IMPROVEMENTS IN SPECTACLES AND-HAND FRAMES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lewis Braham, of Hatton Garden, in the County of
Middlesex, Optician, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPECTACLES
AND-HAND FRAMES."
Sealed the 5th February 1864, and dated the 7th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lewis Braham at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th November 1863.
I, LEWIS BRAHAM, of Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Optician, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SPECTACLES AND HAND FRAMES," to be as follows:-
My improvements in spectacles and hand frames consist in the application
of metal in certain form and combination as the frames of such articles,
particularly in the elastic connections between the eyes of hand frames which,
as well understood, grip the nose, and are sustained by the pressure exerted
by the elasticity of such parts or springs applied thereto. For this purpose,
instead of using a flat steel spring or a helical coil of wire, as heretofore, I
employ a combination of wires, whereby great strength and elasticity is
obtained, and at same time great lightness, and with sufficient grip to fix the
frame on the nose as usual, which grip, from the extreme lightness and great
elasticity of the combined wires, is reduced to a minimum, but is sufficient.
For this purpose I either combine a number of single or twisted wires
parallel with each other, in the same plane, or I interweave, plait, or

page_text: braid them together in any manner and form, but by preference as flat as
possible. If of steel, I harden and temper these wires to give them the
necessary elasticity, and frames so made, as before-mentioned, are light, but
possess remarkable elasticity, strength, and tenacity, more especially the
plaited combination, and are therefore not liable to break or get out of order
or shape. I also make the frames of plaited or combined wires, as also
spectacle frames and eye glasses generally, soldering or otherwise securing
joint pieces where required; the joints may in some cases be made of plaited
wire material. By the word "frames" in spectacles I include the side pieces
or temples, and, in fact, the whole of the spectacles with the exception of the
lenses. In some parts of the spectacles and hand frames I plait or braid the
wire over a core.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Lewis Braham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEWIS
BRAHAM, of Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex, Optician, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Lewis Braham, Her special licence that I, the said
Lewis Braham, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Lewis Braham, 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 Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SPECTACLES AND HAND FRAMES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Lewis Braham, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Lewis Braham, 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):-
My improvements in spectacles and hand frames consist in the application
of metal in certain form and combination as the frames of such articles,
particularly in the elastic connections between the eyes of hand frames,
which, as well understood, grip the nose, and are sustained by the pressure
exerted through the elasticity of such parts or springs applied thereto. For
this purpose, instead of using a flat steel spring or a helical coil of wire, as
heretofore, I employ a combination of wires, whereby great strength. and
elasticity is obtained, and at same time great lightness, and with sufficient
grip to fix the frame on the nose as usual, which grip, from the extreme light-
ness and great elasticity of the combined wires, is reduced to a. minimum,
but is sufficient. For this purpose I either combine a number of wires
parallel with each other, and in the same plane, or I interweave, plait, or
braid them together in any manner and form, but by preference as flat as
possible; if of steel, I harden and temper these wires to give them the
necessary elasticity. Hand frames so made as before mentioned are light,
but possess remarkable elasticity, strength, and tenacity, more especially the
plaited combination, and are therefore not liable to break, or get out of order
or shape. I also make the frames of plaited or combined wires, as also
spectacle frames generally, soldering or otherwise securing joint pieces where
required; the joints may in some cases be made of plaited wire material. By
the word "frames" in spectacles I include the side pieces, and, in fact, the
whole of the spectacles with the exception of the lenses.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figs. 1 and 2 of the Sheet of Drawings annexed represent what is termed
a hand frame constructed according to my Invention. It will be observed
that the frame is constructed in the ordinary way, with the exception of the
nose-piece and spring a, which is made of a number of wires braided or plaited
together and fastened at each end. to the eyes b, b, by cap pieces c, c, the
part a uniting these parts b, b, firmly together, and offering the advantages
before mentioned.
Figs. 3 and 4 represent another arrangement, in which the part a consists
simply of a series of parallel wires arranged and affixed to the eyes b, b, by

page_text: caps c, c, as will be readily understood by manufacturers without further
description.
In this hand frame I have also represented the whole of the frame of
woven or braided wirework. The eyes b, b, are braided in a strip of the
proper breadth, and then drawn and bent to the form to receive the lenses in
same manner as ordinary metal frames. The hand hold d I make on a
core of the proper shape, which is fixed to the frame and braided over with
wire, as seen.
Figs. 5 and 6 represent another arrangement of wire, the spring bridge
piece a in plan, as at Fig. 2; in Fig. 5 wires twisted together are used and
placed in pairs or triplets parallel with each other, as represented, while in
Fig. 6 interwoven wires are used in each case, the object being to produce
an elastic connection between the eyes b, b, such as herein-before described.
All these hand frames coil up as usual, and as represented in Fig. 7 for
portability.
In the foregoing examples I have supposed and represented these hand
frames to be made of steel wire, in which case, after, being made, the spring
connections a are duly hardened and tempered to impart the necessary
elasticity and temper, which is the same as that used for springs in ordinary,
the colour being lowered to a blue, the same blue colour being also used for
other parts of the woven, plaited, or braided wire frames, and as usual in steel
spectacles and hand frames. These frames may be made of gold, or any other
metallic wire, care being taken to harden it sufficiently to form the spring of
the required strength and resilience.
Fig. 8 represents an eye glass frame constructed according to my Invention,
the part 6 being of braided or woven wire, made as before described, while
the hand hold d is made on a core, and braided or plaited over with wire, as
represented.
Fig. 9 represents a pair of spectacle frames in which the whole of the
frame is made according to my Invention, as seen, the rims or eyes being
formed of a strip of wire braid, which is afterwards drawn and formed to
receive the lenses in the ordinary manner. Joint pieces may be soldered to
such frames, and so jointed to the temples e, e; or those parts may be a con-
tinuation of the braided material without any joint, as that material will bend
sufficiently at that point to fold and enclose in a case without joints, or joints
may be made by turning eyes on the wire material of the temples, or of wires
individually, and at same time interlocked with the wire material of the eye
frames 6; the bridge piece f is united to the eyes b, b, by caps c, c, as seen.

page_text: The ends g of the temples may be capped or otherwise finished off according
to requirements.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, forming spectacles and hand frames of wire braided, plaited, or
interwoven, as herein-before described.
Secondly, forming the spring or bridge piece a of hand frames of wires,
combined and arranged as and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lewis Braham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
LEWIS BRAHAM. (L.S.)