IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL LEATHER."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Edmund Hardy, of Battersea, in the County of
Surrey, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
ARTIFICIAL LEATHER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Edmund Hardy at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th January 1881.
THOMAS EDMUND HARDY, of Battersea; in the County of Surrey.
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL LEATHER."
" IMPROVE-
This Invention consists in the combination of the following ingredients, matters,
or substances to form an artificial leather, to be employed for several useful
purposes, viz.-Leather scraps or skivens, raw or dressed, either alone or mixed
with vegetable fibres, together with water, boiled linseed oil, or a mixture
of both.
The proportions of the above ingredients, matters, or substances, will vary
according to the quality it is desired to produce, and the purpose to which it is
intended to be applied.
In order to manufacture artificial leather according to this Invention I proceed
as follows:-I reduce the leather scraps or skivens (either alone or mixed with
vegetable fibres, boiled under a pressure with caustic soda in the proportion of
10 lbs. more or less to every 100 lbs. of fibre, according to the condition of the
fibres) to powder or pulp by mechanical means, using water, boiled linseed oil, or a
mixture of both.
I then make the pulp into sheets on a machine similar in construction to an
English paper making machine, or in a mould, or on a revolving drum, whichever
I consider most suitable for making the sheets of the various thicknesses required;
I then press the sheets between some woven fabric, and repeat the same, using dry
cloths of horsehair or other suitable material each time, until all moisture is
removed. The sheets are then further dried by means of artificial beat, aud after
having been pressed between metallic plates or callendered to give them the
required surface they are ready for use, or the pulp may be moulded into any
desired form, pattern, or design. By using the boiled linseed oil I make the sheets
pliable and waterproof.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Thomas Edmund Hardy in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th
July 1881.
THOMAS EDMUND HARDY, of Battersea, in the County of Surrey. "IMPROVE
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL LEATHER.”
"
This Invention consists in the combination of the following ingredients, matters,
or substances to form " coriacine or artificial leather, to be employed for several
useful purposes, viz.:-Leather scraps or skivens, raw or dressed, either alone or
mixed with vegetable fibres, together with water, boiled "linseed oil," or a mixture
of both.
The proportions of the above ingredients, matters, or substances, will vary
according to the quality it is desired to produce, and the purpose to which it is
intended to be applied.
In order to manufacture "coriacine" or artificial leather according to this
Invention, I proceed as follows:-I reduce the leather scraps or skivens (either
alone or mixed with vegetable fibres boiled under a pressure with "caustic soda"
in the proportion of 10 lbs. more or less to every 100 lbs. of fibre, according to the
condition of the fibre) to powder or pulp by mechanical means, using water, boiled
linseed oil, or a mixture of both.
I then make the pulp into sheets on a machine similar in construction to an English
paper making machine, or in a mould, or on a revolving drum, whichever I consider
most suitable for making the sheets of the various thicknesses required; I then
press the sheets between some woven fabric, and repeat the same, using dry cloths
of horsehair or other suitable material each time, until all moisture is removed.
The sheets are then further dried by means of artificial heat, and after having been
pressed between metallic plates or callendered to give them the required surface
they are ready for use, or the pulp may be moulded into any desired form,
pattern, or design. By using the boiled linseed oil I make the sheets pliable and
waterproof.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature and object of my said
Invention, and the means of carrying the same into practical effect, I would
remark in conclusion that what I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by
the herein before in part recited Letters Patent is, the use of boiled linseed oil,
either with or without water, in combination with vegetable fibre and the
ingredients, matters, or substances, substantially as and for the purpose herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Edmund Hardy, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.