IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING BLACKING, POLISHING OILS, AND OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Davis, of Clapham, in the County of
Surrey, Bootmaker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN VESSELS FOR
CONTAINING BLACKING, POLISHING OILS, AND OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS, AND
IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
Sealed the 7th November 1865, and dated the 12th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Davis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
May 1865.
I, THOMAS DAVIS, of Clapham, in the County of Surrey, Bootmaker,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
VESSELS FOR CONTAINING BLACKING, POLISHING OILS, AND OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS,
AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference to vessels for containing blacking, polishing
oils, and other similar materials, and to apparatus to be used with such
vessels for the purpose of stirring their contents, and for preventing the
accidental dipping of the brush too deeply therein, whereby greater cleanliness
is obtained, and waste of the blacking or other material avoided.
According to this Invention it is proposed to employ a cylindrical vessel, by
preference of earthenware, fitted with a lid or cover capable of being easily
rotated thereon by a knob or handle for that purpose. A notch is made in
the periphery of the lid or cover, through which passes the upright stem of a
stirrer, which may also be made of earthenware, and shaped thus (L), the

page_text: horizontal part resting upon and turning over or scraping the bottom of the
vessel when the lid is rotated, the stirring or mixing being thus accomplished
without removing the lid. A float of wood or other buoyant material fits
easily inside the vessel, and floats on the surface of the liquid contents. This
float is dished slightly on its upper face, and is perforated with a number of
holes at that part, through which perforations a portion of the liquid rises, and
partly fills the shallow recessed or dished part of the float. By dipping the
blacking or other brush into the liquid contained on the float no more will be
taken up by the brush than is required at one time, and hence all waste is
avoided.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Davis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
. 11th November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
DAVIS, of Clapham, in the County of Surrey, Bootmaker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the 28th year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Davis, Her special license that I, the said Thomas Davis, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Davis,
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 VESSELS FOR
CONTAINING BLACKING, POLISHING OILS, AND OTHER SIMILAR MATERIALS, AND IN
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Thomas Davis, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Thomas Davis, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, 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 :-
My said Invention has reference to vessels for containing blacking,
polishing oils, and other similar materials, and to apparatus to be used with
such vessels, for the purpose of stirring their contents, and for preventing the
accidental dipping of the brush too deeply therein, whereby greater cleanliness
is obtained, and waste of the blacking or other material avoided.
According to this Invention it is proposed to employ a cylindrical vessel, by
preference of earthenware, fitted with a lid or cover capable of being easily
rotated thereon by a knob or handle for that purpose. A notch is made in
the periphery of the lid or cover, through which passes the upright stem of a
stirrer, which may also be made of earthenware, and shaped thus (L), the
horizontal part resting upon and turning over or scraping the bottom of the
vessel when the lid is rotated, the stirring or mixing being thus accomplished
without removing the lid. A float of wood or other buoyant material fits
easily inside the vessel, and floats on the surface of the liquid contents. This
float is dished slightly on its upper face, and is perforated with a number of
holes at that part, through which perforations a portion of the liquid rises
and partly fills the shallow recessed or dished part of the float. By dipping
the blacking or other brush into the liquid contained on the float no more will
be taken up by the brush than is required at one time, and hence all waste is
avoided.
And in order that my said Invention may be better understood, I have
attached to this my Specification an explanatory Sheet of Drawings, and
indicated the several parts by letters of reference.
Fig. 1 of the Drawings represents a vertical section of my improved
apparatus complete; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, with a portion of the lid
or cover broken away for the purpose of shewing the interior; the rest of
the Figures are details, which I shall herein-after refer to.
A is the body of the vessel, which contains the blacking or other liquid or
semi-liquid material; B, the agitator or stirrer (shewn in detail at Fig. 3),
made in the form of the letter L, the vertical stem B¹ of which passes up one
side of the vessel A, its upper end entering the notch C formed in the lid or
cover D, the lower or horizontal portion of this stirrer extends across the
bottom of the vessel, and may, if desired, be provided with another vertical
stem at the opposite end thereof, as shown at Fig. 4, and made to enter a
similar notch formed in the lid or cover opposite to that marked C; E is a
float made of wood, cork, or other suitable buoyant material, also provided

page_text: with a notch or notches F corresponding with those formed in the lid or
cover D. It will thus be seen that by rotating the lid or cover by means of
the knob or handle G the float and stirrer will be caused to turn with it, and
by this means thoroughly stir or agitate the material contained in the vessel.
The float E is dished or recessed on the upper surface, and is perforated with
a number of holes H, so that by exerting a slight pressure with the blacking
or other brush on the surface of the float a sufficient quantity of the material
will be forced through the perforations on to the brush to use at one time,
and thus prevent waste or dirt. The lid if desired may be made with a screw
thread, so as to screw on to the body of the vessel, in which case by the act of
unscrewing the lid the material will be agitated or stirred ready for use by
the time the lid is removed from the vessel.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode of
using the same, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider to be
novel, and desire to claim is,-
First, the general construction and arrangement of apparatus for containing
blacking, polishing oil, and other similar liquid or semi-liquid materials, as
herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
Second, the application and use to and in vessels for containing blacking of
an agitator, constructed and made to act substantially in the manner and for
the purpose herein-before described.
Third, the application and use to and in vessels for containing blacking of a
perforated float, as and for the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Davis; have to this my Speci-
fication set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of November, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
ITAMAN DAVIS
HOME DAVIS
THOMA
DA VIS. (..)