IMPROVEMENTS IN SOAP FRAMES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Thomas, of the City and County of
Bristol, Soap Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SOAP FRAMES."
Scaled the 9th August 1870, and dated the 19th February 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Thomas at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th February 1870.
I, CHARLES THOMAS, of the City and County of Bristol, Soap Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SOAP FRAMES," to be as follows:-
Soap frames are usually made either of wood or cast iron and their
ends and sides are solid. I have discovered that if some kinds of soap
are allowed at first to cool very gradually, and when set then cooled
down quickly, a better article is produced and a great deal of time saved
in cooling. Instead, therefore, of making the sides of the frames solid,
as heretofore, I make them hollow, and to this end I prefer to construct

page_text: them of iron or at any rate with an iron lining, leaving a narrow space
between the lining and the outside plates, and into this space is admitted
hot or cold water or air, as may be required. The frames may be made
of any convenient size, but it will be found advantageous to make them
three, four, or even five times as long as the ordinary frames, and if
desired they may be made twice the usual width, in which case I provide
a central hollow partition so as to divide the block of soap into two
pieces of 15 inches wide each. If desired the ends and bottom of the
frames may be made hollow also.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Thomas in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
THOMAS, of the City and County of Bristol, Soap Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Thomas, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles Thomas, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Thomas, my executors,
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
SOAP FRAMES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Charles Thomas, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Thomas, do hereby declarc
the nature of my 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 here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :-
Soap frames are usually made cither of wood or cast iron and their
ends and sides are solid. The soap in a liquid and consequently heated
state is poured into these frames, and is allowed to cool and solidify
therein so that it may be cut up into blocks or bars for the market.
I have discovered that if some kinds of soap are allowed at first to cool
very gradually, and when set then cooled down quickly, a better article
will be produced than if allowed to cool gradually as in the ordinary
process. A great deal of time will be saved in cooling by effecting this
operation artificially as herein-after described. Instead, therefore, of
making the sides of the frames solid as heretofore I make them hollow,
and to this end I prefer to construct them of iron or at any rate with
an iron lining, leaving a narrow space between the lining and the
outside plates, and into this space is admitted hot or cold water or hot
air or steam, as may be required to warm or cool the contents of the
frame.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn three views of a soap
frame constructed according to my Invention.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 a cross
section of the improved frame.
It will be seen that the sides of the frame are made hollow and are
constructed of sheet iron a, a. The sides and ends are stiffened by angle
iron b, b, one flange of which is placed between the two sheets of iron
so as to keep them apart and form the shallow water space. This space is
moreover divided vertically, or if preferred horizontally, by thin iron
bars c, c, (indicated by dots in Fig. 1) into a series of vertical or
horizontal channels or water spaces. The water is supplied to the
hollow spaces or channels through the pipe dat top, and after circulating
down and up in a serpentine direction (as indicated by the dotted arrows
in Fig. 1) ultimately escapes from the water space by the pipe e. These
pipes are of course provided with suitable cocks and union joints, and
it will be understood that by this arrangement hot or cold water or air
or steam, as may be required, may be admitted to the water space, and

page_text: the supply and temperature may be regulated to the greatest nicety
and with great facility according to the nature or quality of the soap
and the temperature required. The soap having been cooled down to
the proper temperature and thereby solidified and brought into a fit
state to be removed from the frames the hollow sides of the frame are to
be taken away by undoing the end fastenings and removing the screw
bolts ff Figures 1 and 3, the end plates are also to be removed, and
then the mass of soap will remain standing on the hollow bottom g, g,
which may if desired be supplied with hot or cold water, the same as
the hollow sides, entrance and exit tubes i and j being provided for the
purpose. The soap may then be cut up and removed in the ordinary
manner..
The frames constructed in the manner above described may be made
of any convenient size, but it will be found advantageous to make them
three, four, or even five times as long as the ordinary frames, and if
desired they may be made twice the usual width, in which case I
provide a central hollow partition so as to divide the block of soap
into two pieces of fifteen inches wide cach. If desired the ends and
bottom of the frames may be made hollow also, and the water pipes
of the removable parts, such as the hollow sides, ends, and partitions
must be provided with union joints, so that they may be easily detached
from the supply and exit pipes.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Soap.
Frames," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as
aforesaid, constructing soap frames with hollow sides as herein set forth
so that the spaces in the hollow sides may be supplied as may be desired
with hot or cold water, air, or steam for the purpose of controlling the
temperature of the soap contained in the frame, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Thomas, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventeenth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.