CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BOLTON DOE, of Hope Street, Whitechapel, in the County of Middlesex, Iron
Founder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourteenth day of June, in the first year of Her reign,
and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Bolton Doe, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Joseph Bolton Doe, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Bolton Doe, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Joseph
Bolton Doe, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, parti-

page_text: cularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in
Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Bolton Doe, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon (that is to say): :-
My Invention of Certain Improvements in Apparatus used in the Manu-
facture of Soap consists in the construction and adaptation of a novel and
improved frame of metal to be used in place of the ordinary wooden frames
employed in such manufacture. Into these frames the hot liquid soap is
poured from the boilers or coppers in order to be cooled and set or hardened,
so that the soap may be cut up into bars or cakes of the usual form in which
it is sold as an article of commerce. In the ordinary process of soap making
the apparatus (commonly called the "soap frames") consists of a number of
rectangular frames of wood called "lifts," each being about five inches deep,
and of the length and breadth fixed by the present excise regulations, which
"lifts" of wood are commonly attached together by tennant and mortice or by
grooves (and placed one upon another to any height required by the manu-
facturer), in order to prevent the soap leaking or escaping between them.
These wooden frames are necessarily of sufficient thickness to ensure the
required strength, and wood, the material of which they are composed, being
a bad conductor of heat, the cooling proceeds slowly; the soap is, therefore,
required to remain a long time in those frames before it becomes properly set
or hardened, which generally occupies from five to seven days; and when it is
so set or hardened these wooden lifts have severally to be removed from the
block of soap by hand, in order that the block of soap may be cut up, agreeable
to the Excise regulations, for sale; whereas my new or improved
66 soap
frames," being constructed of metal, which is a quick conductor of heat, the
caloric is given off from the mass of soap in much less time than from the
wooden lifts, and, being formed of three or more parts, are capable of being
quickly separated and removed from the mass or block of soap with very little
labour. These improved soap frames are of cast or malleable iron or other

page_text: metal or mixtures of metal, each consisting of a bottom plate or bed, with
two sides or ends, which, when fastened together at their junctions, form a
rectangular chamber of the dimensions required by the present Excise regula-
lations, and may be made of any height desired, and can be quickly discon-
nected when the soap is cold and set. This will be better understood by
reference to the accompanying Drawings, exhibiting two arrangements or
constructions of the soap frame, which will be sufficient to explain my Inven-
tion, although I do not mean or intend to confine myself to the precise form
of construction therein shewn, as the same may be varied to suit the will of
the manufacturer or the regulations of the Excise.
Fig. 1 is a geometrical elevation of the side of my improved soap frames ;
Fig. 2, a similar elevation of the end of the same; and Fig. 3, a section taken
transversely through the frame to shew the interior. Fig. 4 is a perspective
representation of the frame in the same condition as the former figures (viz.),
when put together and supposed to be filled with melted soap; and Fig. 5 is a
geometrical elevation of the same when the sides and ends are thrown open
and the mass or block of soap is left exposed, ready to be cut up into cakes.
A is the bottom plate or bed mounted upon castors or rollers a, a, to facilitate
its removal from one place to another. B, C, are the two side plates, each of
which is connected in this instance to the bottom plate A by strong hinge
joints b, b. C, C, are the end plates, one of which is attached to the side
plate B by permanent fastenings or screw nuts and bolts c, c, c, but they may
in some instances be rivetted or connected together in any way or manner the
Commissioners of Excise may direct for securing the revenue. The other
junctions between the ends and side pieces are secured by movable bolts and
screw nuts d, d, d, which can be attached or detached at pleasure. e, e, are
pieces of wood fastened to the top edges of the side plates for the purpose of
forming rests for the ladles containing the liquid soap when the frames are
being filled. ff, are chains connected to the opposite ends and sides for the
purpose of allowing the attendant to lower them easily and as safeguards
against accidents. These metal frames are brought into use in the following
manner: The workman first secures the joints of the two ends and sides by
the moveable bolts and thumb screws d, d, which will render the frame ready
to receive the soap. When the soap has become cooled and hardened (which
will seldom take more than from forty to fifty hours in these metallic frames)
he unscrews and withdraws the bolts of the movable fastening d, d, d, and
lowers the two side plates, each carrying with it one of the ends of the frame
(as seen in Fig. 5) when the mass of soap is left exposed to be cut up for sale.

page_text: Fig. 6 is a perspective representation of another construction of my improved
metal soap frames, in which the ends are divided into two parts, each side
plate having two portions of the ends attached to it, either by being cast
together in one piece or by being connected to the sides by other means. The
operation of this frame is precisely the same as in the former instance, but the
two sides when removed from the mass of soap carry with them a portion of
each end.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be carried into effect, I wish it to be
understood that I do not intend to confine myself to the precise arrangement
and construction above shewn or described, as the same may be varied without
departing from my improvements, and that various kinds of fastenings may be
used in lieu of the screw nuts or bolts above named; for instance, bolts with
slots or grooves formed in them with wedge-formed keys may be applied by
permission or sanction of the Commissioners of Excise to fasten the portions
together; also that the hinges on the side pieces may be dispensed with by
placing studs or pins on the bottoms of the side and end pieces which may
take into grooves or holes in the bed or bottom plate. And further, that long
bolts may be passed through both side pieces with screw nuts at the ends to
fasten the sides and ends together instead of the short screw bolts and nuts
shewn in the Drawing, and by many other contrivances, all of which will be
well understood by any practical engineer or mechanic, and therefore it is not
necessary for me to particularize them. Also, that any packing, as wood or
leather, may be placed between the junctions of the various parts if thought
desirable, and that these metallic frames may be easily secured under Excise
regulations by a chain or some other contrivance passed round the whole and
fastened by a padlock. In conclusion I would remark, that the Invention
which I desire to be secured to me by the above in part recited Letters
Patent is a metallic frame composed of a bottom plate or bed with movable
ends and sides capable of being securely joined together so as to form a
chamber to receive the liquid soap to be cooled and hardened, and capable of
being readily separated and removed from the mass or block of soap when
cooled in order that it (the block of soap) may be cut up for use.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Bolton Doe, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
JOS. B. (L.S.) DOE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of December,
in the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
Joseph Bolton Doe came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery,
and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-
fifth
year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Fourteenth day of December, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-eight.