IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HOLLOW GLASS WARE
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTER
PATEN to Alfred Vincent Newton, or the Umce for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HOLLOW
GLASS WARE."A communication from abroad by James Seaman Atter-
bury, Thomas Bakewell Atterbury, and James Reddick, of Pittsburg,
Alleghany, United States of America.
Scaled the 25th July 1862, and dated the 26th April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th April 1862.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
HOLLOW GLASS WARE," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to produce ornamental hollow glass ware in
a superior manner to that hitherto employed. To this end the well-known
processes of blowing and pressing are combined to produce novel and
improved effects, the ornament being formed within the solid walls of the
glass, or on the outside thereof in a colour contrasting with that of the body
of the fabric. When a glass vessel, say, an open bowl, is required to be made
with enclosed ornaments, a metal mould corresponding to the contour of the
bowl desired to be made is provided, and a plunger carrying the ornamentation

page_text: on its surface is employed to fit therein.
Molten glass being poured into the
mould the plunger is applied, and a bowl of pressed glass is obtained. The glass
blower then blows a coating of glass upon the embossed surface of the bowl,
and thereby forms a smooth surface thereon. If, however, a hollow vessel
like a glass lamp bowl is required, a jointed or hinged portion is added to the
mould, and the blower having introduced his heated "metal" into the hollow
of the pressed glass secures this jointed portion of the mould in position, and
blows out his metal, so as to cover the internal surface of the compound
mould. To produce an embossing of a distinct colour from that of the
ground, the hollow mould is ornamented in intaglio, and provided with a
counter die and a plunger. The counter die being inserted so as to complete
the mould, the fluid glass or metal is poured in, and a plunger brought down
to press the glass into the recesses between the die and counter dic. Thus a
series of detached radial ribs may be formed, or any variety of devices that
will not interrupt the flow of the "metal." This being done, the ornamentation
is ready to be coated on its inner face with the "metal" which forms the body of
the vessel intended to be ornamented.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand cight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my exccutors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HOLLOW
•

page_text: GLASS WARE," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents,
applies to hollow pressed glass ware, also to hollow glass ware produced by,
blowing, and to glass ware made by a combination of the pressing and blowing
processes.
The nature of the first part of the Invention consists in producing a solid
wall to a hollow glass lamp bowl, a tumbler, and to other similar pieces of
hollow glass ware, with ornaments formed in or on the glass composing the
wall at a point intermediate of or between the inner and outer plain surfaces
of the wall, by a combination of a pressing and a blowing operation or
process.
The nature of the second part of the Invention consists in the combination
of the blowing and pressing processes for the production of glass lamp pegs.
and other similar articles with ornaments on their inner or outer surfaces in a
more expeditious and cheap manner than is at present known in the art of
glass manufacture.
The nature of the third part of the Invention consists in a method of
producing pressed openwork figures, such as flowers, shells, and leaves, net-
work, and geometrical figures, in colored glass, and uniting the same to
various descriptions of glass ware, so as to stand in bas-relief. This manu-
facture combines the pressing and blowing processes, or requires but one or
the other of them according to the character of article being made, or as the
fancy of the manufacturer may dictate.
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the Drawings show the means which are
employed in connection with the ordinary blow pipe and shears, for the
performance of the 1st and 2nd parts of the Invention; they also show a lamp
peg or bowl as one character of product therefrom; while Figs. 11, 12, show
the means which are employed in connection with the ordinary blow pipe or

