IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LETTERS. DESIGNS, & OTHER ARTICLES OF MICA, VARIOUSLY COLORED OR METALLIZED.
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clarke, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer & Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LETTERS. DESIGNS, & OTHER ARTICLES OF
MICA, VARIOUSLY COLORED OR METALLIZED. "A communication from abroad
by Messrs. Thomas Lamie Murray & Holthausen, Brothers, both of
29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, Merchants.
Sealed the 10th December 1861, and dated the 17th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th June 1861.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chaucery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer & Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LETTERS, DESIGNS. & OTHER
ARTICLES OF MICA, VARIOUSLY COLORED OR METALLIZED," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the manufacture of letters,signs,designs,armorial
bearings,colored windows, & other similar articles of plates or sheets of mica,
colored or metallized, of various shades; these sheets are to be applied to glass,
porcelain, stone, wood, metal, and generally to all surfaces, for the purpose of
decoration or for signs, poster advertisements, paintings, or other ornaments.
I am aware that sheets of mica have already been employed, either colored or
metallized, for the different objects above mentioned, but the form and design
of the object & its ornamentation has been obtained by means of lithography,
and afterwards cutting them of the required size, which renders it expensive in
its application. The following is the improved method of manufacture
according to this Invention:-1st, I split the mica iu thin sheets, and clean it
Paine d

page_text: in such way as to render it perfectly transparent; 2ndly, I color or metallize
the reverse of the sheets by means of colors mixed in spirits of wine, varnish,
or oil, & gold, silver, platina, or other leaf metal; 3rdly, I punch the sheet of
mica by means of a suitable hollow or open punch to obtain either the form of
the letter or other form desired; it may be transparent blanks, which are then
filled in with other colors, so as to obtain the different colors, shades, or tints,
combined, if desired, with metallic tints. The improvement of this part of the
Invention consists in obtaining the design and the application of the tints,
either colored or metallized, by means of punches instead of by lithographic or
chromo-lithographic process; 4thly, the colors, metallic or otherwise, are
fixed on the sheet of inica with white spirit varnish; 5thly, the designs in
mica,are suitably shaped by means of scissors or otherwise; 6thly, to obtain
designs of different colors several sheets of mica are superposed and pasted
together, the lower sheets are made of larger size than those above, leaving the
edges or borders of each layer exposed, so as to produce the pattern or design;
7thly, these letters or other designs are pasted on the surfaces to be ornamented
-by-means-of ordinary paste, or-it-may-be-a-coating-of turpentine; öthly,
the letters and other designs may also be colered by means of paper or
fabrics,either colored or metallized, which is suitably shaped & pasted at the
back of the mica; these lotters may also be superposed one on the other,
showing variously colored borders, as herein-before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARKE, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer &
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June,in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William
Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Clark, 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

page_text: make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LETTERS, DESIGNS. AND OTHER
ARTICLES OF MICA PREVIOUSLY COLORED OR METALLIZED," a communication from
Messrs. Thomas Lamie Murray and Holthausen, Brothers, both of 29,
Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, Merchants, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Clark, ny executors or administrators, by an i
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be perforined, 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 William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to the new application of mica in differently colored
or metallized sheets in the manufacture of letters, signs, designs, armorial
bearings, and for other purposes. The sheets can be applied to glass,
porcelain, wood, stone, metal,and in general on all surfaces to be decorated or
for signs, advertising,pictures, and other like decorative and useful purposes.
The process adopted in the manufacture is as follows:-1st, I split the mica
into thin sheets and clean it in such way as to render it perfectly transparent;
2ndly, color or metallize the sheets of mica, either with oil colors, spirits of
wine, oil varnish, with gold, silver, or platina leaf; 3rdly, I cut, with a
suitable hollow punch or pattern plate, the sheet of inica to obtain transparent
letters or other objects of the desired form, which may be then colored so as to
combine different colors and shades, and even with metallized colors. I claim
especially this part of the Invention; 4thly, the whole of the colored or
metallized pieces are then fixed on a sheet of mica with white spirit varnish;
5thly, I now cut the design in the sheet of mica by means of scissors or other
suitable means; 6thly, to obtain designs of various colors I superpose several
sheets of mica thus prepared one on the other, the metal or the shades or colors
of the lower ones appearing through the upper or outside ones. The part of
the Invention thus characterized I specially claim to be protected as part of
the Invention; 7thly, I paste or gum the letters or signs on the surfaces to be
ornamented by means of any suitable adhesive matter; Sthly, the coloring or
metallizing of the mica can be effected by means of paper or fabric, colored or

page_text: metallized, pasted at the back of the mica. The manufacture of letters is
effected by cutting the mica of the desired form, on the reverse side of which
is laid a coating of paint, which is allowed to dry; on this dry paint is then
applied a coat of spirit varnish, which prevents the loss of color.
For gold or silver letters I employ fish glue with water or gum. The
formation of letters is effected by punching openings in cardboard, leather,
or other material, the parts which are to be colored are then lifted by
means of a little brush; the back of the sheet is then colored with the
color desired, after which it is varnished and superposed, as desired. The
process of gumming consists in coating the reverse of the letters with a
solution of gutta percha when their application takes place. The cleaning
off takes place when the whole is dry.
The following kind of gum & method of gumming or cementing accord-
ing to this Invention may be substituted for the above. I boil Venice
turpentine until when cold it will solidify; it is applied with a stick, which
serves to coat the back; the application of the letter then takes place,
which is cemented & perfected by the pressure of a hot iron.
In the annexed Drawings Fig. 1 represents a letter formed of three sheets
of mica differently colored, produced by means of pieces of mica of the shape
represented at Figs. 2, 3, & 4; Fig. 5 represents a letter formed of three
pieces of mica differently colored, the parts of which it is composed being
represented at Figs. 6, 7, & S, the superposition of which the one on the other
is arranged to represent the margin & form the letter represented at Fig. 5.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be pro-
tected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the new
application of mica, as above described, superposed and gummed in sheets
or pieces of different colors or shades in the manufacture of letters, signs,
or other devices for ornamental and useful purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
JAMES DAISH,
53, Chancery Lane.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)