IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OILED SILK
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Trustrum, of No. 2, Marlborough Road,
Old Kent Road, in the County of Surry, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OILED SILK."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Trustrum at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
February 1863.
I, WILLIAM TRUSTRUM, of No. 2, Marlborough Road, Old Kent Road,
in the County of Surry, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OILED SILK," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of oiled
silk. Oiled silk is usually manufactured by coating a woven fabric of silk on
each side with linseed oil, boiled and prepared with driers; the oil is applied in
several successive coatings, and allowed to dry, and so the manufacture is
completed. Oiled silk thus manufactured is however after a time liable to
become tacky, especially when the oil is not of the best quality; to avoid this
inconvenience the silk after having been coated with oil in the usual manner
is according to this Invention finished by coating it with a solution of shellac,
which I prepare by dissolving the gum in water containing a little ammonia.
The solution of shellac is applied in a very dilute state and several times, other-
wise the film of shellac which the solution leaves on evaporating would not be
of uniform thickness. When using a solution of shellac for finishing and

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Trustrum in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
TRUSTRUM, of No. 2, Marlborough Road, Old Kent Road, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Trustrum, Her special licence that I, the said William
Trustrum, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Trustrum, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OILED SILK,"
upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Trustrum, my executors or admini-
strators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 William Trustrum, 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 has for its object improvements in the manufacture of oiled
silk. Oiled silk is usually manufactured by coating a woven fabric of silk on
each side with linseed oil boiled and prepared with driers, the oil is applied in
several successive coatings and allowed to dry, and so the manufacture is com-
pleted. Oiled silk thus manufactured is however after a time liable to become
tacky especially when the oil is not of the best quality. To avoid this incon-

page_text: venience the silk after having been coated with oil in the usual manner is
according to this Invention finished by coating it with a solution of shellac,
which I prepare by dissolving the gum in water containing a little ammonia.
J employ the following proportions, 3 lbs. of shellac, 1 gallon of water, and
pound of ammonia. The solution of shellac is applied in a very dilute state,
and several times, otherwise the film of shellac which the solution leaves on
evaporating would not be of uniform thickness. The workman will judge of
the strength of the shellac solution and weaken it until it will lie evenly.
When the fabric is stout, a somewhat stronger solution may be employed than
can be used conveniently when the fabric is very thin. When using a solution
of shellac for finishing and giving a surface to oiled silk, it will not be
necessary to apply so many coatings of oil as are employed when finishing the
fabric without shellac.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Trustrum, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
WILLIAM TRUSTRUM. (L.S.)