AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CLEARING SKINS DESTINED FOR HATTERS' FURS FROM THE COARSE HAIRS (KEMP BRISTLES OR SLEEK COATS) BY COMBUSTION
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ernest Donner, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
AND APPARATUS FOR CLEARING SKINS DESTINED FOR HATTERS' FURS FROM THE
COARSE HAIRS (KEMP BRISTLES OR SLEEK COATS) BY COMBUSTION."
Sealed the 28th April 1868, and dated the 31st October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ernest Donner at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st
October 1867.
I, ERNEST DONNER, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OP AND APPARATUS FOR CLEARING SKINS DESTINED FOR HATTERS' FURS FROM THE
COARSE HAIRS (KEMP BRISTLES OR SLEEK COATS) BY COMBUSTION," to be as.
follows:-
This Invention consists in a method of clearing skins from the coarse hairs
(kemp bristles or sleek coats) by a process of calcination or combustion.
In order to perform this operation the skin is first carded and rendered
flexible by moisture, then suspended by a hook upon a plane surface inclined
at an angle of 75 degrees, that part of the skin corresponding to the tail of
the animal being uppermost, so that the bairs on the skin have a tendency to.

page_text: stand erect by their own weight. The inclined plane should be placed before
the operator, and the hairs are combed from the tail towards the head, that
is, from the highest part of the inclined plane towards the lowest, thereby
causing the said hairs to stand completely on end; a flame is then applied to
the ends of the coarse hairs which partly calcines them; the operator then
combs away the singed hairs and applies the flame to other parts of the skin.
These two operations are continued one after the other till the whole of the
coarse hairs are burnt away and nothing is left on the skin but the down.
The flame thus applied to the hairs must have a very broad surface, and
this is attained by means of an apparatus composed of a copper tube sur-
rounded by a wooden handle. Que end of this tube is provided with a cock
for regulating the admission of gas into the apparatus, the gas being obtained
from any convenient receptacle through a flexible tube. The other end of this
apparatus is provided with a gas burner, called the "butterfly burner," which
emits the broad flame requisite for clearing the skin from the bristles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ernest Donner in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ERNEST
DONNER, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of October, 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 Ernest Donner, Her special licence that I, the said Ernest Donner,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Ernest Donner, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF AND APPARATUS FOR CLEARING SKINS DESTINED FOR HATTERS' FURS FROM THE
COARSE HAIRS (KEMP BRISTLES OR SLEEK COATS) BY COMBUSTION," upon the
condition (amongst others) that J, the said Ernest Donner, my executors

page_text: 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 Ernest Donner, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, and to the letters of reference thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention consists of a method for clearing skins from the coarse hairs
(kemp bristles or sleek coats) by a process of calcination or combustion.
In order to perform this operation the skin is first carded and rendered
flexible by moisture, then suspended by a hook upon a plane surface inclined
at an angle of 75 degrees, or any other suitable angle, that part of the skin
corresponding to the tail of the animal being uppermost, so that the hairs on
the skin have a tendency to stand erect by their own weight. The inclined
plane should be placed before the operator who combs the hairs from the
tail towards the head, that is, from the highest part of the inclined plane
towards the lowest, thereby causing the said hairs to stand completely on end;
the operator then applies a flame to the ends of the coarse hairs, which partly
calcines them, after which he combs away the singed hairs and applies the
flame to those bristles that have not yet been removed. These two operations
are continued one after the other till the whole of the coarse hairs are burnt
away and nothing is left on the skin but the down.
In order that my Invention may be clearly understood I have annexed
hereto a Drawing of the apparatus with which the calcining process is
performed.
This apparatus is composed of a copper tube a surrounded by a wooden
handle b, one end of which is provided with a cock c for regulating the
admission of gas into the apparatus, the gas being obtained from any con-
venient receptacle through a flexible tube connected to the cock c. The
other end of this apparatus is provided with a gas burner d, called the
"butterfly burner," which emits the broad flame requisite for clearing the
skins from the bristles or coarse hairs by my said process.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention, I
claim the improved method of and apparatus for clearing skins destined for

page_text: hatters' furs from the coarse hairs (kemp bristles or sleek coats) by combustion,
as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ernest Donner, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 27th day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
ERNEST DONNER. (L.s.)