IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE of EARTHENWARE AND OTHER DINNER AND DESSERT PLATES, AND APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREIN.
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Henry Wood, of Sheffield, in the County of York,
Auctioneer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE of
EARTHENWARE AND OTHER DINNER AND DESSERT PLATES, AND APPARATUS
TO BE USED THEREIN.'
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Henry Wood at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th June 1880.
CHARLES HENRY WOOD, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Auctioneer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF EARTHENWARE AND OTHER DINNER
AND DESSERT PLATES, AND APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREIN."
My improvements relate to the making of earthenware and china dinner and
other plates more convenient and useful than hitherto, and by simple contrivances
in the making thereof produce the said plates at no additional cost above that
It is a
incurred in the making of ordinary plates such as are at present in use.
well known and acknowledged fact that plates hitherto made have not been
provided with any satisfactory or convenient means of holding or keeping separate
the various accessories of the dinner table, such as salt, mustard, and sauce, but on
the contrary have been so constructed as to favor or cause the salt or mustard to
slide down from the brim or rim of the plate (the part usually used for this
purpose) into, and become mixed with, the food on the plate. To prevent this I
make or form cells or recesses in or upon the outer rim or brim of the plate,
arranged in such a manner as to hold and keep separate the various accessories before
alluded to. For this purpose, in the manufacture of such plates, I employ moulds
(which may be made of lead or other material) of the desired shape and size
required for the upper side of the plate; into or upon this mould I place clay of the
required quantity and consistency, and by means of another mould bearing the
imprint of the underside of the plate, when the two moulds are brought together
and pressure applied, the clay is forced into the desired shape with the cells or
recesses formed therein, which may now be baked and finished in the ordinary

page_text: way. By another method I make a mould of the upper side of the plate, which is
arranged to rotate upon a spindle, and by means of a lever bearing the desired
shape of the underside of the plate the clay is forced into the rotating mould by
bringing to bear upon the clay the lever, which at the same time forms the required
shape of the underside of the plate. The moulds are made in such a manner as to
avoid making any irregular projections on the underside of the brim of the plate,
which would be likely to interfere with the plates bedding or nesting together,
and which might cause the plates to warp in the baking or storing of the same.
Another very important improvement I effect by the same means in breakfast
plates. By one and the same operation I make a plate which combines within it
an egg cup, toast rack, salt cell, and plate. This combination may be produced by
these means at a very trifling cost above that incurred in the production of an
ordinary plate.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Henry Wood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
December 1880.
CHARLES HENRY WOOD, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Auctioneer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF EARTHENWARE AND OTHER DINNER
AND DESSERT PLATES."
My improvements relate to the making of earthenware and china dinner and
other plates more convenient and useful than hitherto, and by simple contrivances
in the making thereof produce the said plates at no additional cost above that
incurred in the making of ordinary plates such as are at present in use.
It is a
well-known and acknowledged fact that plates hitherto made have not been
provided with any satisfactory or convenient means of holding or keeping separate
the various accessories usually required at the dinner table, such as salt, mustard,
and sauce, but on the contrary have been so constructed as to favor or cause the salt
or mustard to slide down from the brim or rim of the plate (the part usually used for
this purpose) into, and become mixed with, the food on the plate. To prevent this
I make or form cells or recesses in or upon the outer rim or brim of the plate,
arranged in such a manner as to hold and keep separate the various accessories
before alluded to. For this purpose, in the manufacture of such plates, I employ
moulds (which may be made of lead or other material) of the desired shape and
size required for the upper side of the plate; into or upon this mould I place clay
of the required quantity and consistency, and by means of another mould bearing
the imprint of the underside of the plate, when the two moulds are brought
together and pressure applied, the clay is forced into the desired shape with the
cells or recesses formed therein, which may now be baked and finished in the ordinary
way. By another method I make a mould of the upper side of the plate, which
is arranged to rotate upon a spindle, and by means of a lever bearing the desired
shape of the underside of the plate the clay is forced into the rotating mould by
bringing to bear upon the clay the lever, which at the same time forms the required
shape of the underside of the plate. The moulds are made in such a manner as to
avoid making any irregular projections on the underside of the brim of the plate,
which would be likely to interfere with the plates bedding or nesting together, and
which might cause the plates to warp in the baking or stoving of the same.
Another very important improvement I effect by the same means in breakfast
plates. By one and the same operation I make a plate which combines within it an
egg cup, toast rack, salt cell, and plate. This combination may be produced by these
means at a very trifling cost above that incurred in the production of an ordinary
plate.
And now having described the general nature and object of this my Invention,
I will describe more fully. the details of the same by reference to the accompanying
Drawings, in order that the entire nature and object of these improvements,
together with the method of working out or carrying the same into practical effect,
may be more clearly understood. Upon reference to the Drawing, Figure 1, it will
be seen that this represents an iron or metal dish provided with a screw socket A
which is intended to be screwed into a screw press or hand or foot lever; the dish
like form is intended to be filled with gypsum, or plaster of Paris, or other material
to form the mould which shall bear the desired form for the formation of the upper
side of the plate. Fig. 2 shows the same tool filled with gypsum or plaster of
Paris, this B bearing upon its face the necessary formation to produce the design
of the upper side of the plate; C shows one of the projections on the mould required
to produce one of the recesses in the plate, this is called the upper or top mould.
Fig. 3 is the corresponding or bottom mould or bed, which is an iron or metal dish,

page_text: and filled with gypsum or plaster of Paris, bearing the necessary formation to
produce the desired shape of the underside of the plate; the clay is placed between
the moulds, Figs. 2 and 3, and by applying pressure either by a screw press or
lever the clay is forced into the desired form bearing the recesses as required.
Fig. 4 shows a dish again bearing a mould and a plate formed upon it showing the
underside of the plate uppermost. The socket A is intended to be screwed into a
jigger or mandrel. By this arrangement the clay is laid upon the mould D; the
jigger or mandrel is then caused to revolve; the lever E, which works upon a stud
or swivel G, by means of pressure upon the handle H forces the clay into the desired
shape. The lever E may be only a rod of iron or metal bearing upon its face the
necessary shape to produce the desired form of the underside of the plate, or the
lever may be designed to carry a mould bearing the form required for the underside
of the plate. Fig. 5 shows the upper side of an entire plate made by this process
showing recesses marked "salt," "relish," and mustard." Fig. 6 represents the
same cut in two. It must be borne in mind that in order to obtain a recess or
recesses deep enough to be of any real practical value I thicken the brim or rim of
the plate during the moulding process, as shown at J, J, but bevelled in such a
manner towards its extremity as to prevent any unsightly or objectionable
appearance, whilst the bevel so formed serves as a safeguard against its slipping
out of the hand when being carried about. Fig. 7 shows the underside of a plate
showing the bevel as moulded at K. Fig. 8 shows an arrangement of egg cup L,
and toast rack M, and recesses combined.
Having now particularly described my Invention and the method in which the
same is carried out or performed, I desire it to be understood that what I claim
as my Invention, and which I wish to be secured to me by the before recited Letters
Patent is,-
The improvements in the manufacture of earthenware and other dinner plates,
in the manner and for the purpose as herein set forth and described, and the method
of thickening or bevelling the brims or rims thereof in order to obtain sufficiently
deep recesses therein, and the combination of plates with egg cup, and egg cup, toast
rack, and recesses formed therein, substantially as and for the purposes herein set
forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Henry Wood, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
CHARLES HENRY WOOD. (L.S.)