IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING FIGURES OR REPRESENTATIONS UPON GLASS."
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Napier, Gentleman, of Partick, near Glasgow,
in the County of Lanark, Scotland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PRODUCING FIGURES OR REPRESENTATIONS UPON GLASS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Napier at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st April 1859.
I, JAMES NAPIER, Gentleman, Partick, near Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, Scotland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING FIGURES OR REPRESENTATIONS UPON GLASS," to be
as follows:-
I print or draw, on paper or other fabric, the figures or representations to be
produced upon the glass. The fabric is then fastened upon the glass, and the
glass with the fabric on it is subjected to the action of hydrofluoric acid or
other compounds that corrode glass, or I draw or print on paper, with a
suitable ink, any figure or representation; then transfer it to the glass, and
submit the glass, without the paper, to the action of the acid or corroding
substance.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Napier in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
NAPIER, of Partick, near Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, Scotland, Gentle-
man, send greeting.
WHEREAS Hér most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her. reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Napier, Her special license that I, the said James
Napier, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Napier, 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 Great Britain
and Ireland, the Chanuel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING FIGURES OR REPRESENTATIONS UPON GLASS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Napier, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 James Napier, 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:
My Invention consists in an easy and economical method of producing figures
or representations upon glass by the use of any ordinary print, lithograph, or
engraving, or design drawn by hand, with printer's ink, and the following is
my process: I take a print, lithograph, or engraving, or design drawn by
hand with printer's ink, and fix the printed surface to the glass by any ordinary
paste, such as flour or starch, with great care to exclude the air from between
them, and when perfectly dry I apply to the paper liquid hydrofluoric acid,
about the specific gravity of 1-140, for about three minutes, and then wash

page_text: well in water to remove the acid and paper, when the figure or representation
will be found upon the glass.
In some cases I cut out the printed portion of the paper in outline, and
paste it only upon the glass before applying the hydrofluoric acid; and I also
prefer to have the glass finely ground, enamelled, or veneered, before applying
my process, when the representation stands out in relief; and if the veneer or
enamel is colored, the representation remains colored, and the body of the glass
white. I prefer to use weaker acid in these latter cases, but in either case
I do not confine myself to any particular strength of acid.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of exe-
cuting the same, I claim as my Invention, the using of any ordinary print,
lithograph, or engraving, or design drawn by hand with printer's ink, as
described, and producing a like figure or representation on glass by pasting the
same on the glass and acting upon this with hydrofluoric acid.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Napier, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JAMES NAPIER. (L.S.)