IMPROVEMENTS IN GROUND VINERIES OR GLASS RIDGES FOR THE CULTIVA- TION OF GRAPES OR OTHER FRUIT
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Tennant Wells, of 24, Bouveric Street,
Fleet Street, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GROUND VINERIES OR GLASS RIDGES FOR THE CULTIVA-
TION OF GRAPES OR OTHER FRUIT."
Sealed the 4th April 1865, and dated the 24th January 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Tennant Wells at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
24th January 1865.
I, CHARLES TENNANT WELLS, of 24, Bouverie Street, Fleet Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GROUND VINERIES OR GLASS RIDGES FOR THE
CULTIVATION OF GRAPES OR OTHER FRUIT," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of improvements in ground vineries or glass
ridges under which grapes and fruits of various descriptions are cultivated.
The length of ground vineries or glass ridges varies according to circumstances,
and they have a cross section which resembles a triangle, one of whose sides
is removed. As these ground vineries or glass ridges are now constructed
their sides and ends are permanently united together; I, on the contrary, unite

page_text: the two sides together by hinges at the apex of the angle formed by them,
which allows of one side being turned over and laid upon the other side, and
thus easy access can be gained to the grapes or other fruit underneath them.
I also unite each end to one of the sides by hinges, so that when not in use
the sides and ends may be folded upon one another, and the said vineries or
glass ridges can then be stowed away in a small space, or carried from place
to place with great facility.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Tennant Wells in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th July 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
TENNANT WELLS, of 24, Bouverie Street, Fleet Street, Manufacturer, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Tennant Wells, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Tennant Wells, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Charles Tennant Wells, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN GROUND VINERIES OR GLASS RIDGES FOR THE CULTIVATION OF
GRAPES OR OTHER FRUIT," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Charles Tennant Wells, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Tennant Wells, 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:-

page_text: My said Invention consists of improvements in ground vineries or glass
ridges under which grapes and fruit of various descriptions are cultivated. The
length of ground vineries or glass ridges varies according to circumstances, and
they have a cross section which resembles a triangle, one of whose sides is
removed. As these ground vineries or glass ridges are now constructed their
sides and ends are permanently united together, I, on the contrary, unite the
two sides together by hinges at the apex of the angle formed by them, which
allows of one side being turned over and laid upon the other side, and thus
casy access can be gained to the grapes or other fruit underneath them. I also
unite each end to one of the sides by hinges, so that when not in use the sides
and ends can be folded upon one another, and the said vineries or glass ridges
can then be stowed away in a small space, or carried from place to place with
great facility.
In order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall refer to the several
Figures on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a ground vinery or glass ridge as it
appears when in use.
Figure 2 represents a section through the centre of the same, shewing both
sides shut down.
Figure 3 represents an end view of the vinery shewing one side turned over
and laid upon the other side.
Figure 4 represents the end of a vinery or glass ridge where it comes in
contact with the end of another, when it is desired by placing two or more
end to end to increase the length of the said vinery or glass ridge.
Figure 5 represents a side elevation.
Figure 6 a plan, and Figure 7 an end view of a vinery with its
sides and ends folded upon one another, as when, not being in use, it is
stowed away.
Figures 8 and 9 represent (on a larger scale) a modification in the mode of
binging the two sides together at the apex.
Figures 10 and 11 represent a second modification of the same.
In these Figures A represents the one side, and B the opposite side of the
ground vinery or glass ridge, and they are formed of glazed frames, the frame
itself being constructed of wood, metal, or other suitable material; C, C, C, C,
represent hinges by which the one side is united to the other in the manner
represented, so that one side can be turned over and laid upon the other side;
D, D, represent the ends of the vinery, which are here shewn hinged to the side

page_text: B by the hinges marked E, E; they are also secured to both sides when the
vinery is in use, and both sides shut down by the screws F, F, and the steady
pins G, G. When it is desired to turn the side marked A over and lay it on
the side marked B, the screws F, F, must be removed from the side marked
A, when it will be free to turn, and if again it is desired to turn the side B
over and lay it on the side A, the side B being first secured to the ends by the
screws F, F, can have the screws withdrawn from the one leaf of the hinges
E, E, by which it is attached to the ends D, D, and the side A being then let
down and secured to the ends D, D, by the screws F, F, the corresponding
screws F, F, in the side B can then be withdrawn, and the side B can be turned
over and laid upon the side A. The ends D, D, are partly glazed, a triangular
opening marked H being left at the apex for ventilation.
The end represented in Figure 4 is not glazed, and is formed like the letter
A, so as to admit of the vine or other plant passing from one viuery to the
next when two or more vineries or glass ridges are placed end to end, so as to
gain an increase in the length of the vinery. Where two ground vineries or
glass ridges are placed end to end, one end of each would resemble those
marked D, D, and one would resemble that shewn in Figure 4; and if three
were so placed the central one would have both ends corresponding to that
shewn in Figure 4. J, J, J, &c., &c., represent bricks on which the vinery
The
rests; they have spaces left between them to admit of ventilation.
ground covered by the vinery when in use is floored with slates, marked K, K,
&c., placed so as to form a slight ridge running parallel with the ridge formed
by the vinery above them. The vine or other plant passing from the ground
at one end of the vinery is trained along the slate floor.
In Figures 8 and 9 a modification in the mode of binging the sides together
at the apex of the angle formed by them is shewn, in which one side only can
be turned over and allowed to rest upon the other.
Figures 10 and 11 exhibit a second modification of the same; in this case
either side may be opened to the extent shewn, and allowed to rest against the
other, but would require further support.
The ground vinery or glass ridge with my improvements having been ex-
plained, I desire to claim as my Invention,-
1. The binging of the two sides together at the apex of the angle formed by
them in the manner described, so that either side can be turned over and laid
upon the other side.
2. The hinging of the ends to one of the sides in the manner described, so
that when the ground vinery or glass ridge is not in use they may be folded
against the said side.

page_text: 3. The modifications in the mode of hinging the sides together at the apex
of the angle formed by them as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Tennant Wells, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this 20th day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
CHARLES TENNANT WELLS. (L.S.)