AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING DESIGNS IN OR ON GLASS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Frederick Blumberg, of the Firm of
Blumberg and Company, of Cannon Street West, in the City of London,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR
PRODUCING DESIGNS IN OR ON GLASS."
Sealed the 27th May 1863, and dated the 2nd December 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Frederick Blum-
berg at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd December 1862.
J, GEORGE FREDERICK BLUMBERG, of the Firm of Blumberg and Company,
of Cannon Street West in the City of London, Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING DESIGNS IN OR ON GLASS," to be as follows:-
I propose to manufacture tiles of glass of any form or dimension, and
bearing therein or thereon a design or designs of any nature.
In order to explain my Invention, I will describe the manufacture of a tile,
say, nine inches square, one and a half inch thick, and bearing only one
design. I use an ordinary pan mould for receiving the molten glass, to this is
hinged (or it may be separate) an upper mould. On this latter mould there
is a projection of the size of the design I intend producing, and on this pro-
jection (or on a separate piece screwed on, or otherwise attached thereto,) is
in metal the design itself. It follows then, that on pouring the molten glass

page_text: into the pan mould and pressing in the upper mould, the cavity and design
are both made in and on the molten glass; after this operation I either paint
my design (say a rose) on the glass indented with that flower, or I have a
design corresponding with the indented design painted on paper (or any
material). This I place on the indented design, glaze it, and secure it in
position, filling up when desirable with plaster of Paris, or other material.
As my tiles are intended among other uses to be laid as paving, I so make my
pan mould that it leaves small points or projections, or otherwise roughens the
face of the glass, serving to give foothold. The plane of the upper mould is
also cut into rays, lines, or other forms, which on pressure reproduces them on
the under face of the glass around the design.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Frederick Blumberg in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st June 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
FREDERICK BLUMBERG, of the Firm of Blumberg and Company, of Cannon
Street West, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-six year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Frederick Blumberg, Her special licence that I, the said
George Frederick Blumberg, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Frederick Blumberg, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING DESIGNS IN OR ON
GLASS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Frederick
Blumberg, 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 George Frederick Blumberg, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The object of my Invention is the production of ornamental glass tiles or
quarries to be used for the purposes for which the well-known Dutch tile is
used, and also for paving, or for lining surfaces where an ornamental as well
as solid substance, impervious to damp or other corrosion, is required.
I make my tiles of any size that may be desired, from the square of six
inches or less to the ordinary size of foot paving, and of any shape, and of
forms permitting the tiles or quarries to fit, or, as it were, dovetail into each
other. I manufacture tiles or quarries of glass of any form or dimension,
producing therein or thereon a design or designs of any nature or description.
To effect this I prefer to employ a mould, made either of steel, iron, brass,
copper, or other suitable metal, or amalgam, capable of taking a high polish,
as I prefer to use a mould free from all irregularities, and of plane polished
surface. If the tiles, quarries, or slabs be of large size a casting table may
be used, and the cavities for the designs made by a roller prepared for that
purpose. I fix my mould in any convenient manner, say, on a lever or screw
press. The mould being sufficiently heated, I gather the metal or liquid
glass, being very particular in the quantity, pour it into the mould, bring down
the plunger, and press; a hole or cavity bearing a design is thus formed by the
plunger in the bottom of each tile, the plunger also regulating the thickness
of the tile. The cavity will be more or less deep according to the weight of
glass, although the tile may be always the same thickness. After pressing the
tile, it must be allowed to stand for a few minutes to cool; it is then passed to
an annealing arch, and in about thirty-six hours it is removed, and will then
be in a fit condition to receive color. I now either paint the design (which
may be a rose, or any other. object or subject,) moulded in the tile as afore-
said, or I have a design corresponding with the indented design already
painted on paper, or other material; this I place on the indented design, and
secure it in position, filling up the cavity with plaster of Paris, or other suitable
material. As the tiles made according to my Invention are intended among
other uses to be laid as paving for halls and other places, I so make or indent
my pan mould that it shall leave small raised projections or points, or other-
wise roughen the face of the glass, and serve to give foothold. The plane of
the mould or the plunger is also cut into rays, lines, or other forms, which
on pressure it reproduces on the face of the glass around the design, or, and
more especially for small glass tiles, I take an ordinary pan mould for receiving

page_text: the molten glass, with an upper mould or lid hinged thereto (or they may be
used separate); on this latter is formed the projection of the size of the
intended design, and on this projection (or on a separate piece screwed on or
otherwise attached thereto,) is in metal the design itself. The object in
making the design separate from the top mould or lid is, that the latter may
receive any succession of designs of the same form and size, and the rays or
other ornament surrounding the central design are either cut in the plunger
or form. part of the separate piece above described; or, as first stated, the
whole of the design, rays, or ornament may be on the plunger, being cast or
engraved therewith or thereon, as the case may be. It follows that on
pouring the molten glass or metal into the pan mould, and pressing down the
, upper mould, the design, the rays, and other ornaments are made in and on
the molten glass, which is afterwards treated as already directed.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and means by
which I carry it into practical effect, I would have it distinctly understood
that I do not in the production of ornamental and colored designs on or in
glass strictly confine myself to the details herein-before given, as such may be
in practice varied or modified to meet the circumstances of particular cases
without at all departing from the principle of my Invention; nor do I confine
myself to the use of plain metal or glass, as I may elect to use colored or
parti-colored metal, and I may make grooves, lugs, or other protuberances in
or on the metal by means of projections or cavities on or in the mould, the
better to secure the fitting of the edges of the tiles, quarries, or slabs with
each other; but I declare to be of my Invention, and I claim the exclusive
use of tiles, quarries, or slabs made of glass, and ornamented or colored, in the
manner essentially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Frederick Blumberg, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this First day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
GEO. F. BLUMBERG. (L.S.)