The Boot and Shoe Manufacturers' Assistant and Guide. / Containing a Brief History of the Trade. History of India-rubber and Gutta-percha, and Their Application to the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes. Full Instructions in the Art, With Diagrams and Scales, Etc., Etc. Vulcanization and Sulphurization, English and American Patents. With an Elaborate Treatise on Tanning.

by Unknown

N. S. Dodge. Improvements in treating vulcanized India-rubber or gutta-percha. Dated January 18th, 1856.

This invention relates to a mode of treating vulcanized India-rubber, for rendering scraps or waste pieces, such as old shoes, &c., fit to be re-used without requiring to be vulcanized. The material is reduced into small pieces, and placed in a vessel hermetically closed, and to it is added pure alcohol and bisulphate of carbon (¼lb. of the former, and 10 lbs. of the latter, to 100 lbs. of the material,) the alcohol and the bisulphate being previously mixed together, and then poured over the material to be treated. The vessel is then closed air-tight for two hours, at the end of which the process is complete.

W. A. Turner. Improvements in the manufacture of elastic tubing. Dated February 29th, 1856.

The invention relates to tubing made of India-rubber and gutta-percha, either separately or in combination, and is designed for rendering such tubing capable of withstanding a pressure of from 50 to 100 lbs. on every square inch of surface. The novelty consists in combining with the aforesaid material a rigid substance, such as a helix or a series of rings of metal or other material.

CHAPTER II.
AMERICAN PATENTS AND CLAIMS.
INTRODUCTORY.

No sooner had the nature of India-rubber began to be developed, than the spirit of American enterprize commenced to work, in experimenting upon the various uses to which it is susceptible. Of course, the progress was at first slow and tedious. Charles Mackintosh, of England, seems to be the first individual who discovered the process of dissolving the gum in spirits of turpentine, and to introduce the manufacture of those goods which now bear his name. But it seems that as early as 1813, eight years prior to Mackintosh’s discovery, Jacob H. Hummel, of Philadelphia, had secured a patent for “India-rubber varnish.” What the method of preparation was, the “report” does not state. From that date to 1831, the spirit of investigation and experiment in this direction, lay dormant.

The next step in this country, (in 1831,) was a patent secured for “India-rubber Fluid,” to render articles water-proof. In about one year from the issuing of this patent, Wait Webster, of New York, secured a patent for attaching India-rubber soles to boots and shoes. With the introduction of Chaffee’s patent for India-rubber shoes, in 1832, the spirit of invention, experiment and competition commenced, and has continued until the present time. The new, curious, and almost universal application of India-rubber and gutta-percha, in the industrial arts, has wrought a wonderful change, and has given an added stimulus to our manufacturing and commercial interests. The importance of these gums can hardly be over-estimated, and, it is hardly too much to predict that discoveries in the combination of gutta-percha and India-rubber with other substances, will yet be made, which will almost or wholly supersede the common sole-leather, now so extensively used. Already have patents been secured for artificial leather, that in appearance is hardly distinguishable from the best sole-leather. Its DURABILITY, it is contested, together with its CHEAPNESS, will, when the processes of its manufacture are perfected, give it a decided superiority over all other leather.

In preparing and arranging the following list of “American Patents and Claims,” we have given all the really important ones ever issued. Some of the descriptions are very brief, and necessarily so, from the fact that the Patent Office Reports have given but little more than the title, or “text” of the patent issued. It is a very singular, and somewhat remarkable fact, that our Patent Office Reports are exceedingly barren of information concerning the nature and description of inventions. Why this meagreness of detail is put forth, and important information thus withheld or suppressed, is a problem that we cannot solve. We have before alluded to the marked difference which exists between the English and American Patent Offices in this important particular, and while we are able to give full, minute, and instructive descriptions of English patents, we can only afford, in many American patents herein referred to, but little more than the announcement of the issue.

SYNOPSIS OF AMERICAN PATENTS.

First American Patent, received by Jacob H. Hummel, of Philadelphia, April 29, 1813, for India-rubber Varnish.