AN. IMPROVED SOAP FRAME
Year: 1839

page_text: COLCHESTER'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
COLCHESTER of Ipswich, in the. County of Suffolk, Soap Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Colchester, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Colchester,
my exors, admors, or assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Colchester, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all
Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN.
IMPROVED SOAP FRAME;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso.
that I, the said William Colchester, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be.
performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto.
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said William Colchester, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is performed, are fully set
forth and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the illustrative Drawing hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
The Drawing hereunto annexed is an isometrical perspective view of my
improved soap frame. A, A, is the foundation or bottom thereof, which is of a
rectangular shape and composed of wood. A second and smaller bottom B, B,
(shown in the Drawing by the lower dotted lines,) composed of slate, is
imbedded in the wooden bottom A, A, and rises about half an inch above it.
C, C, C, C, are the two sides of the soap frame. D, D, D, are the
ends thereof. Each of the sides C, C, is composed of two pieces or slabs
of slate; the point of division of one of the sides is shewn by a dotted line.
The ends D are each composed of one piece or slab of slate, and have
each a cross bar of wood E fixed thereto for the purpose of supporting the
wooden tie frame or lift F, F, in its place, as herein-after mentioned. G, G,
is a tie frame or lift similar to F, F, placed at the bottom of the soap
frame; H, H, is the cap of the soap frame, which cap is made of wood.
I is a piece of iron which fits into a vertical groove in the end of the cross.
beam I of the soap frame, and there is a similar piece of iron on the
other side of the bottom. These two pieces of iron are connected by a bolt K
which passes through the cross beam L under the bottom of the soap frame.
The whole soap frame rests upon the three cross bearers L³, L', L³. The
wooden tic frames or lifts F, F, and G, G, are both constructed alike.
Tennons on each end of the end bars fit into mortice holes in each end of the
side bars. The frames are tightened transversely by means of the bolts N
with screws and nuts M, M, and lengthwise by means of the wedges O, O.
The advantage of forming the principal parts of the frame of slate instead of
wood, as heretofore, is that the soap cools and hardens much quicker. In
wooden frames the soap takes about eight days to cool sufficiently, whereas
in my improved soap frame the soap is cooled in about twenty-four hours. My
improved soap frame is also much cheaper of construction than the ordinary
wooden frames, and lasts much longer.
Supposing the several pieces of which the frame consists to be all detached,
and that it is proposed to connect them together, the mode of proceeding is as
follows: The tie frame or lift G, G, is first placed upon the bottom A, A,
the nuts M, M, and bolt K being loosened the end pieces of slate D, D, are then
placed in their proper positions, their bottom edges being inserted between the
edges of the bottom slab B, B, and the inside of the end bars of the wooden

page_text: tie frame or lift G, G. The lower halves C¹, C', of the slate sides are then
likewise placed in their proper position, their lower edges being inserted
between the outer edge of the side of the side of the bottom slab and the side
bar of the tie frame or lift G, G. These parts being temporarily supported
or held in their proper position, the tie frame or lift F, F, is slipped over the
heads of the end pieces D, D, and brought down until it rests upon the cross
bars of wood E, E. The nuts M, M, M, M, and the nut on the bolt K are
all now screwed up and the wedges O, O, driven nearly tight; the upper halves
C2, C3, of the slate sides are then put in their places and the cap H placed
above all. The whole of the nuts are now screwed home and the wedges
driven tight, and the frame is ready to receive the liquid soap. Instead of slate
slabs of stone or marble may be employed for the bottom, side, and end plates
of the frame, but slate is the material which I prefer and recommend as most
suitable for the purpose.
And having now fully described my said Invention, I declare that I do not
limit myself to the particular mode or manner of construction herein-before
described, but that the said manner of construction may be modified and varied
according to circumstances; but that what I claim as of my Invention is the
making of soap frames composed principally of slabs of stone, slate, or marble
joined and cemented together in the manner before described, or in any other
equally efficient manner. And such my said Invention being to the best of
my knowledge and belief entirely new, and never before used within that part
of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, Her Dominion of Wales, Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in
any of Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, I do hereby
declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe
this my said Specification doth comply in all respects fully and without reserve
or disguise with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained; wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Colchester, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and forty.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixteenth day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1840; the aforesaid William Colchester came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty.