IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING CHARACTERS, INSCRIPTIONS, DEVICES, AND DESIGNS ON METAL SURFACES."
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jesse Emma Hewett, of Great Yarmouth, in
the County of Norfolk, Widow and Executrix of the late William
Henry Hewett, formerly of Great Yarmouth, in the County of Norfolk,
Surgeon Dentist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING
CHARACTERS, INSCRIPTIONS, DEVICES, AND DESIGNS ON METAL SURFACES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Hewett
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th September 1869.
I, WILLIAM HENRY HEWETT, of Great Yarmouth, in the County of
Norfolk, Surgeon Dentist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING CHARACTERS, INSCRIPTIONS,
DEVICES, AND DESIGNS ON METAL SURFACES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is the production of characters, inscrip-
tions, devices, and designs on metal plates and other metal surfaces
suitable for name plates, monumental brasses, and for various other
purposes, so as to obtain them in a very durable manner and render
them capable of resisting heat and atmospheric influences.

page_text: I first, by engraving or by other ordinary means, produce on or in the
metal surface the required characters, inscription, device, or design
recessed, sunken, or in intaglio, and then according to my Invention
I fill up the cavities thus obtained with vulcanite or vulcanized
caoutchouc, preferring to use such as is manufactured for purposes of
dental surgery.
One mode of carrying the Invention into practical effect is by
applying heat or a solvent to the vulcanite in order to render it
sufficiently plastic to fill the recesses. I then smooth the surface by
pressure. Next after protecting the metal by plaster of Paris I place
the plate in a stove or drying chamber and expose it to a very high
temperature to harden the vulcanite. I sometimes use dry heat, or
I can employ steam. After removing the plate I file or otherwise reduce
or remove protuberances and asperities. The vulcanite may be coloured
if desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by Jesse Emma Hewett in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th March 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JESSE
EMMA HEWETT, of Great Yarmouth, in the County of Norfolk, Widow
and Executrix of the late William Henry Hewett, deceased, formerly of
Great Yarmouth, in the County of Norfolk, Surgeon Dentist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Jesse Emma Hewett, Her special licence
that I, the said Jesse Emma Hewett, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Jesse Emma Hewett, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the.
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN.
PRODUCING CHARACTERS, INSCRIPTIONS, DEVICES, AND DESIGNS он METAL
SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jesse
Emma Hewett, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jesse Emma Hewett, 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, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is the production of characters, inscrip-
tions, devices, and designs on metal plates and other metal surfaces
suitable for name plates, monumental brasses, and for various other
purposes so as to obtain them in a very durable manner and render them
capable of resisting heat and atmospheric influences.
The required characters, inscription, devices, or design are or is first
produced in a recessed or sunken condition or in intaglio on or in the
metal plate or surface either by engraving or by other ordinary means,
and then according to this Invention the cavities, recesses, or hollows so
obtained are filled with vulcanite or vulcanized caoutchouc. It is
recommended that the vulcanite or vulcanized caoutchouc used for the
purpose should be such as is usually manufactured and prepared for
purposes or uses in the art of dental surgery.
I now proceed to describe the best mode of carrying the said Invention.
into practical effect.
The required inscription or device is first engraved on the metal plate
in intaglio by any ordinary means of engraving, and thus appears sunken
and forms recesses or cavities. The engraved plate is then laid on a hot
plate or steam table in order that it may be warmed (or slightly heated).
Vulcanite, previously dissolved in the usual manner in naptha or other
ordinary solvent used for dissolving vulcanite, is then poured into the
above described recesses, hollows, or cavities of the inscription or device

page_text: on the metal plate so as to fill them completely. The heat of the plate.
causes the vulcanite to adhere firmly to the sides of the cavities. The
plate is then placed between two slabs, blocks, moulds, or other surfaces
of a shape corresponding to that of the plate and subjected to pressure in
a press which presses and smooths the vulcanite filling. The plate is:
then coated with plaster of Paris (to prevent the vulcanite from being
forced up or out of the cavities) and placed in a stove or drying chamber
wherein it is subjected to heat by the method called "superficial heat,"
that is to say, a little (say half a pint of) water is placed in the stove
together with the plate, and the stove is closed air-tight. The heat of the
stove is gradually raised till it attains a temperature of 320°, and is kept
thereat or thereabout for an hour, when a safety valve is opened and the
fire is drawn and the stove allowed to cool down. When it has cooled
the engraved plate is removed therefrom, and the plaster of Paris is
cleared off the plate by rubbing. The protuberances, asperities, or pro- 1
jections on the surface of the vulcanite filling are filed off or rubbed
down so as to bring the vulcanite surface flush with the surface of the
metal plate. The plate is then polished in the way usually adopted for
polishing metal plates.
Sometimes instead of dissolving the vulcanite before running it into
the hollows of the engraving on the plate solid vulcanite is employed,
preferring to employ what is called black dental rubber. This material
is cut into very small pieces, and after the engraved metal plate has
been warmed, ás above explained, the cavities of the engraving are filled
with the fragments of vulcanite by means of a point or like tool. The 2
warmth of the heated plate causes the vulcanite to become plastic and
to fill the cavities completely and adhere to the sides thereof.
Although I have described the mode of carrying the Invention into
effect as applied to a metal plate, of course it may be applied in like
manner to metal articles or surfaces other than plates.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim as con-
stituting the said Invention, the improved mode of producing characters,
inscriptions, devices, and designs herein-before described in which the
character, inscription, device, or design is first engraved or otherwise
produced on the plate or surface in intaglio or a recossed or sunken

page_text: state, and then the recesses or cavities so produced are filled with
vulcanite or vulcanized caoutchouc.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jesse Emma Hewett, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
JOHN LOMAS Cufaude,
Attorney-at-Law,
JESSE EMMA HEWETT. (L.S.)
No. 145, King Street,
Great Yarmouth,
Norfolk.