AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF TRACING CLOTH
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66,. Chancery Lane, in the County of. Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF TRACING CLOTH."—A com-
munication.
Sealed the 3rd September. 1857, and dated the 5th March 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th March 1857.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery.Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF TRACING CLOTH," to be
as follows:
This Invention, of an improved manufacture of tracing cloth, relates to a
method or process of clearing or rendèring more transparent the material
known as tracing cloth, so that it may be more useful for the copying of
drawings or designs than the material usually employed for that purpose.
The improved process consists, first, in preparing a composition of the
following or equivalent materials, which are well adapted to the purpose. I
do not, however, wish to be understood as confining myself rigidly to the
ingredients named, or to any exact proportions, provided the substitutes are
equivalent in their effect.
The ingredients are spirits of turpentine or camphine, or any other suitable

page_text: hydrocarbon, castor oil, or some other equivalent vegetable oil, Canada
balsam, copal, or other varnish, consisting of a vegetable gum, dissolved in any
suitable menstruum. To these ingredients may be added a small quantity of
balsam of copaiva. When the ingredients are well mixed the preparation is
to be applied to the tracing muslin by means of a sponge or other similar
material, or by means of rollers or cylinders covered with felt or other suitable
material, taking care to spread it evenly over the whole surface. The sheet
is to be rolled up and allowed to stand for thirty-six hours or thereabouts; it
is then to be unrolled, and any excess of the composition which may remain
on the surface is to be rubbed off with cotton or other cloth. This process
may be repeated, if found necessary, and when the cloth is perfectly dry and
hard it will be fit for use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME; I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my.executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William .Edward Newton, 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 "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF TRACING CLOTH," being a
communication from: abroad; upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Edward Newton, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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):--
This Invention, of an improved manufacture of tracing cloth, consists in a
method or process of clearing or rendering more transparent the material
known as above, to render it more useful. than tracing cloth of the ordinary
kind for the copying of drafts or designs, by laying the said improved.cloth
upon the said drafts or designs and having the lines traced out so as to produce
a fac-simile, as is well understood.
Tracing cloth as usually manufactured and found in the market is of
inferior transparency, so much so that it is, somewhat difficult to distinguish the
finer lines through it. It is also rather defective in surface and in readily
taking the ink.
The improved process of manufacture is as follows:-I first prepare a com-
position of the following materials, which have been found well adapted to the
purpose, although I do not wish to be understood as confining myself to the
exact proportions named provided the substitutes are equivalent in their effect.
If the whole composition be divided into nineteen parts, eight parts by weight
shall be spirits of turpentine or camphine; eight parts castor oil, two parts
Canada balsam, one part balsam copaiva; this combination of materials
when well mixed is to be applied to the tracing muslin by means of a sponge
or other similar material, taking care to spread it evenly over the whole
surface. The sheet is to be rolled up and allowed to stand for thirty-six hours,
or thereabouts; it is then to be unrolled, and any excess of the composition
which may remain on the surface is to be rubbed off with cotton or other
cloth. It is then to be again rolled up for a like period, when if on unrolling
it the surface does not appear to be dry, it must be further rubbed or wiped
with the cotton cloth. It is then to be rolled again, and in two weeks there-
after will have become fit for use.
Although tracing cloth made in the manner above described will continue
to improve by age, just the reverse of this is the character of muslin before
being thus prepared, as that becomes deteriorated by keeping.
Having thus set forth the nature of the Invention of an improved manu-
facture of tracing cloth, and the manner in which it may be carried into
operation, as described by my foreign correspondent, I do not wish to be
understood as limiting myself to the precise proportions of the ingredients,
nor do I always intend to use all those above mentioned as forming part of
the composition, as undoubtedly other materials may be substituted for some

page_text: of those named, as, for instance, naphtha or other hydro-carbonaceous liquid
may be employed instead of turpentine, and the same may be said of the oil,
but I prefer to use castor oil, on the ground of its not imparting colour; the
balsam of copaiva may also in some cases be dispensed with. What I claim
as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid is, the manu-
facture of tracing cloth by treating the said cloth with a composition and by
a process substantially the same as that herein described, whereby the trans-
parency and the durability of the cloth or fabric are greatly increased, as above
mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)