View source for Stephen Perry (inventor)

{{Short description|British inventor and businessman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2018}}

'''Stephen Perry''' was a 19th-century British [[inventor]] and businessman credited with the invention of the [[rubber band]]. His corporation was the Messers Perry and Co,. Rubber Manufacturers of London, which made early products from [[sulfur vulcanization|vulcanised]] [[rubber]], only recently perfected by [[Charles Goodyear]] in 1839. On 17 March 1845, Perry received a patent for the rubber band.<ref>''The Hancocks of Marlborough: Rubber, Art and the Industrial Revolution – A Family of Inventive Genius '' (2009), p. 89. John Loadman, Francis James. [https://books.google.com/books?id=K7Qb_og24WYC&dq=%22Messers+Perry+and+Co%22&pg=PA89 link]</ref>

Vulcanisation, a chemical process for converting polymers into more durable materials, gave the rubber a higher tensile strength, improved its resistance to abrasion and allowed the elastic to remain flexible and supple over a wider range of temperatures.

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[[Category:British inventors]]
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