THE PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF COMPRESSED LEATHER AND ARTICLES OF LEATHER
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Harcourt Brown, of Abbey Mills, Romsey,
in the County of Hampshire, for the Invention of "THE PRODUCTION AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Harcourt Brown
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th September 1867.
I, JOHN HARCOURT BROWN, of Abbey Mills, Romsey, in the County of
Hampshire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "THE
PRODUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF COMPRESSED LEATHER AND ARTICLES OF LEATHER,"
to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention consists in the production of leather and
articles of leather from animal bides and skins, or from the refuse portions of
such animal hides and skins as have been or may be used for the manufacture
of leather by the usual methods.
In carrying my Invention into effect I reduce the cuttings of leather into
a fibrous condition by means of suitable machinery generally employed for

page_text: such purposes, and amalgamate the same with refuse cuttings of untanned
bides or skins also reduced to a fibrous condition, such amalgamation being
effected alone or by the introduction of gelatinous or other suitable adhesive
compounds in greater or less quantities as found necessary for the manufacture
of different qualities of the leather until the whole is of the required con-
sistency. I then take wire or other suitable moulds and use therewith
woollen felts, and by pressure while the fibrous materials are in a soft plastic
condition form them into sheets of the required thickness. When the untanned
hides or skins or refuse thereof are used in connection with animal matters I
prefer to submit them to the tanning process in their semi-wet condition and
tan them in the usual way. In some cases, however, they may be "tawed"
and "sumacked," and by these latter processes be converted into the finer sorts
of leather. When sufficiently dry I pass the sheets made as above described
through presses or between suitable press rollers for giving the required finish,
as is usual with the various kinds of leather.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Harcourt Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th March 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HARCOURT BROWN, of Abbey Mills, Romsey, in the County of Hants, Gentle-
man, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Harcourt Brown, Her special licence that I, the said John
Harcourt Brown, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Harcourt Brown, my executors, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL LEATHER AND ARTICLES MADE THERE-
FROM," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Harcourt
Brown, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,

page_text: or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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..
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Harcourt Brown, do hereby
declare the nature of said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The object of this Invention consists in the production of leather and
articles of leather from animal hides or refuse parts of hides, and skins or
refuse parts of skins as have hitherto been or may be used for the manu-
facture of leather by the usual methods..
In carrying my Invention into effect, I reduce the refuse cuttings of leather,
such as shavings or shoemakers' cuttings, by means of a paper maker's engine
in which rags are reduced to pulp, or other suitable machinery; I then take
the refuse cuttings of untanned hides or skins of bull, ox, buffalo, cow, calf,
sheep, goat, and other similar animals, and reduce them to fibres in the same
manner and by the same engine as I do the leather. Having reduced them
into this condition, I add, say ten per cent. of untanned fibres to 100 lbs. of the
tanned leather fibres, and introduce about 4lbs. of dissolved glue or other gela-
tenous or suitable adhesive compounds, and amalgamate them together in the
rag engine before named until they are well mixed together (animal matters
being by preference employed). I then take wire or other suitable moulds
such as are employed in the manufacture of millboards for bookbinders, and
use therewith woollen felt, and by pressure while the fibrous materials are in
a soft plastic condition form them into sheets of the required thickness in the
same manner and by the same means as millboards are made for books.
When the untanned hides or skins or refuse thereof are used in connection
with animal matters for the production of thick sole leather, I prefer to
submit them to the tanning process in their fibrous semi-wet condition and
tan them in the same manner as leather is tanned; in some cases, however,
they may be "tawed," that is, converted into leather by means of salt and
alum in the same proportions as tanners employ, and "sumacked" by the
vegetable sumack, and by these latter processes converted into the finer sorts
of white and colored leathers. When sufficiently dry I pass the sheets made
as above described through presses or between suitable press rollers such as
are used for glazing millboards or paper, for giving the required finish usual

page_text: with the various kinds of leather. The quantities of materials may be varied
according to the quality and substance of the leather required.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Harcourt Brown, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight..
JOHN HARCOURT BROWN. (L.S.)