AN IMPROVED METHOD OF MAKING OR CONSTRUCTING WINDOW BLINDS, FIRE SCREENS, CHIMNEY PIECES, SASHES, DOORS, PICTURES FRAMES, & FRAMES FOR DRESSING, PIER, AND OTHER GLASSES, AND VARIOUS OTHER USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL ARTICLES AND THINGS
Year: 1812

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
Cook, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirty-first day of
October, in the fifty-third year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said
Benjamin Cook, my exors, adññors, and assigns, His special licence, full
power, sole priviledge and authority, that I, the said Benjamin Cook, my exors,
adors, and assigns, during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF
MAKING OR CONSTRUCTING WINDOW BLINDS, FIRE SCREENS, CHIMNEY PIECES,
SASHES, DOORS, PICTURES FRAMES, & FRAMES FOR DRESSING, PIER, AND OTHER
GLASSES, AND VARIOUS OTHER USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL ARTICLES AND THINGS;" in
which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, that if I, the said
Benjamin Cook, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in
His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, that then the
said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby
granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the
same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Benjamin Cook, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed are particularly described as
follows, that is to say :-
"
I take certain sizes of the brass rodding as manufactured under the Patent
granted to T. Attwood and myself, on the 27th of June 1811, or rods of
metal only, or solid iron rods cover'd with brass or other metals, which I form
into the external frames of Vénetian or dwarf parlour window blinds, in the
same manner as I would form such frames from mahogany or any other wood.
I then take thin & narrow strips or laths of metal, or plated metal, or a
mixture of metals, or strips of wood only, with which I form the interior part
of the same window blinds, in the same manner as such window blinds are
usually manufactured from thin-and narrow strips of wood, and thus I form
Venetian window blinds consisting principally of brass or other metal; I also
sometimes introduce fanciful- metallic net-work, in the place of the thin strips
or laths, or I also apply the same description of laths or wire-work to wood
frames, and thus I form the other kind of Venetian window blinds, very
beautiful, and possessing the advantage, when the windows are opened, of
admitting the air freely. These kinds of Venetian blinds I make applicable
to carriages. If I have occasion to form the common whole Venetian window
blind, which draw up to the top of the window, I take longer strips of metal,
which I hold together by strings, in the same manner as the present whole
window blinds, composed of wood, are held together, or by any other convenient
means. In the same manner I form blinds for carriages, or frames for
carriage windows. If I have occasion to make fire screens or chimney pieces,
I also take certain sizes of the patent brass rodding, or of rods of brass only,
or of other metal, or of solid iron rods covered with brass or metal, which I
form into these articles in the same way as they are commonly made, but in
some ornamental parts of the chimney piece I am obliged to rivet or other-
wise affix certain plates of brass or other metal, on account of the difficulty I
experience in drawing the patent rodding, or making the common metal
rodding with such occasional enlargements or embellishments as the proper
appearances of chimney pieces require; for instance, I take two large pillars,
either round or square, or any other suitable form, of the patent brass rodding,
which is drawn upon solid wood or upon iron tubing; or I take two pillars
from any other metallic rodding; I ornament them with capitals and bases
made from cast brass or other metal; I then take a large slob or long flat
piece of the brass rodding of any suitable form, which I fix across from the
top of one pillar to the top of the other, and having fixed other slobs of the

page_text: same kind on the sides of the same, and any plates or other ornaments that
appear to be proper, I thus form chimney pieces of wood or iron, covered with
brass or other metal, or of brass or of other metal only; and in the same way.
I form doors or door cases. The window sashes, which I form of solid rods
of wood or iron covered with brass or other metal, plated metal, or mixture of
metals, or which I form of tubes of metal only, or of tubes of iron covered.
with metal; if found requisite, the external frame of the window may be
made in the same way, and thus the whole window frame is formed of wood.
covered with brass, or of brass only, or of solid or of hollow iron cover'd with
brass or other metal, and is very strong and durable, having no occasion for.
paint, and when lackered preserving its beauty for many years without
requiring any labour in keeping it clean. The panes of glass are attached with
putty to these windows, with the same ore they are attached to the common.
windows. If I have occasion to form picture frames, or frames for dressing,
pier, or other glasses, I form them in the same way I form the window frames;.
I take iron or wood rodding covered with brass, silver, or other metal, or rods
of metal only, or of mixed metals, either plated or not plated, of a round,
square, or other suitable form, which I cut and work up into these kind of
frames with but little difficulty. If of wood rodding, the thin plate of brass
or other metal covering the wood being easily filed or cut thro' by workmen,.
with the same tools with which they now cut and form the common frames
for such glasses. I also form in a similar manner various other usefull and
ornamental articles and things, such as bedsteads of all descriptions, made of
solid iron or wood covered with brass, silver, plated metal, or other metal or
mixture of metals, or made of tubes of metal only; also carriage wheels,
cornice and mouldings for rooms, and cornices for windows, chairs, pillars
for rooms, and balluster bars, for staircases, and chains formed of solid iron
covered with brass, the links either soldered together or not. I also form
military spears, which seem to be calculated to be serviceable in war.
It is perhaps, necessary for me to explain more fully the way in which I form
the carriage wheels, chains, cornices for rooms, and balluster bars and miliȧtary
spears I take the nave or centre of a carriage wheel, and having covered
it with brass or other metals, formed with the necessary holes wherein to fix
the spokes, I take the pieces of solid or hollow iron rodding covered with
brass or other metals, or solid wood rodding covered in tlie same way; with
pieces I select of any suitable form, either round, oval, or square, and then' I
cut them into the proper lengths, and form them into spokes, and fix them
strongly into the nave by means of screws, or any other means most con-
venient; at the same time I take the component parts of of a carriage wheel,