page_text: "
sbears" for the performance of the 3rd part of the Invention. These
Figures show an article in its incipient and completed stages of production.
To perform the first and second parts of the Invention, and to produce
therewith a lamp bowl or peg, Fig. 1, a plain lower section A (Fig. 2 of a
hollow mould (cylindrical externally) is first brought into use. This section
is made of metal, or other durable and appropriate material, and of a size and
thickness adapted to the use to which it is applied. The interior of this
section is in form of the lower major portion A' of the lamp peg or bowl, and
of the stem A³ thereof. Into this section of mould melted glass is poured,
and an embossing or ornamenting plunger A corresponding in form to the
interior of the section A-of mould, and having the desired ornamental design d
cut, wrought, or formed on its circumference, forced down into the mould
upon the glass, so as to give the general form to the lower major portion A', A³,
of the lamp peg or bowl, and also to impress the design d'in or upon the inner
surface of the glass. Thus far the process is the same as that commonly
practised in the manufacture of hollow glass ware.
In the next step of the process an upper section C, C', of an internally
spherical mould is brought into use in connection with the lower section A.
This section of the mould is also made of metal or other durable material,
and is internally of a form corresponding with the upper minor portion A³ of
the lamp bowl or peg. It is divided vertically into two halves, which are
hinged together at one end so as to open horizontally on the hinge (see Fig. 5)
a vertical recess being formed at the centre of each meeting edge of the
respective halves, so that when the halves come together a central round
passage c exists in the upper section of the mould as represented. The upper
and lower sections of the mould are fitted snugly together by means of a
shoulder 6 of the lower section and flange c of the upper section as shown at
Fig. 3.
When the sections are thus secured together the lower section
contains the major portion A' of the lamp peg moulded and impressed with
ornaments as illustrated in Fig. 3.
In the next step of the process the blower gathers up some glass and
brings it with his blow pipe to proper shape for the purpose intended, and
adjusts it properly in a solid state to the interior of the mould, the upper
section of the mould being opened on its hinge for its introduction. All now
being ready for the finishing step in the process, the upper section is again
closed and the blower blows with his pipe through the central hole e in the
mould, and thereby causes the lump of solid glass last introduced to fuze and
spread over and coat the inner impressed or ornamented surface of the major
portion of the lamp peg or bowl, and thus completely fill and cover the

page_text: ornamental design d thereon, so as to leave the design between inner and
outer plain surfaces, s, s. The ornamented surface having been thus coated
the blower continues the blowing process until the top or minor portion of
the lamp bowl or peg is blown within the upper section of the mould, and
upon the lower or major portion as shown in Fig. 4. Thus the lamp bowl is
produced by a combination of the moulding or pressing and blowing
processes.
In some instances the lower section of the mould is made of a sufficient
height and of a proper form to allow of the upper section being dispensed
with. In that case the blower after the lower major portion is moulded with
the design upon its inner surface, in the manner described in the first step of
the process, gathers up some glass on the end of his blow pipe and adjusts
the same over the ornamented parts of the major portion of the lamp bowl or
peg, and blows a coating of glass over the ornamental design. He then takes
the coated article out of the mould and finishes upon it the upper minor
portion in the old way, to wit, by warming the upper flaring edge in the fire
and manipulating the heated portion with "shears," or proper tools until the
minor or upper part of the lamp bowl or peg is shaped and finished. This
method produces the same result, viz., the manufacture of hollow glass
articles with the ornamental designs between inner and outer plain glass
surfaces, but it is not as expeditious and cheap as the method in which the
upper section of the mould is used. In other instances the lower section of
the mould is constructed with ornaments on its inner surface, and the plunger
is made plain on its surface as shown in Fig. 6. In that case the novelty of
the process lies in the pressing of the major or lower portion of the lamp peg
or bowl, and the blowing of the upper minor portion within the top section of
the mould and upon the pressed major portion of the lamp bowl or peg.
The ornaments will of course in this method be formed on the outer surface
of the article, and not between inner and outer plain surfaces. But as the
use of one portion of the mould for pressing and the other for blowing one
and the same article in, is a novelty in the art of glass manufacture, whether
the design or ornaments be impressed on the outside or the inside surfaces of
hollow glass ware in the use of the two processes, and whether the ornaments
be coated or be left exposed, I desire the Patent to cover the same.
In the manufacture of open flaring mouthed articles such as tumblers,
the same process as described may be followed in the coating over of the
ornaments, but these articles must be warmed over the fire and their mouths
flared and finished in the old way with "shears" or proper tools.
In the manufacture of hollow glass ware such as lamp bowls or "pegs"

