and Improvements in the Manufacture of Name, Door, Window, Letter Plates, and other like Plates having Inscriptions and Designs.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 10th June, 1893-Accepted, 15th July, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
and
Improvements in the Manufacture of Name, Door, Window,
Letter Plates, and other like Plates having Inscriptions and
Designs.
We, EDMUND JOSEPH BYRNE, of The Retreat, Selby Park near Birmingham
in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, and JOIN DRYHURST of No. 59 Great
Colmore Street Birmingham, aforesaid, India Rubber Stamp Maker do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
Our invention has for its object the manufacture of name, door, window and
letter plates and the like having inscriptions and designs in which plates the
inscriptions and designs are more permanent and less liable to injury than in name,
door and window plates manufactured in the ordinary way.
We will describe our invention in connection with the manufacture of a name
plate.
According to one of our improvements we take a flat board or plate and fix on
its edges a shallow fillet or bead; we attach to the board or plate, letters forming
the name to be produced in the name plate. From the matrix thus produced we
make a casting in brass or other metal. We dress or finish the said casting and
fill up the sunken parts with uncured ebonite, that is a mixture of india rubber
and sulphur. By exposure to the required heat we cure or harden the ebonite
after which we polish the plate. The ground of the plate consists of the ebonite
and the letters of brass. By ebonite we mean any of the numerous compounds
known by different names in commerce consisting essentially of india rubber and
sulphur. The ebonite may be coloured by the addition of pigments. In place of
ebonite or compounds consisting essentially of india rubber and sulphur, celluloid
or other hard non-metallic material coloured or uncoloured may be employed for
filling up the sunken parts but we prefer hard india rubber compounds.
According to another of our improvements we form a matrix in the way already
described. We take a casting from the said matrix preferably in plaster of paris
and from the said casting we form in the ordinary way a metallic casting. In the
metallic casting thus produced the letters are sunken and the ground is in relief.
We dress or finish the casting and afterwards fill up the sunken letters with ebonite
or celluloid or the like. Plates made according to the last described improvement
have letters of ebonite with a ground of brass.
Dated the 17th day of August 1892.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Name, Door, Window, and
Letter Plates, and other like Plates having Inscriptions and
Designs.
We EDMUND JOSEPH BYRNE, of The Retreat, Selby Park, near Birmingham
in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer and JOHN DRYHURST, of No. 59 Great
Colmore Street, Birmingham aforesaid India Rubber Stamp Maker, do hereby
declare the nature of our invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Our invention has for its object the manufacture of name, door, window and

page_text: letter plates and the like having inscriptions and designs, in which plates the
inscriptions and designs are more permanent and less liable to injury than in name,
door and window plates manufactured in the ordinary way.
We will describe our invention in connection with the manufacture of a name
plate.
According to one of our improvements we take a flat board or plate and fix on
its edges a shallow fillet or bead; we attach to the board or plate letters forming
the name to be produced in the name plate. From the matrix thus produced we
make a casting in brass or other metal. We dress or finish the said casting and
fill up the sunken parts with uncured ebonite, that is, a mixture of india rubber
and sulphur. By exposure to the required heat we cure or harden the ebonite
after which we polish the plate. The ground of the plate consists of the ebonite
and the letters of brass. In place of making the letters of the name or door plate
in one piece with the body of the plate as described, the body of the name or door
plate may be made by casting and attaching separate letters to its face and the
sunken parts of the said plate filled with uncured ebonite as described with respect
to a plate having cast letters. By ebonite we mean any of the numerous com-
pounds known by different names in commerce consisting essentially of india rubber
and sulphur. In place of ebonite or compounds consisting essentially of india
rubber and sulpher, celluloid or other hard non-metallic material coloured or
uncoloured may be employed for filling up the sunken parts, but we prefer hard
'india rubber compounds.
According to another of our improvements we form a matrix in the way already
described excepting that the letters are reversed. We take an impression from
the said matrix preferably in plaster of paris in which impression the letters are in
their direct and not in their reversed position and from the said impression we
form in the ordinary way a metallic casting. In the metallic casting thus produced
the letters are sunken and the ground is in relief. We dress or finish the casting
and afterwards fill up the sunken letters with ebonite or celluloid or the like.
Plates made according to the last described improvement have letters of ebonite
with a ground of brass.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings
the manner in which our invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan and longitudinal section, a name plate made according
to our invention and
Figure 2 represents in plan and longitudinal section the body of the plate before
the uncured ebonite is applied to it.
The metal body of the name plate, having a fillet or bead a² near its edge is
marked a, the cast brass or other metallic letters at the middle of the sunken
part a of and made in one piece with the plate are marked b and the ebonite
forming the ground of the name plate is marked c.
In forming the partly made name plate Figure 2, we attach to a plate letters
forming the name to be produced. From the pattern or matrix thus produced we
make a casting in metal in the usual way of producing castings. A casting of this
kind is represented in Figure 2.
