AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING MOSAIC VENEERS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents, 66,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING MOSAIC VENEERS."
-A communication from abroad by the American Mosaic Veneering
Company (Incorporated), of the City of New York, in the United States
of America.
Sealed the 2nd August 1867, and dated the 29th May 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th May 1867.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRODUCING MOSAIC
VENEERS," to be as follows:--
In producing mosaic veneers or surfaces according to this Invention
prismatoidal rods of various colors are formed by forcing through apertures of
the form of the cross section of the intended rods a plastic material which after
the rods have been formed will become or which may be rendered of sufficient

page_text: bardness to be used as a veneer.
These strips arranged according to the
pattern desired to be reproduced are united into blocks, and the cross section
of the blocks will form the veneering surface. The material preferred for
this purpose is composed of pipeclay ground with linseed oil to a putty-like
consistency. This compound is divided into a number of parts equal to
the number of colors contained in the pattern which is to be imitated. Each
color is now forced through a metal plate containing one or more small
apertures, whereby the plastic mass is divided into long thin strips. The
apertures in the metal plate give to the strips the required form, and by using
the apparatus to be presently described a number of these strips and of
different colors may be formed at the same time. The apparatus contains
a block with a large number of cylindrical openings for receiving plungers.
Below this is a perforated metal plate firmly secured to the under side of the
block. The perforations in this plate correspond in shape to the shape of the
several colors in the pattern to be copied, and each of the openings in the
block is filled with a quantity of the plastic material of the desired color
arranged according to pattern. For filling the openings a kind of syringe
operated by a hand lever is used, the same being applied to the openings
intended to receive the color with which the syringe is charged. The number
of these syringes required will then depend upon the number of colors or tints
in the pattern to be reproduced. After all the openings have been filled the
block is brought under the plungers, and by depressing these plungers the
mass contained in the openings is forced out through the perforations in
the plate below, and thus small strips of different colors (the colors being pre-
viously arranged according to the pattern to be copied) will be simultaneously
produced. An inclined board receives the strips as they ooze out of the holes
in the plate, and when long enough they are separated from the plate and
pushed together means of a straightedge, and they are now united by
some suitable cement. By these means one portion after
another of the pattern is represented by small thin layers, each layer being
formed by a number of strips. By uniting these layers blocks are formed, the
cross section of which represents the pattern to be copied, or a portion of the
same. These blocks are now cut up crossways into a number of thin plates
each plate of the thickness of an ordinary veneer, and by fastening the plates
on a suitable surface in the desired order the pattern to be represented i
faithfully copied.
pressure or

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters. Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in. the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th November. 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON,. of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman,. send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand. eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did,. for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton,. my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,. 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 "AN. IMPROVED METHOD. OF PRODUCING MOSAIC. VENEERS," being a
communication to me from abroad,. upon the condition (amongst others) that.
I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton,. 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,.
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention, as communicated to me from abroad, relates to the produc-
tion of mosaic veneers or surfaces in an economical and expeditious manner,
consists, first, in forming prismatoidal rods of suitable form and color for pro-.
ducing, when put together side by side, a surface with the required design,..
by forcing through apertures of the form of the cross section of the intended.
rods a plastic material which after the rods have been formed will become.
or which may be rendered of sufficient bardness to be used as a veneer;

page_text: and, second, in uniting such strips so formed into blocks the cross section
of which will be of the form of the surface to be veneered, or of a section
thereof.
In working the said process a suitable compound is used having the
characteristics of being sufficiently plastic and tenacious at first to admit of
being forced through an aperture of the size and form of the cross section of
the rod intended to be produced, and afterwards of becoming sufficiently hard
to answer for veneering surfaces. The material which has been successfully
used, and which is preferred for this purpose, is composed of pipeclay ground
with linseed oil to a putty-like consistency. It has been used successfully when
ground or mixed to different consistencies, but the consistency of freshly made
putty is preferred. The material thus prepared is divided into a number of
parts equal to the number of colors contained in the pattern which is to be
imitated, and the parts are severally colored to suit the requirements of the
pattern to be copied. Each color is now forced through a metal plate con-
taining one or more small apertures, whereby the plastic mass is divided into
long thin strips. The apertures in the metal plate give to the strips the
required form, and by using an apparatus such as shown in the accompanying
Drawing at Figure I a number of these strips and of different colors may be
formed at the same time.
Referring to the Drawing, Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation, Fig. 2 is a plan
view, and Fig. 3 an end view of a part of the apparatus which has been
successfully used in working the Invention; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of another
part of the apparatus which has been used for the purpose, and Figures 5 and
6 are end and side views of a block prepared according to the Invention and
ready for being cut into veneers. The same letters indicate like parts in all
the Figures.
This apparatus contains a block A with a large number of cylindrical
openings a for receiving the plungers b, and firmly secured to the front face
of the block A is a perforated metal plate B. The perforations in this plate B
correspond in shape to the shape of the several colors in the pattern to be
copied, and each of the openings a is filled with a quantity of the plastic
material of the desired color. For filling the openings a the device represented
in Fig. 4 is used; it consists of a cylindrical vessel C with a pointed mouth
piece c at the bottom. A piston D is moved up and down in the interior of
the vessel C by means of a lever E. The mouth piece c is brought successively
over the openings contained in the block A, and by depressing the piston D
the material contained in the cylindrical vessel C is forced out into the
openings a. Several vessels C are kept on band, and each one is filled with

page_text: a different color, so that the openings in the block A can be filled with the
proper colors in an easy manner. After all the openings a have been filled
the block A is brought under the plungers b, Fig. 1, and by depressing these
plungers the material contained in the openings is forced out through the
perforations in the plate B, and thus small strips of different colors (the colors
being previously arranged according to the pattern to be copied) will be
simultaneously produced. A board F receives the strips as they ooze out of
the holes in the plate B, and when long enough they are separated from the
plate and pushed together by means of a straightedge, and they are now
united by pressing them together or by some suitable cement. By these
means one portion after another of the pattern is represented by small thin
layers, each layer being formed by a number of strips. By uniting these
layers blocks G, Figures 5 and 6, are formed, the cross section or end of
which represents the pattern or a portion of the pattern to be reproduced or
copied; these blocks are now cut up crossways into a number of thin plates,
each plate of the thickness of an ordinary veneer, and by fastening the plates
on a suitable surface in the desired order a faithful reproduction of the pattern
desired to be copied is obtained.
From the foregoing it will be seen that mosaic veneers can be produced
with any desired design and any variety of colors and multiplied to any extent
at much less cost than by any other known process.
The plastic material above mentioned as having been used with success it
must be understood presents no claim to novelty, that composition having long
been known and used for other purposes; neither is it intended to limit the
clain of the Invention to the process of making mosaic veneers from the
material described, as any other material may be substituted which possesses
the specified properties of plasticity that it may be formed into strips by being
forced through apertures of the required form, and which will become or which
can be rendered sufficiently hard to veneer surfaces.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved Method
of Producing Mosaic Veneers," as communicated to me from abroad, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First, the within-described method of producing mosaic veneers from strips
of any desired form in cross section and of various colors, the said strips being
made by pressing a suitable plastic material which will harden after having
gone through the whole process through openings of the required shape,
substantially as and for the purpose described.

page_text: Second, uniting the strips made as above described into blocks, a cross
section of which represents the pattern to be reproduced in mosaic veneer, or
a portion of such pattern, substantially in the manner and for the purpose
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, bave hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)