AN IMPROVED SAFETY ENVELOPE, AND CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE SAME;
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, WILLIAM
ARMITAGE, of Manchester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighth day of May, in the fifteenth year of Her reign, and
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Armitage, Her special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said William Armitage, my exors, adññors, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said William Armitage, my exors, admors, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times.
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED SAFETY ENVELOPE, AND CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE
SAME;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
William Armitage, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Armitage, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
The first part of my Invention consists in manufacturing envelopes entirely
of woven or textile fabrics, instead of paper, or of woven fabrics and paper
combined. In manufacturing envelopes for ordinary use, I stamp or cut the
fabric which has been woven in the usual manner into pieces of the required
shape, which pieces, having been folded, are cemented or gummed at their
edges to form envelopes; the outer surface of the fabric must be glazed or
otherwise prepared in the ordinary manner, so as to produce a surface suitable
for writing upon. The machinery for stamping, folding, & gumming the
envelopes is well understood in the trade, and therefore does not require to be
particularly described. Envelopes manufactured in the manner above
described are more secure than those in ordinary use, as the flaps adhere
with great tenacity, owing to the nature of material employed, and there
is less danger of injury from abrasion or moisture.
The second part of my Invention will be better understood on referring to
Fig. 1 of the annexed Drawing, and it consists in manufacturing envelopes
of what is generally called a double fabric, that is to say, a fabric woven in
such wise that certain parts of the piece consist of a single fabric, and other
parts of the same piece consist of two separate fabrics; the necessary changes
in a loom for producing this fabric can be made without further explanation,
as any practical weaver acquainted with jacquard engines can make double
fabrics to the required pattern. The fabric is supposed to be wide enough to
make, when cut up, six envelopes in the width of the piece, and the surface
must be glazed to enable it to be written upon with facility. The lines a, a,
represent the weft threads where they cross the warps b, b, to form the single
fabric; the other portions of the fabric are double, the parts c, c, being the
pockets of the envelopes, and the longitudinal divisions d, d, forming the
flaps; the peculiar mode of and machinery for cutting which, will be explained
hereafter.
On cutting this fabric lengthways and crossways according to the liues e, e,
and f, it is evident that the envelopes will be completed as three sides are
united or stitched in the process of weaving, and the fourth provided with the
flap is open for the admission of the documents or other articles to be inserted.
When envelopes are manufactured in the manner herein lastly before described,
and secured by the patent metallic seal they cannot be opened by accident;

page_text: 3
and as no cement or gum is employed for securing the edges, they may be
exposed to damp or moisture with impunity.
The third part of my Invention consists in the machinery for cutting
the double fabric asunder lengthwise along the lines e, e, and e¹, e¹, so as
to separate the portion that is woven single and to produce the flaps
of the envelopes. Fig. 2 represents a side elevation, partly in section;
and Fig. 3 is a plan of the machine. The fabric, after it is bleached
and glazed, is wound on the roller g, from whence it is carried over the
guide roller h; it then passes partly over and partly under the rail i,
which serves as a support for the knives and for the instruments k; the
knives are to cut the fabric asunder where the ends of the envelopes
are woven together, as shewn at the lines e, in Fig. 1, and the instrument k,
drawn half size at Figs. 4, 5, and 6, is furnished with two knives l, l, which
separate their portion of the double fabric marked d at different levels, to
form the flaps of two opposite envelopes, one of the knives being placed above
and the other below the instrument k. This instrument is furnished with a
blunt nose, which enters between that portion of the double fabric marked d, d,
and serves as a guide to the fabric. When the fabric has passed the knives,
it is carried over the roller m, and then it is wound on to the rollers n, n.
The necessary motion for drawing the fabric off the rollers 9 for cutting it,
and for winding it on to the rollers n, is imparted by the strap o from the
steam engine or other motive power. The rollers n, n, are connected together
by spur pinions, shewn by red lines in Fig. 2; but the other rollers g, h, and m
are carried round by the action of the fabric as it is being wound on to the
rollers n, n.
When a sufficient quantity of the fabric has been wound on the
rollers n, they are taken out of the cutting machine, and the fabric (which is
now in longitudinal strips of the width of an envelope) is drawn off, and the
envelopes separated from each other, according to the lines f, f, shewn in
Fig. 1; this last operation may be done by scissors worked by hand or by
machinery similar to that used in cutting paper.
"
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is,―First,
manufacturing envelopes solely of woven fabrics. Secondly, manufacturing
envelopes of double woven fabrics. And, lastly, the machinery for cutting
double woven fabrics in the manner herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Armitage, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Sixth day of November, One thousand eight hundred
WILLIAM (L.S.) ARMITAGE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of November, in the
year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid William Armitage came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.