A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF AND MACHINERY POR MAKING ORNAMENTS FOR PICTURE FRAMES AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Charles Clifton, of No. 34, Great
Sutton Street, Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF AND MACHINERY POR
MAKING ORNAMENTS FOR PICTURE FRAMES AND OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 9th April 1869, and dated the 13th October 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Charles Clifton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th October 1868.
I, HENRY CHARLES CLIFTON, of No. 34, Great Sutton Street,
Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF AND MACHINERY
FOR MAKING ORNAMENTS FOR PICTURE FRAMES AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention has reference to the moulding of ornaments in the
material known as "composition" employed for picture frames, looking-
glasses, and other decorative purposes.
Such ornaments have hitherto been made by means of carved blocks
impressed upon the composition either by hand or by hand presses.

page_text: Now my present Invention consists, firstly, in forming such ornaments
in a continuous manner by means of machinery arranged as follows:-
Upon a long bed is placed a travelling table or board upon which is
spread the composition for forming the ornaments. At one part of
the bed are two upright frames carrying a cylinder or roller, by
preference of gun metal or brass, upon the surface of which is carved
or engraved the ornaments to be impressed upon the composition. This
cylinder receives rotary motion by means of spur wheels from a shaft
below the travelling table or board, upon which shaft is a roller pressing
against the under side of the table or board and receiving motion by
means of a spur pinion, the shaft of which has either a crank handle
turned by hand, or it may be turned by any other source of motive
power. The engraved cylinder is carried in sliding blocks in the upright
frames, which blocks are capable of being pressed forcibly down to any
required extent by means of adjusting screws carried by the framing.
The table or board with the composition spread thereon is pushed
forward so as to enter between the engraved cylinder and the roller
beneath, when rotary motion being imparted to the cylinder and roller
as above described the table or board with the composition will be drawn
through between them, while at the same time the ornamental engraving
upon the cylinder will be impressed upon the plastic surface of the
composition. The entire length of the table or board having thus been
passed through between the cylinder and roller it is removed and is
replaced by a second table or board with the composition ready spread
thereon. The composition is prevented from adhering to the cylinder by
keeping the surface of the latter well oiled from a small reservoir
situated at the top of the framing, and a brush, also carried in an
adjustable manner by the framing, is made to press upon the cylinder so
as to remove any superfluous oil or particles of composition that might
adhere thereto. At the side of the cylinder at which the table or board
with the composition is passed in is a small roller serving to flatten down
the composition preparatory to it's passing under the cylinder. From this
machine the table or board with the composition having the ornaments
impressed thereon is (after the composition has been allowed to harden
sufficiently) taken to second machine for separating the ornamented part
of the composition from the ground or bed of composition adhering
to the board. For this purpose the board is placed upon a long bed
similar to that first described, also having two upright frames carrying
a cylinder, beneath which the board is passed and which is made by

page_text: means of adjusting screws to press upon the sides of the board without
touching the ornamented composition thereon. Rotary motion is
imparted to this cylinder in a similar manner to that of the first machine,
a revolving roller being also in this case arranged beneath the board.
or table between which and the cylinder the board passes. At the back
of the cylinder is an adjustable stripping blade so formed as to cut the
ornamented portion of the composition from off the ground on the board
as it passes from beneath the cylinder, and other adjustable cutting
blades are arranged in front of the cylinder so as to cut the ornamented
composition to the exact width that may be required.
Two or more separate strips or bands of ornamented composition may
be formed upon one and the same board by one and the same engraved
cylinder, and by causing the latter to impress deep groves between the
separate bands or strips these will be separated from each other by
the act of cutting them off the ground by means of the stripping blade
before mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Charles Clifton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CHARLES CLIFTON, of No. 34, Great Sutton Street, Clerkenwell, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Charles Clifton, Her
special licence that I, the said Henry Charles Clifton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Charles
Clifton, 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

page_text: "A NEW OR IMPROVED SYSTEM OF AND MACHINERY FOR MAKING ORNAMENTS FOR
PICTURE FRAMES AND OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Henry Charles Clifton, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Charles Clifton, 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, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention has reference to the moulding of ornaments in the
material known as "composition" employed for picture frames, looking-
glasses, and other decorative purposes.
Such ornaments have hitherto been made by means of carved blocks
impressed upon the composition either by hand or by hand presses. Now
my present Invention consists, firstly, in forming such ornaments
in a continuous manner by means of machinery arranged as follows:-
Upon a long bed is placed a travelling table or board upon which is laid
or spread the composition for forming the ornaments. At one part of
the bed are two upright frames carrying a cylinder or roller, by prefer-
ence of gun metal or brass, upon the surface of which is carved.or
engraved the ornaments to be impressed upon the composition. This
cylinder receives rotary motion by means of spur wheels from a shaft
below the travelling table or board, upon which shaft is a roller pressing
against the under side of the table or board and receiving motion by
means of a spur pinion, the shaft of which has either a crank handle
turned by hand, or it may be turned by any other source of motive
power. The engraved cylinder is carried in sliding blocks in the upright
frames, which blocks are capable of being pressed forcibly down to any
required extent by means of adjusting screws carried by the framing.
The table or board with the composition laid or spread thereon is pushed
forward so as to enter between the engraved cylinder and the roller
beneath, when rotary motion being imparted to the cylinder and roller

