IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPIER MÂCHÉ BLANK TRAYS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Knowles, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF PAPIER MÂCHÉ BLANK TRAYS."
Sealed the 5th September 1861, and dated the 6th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Knowles at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th April 1861.
I, BENJAMIN KNOWLES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPIER MÂCHÉ BLANK TRAYS," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in inserting or inlaying a panel of pasted
paper or a panel of paper pulp in the bottom of the blank tray, the said panel
being attached to the bottom of the tray by means of glue or paste or other
adhesive matter. The panel described constitutes the true bottom of the
tray, that is, the inner or upper side of the said tray. By this method of
manufacture the bottom of the finished tray is prevented from curdling or
exhibiting the shrivelled appearance common in papier mâché trays of the
ordinary manufacture.
My Invention consists, secondly, in obtaining a good surface on papier
mâché blank trays by coating them with a mixture of ochre or chalk, or

page_text: whiting and linseed oil, or varnish and flour paste. After the mixture has
been applied to the blank tray, the said blank tray is stoved for the purpose
of hardening the mixture; the surface is then smoothed with pumicestone.
This treatment is in substitution of the ordinary plan of dressing down the
surface of the papier mâché itself. By this method of treatment an excellent
surface is obtained without the waste of material attendant on the ordinary
method.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Knowles in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
KNOWLES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Benjamin Knowles, Her special licence that I, the said Benjamin Knowles,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ben-
jamin Knowles, 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 THE
MANUFACTURE OF PAPIER MACHE BLANK TRAYS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Benjamin Knowles, 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 Benjamin Knowles, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists, firstly, in inserting or inlaying a panel of pasted

page_text: paper or panel of paper pulp in the inner or upper side of the bottom of the
papier mâché blank tray or tray blank, the said panel being attached to the
bottom of the tray by means of glue or paste or other adhesive matter. The
said panel of pasted paper or panel of paper pulp is made by the processes
well known to and practised by manufacturers of papier mâché articles for the
manufacture of panels for various purposes. I make the panel of the size and
shape of the bottom of the tray in which it is to be inserted, or I make it of
larger size than the said bottom of the tray, and cut it to the required size.
I do not limit myself to any particular thickness of the said panel, but I find
in practice that panels of a thickness of one-eighth of an inch answer very
well. In attaching the panel I employ glue in preference to other adhesive
matter, but I do not limit myself thereto. After the panel has been glued to
the inner or upper side of the bottom of the tray blank, I place the blank
between a pair of dies of the figure of the tray, the said dies being heated to
a temperature somewhat lower than that of boiling water. The said blank is
pressed in the said heated dies for about half an hour, when the adhesive
matter by which the panel is attached is sufficiently dried, and the tray blank
may be dressed and finished in the ordinary manner. Instead of drying the
blank tray between heated dies, the said blank tray may be dried by stoving
in the ordinary manner. In this case I weight the blank tray, that is, I
place one or more weights thereon during the stoving process to prevent the
warping of the said blank tray, and to press the panel firmly down until it is
dried. The panel described constitutes the true bottom of the tray, that is,
the inner or upper side of the said tray. By this method of manufacture
the bottom of the finished tray is prevented from curdling or exhibiting
the shrivelled appearance common in papier mâché trays of the ordinary
manufacture.
My Invention consists, secondly, in obtaining a good or smooth surface on
papier mâché blank trays, by coating them with a mixture of soft earthy
matter and boiled linseed oil and varnish and tar. The earthy matters which
I find in practice to answer very well are ochre, chalk, or whiting, rotten
stone, Venetian red, pipeclay, and common clay, but any soft earthy matter,
that is, earthy matter that is not gritty or hard, will answer nearly as well.
Ochre and chalk are the earthy matters which I commonly employ. The
earthy matter is reduced to a fine powder, and mixed with the linseed oil and
varnish and tar to about the consistence of thick cream, and the papier
mâché blank tray is dipped into the said mixture. On withdrawing the blank
tray it is allowed to drain for a short time, and is then stoved for the purpose
of hardening the coating of the said mixture on the said blank tray. A mixture

page_text: of equal parts of boiled linseed oil and varnish and tar answers very well, but
I do not limit myself to these proportions. Any of the low-priced oil varnishes
of commerce may be used to mix with the boiled linseed oil and tar. After
the stoving, the surface of the: hardened mixture is smoothed by means of
pumicestone. This treatment is in substitution of the ordinary plan of
dressing down the surface of the papier mâché itself by means of planing,
scraping, or filing. By the method of treatment described, an excellent
surface is obtained without the waste of material attendant, on the ordinary
method. The papier mâché blank tray is afterwards treated by japanning
in the usual manner.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details. herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my
Invention,―
Firstly, the improvement in the manufacture of papier mâché blank trays
herein first described, that is to say, covering the inner or upper side of the
bottom of papier mâché blank trays with a panel of pasted paper or paper
pulp inserted or inlayed and attached by means of glue or other adhesive
matter, which said panel prevents the bottom of the finished tray from curdling
or exhibiting a shrivelled appearance.
Secondly, the improvement in the manufacture of papier mâche blank
trays herein last described, that is to say, obtaining a good or smooth surface
on papier mâché blank trays, by first coating them with the mixture or
composition herein described, and afterwards smoothing the surface of the
hardened mixture or composition with pumicestone, or other smoothing
material.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Knowles, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw.
BENJAMIN KNOWLES. (L.S.)