface may be varnished for that
purpose.
It is to be understood that although I have hercin-before given
certain proportions in which the boiled linseed oil and other materials
may be mixed together to form the composition, I do not confine
myself to such proportions, as satisfactory results may be obtained with
other proportions of admixture of these materials.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Thomson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th December 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
THOMSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the 38th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Thomson, Her special license,
that I, the said Thomas Thomson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Thomson, my executors,
administrators, or 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
PRODUCING IMITATIONS OF LEATHER ON CLOTH, PAPER, OR OTHER FABRICS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Thomson, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Thomas Thomson, 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 said Invention, which relates to improvements in producing
imitations of leather on cloth, paper, and other fabrics, has for its
object to make such imitation leather become more flexible and more
impervious to damp or moisture than obtains with fabrics of the class
mentioned, as hitherto produced.
The substances employed in the manufacture of imitation leather in
accordance with the present improvements, consist of glue, water, rape

page_text: seed oil, or other non-drying oils, such as lard oil, neats' foot oil, sperm
oil, olive oil, cotton seed oil, or mixtures of these non-drying oils,
glycerine, and boiled linseed oil, with the addition thereto of such
colouring matters as are necessary to produce the colour of imitation
leather desired.
The novel features constituting this Invention consist in the employ-
ment of rape seed oil, or the other non-drying oils herein-before
mentioned, and in oxidising the boiled linseed oil, whereby a greater
quantity thereof can be employed in conjunction with the other sub-
stances, namely, glue, water, glycerine, and colouring matter than
hitherto, and imitation leather more flexible and more impervious to
damp is thereby obtained.
Of the materials herein-before set forth, the following are good pro-
portions to employ, namely, of glue 16 ounces by weight, of water
16 ounces by measure, of rape seed or other non-drying oil 4 ounces by
measure, of glycerine 8 ounces by measure, and of boiled linseed oil
18 ounces by measure. I do not however limit myself to these pro-
portions as they may be varied.
To produce the composition the glue is first dissolved in the water,
which is heated, and the other materials are then added. Whilst the
mixture is still liquid, hot or cold atmospheric air is blown, forced, or
injected thereinto by an air pump or by a fan, whereby the boiled
linseed is oxidised, and any excess of water present in the com-
position or parts thereof is expelled or driven off. The composition
after being so treated, and whilst still hot, is spread by any convenient
means, either by hand or by mechanism, over the surface of the cloth,
paper, or other fabric on which the surface of imitation leather is to be
produced, and it is preferably allowed to partially harden or solidify,
after which it is impressed with a stereotype plate or roller, or other
mould having the grain of the leather required to be produced moulded
thereon, in the manner well understood by imitation leather manu-
facturers. When the composition has set or hardened the surface
thereof is treated with a solution of common chrome or other alum,
tannic acid, sulphate of iron, copper, or zinc to protect it, or the surface
may be varnished for that purpose.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which

page_text: THOMAS THOMSON. (L.S.)