AN IMPROVED ADHESIVE COMPOUND, AND ITS APPLICATION TO STAMPS, LABELS, WRAPPERS, ENVELOPES, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES
Year: 1869

page_text: Sealed the 29th March 1870, and dated the 25th October 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 25th October 1869.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED ADHESIVE COMPOUND, AND ITS APPLICATION TO
STAMPS, LABELS, WRAPPERS, ENVELOPES, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES," a com-
munication from abroad by Philip Syng Physick Conner, of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, United States of America, to be as follows:-

page_text: it will adhere while in a fluid state to paper and other material, and will
have upon attaining the degree of solidity desired an adhesive affinity
for such surfaces only as have been prepared or coated by the same or
an equivalent compound.
Secondly. In so preparing stamps, labels, wrappers, the flaps of
envelopes, and other like articles, and the surfaces to which they have
to be affixed or that are to be caused to adhere that the prepared
surfaces shall have an adhesive affinity for each other without pre-
liminary wetting.
In preparing this adhesive compound it is proposed to dissolve about
one ounce of caoutchouc (the ground india-rubber of commerce) or
equivalent gums in about four ounces of spirits of turpentine, benzinc,
or other equivalent solvent, and in a separate vessel to dissolve about
one ounce of white, orange, or other shellac in an ounce and a half of
alcohol; the two solutions in about the proportion of two-thirds of the
first to one-third of the second are then to be mixed together. This
mixture constitutes the desired adhesive compound ready for use. Gum
arabic dissolved in water may be. substituted for the shellac, but the
latter is preferrable.
This compound is applied, in the case of envelopes for example, to
the inside of the flap and to the back of the envelope in such a manner
that when the flap is folded down the two strips of the compound will
coincide, or nearly so, for while the compound will wlien in a fluid state
adhere to the paper it has little or no affinity for the same when dry,
adhesion taking place only when the compound on the flap comes in
contact with that on the back of the envelope; all that is necessary
therefore after the introduction of a letter is to turn down the flap and
apply pressure thereto. To the opposite side of the cnvelope the com-
pound may be applied to an extent sufficient to receive a postage
stamp, and a sheet of stamps may be coated with the compound, so
that one of the stamps can be removed and applied to the envelope
by simply placing it on the prepared portion and pressing it down.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third. year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license,
that I, the said John. Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors,
administrators, or 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 ADHESIVE
COMPOUND, AND ITS APPLICATION TO STAMPS, LABELS, WRAPPERS, ENVELOPES,
AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES," a communication to him from abroad by Philip
Syng Physick Conner, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my, executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and scal, or under the hand and seal of one of them,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-.
tion, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John, Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention consists,-
Firstly. Of an adhesive compound composed of the ingredients herein-
after described or their equivalents. the said compound being such that

page_text: it will adhere while in a fluid state to paper and other material, and will
have upon attaining the degree of solidity desired an adhesive affinity for
such purposes only as have been prepared or coated by the same or an
equivalent compound.
Secondly. In so preparing stamps, labels, wrappers, the flaps of
envelopes, and other like articles, and the surfaces to which they
have to be affixed, or that are to be caused to adhere, that the prepared
surfaces shall have an adhesive affinity for each other without preliminary
wetting.
In preparing this adhesive compound it is proposed to dissolve about
one ounce of caoutchouc (the ground india-rubber of commerce) or
equivalent gums in about four ounces of spirits of turpentine, benzine, or
other equivalent solvent, and in a separate vessel to dissolve about one
ounce of white, orange, or other shellac in an ounce and a half of
alcohol;
the two solutions in about the proportion of two-thirds of the
first to one-third of the second are then to be mixed together. This
mixture constitutes the desired adhesive compound ready for use.
arabic dissolved in water may be substituted for the shellac, but the
latter is preferable.
Gum
The Figures on the accompanying Drawing illustrate one mode of
applying the adhesive compound to an envelope. This compound is
applied, in the case of envelopes for example, to the inside of the flap at
a and to the back of the envelope at 6 in such a manner that when the
flap is folded down the two strips of the compound will coincide or
nearly so, for while the compound will when in a fluid state adhere to
the paper it has little or no affinity for the same when dry, adhesion
taking place only when the compound on the flap comes in contact with
that on the back of the envelope; all that is necessary therefore after the
introduction of a letter is to turn down the flap and press it with the
hand, or rub it with the thumbnail against the body of the envelope.
In packing these envelopes for use care should be taken to turn the flap
within the body, so as to prevent the accidental contact of the parts to
which the compound has been applied. To the opposite side of the
envelope, Figure 2, the compound may be applied at c to an extent
sufficient to receive a postage stamp, and a sheet of stamps may be
coated with the compound, so that one of the stamps can be removed
and applied to the envelope by simply placing it on the prepared portion c
and pressing it down.

page_text: Although but one mode of carrying out the second part of the
Invention has been described and illustrated, it will be evident that
differently arranged envelopes and other wrappers may be prepared with
the compound, and that the latter may be applied to labels and other
objects, providing the surfaces to which they have to be affixed be so
prepared as to have an adhesive affinity for the prepared surfaces of the
labels or other objects without preliminary wetting.
I do not confine myself to the precise ingredients named or to the
proportions described, as equivalent substances may be employed in
preparing the desired compound.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The preparation and use of an adhesive compound consisting of
the ingredients herein-before described or their equivalents for the
purpose specified.
Second. So preparing stamps, labels, the flaps of envelopes, wrappers,
and other like articles, and the surfaces to which they or portions of
them have to be affixed, that the prepared surfaces will have an affinity
for each other without preliminary wetting.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of
April One thousand eight hundred and seventy.