IMPROVED METHODS OF PREPARING THE CORK BARK USUALLY EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OP CORкS
Year: 1819

page_text: CARTER'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CARTER, of Shoreditch, in the County of Middlesex, Printer, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIis present Majesty King George the Third, in and by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing
date at Westminster, the Sixth day of January now last past, for Himself, His
heirs and successors, did give and grant unto me, the said William Carter,
my exors, admors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said William Carter, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns,
and every of them, by myself and themselves, and by my and their deputy or
deputies, servants or agents, or such others as I, the said William Carter, my
exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention" of
"IMPROVED METHODS OF PREPARING THE CORK BARK USUALLY EMPLOYED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OP CORкS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso, obliging me, the said William Carter, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed; and
to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the said, reference being thereto had,
will more fully-appear..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the sand
William Carter, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said In-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by the following
description thereof (that is to say):
To render the explanation more clear, I conceive it first necessary to re-
mark, that by the present method of preparing the cork bark, that is, by
burning the two sides, which closes the pores and make the cork bark look
finer), I do not get on the average more than a fourth of the quality
approved of for wine corks, and of the remainder a very great proportion are
inferior and small, there being a great quantity of the cork much too thin for
wine or porter corks, which is generally used for fine bungs, taps, or phial
corks.
I have also to remark that a great proportion of the above-mentioned wine
corks are what is usually called blacks (that is, they appear burnt on two
sides), which I have found to be a very general objection to their use as wine
corks and sometimes as porter corks, it being desireable to have all whites, if
possible, even at an advanced price.
It may be necessary also to remark that there is also a great demand for
large fine white corks, which are very difficult to be got in considerable
quantities, for generally as the cork bark gets thicker on the tree it also gets
more porous and open on the outside, which is exposed to the weather, and
therefore the finer specimens of cork bark are generally also more thin. My
patent improved methods of preparing the cork bark consists in this, that by
permanently joining or uniting (with a proper cement) two or more pieces of
fine thin cork bark (the black, where necessary, being previously taken off by
grinding or cutting to a level surface,) I produce a square of cork or a mass
of cork bark of any size or thickness I may want, and of a fine quality.
I will now describe another method I practice with a thicker sort of cork
bark, there being a great quantity which is fine on one side for about half the
thickness and very open and porous on the other; I grind or cut away all the
open or porous part to a level surface, and join or unite together two or more
pieces so ground with a proper cement, as before. It may be necessary to
remark that there are many large corks of a coarser kind in demand, to
which my patent improved methods will also apply.
I shall now proceed to describe my method of preparing and uniting the
pieces of cork bark, and permanently joining the same (previously to their
being cut into corks), so as to enable any competent workmen to do the same.
I first cut my cork into slices of a width equal to the length I want my corks,
(this may be done in the usual way, and either by hand or machinery); I then

page_text: cut them into pieces whose length and breadth are equal to the size I wish the
pieces of cork to be when united; I then with a knife, rasp, file, or saw, (but
I prefer a flat-surfaced circular rasp, put into rapid motion by a steam engine
or any other power competent to turn it at great speed,) take off the black or
porous side to an even surface; I then cover the surface of two or more
pieces with a proper cement, and. having applied the cemented surfaces to each
other I then firmly press them together in a screw press, or any competent
press; and leave them until the cement is dry), then take them out, and they
are ready to be manufactured into corks. There are many sorts of cement
which may be used, but I use and prefer the cement commonly Vancouver's
cement.
It may be necessary to remark, that although I have given such a
description of the mode used in carrying my patent improved methods of pre-
paring cork bark into effect as to enable any competent person to do the
same, I do not claim as an Invention any more of the said method or process
than the uniting different pieces or portions of cork, as above, by which I am
enabled to get a considerable quantity more of fine white corks than by the
present practice.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifth
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of July, in the year
of our Lord 1819, the aforesaid William Carter came before our said Lord
the King in His 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.