IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING OVAL PICTURE FRAMES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the
City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING OVAL PICTURE
FRAMES." A communication from abroad by Robert Marcher, of New
York, in the United States of America, Manufacturer of Prepared
Mouldings and Oval Frames.
Sealed the 16th April 1862, and dated the 25th November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson, at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th November 1861.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of:166, Buchanan, Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING OVAL PICTURE
FRAMES," a communication to me from abroad by Robert Marcher, of New
York, in the United States of America, Manufacturer of Prepared Mouldings
and Oval Frames," to be as follows
This Invention relates to certain peculiar combinations of machinery or
apparatus for coating toval picture frames with the enamel usually employed
preparatory-to-gilding, and consists essentially in the use of a scraper or

page_text: working-down tool in combination with the face plate of an eccentric lathe,
or with an elliptograph or other suitable apparatus capable of describing or
generating ovals, the scraping tool being made self-adapting to the inequalities
or variations on the surface of the frame, and its scraping edge being the
reverse of the intended moulding.
When an eccentric lathe is used the oval frame is mounted upon the face
plate of the lathe and describes an oval when rotated, whilst the scraper
remains stationary, but is held against the frame by a yielding pressure.
In the second case where an elliptograph or other similar contrivance is
used, the oval frame is laid upon a stationary bed and the scraper is caused to
travel over its surface by the action of the elliptograph, it being at the same
time free to rise and fall so as to allow for any inequalities in the surface
under treatment..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson, in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of November, 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 John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should
at any time-agree-with,-and-no-others,-from-time-to-time-and-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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PREPARING OVAL PICTURE FRAMES," a
communication from abroad by Robert Marcher, of New York; in the United
States of America, Manufacturer of Prepared Mouldings and Oval Frames,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson,
iny executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand

page_text: and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby declaró
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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to certain peculiar combinations of machinery or
apparatus for coating oval picture frames with the enamel usually employed
preparatory to gilding, and consists essentially in the use of a scraper.or
working-down tool in combination with the face plate of an eccentric lathe
or with an elliptograph, or other suitable apparatus capable of describing or
generating ovals, the scraping tool being made self-adapting to the inequalities.
or variations on the surface of the frame, and its scraping.edge being the
reverse of the intended moulding. When an eccentric lathe is used the oval
frame is mounted upon the face plate of the lathe and describes an oval or
ellipsis when rotated, whilst the scraper remains stationary, but is held against
the frame by a yielding pressure. In the second case, where an elliptograph
or other similar contrivance is used, the oval frame is laid upon a stationary,
bed, and the scraper is caused to travel over its surface by the action of the
elliptograph, it being at the same time free to rise and fall so as to allow for
any inequalities on the surface under treatment.
1
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall refer
to the several Figures on the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the corresponding
Figures.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, is a side elevation of the improved
machine for, preparing oval picture frames; Figure 2 is a front elevation
thereof; and Figure 3 is a top view of the working tool detached; Figure 4, ou
Sheet 2, is a plan of a modification of the machine; and Figure 5 is a vertical.
section of the same.
In Figures 1, 2, and 3, a represents a suitable frame, in which is mounted
a mandrill b, with a face plate c, to which an oval frame c¹ of any kind may,
be properly-secured. The face plate c is connected (as represented in the
accompanying Drawings) with the mandrill in the well-known manner of

