AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE FRAMES OF SLATES USED FOR WRITING ON
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick William Harrold, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE FRAMES OF SLATES USED FOR
WRITING ON."-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick William Harrold
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd May 1855.
I, FREDERICK WILLIAM HARROLD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IM-
PROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE FRAMES OF SLATES
USED FOR WRITING ON," (a.communication,) to be as follows :—
The said Invention consists in making the said frames of one piece of wood,
metal, gutta percha, or other suitable substance. In order that the method of
carrying the said Invention into effect may be understood, I will describe the
method of manufacturing frames of wood for slates according to the said
Invention. A piece of wood is taken, of a length equal to the circumference
of the slates to be framed, of a thickness equal to the breadth to be given to
the frames, and of a width depending upon the number of frames to be cut

page_text: therefrom; a number of grooves are made longitudinally in the said piece of
wood, and on one side thereof, by means of a circular saw or otherwise, (the
said grooves being for the reception of the edge of the slate in the finished
frame.) The piece of wood is then softened by steam or otherwise, and bent
over a form or model of the size and shape of (but much thicker than) the
the slates to be framed. The piece of wood is fixed on the said form or model
by clamps or otherwise until it has dried or hardened, when it will retain its
shape. The said piece of wood is then slit (by being divided in directions
parallel to the grooves) into pieces, each of which constitutes a frame having
a groove in its inner edge. The slate is inserted in the groove, and the two
ends of the frame are joined in any convenient manner. I do not think it
necessary to describe the various ways in which the method of carrying the
said Invention into effect may be modified, neither do I consider it necessary
to describe the method of making the said Invention in metal or other
material, as I believe the nature of the said Invention is sufficiently explained
by the description herein given of the method of carrying the same into effect
when the said Invention is made of wood.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick William Harrold in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
WILLIAM HARROLD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Frederick William Harrold, Her special licence that I, the said
Frederick William Harrold, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Frederick William Harrold, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC-

page_text: TURE OF THE FRAMES OF SLATES USED FOR WRITING ON," a communication, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick William Harrold,
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 Frederick William Harrold, 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 thereof (that is to say):-
The said Invention consists in making the frames of slates used for writing
on of one piece of wood, metal, gutta percha, or other suitable substance, as
herein-after explained, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a strip of elastic wood, gutta percha, cane,
metal, or other suitable substance, the said strip being grooved in a manner
suitable for the production of a slate frame. Figure 2 represents the strip of
wood or other substance after it has been bent and ready to receive the slate.
This view also illustrates the manner of placing the slate in the frame by
springing apart the ends a, a. Figure 3 is a front view of a slate framed
according to the said Invention. Figure 4 is a view of the frame, showing
one method of securing together the ends a, a, by a dowel c, which may be
glued or pinned, or otherwise fastened. In forming the frame, I bend the
strip, Figure 1, around a model or form of iron until it assumes the shape
represented in Figure 3. When the said frame is made of wood, I soften it by
steaming prior to bending it, and in making the said frames of wood I prefer
to make several at one time, as described in my Provisional Specification, but
I do not confine myself thereto. After the strip has been bent to the proper
shape, and finished by planing or otherwise, so as to give it a neat appear-
ance, the ends of the bent strip or frame are sprung apart, as represented
in Figure 2. The slate may now be introduced into the frame. The edge
of the slate being inserted in the groove in the frame, a dowel is inserted in
the open
slot at each end of the strip after the ends a, a, have been brought
together, and the said dowel is fixed in its place by pins or otherwise, as
represented in Figure 3; or the ends a, a, may be secured together in any
other convenient manner. By making slate frames according to the said In-
vention the following advantages are secured :-First, the expense of making
four tenons and four mortices, which are required in the ordinary frame, is
avoided. Second, by dispensing with three tenons and mortices the liability

page_text: to breakage is made less than where four joints are employed. The risk of
breakage is still further reduced by putting the one joint at the top or on
the side of the slate instead of at the corner, as in the ordinary slate frame.
Third, the elasticity and set form of the frame hold the slate in its place
should the tenon give way, while in the ordinary slate frame if one joint is
broken the slate may readily fall out. If the slate be broken it can readily
be replaced in a frame constructed as herein described. Fourth, slate frames
constructed according to the Invention herein described, besides being stronger
than the ordinary slate frames, are made at less cost.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied with-
out departing from the nature of the said Invention; but I claim as the said
Invention, making the frames of slates used for writing on of one strip of wood,
cane, gutta percha, metal, or other suitable substance, as herein described, and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick William Harrold, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
FREDERICK WILLIAM HARROLD. (L.S.)
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw.