IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING SILK AND OTHER YARN OR THREAD WITH GOLD OR OTHER METAL
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Bennoch, of Wood Street, Cheapside,
in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COATING SILK AND OTHER YARN OR THREAD WITH GOLD OR OTHER
METAL" A communication.
Sealed the 11th March 1854, and dated the 23rd December 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Benuoch
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd December 1859.
I, FRANCIS BENNOCH, of Wood Street, Cheapside, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN COATING SILK AND OTHER YARN OR THREAD WITH GOLD OR
OTHER METAL" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of applying gold, silver, or other leaf, to the
surfaces of silk or other yarn or thread, so as to coat the same all or
partially over. For this purpose, the yaru or thread is first passed
through a suitable adhesive preparation, the excess being wiped off as

page_text: the yarn or thread comes out of the bath. Gold or other leaf is spread
on to the surface of a roller so as to cover the whole or parts of it. The
yarn or thread is again passed through the proper adhesive preparation
(the excess being wiped off as before), and it is then wound on to the
roller, leaving only a small space between the succeeding coils. Gold
or other leaf is then laid on to the surface of the yarn or thread on the
roller, and pressed by cotton thereon and between the spaces, so that
the yarn or thread becomes covered or partly covered with metal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Francis Bennoch in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
FRANCIS BENNOCH, of Wood Street, Cheapside, in the City of London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Francis Bennoch, Her special
licence that I, the said Francis Bennoch, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Francis Bennoch, my execu-
tors, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COATING SILK AND OTHER YARN OR THREAD WITH GOLD OR
OTHER METAL," communicated to me from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Francis Bennoch, 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

page_text: same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Bennoch, 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 thereof (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists of coating silk or other thread or yarn with
gold, silver, or other metal leaf, by first coating a cylinder or roller with
the metal leaf intended to be used, and then winding thereon the silk or
thread or yarn which is to be coated, after which metal leaf is to be laid
on to the surfaces of the silk thread or yarn which has been wound on
the cylinder or roller, when by pressing the metal leaf with dry cotton,
the silk or thread or yarn will be coated with the metal leaf.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed
to describe the manner of performing the same.
I prefer to use a cylinder or roller of wood for the purpose of my
Invention, but I do not confine myself thereto, as other materials may
be used, and such cylinder or roller I make of about three and a half
inches diameter, or of such size that tho metal leaf used will just wrap
round the roller or cylinder, so as to avoid waste of the metal leaf as
much as possible; and I make such cylinder or roller of a length
depending on the length of silk or thread or yarn to be wound thereon;
and in order that the gold, silver, or other metal leaf may slightly adhere
to the surface of the roller during the process of winding thereon of the
silk or thread or yarn, I moisten it slightly, which I find to be best done
by subjecting the roller or cylinder for a short time to the action of the
vapour of soap suds. The roller is then to be coated over with the
metal leaf; the silk or thread or yarn is then to be wound thereon,
taking care that the successive coils thereof around the cylinder or
roller shall not come in contact with each other, but that the suc-
ceeding coils shall only come near to each other, leaving a slight space
(according to the thickness of the silk or thread or yarn) between the
succeeding coils, in order that the metal leaf laid on to the same may
be pressed between the coils, and thus coat the surfaces. In order

page_text: that the silk or thread or yarn may be in a proper state to be so ccated
with metal leaf, the surfaces are caused to be first coated with a suitable
adhesive preparation; for this purpose the ordinary gilding mixture is
preferred. The silk, whether organzine, tram, or twist, or the yarn or
thread of waste silk or cotton, or other fibre, is wound off one reel or
swift on to another reel, and in doing so it is caused to pass into a bath
of gilding mixture, so as to become well covered with the same, and in
rising out of such bath, the silk or thread or yarn is caused to pass and
be drawn through a slit made in a piece of cloth, by which the silk or
thread or yarn will be wiped, and the excess of gilding mixture will be
removed. The winding on to the reel is to be conducted so as to keep
the successive coils thereon separate to prevent them adhering. The
silk or thread or yarn is now allowed to dry for two days, when it is
again in like manner to be unwound from the reel, and to be passed
again through the gilding mixture, and wiped as it rises out thereof,
and it is in this state to be wound on to the roller or cylinder on which
the metal leaf has been previously spread as above described, taking
care as before stated that the succeeding coils are a small distance
apart. Metal leaf is now to be laid over the roller or cylinder, and
over the silk or thread or yarn thereon, and such metal leaf is to be
pressed between the coils with cotton. The silk or thread or yarn on
the roller or cylinder is then allowed to dry, and when dry it may be
wound off on to a reel or roller or bobbins, and in doing so it may be
passed in contact and rub against smooth surfaces of steel or other
material suitable for burnishing or polishing the surfaces. In some
cases the metal leaf is in like manner only applied to parts of the silk or
thread or yarn, leaving other parts uncoated, and in some cases leaves of
different metals are applied at different parts of the same silk or yarns
or thread, or different colors of the same metal may be used, by which
means very varied and beautiful effects may be produced when weaving
or otherwise working up such coated silk or thread or yarn into
or on fabrics.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that what
I claim is, the process herein described of coating silk, whether organzine,

page_text: tram, or twist, and thread or yarn of silk waste, and thread or yarn
of cotton or other fibres, or mixtures thereof, with gold, silver, or other
metal leaf.
In witness whereof; I, the said-Francis Bennoch, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of June, in the -year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
FRANCIS BENNOCH.. (L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE YABSLEY,
77, Wood Street,
City of London,
Clerk.