Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 28th July, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Mar., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 27th Apr., 1889
I, JAMES WILLING, of No. 366, Grays Inn Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Advertising Contractor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:--
My invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of letters and analogous
devices, hereinafter called letters, intended to be fixed to the surfaces of facias, windows,
and other similar surfaces; and is specially adapted for application to enamelled
copper letters, although it may be satisfactorily applied to letters generally.
It has hitherto been the practice to fix such letters as my invention concerns itself
with, close to the surface, with-the-inevitable result that unless the spectator is
standing in front of, or walking towards the sign or window, his eye will not be
attracted by them, and their presence be so far inoperative.
According to this invention, I mount the letter upon a foundation of wood or other.
suitable material cut to the shape of the letter, and paint or ornament the sides of the
said foundation as may be best adapted to increase, in conjunction with its thickness,
the prominence and therefore the effect of the letter.
The letter is fixed to the foundation, and the latter to the facia or other equivalent
surface, in any convenient way, but those described further on are the best adapted
for the purpose of fully realising the advantages of my invention, and are preferable
to any methods hitherto used.
When a metal foundation is used, I prefer to make it by casting, and form lugs
or eyes upon it in any convenient position for the reception of pins or screws.
And for the purpose of increasing the effect of the foundation when fixed, beads or..
mouldings may be formed upon it.
Foundations may also be grooved on one or both their faces to enable .them
to hold a larger quantity of cement, the said grooves being made near the edges, so
as to place the cement where it can exert its power of adhesion with the maximum
effect.
Instead of making a compound letter by cementing the letter proper to the outer
face of a hollow metal foundation, the latter may be made of porcelain with beaded
sides and front.

page_text: The front may be open with rebated edges, and therefore adapted to receive the
letter from behind to be held in its position by a suitable backing.
When sheet metal letters are to be used, I provide two letter-templates with lugs,
and enclose several sheets of metal between them. The whole are then bolted
together and the sheets sawn through along the edges of the template.
The lugs on the letters are therefore well adapted for being bent down along the
elges of a wood foundation to which they may be fastened in any convenient way. If
desired cement-grooves, as before described may be formed in the face of the
foundation.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH.
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: I, JAMES WILLING, of No. 366, Gray's Inn Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Advertising Contractor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:—
My invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of letters and analogous
devices, hereinafter called letters, intended to be fixed to the surfaces of facias,
windows, and other similar surfaces; and is specially adapted for application to
enamelled copper or other metal letters, although it may be equally, and as satisfactorily,
applied to letters generally.
It has hitherto been the practice to fix such letters as my invention concerns itself
with, close to the surface; with the inevitable result that unless the spectator is
standing in front of, or walking towards, the sign or window, his eye will not
be attracted by them, and their presence be so far inoperative.
According to this invention, I mount the letter upon a foundation of wood or
other suitable material cut to the shape of the letter.
In order that my invention, and the means by which the same may be carried
into practical effect, may be thoroughly understood, I will now describe them in detail,
referring in so doing to the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as part
of this specification and read therewith.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a capital letter Cembodying my invention. The
letter may be of any desired material or shape. The one illustrated is a stamped
metal one such as I am now making according to the method described in my
specification No. 12457 1899 A is the foundation of wood or any other suitable material
adapted for the purpose of this part of my invention, which is that of exhibiting a
bold surface a at a right angle, or approximately so, with the facia, or other equivalent
surface, upon which the letter proper is fixed. The foundation bas, in plan, the same
outline as the back of the letter. I do not in the figure under description illustrate
any special device for fixing the letter to the foundation, inasmuch as any well known
type of pin- or screw-fastening may be used. The means for fixing the foundation A
to the facia depend upon the material of which the foundation is made. If it be
made of wood, it may be fixed by screws or pins passed diagonally through the sides,
or it may be provided with small brackets or tabs perforated to receive screws or pins.