page_text: with bas-relief work on its surface and with or without intermediate ornaments,
a base plate D, shewn in section at Figs. 8 and 9, with a projection D¹ of
spherical form extending up from its top, is brought into use.
The projection
is of less diameter than the plate in order that a grooved ledge g for the
reception and support of another part of the means brought into use, shall be
formed outside of the projection. Around the core or projection D', and upon
the ledge of the base plate, a section of a mould E is placed. This section of
mould is cylindrical and divided into two halves which open on a hinge h,
Fig. 10. The interior form of the section E is semispherical for a portion of
its length as shown at F, and in the surface of this portion an ornamental
configuration is wrought; the configuration shown is that of prismatic ribs.
Just above the semispherical recess F a partition G is formed, through which
an orifice is cut, and above this partition the interior of the section E is
cylindrical, as shown at H, the diameter of this cylindrical portion being
greater than the orifice g¹, and the length thereof being equal to the length
of that portion of the section above the partition. At the upper terminus of
the cylindrical chamber H a shoulder i is formed by increasing the diameter
of the inner cylindrical portion of the section E as shown. The section E
thus constructed is fitted over the coro D', and molten colored glass is poured
into the cylindrical part II of the same, and immediately thereafter a
cylindrical plunger I with follower J is forced down into the mould and upon
the glass so as to force the latter down through the orifice ginto the space
between the core D and. the prismatic ribs of the semispherical part of the
mould section. The follower of the plunger fits into the enlarged diameter
of the section E and is steadied by the shoulder i, and it in turn steadies the
plunger at the period when it is exerting the greatest pressure upon the
molten glass. This operation produces a skeleton (w, Fig. 14) of a lamp
peg or bowl, the ribs being held together by the stem r formed in the orifice
g', and by a rim t formed by a shoulder u, cut on the mould at the base of the
ribs. The next step in the process is to lift the section E of the mould with
the bas-relief work moulded within it together with the plunger and steadying
follower, out of connection with the base plate D and core D', and invert the
same as shown in Fig. 11. The workman then gathers sufficient glass on the
end of his blow pipe and forms it into a suitable shape to blow a lamp bowl or
peg." This being ready the top section K (Fig. 13) of the mould is
arranged on the top of the section E in the same manner as in the processes
previously described, or as shown at Fig. 12, but before closing it the glass
gathered by the blower is put down into the semispherical part of the section
E upon the semispherical skeleton lamp bowl or peg; this done the top
"

page_text: section of the mould is closed and the blower blows down through the orifice
e, and forms out of the lump of glass which was laid on the inner surface of
the illuminated skeleton semisphere of prisms, a flint or other glass bowl or
peg M, as illustrated in Fig. 12, the prisms standing in bas-relief on the
outside of the bowl or peg, and by their illuminated color produce a very
handsome effect in connection with the flint glass.
It is obvious that the process described embraces the processes of pressing
and blowing in the production of one and the same article. The articles
may, however, be produced by pressing only, to wit: the bas-relief work is
first pressed in the manner described and shown, then the mould is reversed,
and instead of blowing a bowl on the bas-relief the glass is pressed within the
bas-relief and then finished in the usual or old way. Thus, in making a
goblet the bas-relief is pressed in the manner described, the mould is then
inverted and the goblet bowl pressed on the bas-relief, the means and method
adopted being that described in carrying out the 1st part of the Invention
when the top section of mould is not used. It will be obvious that the
Invention may readily be applied to various shapes of hollow glass ware, and
that the ornaments and bas-relief work may be varied almost indefinitely by
slightly changing the form of the parts and the character of the design, to do
which will not require any exercise of skill or ingenuity not known in the
art of glass manufacture.
The manufacture of hollow glass ware with ornaments intermediate between
the inner and outer plain surfaces in the manner described is very important,
as both the inner and outer surfaces of the glass are plain and smooth, and no
chance exists for the dirt to fill in the ornaments nor of the fluid in the
vessels destroying the effect of the ornaments upon the eye, and therefore
articles of glass which are more ornamental and less difficult to clean are
produced, and that too at less expense if the top section of mould is used,
than the common articles which are manufactured with ornaments exposed to
the fluid and dirt.
Again, the manufacture of hollow glass ware by a combination of the
blowing and pressing processes greatly lessens the expense and labor, whether
the articles have the ornaments intermediate of or between the inner and
outer plain surfaces, or on the inner or outer surface.
And finally, the manufacture of hollow glass ware with bas-relief work on
its surface in the manner described, greatly simplifies the process and adds
great beauty at a small cost..
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements in the
manufacture of hollow glass ware, and explained the manner of carrying the

page_text: same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent, I claim,-...
1st, the manufacture of figured or ornamental glass ware, the walls of
which are solid and the surfaces plain when constructed substantially as
herein set forth.
2ndly, the manufacture of hollow glass ware by combining the pressing
and blowing processes, and applying them successively in one and the same
mould, substantially as herein set forth.
Lastly, manufacturing skeleton bas-relief work, and uniting the same to
hollow glass ware for the purpose of ornamentation by means and in the
manner substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON.
(L.S.)