IMPROVE- RATUS." THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL MASTICATING APPA
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ephraim Mosely, of Grosvenor Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Dentist, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
RATUS."
THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL MASTICATING APPA-
Sealed the 19th February 1853, and dated the 21st December 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ephraim Mosely
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st December 1852.
I, EPHRAIM MOSELY, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL
MASTICATING APPARATUS" to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to provide the mouth with a
masticating apparatus, which, by yielding slightly to the pressure
of the jaws, will avoid the unpleasant jar which is felt by the
use of the ordinary construction of artificial masticating apparatus.
In carrying out this Invention I affix to that surface of the
ordinary gold plate or frame which has heretofore been brought
into contact with the mouth, a layer of wire gauze, for the purpose
of receiving a coating of india rubber of such thickness as will form
a kind of cushion to receive the pressure of the gums, and by

page_text: slightly yielding to that pressure will prevent the unpleasant jar
already alluded to. Upon this gold plate I propose in some cases
to form a gum, to embrace the neck of the artificial teeth by means
of a suitably moulded perforated plate or wire gauze frame, composed
of gold, platinum, or other non-oxidizable metal; and I cover this
plate or frame with a preparation of india rubber of the color of the
natural gum, and thereby I am enabled to obtain an effect closely
resembling the setting of the teeth in the natural gum. Instead of
using bone or enamel teeth, I propose in some cases to mount blocks
of india rubber on the ordinary carrying plate or frames, and in
that way obtain the yielding effect desired. And where economy
is an object, I apply the coating of india rubber directly to the bonc
frame, instead of using the intermediate layer of wire gauze as
above explained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Ephraim Mosely in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 21st June 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
EPHRAIM MOSELY, of Grosvenor Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Dentist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two,
in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Ephraim Mosely, Her
special licence that I, the said Ephraim Mosely, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ephraim
Mosely, my executors, administrators, and 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

page_text: Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL MASTI-
CATING APPARATUS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Ephraim Mosely, by an instrument in writing 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 Ephraim Mosely, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):
The object of this Invention is to provide the mouth with an
artificial masticating apparatus, which, by yielding slightly to the
pressure of the jaws, will avoid the unpleasant jar in the mouth which
is experienced by persons using the ordinary construction of arti-
ficial masticating apparatus. In carrying out iny Invention, I affix
to that surface of the ordinary gold plate or frame which has here-
tofore been brought into contact with the gum a layer of wire
gauge, for the purpose of receiving a coating of india rubber, which
is to form an clastic cushion, and yield sufficiently to the pressure
of the gums to prevent the occurrence of the unpleasant jarring
sensation above alluded to. In the accompanying Drawing, Fig.
1, shews in plan view, and Fig. 2, in cross section (taken
in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1), a gold plate, carrying teeth on its
under surface, and provided with a yielding substance to receive
the pressure of the gum of the upper jaw. a, a, is the ordinary gold
plate moulded to suit the mouth of the patient, and carrying arti-
ficial teeth b, which are rivetted or soldered thereto in the usual
way. To the upper surface of the gold plate a layer of platinum
wire gauze c (in part exhibited at Fig. 1), is attached. This wire
gauze is used for the purpose of presenting a good holding surface

page_text: to the cement employed in fixing the layer of india rubber d, to the
plate a, which india rubber is intended to cover the whole of the
metal surface that would in its absence be brought into contact with
the gum. It will be understood that the india rubber is shewn
deficient in Fig. 1, for the purpose of exposing part of the metal
plate and interposed wire
gauze to view.
as in nature.
In some cases it may be thought desirable to form on the gold
plate an artificial gum, so that the teeth may appear to be imbedded
When this is required, I affix to the gold plate a, a
suitably moulded perforated plate or wire gauze frame, composed of
platinum or other non-oxidizable metal, and I cover this plate or
frame with a preparation of india rubber of the color of the natural
gum, effecting the adherence of the india rubber to the metal by
means of suitable cement, and thereby an effect may be obtained,
closely resembling the setting of the teeth in the natural gum as
shown at Fig. 3; or I use a colored solution of india rubber, and
apply it, by means of a camel's hair brush, to the metal gum, laying
coat upon coat, until a sufficient thickness is obtained. This
solution, as well as the preparation of colored india rubber above
mentioned, I produce by dissolving the india rubber in chloroform,
and mixing vermillion therewith.
When economy is an object, I propose, as a modification of the
plan above set forth, to apply the coating of india rubber to a bone
frame without the intervention of wire gauze. In such case, I
adopt the mode of fastening shewn at Figures 4, and 5, in which
Fig. 4, is a plan view, and Fig. 5, a cross section of a bone frame
thus fitted. In these Figures e, e, are small plates of gold set at
convenient distances apart, and made to press upon the layer of
india rubber d, by means of gold pins passing through them and
entering the bone frame, and by this means the india rubber
cushion or covering is secured in its place.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention, and described
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be under-
stood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,
first, interposing between the gum of the wearer of artificial teeth,

page_text: and the plate or frame which carries the teeth, a layer or cushion
of india rubber for the purpose above set forth; and, secondly, I
claim the mode above described of producing artificial gums having
the appearance of the natural gum.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ephraim Mosely, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three
0 Witness,
W. NEWTON,
Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane.
EPHRAIM MOSELY. (L.s.)