page_text: Or, the foundation may be nailed or screwed to the facia, and the letter proper
cemented or otherwise fixed upon its face.
If a porcelain foundation be used, it may be made with eyes, or may have holes for
nails or screws formed straight or diagonally through it. Or, both pin- and screw-
fixing devices may be discarded, and both wood and porcelain foundations have grooves
formed in the back face adapted to receive and hold a sufficient quantity of adhesive
cement.
The use of the above cement-grooves is, of course, confined to solid foundations, or at
any rate to those which possess a back face. But I do not confine myself to such a
form of foundation, inasmuch as I may, according to my invention, make them hollow,
either in porcelain or metal; and if in the latter material, by either stamping or
casting.
Fig. 2 is a section through a letter-limb illustrating the use of cement-grooves on both
faces of a foundation A. a a a are three grooves in the back face of the foundation,
and a al a' are three grooves upon the front face. The grooves are shewn as semi-
circular in cross section, but they may be angular, undercut, or of any other section
adapted to increase the adhesive effect of the cement.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation; and Fig. 4, a plan of such a foundation made of porcelain
or metal, and adapted to replace the one illustrated in Fig. 1. Any suitable device
for fixing such foundations to the facia may be adopted, such as lugs a².
The sides of the foundation may be painted, or otherwise ornamented by means of
colour, gilding, lacquering, nickel-plating, or burnishing, as may be best adapted to
increase, in conjunction with the thickness of the said foundation, the prominence, and
therefore, the effect of the letter upon it. It is, of course, obvious that there being
three surfaces included-within-the-purview of my invention, viz., the facia, the founda-
tion-side, and the letter-face, my invention provides ready to the hand of anyone
instructed in the well known art of contrasting colours, an effective-means of making
the letters proper stand out in bold relief from the facia.
In the following figures I have illustrated the foundation A as having plane sides such
as will form right angles with the facia. I wish it to be distinctly understood that my
invention extends beyond forming a foundation with a plano side at such an angle,
but that both the angle and surface of the foundation-side may be varied for the sake
of increasing the effect.
Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the limb of a foundation and letter illustrating,
among other things, this change of plane.
B is a metal foundation produced by stamping, casting, or other suitable process.
The sides b, it will be noticed, are sloped. It is adapted for fixation to the facia C
by pins or screws, or it may be fixed with cement.
The shape which is given to the front face of the foundation depends on the kind of
letter which it is intended to carry.
.
D is the letter proper shown as made with a convex face; and d, d are beads upon
the edges of the foundation face, and serving two purposes, one, to form a bed for the
reception of the letter D, and the other to vary the surface and colour presented to
the eye. For instance, the sides band beads d may be burnished brass, gilt, or
nickel-plated, and the letter D, a bright colour.
This letter may be of any suitable material, such as metal, wood, composition,
vulcanite, or enamel.
If composition or enamel be used as the letter-material, it may be run into the bed
formed in the foundation-face, and left to solidify, or be solidified, according to the
nature of the material, e.g., whether it be a composition capable of solidifying by
cooling or drying, or an enamel requiring to be fired.
The bed illustrated in Fig. 5 is shewn as wider in front than at the back; but if
the ietter-material can be run into it, I prefer that the back of the bed shall be wider
than the front.
I do not confine myself to combining a separate letter with the foundation illustrated
in Fig. 5, inasmuch as the face of it may be finished with any suitable surface, e.g., one
of gilt, nickel, enamel or the like..

page_text: The sides of the foundation above described may also have beads or mouldings
formed upon them for the sake of increasing their effect. This is illustrated in
Figs. 6 and 7, which are, respectively, plan and transverse section, the latter being
taken along the line E- of the former.
Gis the foundation which is to be fixed to the facia by any convenient means,
e.g., by pins and lugs a². The sides may be either formed at right angles with the
facia, as illustrated in Fig. 1, or at obtuse angles therewith as illustrated in Fig. 5.
Whichever shape be adopted, heads or mouldings g may be formed upon them, and the
sides so headed or moulded may be finished in any suitable colour.
I do not confine myself to any particular kind of letter to be used upon a foundation
such as that illustrated in the figures now under description, but may use any type,
either made according to my present invention or not, as may be desired or convenient.
If extra prominence be desired, I may form the letter proper according to the con-
struction illustrated in Fig. 5 and described therewith.
Figs. 8 and 9 are, respectively. plan and transverse section along the line H-I,
illustrating a further modification of my invention.
G is the foundation with rebated edges g'. The sides and edges may be ornamented
with beads or mouldings g, as described with reference to Figs. 6 and 7. H' is the
letter, of any construction provided that it is flanged. This is dropped into the
foundation from the back, and held in its place by a packing à flush with the back
face of the former.
Fig. 10 is a transverse section of a letter constructed substantially as illustrated in
Figs. 8 and 9, but having the letter proper flat instead of with a central projecting
ridge.
Referring to Figs. 8, 9 and 10, 1 do not confine myself to making the letter and
backing separate, inasmuch as the former may be formed, or painted, or otherwise
produced, upon the face of the backing.
The use of lugs as illustrated in any of the figures above described may be replaced
by any other equivalent device, or pins may be passed through the foundations in any
suitable direction.
Figs. 11 and 12 are, respectively, plan and side elevation illustrating my improved
method of manufacturing the blanks for sheet metal letters. Several sheets i i are
bolted together between two templates jj, and then sawn along the edges of the latter.
The act of punching the several plates to receive the bolts & forms holes in the tabs A¹
for the fixing pins or screws, or the bolts may be passed through the plates in any
other position. The tabs are afterwards bent back at the proper angle to lie flat upon
the sides of a wood foundation, to which they are fastened. The above described
cement-groove device may also be used to increase the adhesion between these sheet
letters and the face of the foundation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declaro that what I
claim is
1. The combination of letter proper and foundation made separately and fixed
together, as set forth.
2. The combination of hollow foundation, beads or mouldings, and letter proper, as
set forth.
3. The combination of hollow metal or porcelain foundation and beads forming a
bed of suitable cross section on the face thereof, said he being adapted to receive a
letter of any desired or suitable style or type, as set forth.
4. The combination of hollow metal or porcelain foundation having sloped sides, and
beads or mouldings, and being adapted in respect of its face to receive a letter of any
desired construction, as set forth.
5. The combination of hollow foundation made of metal, porcelain, or other
analogous material, shaped as a letter, and one or more beads or mouldings formed
along the edges of its face, as set forth."

page_text: 6. The combination of foundation, letter proper, and cement-groove fixing device,
as set forth.
7. The combination of hollow foundation, letter, and backing, as set forth.
8. The herein before described method of making letter-blanks, consisting of puncbing
a number of sheets in what will be the centres of the fixing lugs or in other convenient
position, bolting them together between two templates, and sawing them through, as
set forth.