IMPROVEMENTS IN SUSPENDING SWING LOOKING OR DRESSING GLASSES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Margaret Williams, of Chelsea, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SUSPENDING SWING
LOOKING OR DRESSING GLASSES."
Sealed the 19th June 1855, and dated the 28th December 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Margaret Williams at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with her Petition, on the
28th December 1854.
I, MARGARET WILLIAMS, of Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SUSPENDING SWING LOOKING
OR DRESSING GLASSES " to be as follows:-
My said Invention refers to peculiar arrangements of springs to the knobs
and pivots of swing looking glasses, rendering them more steady in use
& easier to adjust and keep in any desired position than by the methods
of swinging glasses usually employed.
The springs I adopt may be spiral steel springs, or be formed of vulcanized
india-rubber; they may also be variously applied, either to one or both knobs
of the suspended looking glass, and enclosed therein, or between cylinders,
or the frame and the pillars. The axis on which the glass is suspended.
may, if required, extend from pillar to pillar, or be in two separate pieces.
I do not limit myself to the precise form of the springs or the material

page_text: thereof, as these may be varied, so long as desired object is attained, and which
consists in preventing the unsteady and too free swinging of the glass. And
the novelty of my said Invention consists in the peculiar adaptation of springs
to the knobs, pillars, frame, or axis, together or singly, or in parts, as required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance. of. the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Margaret Williams in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st June 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARGARET
WILLIAMS, of Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Margaret Williams, Her special licence that I, the said Margaret
Williams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Margaret Williams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
SUSPENDING SWING LOOKING OR DRESSING GLASSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Margaret Williams, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Margaret Williams, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My said Invention refers to the peculiar adaptation and arrangements of
springs to the pillars, knobs, and axes or pivots of swing looking glasses, and
rendering them more steady in use, easier to adjust and keep in any desired
position than by the methods of swinging glasses usually employed.

page_text: And for the better understanding of my said Invention I will now proceed
to describe the details thereof. When the axis consists of rod or bar it is
passed through the frame enclosing the glass, its extreme ends passing into
or through the pillars, and these ends may be made variously adjustable; thus,
they may have a knob and spring at one end, and on the other a screw thread,
so that only turning the knob will regulate them; or one or both may have
screw ends, with springs affixed thereto, within the pillars or knobs, or both.
It is evident that as spiral or other formed springs will be self-adjusting, the
usual knobs are not absolutely requisite. I prefer the axis in one piece, as
being stronger to bear the weight of the glass and frame, and and preserve
their equable swing between the pillars or supports.
The springs I adopt may be spiral steel springs, or be formed of vulcanized
india-rubber; they may also be variously applied, either to one or both
knobs of the suspended looking glass, or enclosed therein, or within one
or both of the pillars, or between cylinders, or the frame and the pillars, or
between the inner sides of the frame. The axis on which the glass is sus-
pended, according to my improvement, may extend from pillar to pillar, or
through the pillars, or be in two separate pieces.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, I would here observe that I
do not limit myself to the precise form or adjustment of the springs, or to the
material thereof, as these may be considerably varied, so long as the desired
object is attained, which consists in counteracting the unsteady and too free
swinging of the glass; and what I claim as being the novelty of my said
Invention is, namely, the peculiar adaptation of springs to the knobs, pillars,
frames, or axes of swing toilet and other looking glasses, whether applied
together, singly, or in part, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Margaret Williams, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord 1855.
MARGARET WILLIAMS. (L.S.)
MARGARET WILLIAMS. (L.S.)