page_text: as above described the table or board with the composition will be
drawn through between them, while at the same time the ornamental
engraving upon the cylinder will be impressed upon the plastic surface
of the composition. The entire length of the table or board having thus
been passed through between the cylinder and roller it is removed and
is. replaced by a second table or board with the composition ready laid or
spread thereon. The composition is prevented from adhering to the
cylinder by keeping the surface of the latter well oiled from a small
reservoir, situated at the top of the framing and a brush, also carried in
an adjustable manner by the framing, is made to press upon the cylinder
so as to remove any superfluous oil or particles of composition that
might adhere thereto. At that side of the cylinder at which the table
or board with the composition is passed in is a small roller serving to
flatten down the composition preparatory to its passing under the
cylinder. From this machine the table or board with the composition
having the ornaments impressed thereon is (after the composition has
been allowed to harden sufficiently) taken to a second machine for
separating the ornamented part of the composition from the "ground"
or bed of composition adhering to the board. For this purpose the
board is placed upon a long bed similar to that first described, also
having two upright frames carrying a cylinder, beneath which the board
is passed, and which is made by means of adjusting screws to press upon
the sides of the board without touching the ornamented composition
thereon. Rotary motion is imparted to this cylinder in a similar manner
to that of the first machine, a revolving roller being also in this case
arranged beneath the board or table between which and the cylinder the
board passes. At the back of the cylinder is an adjustable stripping
blade so formed as to cut the ornamented portion of the composition
from off the ground on the board as it passes from beneath the cylinder,
and other adjustable cutting blades or lances are arranged in front of the
cylinder so as to cut the ornamented composition to the exact width that
may be required.
Two or more separate strips or bands of ornamented composition may
be formed upon one and the same board by one and the same engraved
cylinder, and by causing the latter to impress deep grooves between the
separate bands or strips these will be separated from each other by the
act of cutting them off the "ground" by means of the stripping blade
before mentioned.
Figures 1 and 2 on Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings shew

page_text: respectively a perspective side elevation and an end elevation of my
before described machine for forming the ornaments.
A, A, is the bed or frame between guides B, B, on which slides the
travelling table C, carrying the composition D for forming the orna-
ments. This table is supported from below by the roller E, through
which the requisite motion is imparted to it by turning the roller either
by manual power by means of the winch handle F on the shaft H, which
passes through the frame A and carries on the other side a toothed
pinion (not shown) in gear with a spur wheel I on the shaft E of the
roller E; or this roller may be driven by the pulley J on the shaft E',
receiving motion through a band from a steam engine or other source of
motive power. Over the upper surface of the table, immediately above
the driving roller E, is situated the engraved or carved cylinder K, the
axle K' of which runs in bearings in the uprights L as shewn, and which
is pressed down upon the composition D by means of the screws M.
The axle of this cylinder carries a spur wheel N in gear with the spur
wheel I on the shaft of the roller E, whereby the rotary motion of the
latter is imparted to the cylinder K, and thus causes this to act succes-
sively and in a continuous manner upon the composition on the table as
it passes between the cylinder K and the roller E. The cylinder K is
formed with projecting rims k, k, on each side of the engraved portion
K, which press upon the "ground on each side of the composition to
be acted upon by the engraved portion of the cylinder. In order to
flatten down the uneven surface of the composition D upon the table in
front of the rollers preparatory to receiving the impression from the
cylinder K, a small flattening roller O is carried in an adjustable manner,
either as indicated or otherwise, from the uprights L, so as to press upon
and flatten down the surface of the composition. The cylinder K may
be of metal, wood, or any other suitable material, and may either have
its entire surface engraved with one and the same pattern, as indicated,
or its surface may be divided into two or more compartments having
different patterns engraved thereon; or again it may be built up of two
or more parts, each having a separate pattern, and each of which may be
capable of being removed from the axle and replaced by a part having
another pattern as may be required. In order to facilitate the removal
of the cylinder K, to be replaced by one having a different pattern
or patterns, the pressure from the screws M is transmitted to the axle K¹
through removable blocks P which can be taken out when the table C is
removed or passed through from between the rollers. In order to
»

