IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FABRIC OR MATERIAL FOR COVERING FLOORS, PASSAGES, AND STAIRS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Bland Wood, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Doctor of Medicine, for the Invcution of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FABRIC OR MATERIAL FOR COVERING FLOORS,
PASSAGES, AND STAIRS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Scaled the 3rd October 1871, and dated the 6th April 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Bland Wood at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 6th April 1871.
I, JOHN BLAND WOOD, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Doctor of Medicine, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for 56
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FABRIC OR MATERIAL FOR COVERING
FLOORS, PASSAGES, AND STAIRS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as
follows: :―
My Invention relates to such fabrics used in lieu of the ordinary
oilcloth or of carpet as are formed of compositions or mixtures of sub-
stances and materials blended or amalgamated together, and consists in

page_text: the employment in the manufacture of such fabrics of buffalo or other
animal hide or skin, of animal hair or wool, and in some cases of such
other fibrous material or materials as herein-after mentioned or indicated
and of inspissated vegetable drying oil.
When carrying my said Invention into effect I make use of the rags,
the worn-out fabric or the waste material of carpets, as, for example, of
Brussels, tapestry, or Kidderminster carpets, of woolen or worsted cloth,
clothing or material of linsey or wincey, or other mixed fabrics composed
partly of wool and partly of cotton, or linen or other fibrous material,
of animal hair, of the hide or skin of the buffalo, and of the waste
material produced in the manufacture of the fabric styled "Boulinikon"
for the Invention of which Letters Patent were granted to me in the
year One thousand eight hundred and sixty-fivec.
The above named materials, or such of them as may be selected, aro
subjected to the action of machinery similar in operation to that
employed in the cutting of tobacco or of chaff or straw whereby the said
materials are subdivided or are reduced into fine shreds or into a sub-
stance resembling coarse flock. The materials after being thus reduced
are masticated in combination with boiled inspissated linseed oil by
means of rollers rotating at different surface velocities and heated by
steam until the mixture is formed into a plastic and homogeneous mass.
The said mass is next subjected to the action of rollers which spread
the composition uniformly over the surface of canvas and force the said
composition into the substance of the said canvas so as to effect a
permanent combination of the said composition with the said canvas.
The fabric thus produced is at this stage exposed to a drying heat of
about eighty to a hundred degrees Fahrenheit for, say, three or four days.
If it be required that the surface of the said fabric shall be ornamented
designs or patterns are printed thereon by usual or suitable incans.
If required carthy or coloring matter such as whiting, china clay,
ochre, or venetian red, or other similar and suitable matter may bo
added to the composition before or during the mastication thereof.
The inspissated oil employed as above is prepared by boiling raw linseed
oil with suitable proportions of litharge and acetate of lead, such as,
for example, about eight ounces of litharge and three ounces of acctate
of lead to each gallon of oil. The oil together with the said litharge and
nectate of lead are placed in an open boiler and are agitated with
exposure to the atmosphere throughout the operation, the boiling being

page_text: continued until the oil becomes inspissated and converted into a
substance which when cold possesses to a great extent the main
characteristics or physical properties of caoutchouc.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Bland Wood in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 6th October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BLAND WOOD, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Doctor of
Medicine, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Bland Wood, Her special license that
I, the said John Bland Wood, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Bland Wood, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 MANU-
FACTURE OF FABRICS OR MATERIALS FOR COVERING FLOORS, PASSAGES, AND STAIRS,
AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon the condition, amongst others,
that I, the said John Bland Wood, 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 per-
formed, 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 Bland Wood, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Invention relates to such fabrics used in lieu of the ordinary
oilcloth or of carpet as are formed of composition, or mixtures of

page_text: substances and materials blended or amalgamated together, and consists
in the employment in the manufacture of such fabrics of buffalo or
other animal hide or skin, of animal hair or wool, and in some cases
of such other fibrous material or materials as herein-after mentioned and
indicated and of inspissated vegetable drying oil.
When carrying my said Invention into effect I make use of the rags,
the worn-out fabric, or the waste material of carpets, as, for example,
of Brussels, tapestry, or Kidderminster carpets, of woollen or worsted
cloth, clothing, or material of linsey or winccy, or other mixed fabrics
composed partly of wool and partly of cotton, or linen, or other fibrous
material, of animal hair, of the hide or skin of the buffalo, and of the
waste material produced in the manufacture of the material styled
"Boulinikon," for the Invention of which Letters Patent were granted.
to me in the year One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
The above-named materials, or such of them as may be selected, are
subjected to the action of machinery similar in operation to that
employed in the cutting of tobacco, or of chaff or straw, whereby the
said materials are subdivided or are reduced into fine shreds, or into a
substance resembling coarse flock. The materials, after being thus
reduced, arc masticated in combination with boiled inspissated linseed
oil by means of rollers rotating at different surface velocities and heated
by steam until the mixture is formed into a plastic and homogeneous
mass. The said mass is next subjected to the action of rollers, which
spread the composition uniformly over the surface of canvas and force
the said composition into the substance of the said canvas, so as to
effect a permanent combination of the said composition with the said
canvas. The fabric thus produced is at this stage exposed to a drying.
heat of about eighty to a hundred degrees Fahrenheit for, say, three or
four days. If it be required that the surface of the said fabric shall be
ornamented, designs or patterns are printed thereon by usual or suitable
means.
If required, earthy or coloring matter, such as whiting, china clay,
ochre, or venetian red, or other similar and suitable matter may be
added to the composition before or during the mastication thereof.
The inspissated oil employed as above is prepared by boiling raw
linseed oil with suitable proportions of litharge and acetate of lead, such
as, for example, about eight ounces of litharge and three ounces of
acetate of lead to each gallon of oil. The oil together with the said

page_text: litharge and acetate of lead are placed in an open boiler and are agitated,
with exposure to the atmosphere, throughout the operation, the boiling
being continued until the oil becomes inspissated and converted into a
substance, which, when cold, possesses to a great extent the main
characteristics or physical properties of caoutchouc.
Having now fully described the nature of my said Invention, I would
have it to be understood that I claim the exclusive right to manu-
facture fabrics for the purpose or purposes herein indicated, composed
of combinations of the substances and materials herein-before set forth,
indicated, and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bland Wood, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Fifth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Signed and scaled by the said
John Bland Wood, in the pre-
sence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent for the Patentee,
3, Smithy Door,
Manchester.
J. B. WOOD. (L.S.)