IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING ORNAMENTAL DEVICES IN GLASS OR OTHER TRANSPARENT SUBSTANCES FOR DECORATIVE OR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Hobson, of Leeds, in the County of York
Doctor of Medicine, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING
ORNAMENTAL DEVICES IN GLASS OR OTHER TRANSPARENT SUBSTANCES FOR
DECORATIVE OR OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 7th February 1860, and dated the 19th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Hobson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th October 1859.
I, RICHARD HOBSON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Doctor of Medicine,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRODUCING ORNAMENTAL DEVICES IN GLASS OR OTHER TRANSPARENT SUBSTANCES FOR
DECORATIVE OR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
In carrying out my Invention of improvements in producing ornamental
devices in glass. or other transparent substances, I propose to form a complete
ornamental design or device of glass or other transparent tubes by employing
lengths of such tubes, and uniting the separate parts or lengths by means of
an india-rubber or other elastic cylinder, or other mechanical contrivance for
connecting and covering the ends of the tubes of which the ornamental desigu
or device is to be composed. The elastic connecting pieces may be compressed
and retained in any given position when necessary (so as to be air-tight under
pressure) by means of an external casing or frame made of some inelastic
material, which may be made to close by means of a tightening screw or by
any other suitable means. Into these transparent tubes I propose to admit.air
and water, and to regulate the admission of these fluids in any convenient

page_text: manner, so as to obtain an alternate passage of air and water along the tubes
in regulated quantities and proportions. By this means bubbles of air will be
introduced along with globules of water, and by their continuous passage
through the tubes, they will produce a constantly varying effect of light and
shade, or rather of the reflection and refraction of light. The continuous
motion of these alternate bubbles and globules of air and water will have a
remarkably beautiful effect. The action of the Invention will be much
facilitated by the application to closed vessels working under pressure of a tap
with a plug divided into cells so as to produce the ingress of the external and
egress of the internal fluids used in connection with such tubes. The effect of
the contrivance will be very much heightened and improved by the use of
reflecting surfaces in combination with such a system of tubes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Hobson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
HOBSON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Doctor of Medicine, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Hobson Her special license that I, the said Richard
Hobson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Richard Hobson, 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 PRODUCING ORNAMENTAL DEVICES IN GLASS OR OTHER
TRANSPARENT SUBSTANCES FOR DECORATIVE OR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Hobson, 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 per-
formed, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Hobson; do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 consists in producing a complete ornamental design or device
of glass or other transparent tubes by employing lengths of such tubing and
jointing, or uniting the separate parts or lengths by means of an india-rubber
or other elastic tube or other mechanical contrivance. The elastic connecting
piece may, when necessary, be compressed and retained in any given position
by an external casing or frame made of some inelastic material made to close
by a tightening screw or by any other suitable means, the object being that
the glass or other transparent tubes where jointed or united shall be air and
water-tight. Into these transparent tubes, I propose to admit air and water,
and to regulate the admission of these fluids in any convenient manner, so as
to obtain an alternate passage of air and water along the tubes in regulated
quantities and proportions. By these. means bubbles of air will be introduced
along with globules of water, and by their continuous passage through the
tubes they will produce a constantly varying effect of light and shade, by the
reflection and refraction of light, which has a remarkably beautiful appearance.
The effect of the contrivance is also very much heightened and improved by
the use of reflecting surfaces in combination with the tubes.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is the representation of a simple
design which I adopt to shew the nature of the Invention. It is con-
posed of glass tubing, having as nearly as possible a bore of one-eight of an
inch, and is bent into the required form by means of a blow-pipe. In the
design shewn, several lengths of glass tubing will be required, and the tubing
therefore may be made continuous to the required length, either by welding
the lengths together at their ends, or by connecting them by a joint of india-
rubber tubing vulcanized or otherwise, as shewn at Fig. 4. The india-rubber
joint is made by a piece of tubular india-rubber, into one end of which the
end of a portion of glass tube is inserted, and another portion of another glass
tube is inserted into the other end of the india-rubber tube. The extreme
ends of these glass tubes within the india-rubber should approach each other
as nearly as possible, so that an air and water-tight joint may be formed, con-
sequently a continuous and unimpeded passage will then exist for the alternate
currents of air and water throughout the design.
The admission of air and water alternately into the tubes I effect by
the following means:-. A, in Fig. 2, represents an air-tight cylinder in

