IMPROVED MATERIAL TO BE USED AS TOWELLING, TABLE CLOTHS, NAPKINS, AND OTHER SIMILAR USES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Dillwyn Parrish; of 58, Threadneedle Street, in
the City of London, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
MATERIAL TO BE USED AS TOWELLING, TABLE CLOTHS, NAPKINS, AND OTHER
SIMILAR USES."-A communication from abroad by Edward Parrish,
of Philadelphia, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 12th December 1871, and dated the 19th June 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Dillwyn Parrish at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 19th June 1871.
I, DILLWYN PARRISH, of 58, Threadneedle Street, in the City of
London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED MATERIAL TO BE USED AS TOWELling, Table Cloths, Napkins,
AND OTHER SIMILAR USES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the employment of half
paper or dried
pulp as a material for use as towels, table cloths, napkins, and other
domestic purposes.

page_text: In the manufacture of paper the pulp or stuff is forced or allowed
to flow over a wire table or sheet which has a tremulous as well as a
travelling motion imparted to it for the purpose of spreading the pulp
or "stuff" into an equal film over its surface, and to strain the water
therefrom, as well as for moving the sheet onwards to the pressing
rollers, the pulp being of a consistency suitable for the thickness of the
paper to be produced. As the film, or more properly speaking, the
sheet leaves this table it usually enters between rollers to press the
remaining water from it to prepare it for the drying cylinders, and is in
a condition known as "water leaf," that is, with the corrugations or
impressions of the wirework upon it.
Now according to my Invention I take this "water leaf" and dry it
without applying pressure of any kind, and I cut it into sheets of suit-
able sizes to suit the purposes for which it is intended. The "water
leaf" sheet is very. elastic and very tenacious; it is also capable of
imbibing a quantity of liquid which renders it suitable for wiping
glasses, pieces of crockeryware, or as towels, table cloths, napkins, and
other uses.
The corrugations or wrinkles in the sheet are all in one direction, so
that the sheet is elastic only in the opposite direction, but by passing
the sheet through or between a pair of corrugated or wrinkled rollers or
plates in the opposite direction the sheet can be made elastic all ways.
This however will not be necessary if the wire cloth be made in such a
manner as to form the double corrugations or wrinkles.

page_text: and grant unto me, the said Dillwyn Parrish, Her special licence that
I, the said Dillwyn Parrish, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Dillwyn Parrish, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVED MATERIAL TO BE
USED AS TOWELLING, TABLE CLOTHS, NAPKINS, AND OTHER SIMILAR USES," (com-
municated to me from abroad by Edward Parrish, of Philadelphia, in
the United States of America,) upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Dillwyn Parrish, my executors or administrators, 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 Dillwyn Parrish, 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 relates to an improved material (specially prepared
paper) as a substitute for woven fabrics for towels, table cloths, toilet
glass, and other cloths and napkins, and consists in the preparation and
employment of dried paper pulp in sheets containing corrugations or
wrinkles by which it is rendered of an elastic nature, the dried pulp
being capable of imbibing moisture and of being crumpled up without
fear of tearing or of leaving particles of fibre upon the face or hands
or upon any article, or adhering thereto, which may be wiped with it.
The corrugations or wrinkles may be in one or both directions across
the sheet or diagonally, as desired, and at any distances apart, so as
to represent squares, lozenges, or other shapes, or the sheet may be
ingrained with depressions and ridges produced upon the table or other
surface of a paper machine, or between rollers or plates after the
sheet is formed. The borders' or edges of the sheet may be left plain,
or perforated, or otherwise prepared to give the appearance of an

page_text: ordinary fabric, and possess all the advantages thereof at a considerably.
less cost.
I take the sheet known as "water-leaf," that is, the pulpy film which
has reached the degree of continuity upon the table, say, of the paper
machine, and before it arrives at the first pair of drying and pressing
rollers by which the water it contains would be expelled. In this state
it is removed and dried in any suitable manner, when it will be found to
have a wrinkled or rough ribbed surface, its toughness being dependent
on the quality and nature of the material from which the pulp was
made, which toughness may be. more or less increased by the addition
of suitable ingredients chemically prepared or otherwise in the pulp as
desired.
Other corrugations, wrinkles, ribs, or ingrain may also be added to
the sheet in the same or other directions as the naturally formed ones
by means of roughened or patterned cylinders or plates to render.it
more elastic, and it may also be subjected to a rubbing or a kneading
process between roughened or other surfaces in order to loosen the fibres
to make it more flexible and more absorbent without interfering with.its
tenacity..
The sheets may be made to given sizes, or they may be cut up before
or after they have been acted upon as just explained.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The employment of water-leaf paper in a dried state in the
manner and for the purposes explained.
Secondly. I claim re-graining or rough-ribbing water-leaf paper to
render it more elastic and pliable in the manner and for the purposes
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Dillwyn Parrish, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of December One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.