page_text: prevent the composition from adhering to the cylinder its surface is
supplied, by means of cotton wicks g, g, with oil from the reservoir Q,
carried by the transverse framing R, and a brush S, also carried in an
adjustable manner from the framing R, as shown, is made to press upon.
the surface of the cylinder so as to remove the superfluous oil and
particles of composition therefrom..
Figures 3, 4, and 5 on Sheet II. of the Drawings shew respectively a
perspective side elevation, an end elevation, and a part transverse section
of my before described machine for stripping off the ornamented com-
position from the "ground" on the table after having been prepared by
the first described machine.
A is a bed or frame similar to that of the first described machine,
upon which is placed the table or board C, with the ornamented com-
position D thereon as produced by the ornamenting machine; the table
is carried, as before, by a roller E receiving rotary motion either by the
winch handle F or by a driving pulley J on the shaft H thereof, driven
from a steam engine or other source of motive power. The shaft H
carries a spur wheel I in gear with a spur wheel K on the shaft L' of
a second roller L carried by the uprights M, M, which roller consequently
has rotary motion imparted to it in the contrary direction to E. The
roller L is pressed down in an elastic manner by the action of the set
screws N and india-rubber blocks O upon the table C, so that the pro-
jecting side rims 1, 1, of the roller nip the table between it and the
roller E, and thus cause the table to travel in the direction of the arrow.
Behind the roller L is a stripping blade P (formed as shewn more clearly
in section at Figure 5) carried in an adjustable manner by brackets Q
secured to the uprights M. As the table is drawn forward by the rollers
the blade P strips the ornamented part of the composition off the
ground" on the table, as indicated in the Drawing. In front of the
roller L are two or more other lances or blades R, R, carried by the
transverse bracket S, and arranged so as to be adjustable both in a
vertical and a lateral direction, which lances either trim the two sides of
the ornamented composition to the exact width required, or they cut the
same into two or more separate longitudinal strips if two or more different
patterns have been formed thereon by the ornamenting machine as before
described.
66
In both this and the ornamenting machine, if driven by steam or
through
nullar and hand
tioned
L

page_text: necessary to provide means for stopping the motion of the rollers and
table instantaneously, for which purpose I prefer to place the driving
pulley loose on the mill shaft or engine shaft, and I connect it thereto
by a clutch apparatus.
It will be readily conceived that the arrangement of both the before
described machines may be modified by making the table carrying the
composition stationary, and causing the frame carrying the engraved
cylinder, or the pressing roller, blades, and lances, to travel along over
the same.
In addition to the great advantage that the above described system
of making ornaments in composition possesses over the present system
of hand manufacture by blocks in the great rapidty with which the
ornaments can be manufactured thereby, my improved process possesses
the following further advantages:-
Firstly, it will be seen that
engraving the cylinder so as to depress
the " ground on the composition somewhat deeper than is required for
"
the thickness of the ornaments, the blade of the cutting-off machine
will cut quite clear of the "ground" and the ornaments will con-
sequently be quite free from the burrs or imperfect edges which they
frequently possess when made by hand.
Secondly, the accurate action of the engraved cylinder and of the
cutting-off machine cause the ornaments produced to be practically
perfectly uniform in thickness throughout, and thus enable the joints
of the ornaments to be made so perfect as to be scarcely perceptible.
Thirdly, the ornaments being manufactured of any length can be laid
upon the moulding in greater lengths than heretofore, thus reducing the
number of joints.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details of construction and arrange-
ment of the before described machines, as shown on the accompanying
Drawings, as these may be variously modified without departing from
the essential features of my Invention; but what I claim is,―
First. Ornamenting composition in a continuous manner by subjecting
a layer of composition progressively to the action of a rotating, engraved,
or carved cylinder, or its equivalent, substantially as herein-before set
forth.

page_text: Second. Constructing machinery for ornamenting composition wherein
a table or board with the composition laid or spread thereon is caused to
pass through two revolving rollers or cylinders, one of which is engraved
or carved, and is caused to press upon the composition so as to produce
the required ornamental pattern thereon, substantially as herein-before
described.
Third. I claim the general arrangement of machinery for ornamenting
composition herein-before described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 on
Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth. Removing the ornamented composition from the ground on
the table or board on which it has been formed by subjecting the com-
position progressively to the action of a stripping blade or its equivalent,
substantially as herein-before set forth.
Fifth. I claim the general arrangement of machinery for stripping
or separating the ornamented composition from the ground on the table
or board, and for dividing the same into separate strips herein-before
described with reference to Figures 3 to 5 on Sheet II. of the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Charles Clifton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
H. C. CLIFTON. (L.S.)