IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS."-A
communication from abroad by Richard H. Manning, of the City of
New York.
Sealed the 28th August 1860, and dated the 7th May 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
7th May 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention of improvements in the manufacture of glass consists in the
employment, among the other ingredients used in the composition or manufac
ture of glass, of oxide of zinc, also in the use, in combination with oxide of zinc,
in such manufacture, of oxide of nickel. The oxide of zinc is used as a
substitute for the oxide of lead, and may be mixed with the silica and alkali
to form the batch in the same manner and in about the same proportion as
the oxide of lead in the manufacture of flint glass, but the proportions may be
varied to a very considerable extent; the batch thus formed is subjected to the
action of the furnace in the same manner as the batch commonly used in the
manufacture of flint glass, and no change is rendered necessary in the whole
of the process of glass-making by the use of the oxide of zinc. The oxide of
nickel is used in combination with the oxide of zinc as a decoloring agent.

page_text: The glass made with oxide of zine is apt after the repeated filling of the pots
to become yellow in consequence of a quantity from each filling being
unavoidably left in the pots when a new filling is introduced; when this
is ascertained by tests a small quantity of oxide of nickel is added and thus
renders the glass colorless.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th November 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, T, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, 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 Glass,”
being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and scal, 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 Oflice within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward 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 (that is to say) :-
This Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Glass," consists in
the employment, among the other ingredients used in the composition or
manufacture of glass, of oxide of zine; also in the use, in combination with

page_text: oxide of zinc in such manufacture of oxide of nickel. The oxide of zinc is
used as a substitute for the oxide of lead and may be mixed with the silica
and alkali to form the batch in the same manner and in about the same
proportion as the oxide of lead in the manufacture of flint glass, but the
proportions may be varied to a very considerable extent. The batch thus
formed is subjected to the action of the furnace in the same manner as the
batch commonly used in the manufacture of flint glass, and no change is
rendered necessary in the whole of the process of glass-making by the use of
the oxide of zinc. The advantages derived from the use of this oxide are
numerous; in the first place it is cheaper than the oxide of lead; secondly,
it can be obtained in greater purity and consequently makes the glass more
brilliant; thirdly, the batch takes less time to refine; and fourthly, the glass
which it makes is capable of standing a higher temperature. The oxide of
nickel is used in combination with the oxide of zinc as a decoloring agent.
The glass made with oxide of zinc is apt after the repeated filling of the pots
to become yellow in consequence of a quantity from each filling being
unavoidably left in the pots when a new filling is introduced. When this is
ascertained by tests, a small quantity of oxide of nickel, say, from from half an
ounce to three-quarters of an ounce for every six hundred pounds of oxide of
zinc in the charge is added and thus renders the glass colorless. The oxide of
nickel may however be used in the first filling of batch.
Having now described this Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacturo
of Glass," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the employment of oxide of
zinc in the composition or manufacture of glass as herein described, and also
the employment of oxide of nickel in combination with oxide of zinc for the
purpose herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventh day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)