IMPROVEMENTS IN PALATE AND TOOTH PLATES FOR DENTAL PURPOSES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Prince, of the Office for Patents, 4,
Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PALATE AND TOOTH PLATES FOR DENTAL
PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by John Mittelhaus (Court
Indam of Prussia
Sealed the 31st January 1862, and dated the 3rd August 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Prince at the.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
August 1861.
I, ALEXANDER PRINCE, of the Office for Patents, 4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PALATE AND TOOTH PLATES FOR DENTAL
PURPOSES," (a communication from abroad by John Mittelhaus, (Court
Dentist,) resident at Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia,) to be as follows:-
The objects of this Invention are to securely attach palate and tooth plates
within the human mouth without the use of wire springs, or other mechanical
adjustment, and to supersede by far the American sucking set" of teeth, for
whilst the fastness of the latter has only to depend on the pressure of the air;
by this Invention the air is made use of chiefly to form the organs of fastness
or security out of the pituitary membrane, and makes it afterwards but of very
little consequence.

page_text: The palate is to be made with a series of openings in it, and is to be placed
against the roof of the mouth, and drawing out the air, by which means
sucking protuberances are formed the
on pituitary membrane corresponding
with the openings in the plate, which protuberances pass through the holes,
and naturally turn over the edge of the plate, thus forming rivets or buttons
which alone hold the toothpiece, and are so far moveable that they will yield
when eating or any other pressure takes place. The lower tooth plate may
be secured on one side by an ordinary hook around a tooth, and on-the
other by the same kind of holes, allowing the pituitary membrane_to come
through, thus securing the plate to the lower jaw.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Prince in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd February 1862.
-TO-ALL-TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
PRINCE, of the Office for Patents, 4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alexander Prince, Her special licence that I, the. said Alexander
Prince, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such other as I, the
said Alexander Prince, 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 PALATE AND TOOTH PLATES FOR DENTAL PURPOSES," a com-
munication to me from abroad by John Mittelhaus (Court Dentist), resident
at Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Alexander Prince, 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 Alexander Prince, 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:-
5 The objects of this Invention are to enable palate and tooth plates to be
securely attached within the human mouth without the use of wires,. springs,
or other mechanical adjustment, and to supersede the American "sucking
set of teeth, the fastness of which in the mouth depends solely on the
pressure of the air; whereas by this Invention the air is made use of chiefly
0 to form the organs of fastness or security to the plates out of the pituitary
membrane, by causing portions thereof to pass through holes formed in the
plates, thus fastening the same by means of button-like protuberances of the
pituitary membrane, which are necessarily the result of the application to the
pituitary membrane of these plates so provided with holes. This fact renders
the pressure of the air afterwards but of very little consequence or utility.
The Invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accom-
panying Sheet of illustrative Drawings, and to the numeral figures and letters
marked thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents the palate and upper jaw bone, without teeth; Fig. 2
shews the palate after the sucking protuberances or pituitary membrane pro-
tuberances or buttons have formed themselves in consequence of wearing
the button set of teeth; Fig. 3 is a representation of the button-set of teeth
belonging to the two former Drawings. 6 shews an edge turned .up on the
perforated plate. Fig. 4 is a section taken through the line A, B, at Fig. 3,
which shews the perforated plate, to which is soldered or attached the cover c
for the protection of the pituitary buttons; and Fig. 5 represents a common
tooth plate, on one side of which will be seen the hook fastening, and on the
other the button fastening. Similar letters of reference denoting corresponding
parts where such parts appear at each of the Figures respectively.
The palate a is to be made with a series of openings in it, and is placed
against the roof of the mouth, by which means the air is withdrawn and the
sucking protuberances formed upon the pituitary membrane, which correspond
with the openings in the plate, and passing through the holes naturally turn
over the edges of the openings and form buttons or rivets, which alone bold
the plate in its proper position. These buttons are so far moveable that they
will yield slightly when eating, or when any other pressure takes place.
The common or ordinary tooth plate, Fig. 5, may be secured on one side by

page_text: an ordinary hook around a tooth, and on the other by the same kind of holes,
allowing the pituitary membrane to come through, and thus secure the plate.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention of "Improvements
in Palate and Tooth Plates for Dental Purposes," and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, it is to be understood that there is no restriction
as to any particular metal or material to which the Invention may be applied,
nor to the precise shape or form of the plates, or of the openings therein, as
such may obviously be varied to suit special purposes without in any way
departing from the principle of the Invention as first described; but what is
claimed as the Invention, and is therefore desired to be secured by the herein
in part recited Letters Patent, is the manufacture of palate and tooth plates
according to the manner herein fully described, and shewn in the accom-
panying Sheet of illustrative Drawings, for the purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Prince, have herein set my
hand and seal, this Third day of February, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-two.
Witness,
ALEX. C. M. PRINCE,
Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square,
Charing Cross, London.
ALEX. PRINCE. (L.s.)