page_text: which I cover with sheet brass or other metal on three sides, or on four sides,
if necessary, and having cut the proper holes in or thro' them, I force the
other end of the spokes thro' the holes and screw a nut or bar on the end of the
spoke to prevent a possibility of the spokes coming out, or I affix the spokes
in any other convenient way; I also fasten the spokes to the inside of the
component parts of the external rim of the carriage wheel by means of
plates of metal and screws, so as to prevent the spoke from forcecing thro'
against the iron tyre; and having thus firmly fixed the spokes into the nave
at the one end, and the external rim at the other end, and having connected the
component parts of the external rim in the usual way, I then take the common
iron coach tyre, and nail or rivit it on the wheel in the usual way, or any
other convenient way; thus a carriage wheel is formed, apparently of brass
or other metal, very grand and beautiful in its appearance, light, and very
strong, and capable of enduring for a number of years without repairing,
and without expence in painting. When I make chains, I take solid iron
rodding, or wire, covered with brass or other metal, plated metal, or mixture
of metals, I then cut it into short pieces, which I double up into the forms of
the links of chains, and then I solder or rivit them together, and thus I form
chains apparently of brass and other metal, but coming cheaper and possessing
a great deal more strenght than any chains of solid brass. I form balluster
bars either of wood covered. with brass, or other metal, plated metal, or
mixture of metals, or of solid or of hollow iron, covered in the same way.
With regard to the military spear, I take some of the patent iron tubing
covered with brass or other metal, or tubes of iron only, in pieces of perhaps
four feet long; having screwed up one end with a piece of solid metal, I then
take another piece of the same patent tubing, or iron tubing near 4 feet
long, but smaller in diameter, and having affixed a small catch or spring
into the end of this piece of tubing, and sliping it into the first piece of
tubing, and then in the same way I form a third piece of tubing, rather
smaller than the second, and having also affixed a small catch or spring to the
third piece of tubing, I then slip that into the second piece of tubing, and thus
I form a spear, apparently but 4 feet long, but when drawn out 12 feet long,
and longer if I please; and the springs prevent the possibility of forcing the
small tubing back into the large tubing until the springs are compressed with
the thumb and finger, when the two small parts return without difficulty
into the large part of the spear. The way in which I prevent the small
parts of the spear from being totally drawn out of the large part, is much in the
same way in which the telescope tube is prevented from being drawn totally
out. Prior to my fixing on my screw of solid metal at the lower end of the

page_text: largest tubing, I attach a short interior tube of 2 or 3 inches long to the
upper end of such large tubing, having also attached an exterior short tube
on the lower end of the second part of the smaller tubing; the two enlarged:
parts, in drawing out the spear, come in contact with each other, and cannot
be forced, but they do not come in contact until the spring is released,
and thus prevents a return until compressd with the thumb and finger; similar
enlargments are made on the upper end of the second piece, and on the lower
end of the third piece of tubing. These spears of 12 feet long will weigh
from 5 to 10 lb., and appear to me to be usefull as a lance for cavalry, and
also to be usefull for artillery and infantry. I make the cornices of rooms
either from the patent rodding of suitable forms, or of brass or other metal
only, which latter I make by forming the cornice on a maundrill, and passing.
it thro' holes in a draw plate of the different forms required.
Lastly, I wish to make this general remark as applicable to the whole of the
articles herein specified, that is to say, I lay no claim in this Patent to any new
Invention in the forming the materials from whence I manufacture the different
articles; I only claim a new application of those materials to the formation of
articles which have never before been formed from such materials. I claim no
merit in the present Specification for making tubes of iron covered with brass
or other metal, or for making or forming solid rods of wood covered with brass
or other metal, for which Invention a Patent was granted to Thos. Attwood and
self, in the y' 1811; neither do I lay any claim to the Invention of making
hollow tubes of metal, or to that of making solid rods of iron covered with
metal, both of which Inventions it is well known have long been practiced by
many persons; but what I lay claim to in this Patent is, an improved method
of making or constructing window blinds, fire screens, chimney pieces, sashes,
doors, picture frames, and frames for dressing, pier, and other glasses, and
various other usefull articles and things, by applying hollow iron rods covered
with brass or other metal, solid wood rods covered with brass or other metal,
and tubes of brass or other metal only, or some, or other, or all of them, to
the formation of window blinds, fire screens, chimney pieces, sashes, doors,
picture frames, frames for dressing, pier, and other glasses, also blinds for
carriages, frames for the windows of carriages, door cases, carriage wheels, cor-
nices, mouldings for rooms and window cornices, chairs, and military spears,
all of which ornamental and useful articles I make from the materials
above specified. I also claim, under this present Patent, the exclusive
right of making four-post, tent, folding, and all other kinds of bedsteads,
from or with solid iron rods covered with brass, or silver, or other metal,
plated metal, or mixture of metals, or from or with solid rods of wood