page_text: lathe for turning ovals, and which, therefore, it is unnecessary to describe. A
scraper or shaping tool, sometimes called a working-down tool a, usually made
of metal, is formed with its working edge the reverse of the intended moulding
(see Figure 3), and this is secured to the upper end of an arm e, which is
attached by a screw or otherwise, pivoted at its lower end to a rocking shaft e¹
mounted in the frame, as at f, f, so that the working edge of the scraper is
'held to the face of the moulding, and is thereby rendered self-adapting to slight
inequalities of the moulding as it rotates with the face plate, whilst at the
same time it is held to its work by the pressure of the hand of the attendant.
Instead of the above, the scraper may be attached to the upper end of a spring,
the lower end of which should be pivoted or otherwise secured to the frame,
so as to be free to yield to slight inequalities. The cement used for enamelling
having been applied to the surface of the moulding, the mandrill is set in
motion, and the scraper applied, by means of which, and the elliptical move-
ment of the lathe, every part of the circuit of the frame is made to pass, so as
to be acted upon by the scraper to work down the enamel, the scraper yielding
to any inequality in the surface. It will be obvious from the foregoing, that
instead of the arm of a rocking shaft or spring, a weight may be substituted to
hold the scraper to its work, or this may be done alone by the hand of an
attendant, and still employ the first part of the said Invention.
As an equivalent for the oval lathe in the combination constituting the first
part of the said Invention, an instrument well known as the trammel or ellipto-
graph for describing ovals may be substituted, as represented in Figures 4 and 5,
on Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings, but in such modification it will be
found most convenient to dispense with the mandrill, and to secure the frame to
be enamelled to the surface of a table or bench, and to work the trammel by
hand, although the oval frame may be secured to the face plate of a concentric
lathe, and the trammel held in a fixed position, except so far as to permit the
_scraper_to_yield_to_any_slight variation..
Referring to Figures 4 and 5 of the Drawings, which represent the said
modification in plan and vertical section, A represents a platform or base
on which the oval frame B to be operated upon is secured; and C is a
vertical bar secured to the platform on base A, and having two slots or
grooves a, a, formed in its upper surface, such slots or grooves crossing
each other at right angles, as shewn clearly in Figure 4. D is a hori
zontal bar, which is slotted longitudinally nearly its whole length, and bas
two blocks b¹, b¹, secured to its inner end, in which studs or pins care fitted
loosely, one in each. The lower end of each stud c¹ has a flat portion d'
formed on it, and these portions d¹ are fitted and work in the grooves a, a:

page_text: The outer end of the bar D' is supported by a foot E. resting upon the platform
or table A. This foot is formed of a vertical bar e', which is secured to the
bar D by a screw bolt f1, the bar e having a cross bar 9' formed at its lower
end for a base. To the bar D, two guides h', h', are attached by set screws 2¹!
These guides are vertical bars having horizontal portions at their upper and
lower ends, the portions being notched or recessed to receive the edges or
sides of the scraper F, the lower edge of which is formed to correspond
inversely with the pattern.or moulding of the frame to be operated upon. The
plate or tool F is fitted loosely in or, between the guides h¹, h', so as to be self-
adapting to irregularities. The bar Dis.slotted longitudinally, in order that
the several parts attached thereto may be adjusted as circumstances may
require, for example, the plate or scraper F may be adjusted by adjusting the
guides h³, h, and the rest or foot piece E, and the blocks b' may be adjusted by
relaxing their screw bolts and pushing them in either direction along the bar
to the desired. positions; and then fixing them by screwing up the nuts of the
bolts. The picture or other frame B is adjusted on the platform or table A,
so that the upright bar C will be precisely at its centre. The frame B is then
covered as usual with the material (glue and whiting) used for the ground or
body to receive the gold leaf, and this material fills the pores of the wood.
The bar D is rotated by hand, or otherwise, and the tool or scraper F takes
off all the superfluous material, and smoothes in a perfect manner that which
remains on the frame. The frame B has the usual, or any proper number of
coats of whiting applied to it, and the tool or scraper F is allowed to rise to
accommodate the increasing thickness of the layer. The smoothness and
general perfectness of the work is due to the independent or arbitrary elliptical
movement of the tool E, which corresponds precisely with the form of the
frame. Frames varying in size may be operated upon by the same implement,
the tool or scraper F, foot E, and blocks b¹ being adjustable, in order to permit
of this. Any other and equivalent means of describing the oval form may be
substituted for the lathe and trammel above described, as a means of causing
either the oval form of the frame to adapt itself to the scraper, or the scraper
to adapt itself to the oval form of the frame.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be nove!
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the general constructions, arrangements, and combinations of appa-

page_text: ratus for preparing oval picture or other frames for gilding, as herein-before
described.
Second, the combination of the scraper or working-down tool with an oval
or elliptic lathe chuck, or with any other equivalent apparatus for describing
an oval, for the purpose of enamelling oval frames, as herein-before described.
Third, rendering the scraper or tool self-adapting to slight inequalities in
the surface under treatment, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this my
Specification hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of
May, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)