IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOONS, FORKS, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOONS, FORKS, AND OTHER LIKE
ARTICLES."-A communication from abroad by Jacques Mazeron, of
Paris, in the Republic of France.
Sealed the 20th January 1874, and dated the 13th November 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 13th November 1873.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOONS, FORKS, AND
OTHER LIKE ARTICLES," a communication to me from abroad by Jacques
Mazeron, of Paris, in the Republic of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the production of blanks for spoons, forks,
and other like articles, and consists in casting strips of any suitable
metal of a length sufficient to cut up into a number of blanks, with

page_text: enlargements, projections, or protuberances at intervals approximating
to the rough outline of the blank to be produced, and in subjecting such
strips to the action of a rolling or drawing mill by reheating them and
passing them therethrough a sufficient number of times, so as to draw
or reduce them to the requisite length and thickness, and to the form
of a series of blanks arranged end to end. These strips are then severed,
and the blanks so formed are ready to be manufactured into spoons,
forks, and other like articles by rolling, pressing, or other suitable or
vell known means
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the 37th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOONS, FORKS, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Jacques Mazeron, of Paris, in the Republic of
France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing,

page_text: under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
The metals employed in the manufacture of spoons, forks, and other
like articles according to the ordinary method are first cast in the form
of ingots, which are then rolled or drawn out so as to form strips or
plates, out of which blanks are cut of suitable shape and dimensions for
the description of article which it is required to produce, such article
being finished either by hand or mechanically by either rolling, or
pressing, or stamping. This mode of preparation possesses the serious
defect that it involves a waste of about fifty per cent. of the metal
employed before the manufacture of the finished article is commenced,
by reason of the quantity of metal contained in the remnants of the
strips or plates after the action of the cutting apparatus. These
remnants having to be recast and rolled again entail a considerable
expenditure of labour, fuel, and motive power, independently of the loss
of metal, which is 'always the consequence of repeating the operation of
fusing. In the ordinary process moreover the metal has to be repeatedly
rolled and reheated, it being frequently necessary to pass it through the
rolls 15 or 20 times, and to heat it a proportionate number of times in
order to produce the article.
Now this Invention relates to an improved mode of preparing the
blanks, whereby these defects are remedied, the waste due to the existing
system being prevented, and the number of passages through the rolls
considerably reduced. The improved system possesses also the advantage
that it does not require the use of such powerful rolls as are necessary
for the manufacture of the ordinary metal strips or plates out of which
the blanks are cut which are to form the spoons, forks, or other

page_text: In carrying out this Invention elongated ingots are cast approxi-
mating to the external form of the blanks, which according to the
ordinary method are cut out of the rolled sheet metal, such ingots being
each composed of a series of blanks united together and arranged end to
end, so as to constitute blank strips or bars, which are rolled or drawn
out by passing them two or three times between grooved rolls in order
to bring them to the desired length and thickness. The blank strips or
bars are afterwards severed, and the blanks so formed and detached aro
then ready to be manufactured into spoons, forks, and other like articles
by either rolling, pressing, or stamping, or by hand, according to the
particular process of manufacture which it is preferred to employ.
The blank strips or bars may be cast in either sand or metal moulds.
The number of times the operations of rolling and heating are repeated
depends solely on the degree of malleability of the metals employed,
such, for example, as gold, silver, German silver, copper, or other metal
susceptible of being utilized for the manufacture of spoons, forks, and
liko articles.
The form of the blank strips or bars is also varied, according as they
are to be employed in the manufacture of ordinary spoons or forks,
dessert spoons, gravy spoons, soup ladles, or for other similar purposes.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the forms and arrangements
adopted for the blank strips or bars to suit the description of article to
which they are to be applied, and for that purpose shall refer to the
several Figures on the annexed two Sheets of Drawings, which illustrate
various specimens of the blank strips or bars in the condition in which
they leave the moulds, and after they have been rolled or drawn out,
and of blanks detached after the operations of rolling or drawing out are
completed, ready for manufacture into the finished article by either
rolling, pressing, or stamping, or by hand.
Figures 1 and 2 (Sheet 1) shew the various stages of the preliminary
operations to which the metal is subjected which is to be employed for
the manufacture of the finished article by rolling. The blanks shewn in
Figure 1 are used for the manufacture of spoons, and those shewn in
Figure 2 for the manufacture of forks.
A is a side elevation of a blank strip or bar for spoons in the condition
in which it leaves the ingot mould, which strip or bar in the example

page_text: shewn is composed of 6 blanks. B is a corresponding plan of same.
C, D, shew the forms which the blank strip or bar assumes during the
operation of elongation to which it is subjected by passing it between
grooved rolls in order to bring it to the desired length and thickness.
E is a plan and side elevation of the blank of which the spoon is to be
formed, such blank having been detached from the blank strip or bar
which has previously been reduced to the proper thickness ready to bo
manufactured into a spoon by the operation of rolling.
A¹ is a side elevation of
a blank strip or bar for forks, composed of
6 blanks cast end to end. B¹ is a corresponding plan of same.
C', D¹,
shew the forms which the blank strip or bar assumes under the operation
of rolling or drawing out. E' is a plan and side elevation of a blank
detached ready to be manufactured or shaped by the operating of rolling
into a fork.
Figures 3 and 4 (Sheet 2) represent the forms and arrangements of
the blank strips or bars, the blanks of which are intended to be manu-
factured into spoons and forks by pressing or stamping. In this case, as
the blanks prepared for manufacture require to be more elongated than
when the article is to be finished by rolling the blank strips or bars are
passed three times through the rolls and reheated twice in order to bring
them to the thickness and length required for the operation. Figure 3
shews the form of the blank strips or bars for spoons, and Figure 4 the
form for forks.
F is a side elevation of a cast blank strip or bar, the blanks of which
are to be manufactured into spoons by the pressing or stamping
operation. G is a corresponding plan of same. H, I, J, shew tho
various forms which the blank strips or bars assume during the operation
of rolling or drawing out. K is a plan and side elevation of a blank
detached ready to be manufactured or shaped into a spoon by the
operation of pressing or stamping.
F¹ is a side elevation of the cast blank strip or bar, the blanks of
which are to be manufactured into forks by pressing or stamping. Gis
a corresponding plan of same. H¹, I', J', shew the various forms which
these strips or bars assume during the operation of rolling or drawing
out. K' is a plan and side elevation of a blank detached for the manu-
facture of a fork by the operation of pressing or stamping.

page_text: Figure 5 (Sheet 2) represents the forms and arrangements of the
blank strips or bars, the blanks of which are to be manufactured into
spoons and forks by hand with the hammer. In this case one form of
blank may be used indifferently for the manufacture of both spoons and
forks.
L is a side elevation of a cast blank strip or bar, the blanks of which
are to be formed into spoons or forks by the hand operation. M is a
corresponding plan of same. N, O, shew the forms which the strips or
bars assume by passing through the rolls. P shews a blank detached
ready to be manufactured by the hand operation into a spoon or fork.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the production of
blanks for spoons, forks, and other like articles by first casting a strip or
bar of a form approximating to the shape of a series of blanks arranged
end to end, and then rolling or drawing out such strip or bar to the
required length and thickness, and afterwards dividing or severing the
same so as to detach or separate the several blanks, substantially in
the manner and for the purposes herein-before described and illustrated
by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of
May, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)