After the cast name plate Figure 2 has been dressed or finished, the sunken'
part a is filled to the level of the raised letters b with uncured ebonite c as repre-
sented in Figure 1 and by exposing the plate to heat we cure or harden the ebonite
in the ordinary way of curing india rubber compounds and afterwards polish the
plate. The name plate thus made has a ground of ebonite marked c with letters
of brass marked 6 the surfaces of the ebonite and letters being on the same level.
The ebonite may be coloured by the addition of pigments.
Figure 3 represents in plan and longitudinal section a name plate made according
to our invention in which detached letters are used to build up the name instead of
casting the name in one piece with the metal body of the name plate.
In the said Figure 3, the separate metal body of the name plate is marked d, and

page_text: is provided with a fillet or bead ; the separate letters forming the name are
marked e and the ebonite ground formed by filling the sunken part of the plate
is marked f
In making this modified name plate we proceed as follows ;-
-We form by casting
in a mould the brass or metallic plate d represented in plan and longitudinal
section in Figure 4, the said plate having a fillet or bead d and a sunken part d³
within the bead. We take brass or other metal letters, preferably solid and made
by casting or stamping, and arrange them on a thin sheet metal strip and attach
the bases of the letters to the face of the strip by soldering. A metal strip g
carrying the separate letters e forming the name is represented in plan and longi-
tudinal section in Figure 5 and one of the letters detached is shown in Figure 6.
Although we prefer to attach the separate letters forming the name to a sheet
metal strip yet they may be attached to a cardboard or other non-metallic strip.
In this case, an india rubber solution may be used for attaching the separate letters
to the non-metallic strip.
The length of the strip g carrying the separate letters e is such that when it is
placed at the middle of the sunken part d' of the plate, the ends of the said strip
fit closely against the end fillets or beads of the plate as seen in the longitudinal
section Figure 3 and the strip is thus held in its proper position on the plate. The
sunken part d³ of the plate is next filled with the uncured ebonite and the said
ebonite is cured or hardened as hereinbefore described in making a name plate in
which the letters are cast solid to or made in one piece with the body of the name
plate. When one or a small number of the same name plates are to be made we
prefer to adopt the method herein before described and represented in Figures 3
and 4, but when a large number of the same name plates are required we prefer to
adopt the method hereinbefore described and represented in Figures 1 and 2.
.
In filling the sunken parts of the name plates with celluloid or other like
compounds, instead of ebonite, or the like, we proceed as follows;-
We take celluloid of commerce in the forms of blocks, tablets or sheets and
bring the said celluloid into a plastic state by subjecting it to heat either alone or
by the addition of a solvent, consisting of three parts by measure of spirit and one
part by measure of ether. Methylated spirit and ether may be used.
The plastic celluloid is pressed or moulded into the sunken parts of the name
plate and after the celluloid has cooled and the solvent evaporated a hardened
ground is left, and the plates are finished in the manner before described.
The celluloid may be coloured by the admixture therewith of pigments.
We apply this part of our invention to the manufacture of door, window, letter
and other plates having inscriptions and designs substantially as described with
respect to name plates.
Figure 7 represents in plan and longitudinal section a door, window or other
plate made according to our invention having letters of ebonite celluloid or the
like with a ground of brass or other metal.
In making plates of this kind, we take the pattern or matrix represented in
Figure 8, the said pattern or matrix consisting of letters fixed upon a board i the
letters being arranged in the reverse order and not in their direct position as with
respect to the pattern or matrix for forming the cast name plates herein before
described. We take an impression in plaster of paris or other suitable non-
metallic composition or in metal from the pattern or matrix Figure 8 the said
impression having the letters in their proper or direct position and from the said
impression we form a metallic casting or cast plate in the ordinary way, the said cast
plate having in one of its faces sunken letters marked k and a ground marked
in relief as represented in Figure 9. The casting Figure 9 having been dressed or
finished, we fill up the sunken letters k with ebonite or celluloid or the like
marked m as represented, in the finished plate Figure 7 and treat the plate in
the manner herein before described. The plate Figure 9 has letters of ebonite or
celluloid and a ground of brass or other metal.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed we declare that we claim
as our invention of "Improvements in the manufacture of name, door window and
-letter plates and other like plates having inscriptions and designs";-
First Manufacturing the said door and other plates by the process or com-
bination of processes hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
and 6 of the accompanying drawings; that is to say, producing by casting a metal
plate having a sunken part or parts within which are raised letters inscriptions or
designs either made in one piece with or made separately and attached to the cast
plate and filling up the sunken part or parts with ebonite or celluloid or the like so
as to produce a name or other plate having a ground of ebonite or celluloid or the
like, with letters inscriptions or designs of brass or other metal substantially as
described and illustrated.
Secondly; Manufacturing the said door and other plates by the process or
combination of processes herein before described and illustrated in Figures 7, 8
and 9 of the accompanying drawings; that is to say, casting a metallic plate
having sunken letters, inscriptions or designs and a raised ground and filling the
sunken letters, inscriptions or designs with ebonite, celluloid or the like so as to
produce a name or other plate having letters inscriptions or designs of ebonite,
celluloid or the like with a ground of brass or other metal substantially as herein
-described and illustrated.
Dated the Ninth day of June 1802
EDMUND JOSEPH BYRNE.
JOHN DRYHURST.