AN IMPROVED MATERIAL THAT MAY BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR GLASS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Livesey, of 9, Victoria Chambers, West-
minster, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED MATERIAL THAT MAY BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR
GLASS."
Sealed the 24th July 1868, and dated the 31st January 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Livesey at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 31st January 1868.
I, JAMES LIVESEY, of 9, Victoria Chambers, Westminster, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MATERIAL THAT MAY BE USED AS A
SUBSTITUTE FOR GLASS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object the production of a material capable
of admitting light and of excluding air or wet, at the same time more
economical than glass, without its liability to be broken. For this

page_text: purpose the material employed is wire gauze or other open work with
the meshes or spaces filled in with a transparent composition, such as
copal varnish, or other suitable transparent substance, used alone or in
combination with suitable gums or other materials which are capable
of withstanding the effects of atmospheric changes and moisture, and
it may be manufactured wholly or partly plain or in colors. The
material so made may be used for window lights, covering buildings,
verandas, and spaces where light is required to be admitted. It is
especially applicable for the construction of conservatories, greenhouses,
frame-lights, and for various horticultural and other purposes. The
wire gauze or other openwork may be coated as required by passing
it directly through the composition or substances employed to give it
transparency as it comes from the loom or machine, thereby completing
the manufacture of the said improved material at one operation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Livesey in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 30th July 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LIVESEY, of 9, Victoria Chambers, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty sixty-cight, in
the thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Livesey, Her
special licence, that I, the said James Livesey, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Livescy,
my exccutors, 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

page_text: "AN IMPROVED MATERIAL THAT MAY BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR GLASS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Livesey, my
executors, or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describo
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Livesey, 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) :-
My Invention of "An Improved Material that may be used as a
Substitute for Glass," has for its object the production of a material
capable of admitting light and of excluding air or wet, possessing great
strength, being also perfectly flexible and at the same time more
economical than glass without its liability to be broken. For this
purpose the material employed is wire gauze, perforated zinc, or other
open work, with the meshes or spaces filled in with a transparent
composition, such as copal varnish, silicates, or other suitable trans-
parent substances, used alone or in combination with suitable gums
or other materials which are capable of withstanding the effects of
atmospheric changes, and it may be manufactured wholly or partly
plain or in colors. Molten glass may also be run or rolled into the
interstices. The material so made may be used for window lights,
covering buildings, verandahs, and spaces where light is required to
be admitted, and also for lamps and ornamental transparencies, and is
especially applicable for the construction of conservatories, greenhouses,
frame-lights, and for various horticultural and other purposes. The
wire gauze or other openwork may be coated as required by passing
it directly through the composition or substances employed to give it
transparency as it comes from the loom or machine, thereby completing
the manufacture of the said improved material at one operation.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I
claim as of my Invention is, "the use of wire gauze or other openwork

page_text: with the meshes or spaces filled in with a transparent substance or
composition as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Livesey, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
WILLIAM SPENCE,
8, Quality Court,
Chancery Lanc.
JAMES LIVESEY. (L.S.)