page_text: section about half filled with water, the upper portion being filled with common
air by means of a force-pump from a small steam engine, which is used to
force air into the cylinder through the pipe e, which is connected with such pump.
The water is pumped into the cylinder A through the pipe e¹ by means of a similar
force pump; b, b¹, are apparatus, of which a Drawing of one of them of larger
size is shewn in Fig. 2; b' is a cylinder closed at the top and inserted into
the cylinder A, and fastened thereto by being screwed at its base by the screw
.c; 62 is a tube inserted like a plug into the cylinder b' and open at the top.
This tube 6 is held in position by a slot being cut into the side and a pin bolt
inserted therein, which pin bolt is screwed to the shoulder of the cylinder b¹, as
shewn at in Fig. 2. To prevent the tube 63 from being inserted too far into
the cylinder ', there is a pin which is fixed to the tube, and is made to catch
against the under side of the shoulder of the cylinder 61, when the tube is in-
serted far enough. At the point or part where the collar is shewn in Fig. 2,
the tube be fits rather tightly within the cylinder b'; 6 is another tube, which
I call the supply tube, and is fixed to a union joint d. The tube b³ passes
through the tube b², and extends above the same to near the top of the cylinder
6. The upper end of the cylinder is above the water level, and is closed at
the top. The upper end of the supply tube 63 is also above the water level,
but is open at the top. Into the side of the cylinder 6', at the point x, a small
aperture is drilled to admit the water which surrounds the cylinder at this
point; a similar aperture is drilled into the tube 62, and when this tube is
inserted in the cylinder b, the aperture x is made to meet or be exactly
opposite to the one on the cylinder 6. Thus water can be admitted into the
tube 62, which has the supply tube passing through it, and this supply
tube bas an aperture drilled into it at z. Near the top of the cylinder b¹
another aperture is drilled, marked y (a very minute one) to admit air into
its interior, and into the plug tube 62 and the supply tube 3. The effect of
this arrangement will be, that water which has been forced into the cylinder
A, and surrounds the cylinder 6' above the aperturo x, will be admitted into
the interior of the plug tube 62, and a bubble of water will pass through the
aperture of the supply tube. This bubble will immediately be pressed down
the supply tube a short distance by the air which is above it, and which has
been forced into the cylinder A by the air pump. On a second bubble of
water passing into the supply tube, it is also pressed down by air, but thereby
confining a bubble of air between the two bubbles of water. This operation
will be continuous and regular, with a sufficient pressure of air and water in
the cylinder or vessel A (Fig. 2), and consequently alternate bubbles are made
to pass throughout the entire length of the design. If the design be a lengthy

page_text: and complicated one, a series of the tubular apparatus, shewn at Fig. 2,
may be employed, and the supply tube 3 of each of the tubular apparatus may
have a separate place of attachment to the design, and will thereby admit a
separate and independent series of air and water bubbles into the tubes. In-
asmuch as the alternate bubbles of air and water are passed through the
design, and their rate of passage is regulated by the pressure exerted upon
them, it will be necessary that the pressure within the chamber A, and the
supply tube should be sufficient to press the bubbles forward from end to end
of the design at the required speed. In designs of an elaborate character and
great size, such. a proportionate increase in the pressure will be required to
effect the desired object. A constant supply of water and air in sufficient
quantities to produce the required pressure, must be pumped into the cylinder
A (Fig. 2) by means of the pumps before mentioned. I may here remark,
that to provide against an over amount of pressure, I insert into the top of
the cylinder A a small safety valve to allow the air to escape, when any excess
of pressure in the cylinder A exists. The rate of passage of the bubbles
through the design may also be regulated by the following means.
The plug
tube has a certain amount of axial traverse permitted (and which the slot
in the side and pin bolt will allow of), so that the aperture on the side of this
tube may be lessened by being drawn a little on one side of the aperture
on the cylinder b³, and a less amount of water will thereby be allowed to remain
within the plug tube b².
Another mode of supplying these alternate bubbles is shewn in Fig. 3. F
is an open cistern with open tubes b, b, fitted through its base, and fixed above
the water level, as shewn in the Figure. The perforations are shewn at d, d.
ff, are cylinders surrounding the tubes b, b, and are fastened to the bottom
of the cistern. They are also open at their top, which extends above the
water, each cylinder having an open tap fixed to it below the water level, and
a few inches above the base. By means of these taps, a free passage of the
water within the cylinder f is allowed. These cylinders are for the purpose of
preserving the apertures d in the tubes b, b, from being choked by any par-
ticles of dirt which may be in the water, as any sediment is to a great extent
prevented from entering the cylinders f,f, owing to the open taps being raised
above the base of the vessel F. The Drawing also shews a tap g for the
admission of water into the cistern; and another tap g' to carry off the surplus
water, thus keeping an unvarying level. By this latter mode of producing the
bubbles, the pressure required to carry the air and water through the design
will have to be obtained and regulated by the height of the cistern above the
apparatus, as the higher the column of air and water in the supply tubes 63

page_text: the greater will be the pressure upon the bubbles. By reference to the
Drawing it will now be seen that if there be a glass or other connecting tube
from one of the supply tubes 63, in Figures 2 or 3, to the commencement of
the glass tube forming the design, shewn in the Drawing (at letter h, within
the circle at top), a constant succession of alternate bubbles of air and water
will be kept passing through the design until they terminate finally at its base
at h¹, where the dropping water may be caught in any convenient manner.
For the purpose of giving refracting or reflecting effect, so as to represent
waterfalls, weirs, rivers, or other devices of a similar nature, I place mirrors
underneath or behind the tubular designs, and to imitate the ripple of moving
water, the glass tubes are bent to a zig-zag shape as shewn at Figs. 5, and are
laid or fixed parallel to each other. In order to heighten the effect of spiral or
circular devices, I insert glass tubes silvered on the inside within the whorl of
the tubes. This arrangement is shewn in Fig. 1, i being the circular glass
tubing carrying bubbles, and the silvered glass tube passing through the
whorl. Where rivulets, or undulating or uneven surfaces are introduced into
the design, silvered paper, tin foil, or other yielding material with a reflecting
surface may be substituted for glass mirrors for the purpose of giving effect
and apparent reality.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Producing Or-
namental Devices in Glass or other Transparent Substances for Decorative or
other Purposes," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent, as aforesaid,
the mode herein set forth of producing ornamental devices in glass or other
transparent substances, through which alternate globules of air and water are
caused to circulate.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Hobson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Signed and scaled by the said Richard
Hobson in the presence of
J. B. WILKINSON,
RICHARD HOBSON. (L.S.)
17, Albion Street, Leeds.