IMPROVEMENTS IN: BILLIARD AND BAGATELLE TABLES
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Frederick Bielefeld, of the Strand, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN:
BILLIARD AND BAGATELLE TABLES."
Sealed the 19th March 1853, and dated the 28th October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Frederick
Bielefeld at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 28th October 1852.
I, CHARLES FREDERICK BIELEFELD, of the Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BILLIARD AND BAGATELLE TABLES" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of applying papier maché, or a plastic com-
position in the nature thereof, in forming the beds or surfaces of billiard
and bagatelle tables, such material being lighter, less liable to warp on
variations of temperatures than the materials now used; such surfaces
of papier maché being used alone, or in combination with wood, metal,
or other substances below.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Frederick Bielefeld in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
CHARLES FREDERICK BIELEFELD, of the Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Frederick Bielefeld, Her
special licence that I, the said Charles Frederick Bielefeld, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Frederick Bielefeld, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BILLIARD AND BAGATELLE TABLES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Frederick
Bielefeld, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Charles Frederick Bielefeld, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
This Invention consists of applying papier mache, or a plastic com-
position in the nature thereof, in forming the beds or surfaces of billiard
and bagatelle tables; such material being light, and less liable to warp

page_text: on variations of temperature than the materials now used; such sur-
faces of papier mache being used alone, or in combination with wood,
metal, or other substance below.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood
and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means
pursued by mc. I construct a strong rectangular frame of wood of
the size desired, and at intervals I introduce transverse bars, and
also diagonal frames, by which I obtain a strong bed frame which
is carried by legs as heretofore; and the substance or size of the
wood composing the bed frame will depend on the size of billiard
or bagatelle table intended to be used. On the upper surface of
such bed frame I fix transverse narrow battens, leaving a slight
opening between each neighbouring pair of battens; and these and
the frame should be of the best seasoned wood.
For the upper
surface I prepare a large sheet of papier mache, or a plastic com-
position in the nature thereof, and such sheet of material I prefer
to be manufactured in the manner fully described in the Specification
of a Patent granted to me on the Twenty-fourth February, One thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-one. And I have the under surface
thereof planed before I fix it on to the battens, which I first lay or coat
over with white lead, and I prepare the under surface of the papier
mache with white lead, and in order to fix the papier mache to the
battens I pass screws through, at intervals. The upper surface of the
papier maché is then to be planed, and the table is to be finished with
cushions and pockets, in the usual manner. Or, in place of using wood
for the framing and bed, iron may be used, and the papier mache fixed
to a bed plate of iron (of one or more pieces) by screws. I would state,
that although I prefer that the surface of papier maché should be of
one piece, and that the frame on to which it is fixed should be made
into one, I do not confine myself thereto, as, in cases where it is desired
to transport a table to a distance, it may be desirable to make the
surface or bed of the table of several pieces, correctly formed, in order
that they may go together truly, and the mode of constructing and
putting together of the parts may be varied without departing from my

page_text: said Invention. But what I claim is, the application of papier mache,
or a plastic substance in the nature thereof, in the manufacture of
billiard and bagatelle tables as herein described..
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Frederick Bielefeld, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
Witness,
JOHN EDKINS.
CHARLES BIELEFELD. (L.S.)