IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOOKING GLASSES, AND IN THE APPA- A communication DARIO CONVEN THIRDETME
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ephraim Sabel, of 25, Broad Street Buildings,
in the City of London, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOOKING GLASSES, AND IN THE APPA-
A communication
DARIO CONVEN THIRDETME
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ephraim Sabel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th March 1853.
I, EPHRAIM SABEL, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOOKING GLASSES, AND IN
THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
It has long been a very desirable object to arrange a looking glass or
glasses in such manner that an individual may obtain a view of the
back and front of the person simultaneously.
This result is achieved in the Invention now communicated to me,
and consists, firstly, in having looking-glasses fitted in double frames,
which, when closed together, or not in use for double view, have the
appearance of one frame only.

page_text: On touching a spring in one of the upright pillars which are at cuch
side of the glass (the glass usually termed a cheval glass is here meant),
the front part or framing is disengaged from the back part, and as it
leaves it (which it is made to do by a self-acting apparatus at the side
and at foot, opposed to where the spring above-mentioned acts), the glass
revolves on a pivot, and turns itself inwards towards the glass which is
now revealed in the back frame, and fixing itself by means of said
apparatus (which will be fully described and illustrative diagrams given
in my Final Specification) at the proper angle, reflects the front and
back view of a person or persons stepping between, thus permitting
a lady to inspect her attire, head-dress, &c., closely, without any con-
tortion or twisting of the person.
Secondly, the same result is achieved by a glass, fixed in the wall,
having at first sight the appearance of a pier glass only, which, upon the
front being allowed to open, shews another glass behind it; the front
plate is made to move outwards, and revolve as aforesaid, and a person
stepping between finds a looking glass both in front and rear.
The apparatus for this operation, although the same in principle,
differs in its mechanical arrangements from that first mentioned. The
movement is made on wheels, which may be either projective or
countersunk, as circumstances may render desirable.
I deem the foregoing suflicient to give a clear idea of the communi-
cated Invention, and sufficient for a Provisional Specification.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Ephraim Sabel, in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 15th September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
EPHRAIM SABEL, of 25, Broad Street Buildings, in the City of London,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-

page_text: teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Ephraim Sabel, Her especial licence
that I, the said Ephraim Sabel, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such other as I, the said Ephraim Sabel, 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, the Invention communicated to me
by a certain foreigner residing abroad, of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF LOOKING GLASSES, AND THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Ephraim Sabel,
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 Ephraim Sabel, 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, reference being had to the annexed drawing.
The object of this Invention is to enable a person to see or examine
his or her whole figure or apparel at one view without turning the
head, or otherwise distorting the figure. Many attempts have been
made to attain this object, but either entirely without success, or the
reflectors have been placed in such unsightly positions as to render
their use repugnant to the eye of taste, and thus cause them to be
rejected by the public. One mode proposed was to line or partially
line the dressing-room with tall looking-glasses, placed angularly or
otherwise, in such manner as to reflect the entire person at once.
Besides the great expense attendant on this mode, it was found that
all other bodies or substances in the room so prepared were similarly
reflected, shewing many repetitions thereof, at the same time causing
confusion to the eye, as well as accident to the person and furniture.
Another mode, proposed in the year One thousand eight hundred and

page_text: thirty, was to make a compartment of four mirrors, to be either im-
moveable, that is to say, remain always in the position in which the
desired effect was obtained (one mirror forming the entrance to the
compartment, being hung or hinged to a framing for that purpose),
or the four mirrors might be so arranged as to swing away from each
other (when not required for use), and form a looking-glass of four
divisions against the wall; the clumsiness of this contrivance is obvious,
but it obtained a partial success among milliners and others, in whose
trades some such arrangement was desirable. It will be needless to
dilate furtheron what has been done to attain the object sought by this
Invention; nor would the foregoing have been recited, save to shew that
much time, care, and skill have been expended in obtaining the result
attained, by the simple, economical, and elegant mechanical contrivance
herein-after explained and illustrated by the sheet of drawings annexed
to this Specification, and forming part thereof. An entire view of the
human figure is obtained by placing two mirrors or sheets of looking-
glass in a double frame, the appearance of which (when closed) is like
that of a single glass used in dressing rooms, and usually termed a
cheval glass. Or a similar result may be obtained (with some alteration
in the mechanism) by placing two sheets of looking-glass in a double
frame, one fixed and the other moveable, against the wall, say, for in-
stance, between two windows of an apartment as a pier glass, having
exactly such appearance when not in use for the purpose of this Inven-
tion. It will be unnecessary to explain all the slight modifications, ad-
ditions, or alterations that may be made in the mechanism to suit glasses
of various sizes, or frames of various substances, and I will therefore con-
fine myself to the illustration, by drawing and description, of one double
mirror, which will fully and clearly shew the principle and explain
the modus operandi of this Invention; and it will be seen that the
said Invention consists in drawing one plate of looking-glass from
before another, causing the front plate (as framed) to turn round
and present its face to that which it previously concealed, and to
assume such a position by the advance of the front framing as to
enable, say a lady, to step in between the said sheets or plates of looking
glass. The lady, when so placed, and looking towards or at the back

page_text: plate, will be enabled, without any turning round of the head or con-
tortion of the person, to see the whole of the front and back of her dress
or apparel from her head to her feet, even to the most minute portion;
thus obviating the need of reference to the milliner, or ladies maid, or
other attendant, as to the fit or otherwise thereof. Such facility is also
very desirable to gentlemen, assuring them against any unsightly disarray
of hair, shirt or coat collar, or other portion of their apparel. In the an-
nexed drawing, Figure 1, is a plan taken in horizontal section under the
frames of the glasses, in order to shew the mechanical arrangements by
which the change from the single to the multiple reflection is effected;
Figure 2, an elevation as viewed from the centre line A, B, in the plan;
Figure 3, shews the parallel position of the plates when closed, taken in
longitudinal section under the framings of the glasses; and Figure 4,
an elevation of the frame closed. a¹, a', a², a², represent the upright of
the outer framings, connected at top by the cross pieces b¹, 6ª; and at
their lower extremity, by the horizontal ties c¹, c¹, and c, . These
outer framings are supported by the projecting supports or feet, d', d',
and d, d²; within these outer frames are placed the framed glasses A',
and A; A', being moveable on its central axis e, within its outer fram-
ing a, b, c, and the other fastened in its proper position within its
outer framing a, b, c. The outer framing of the glass A², is also made
fast to the stand or floor when a stand is dispensed with; and that of
the glass A', is allowed to move freely in the arc of the circle of which
the red lines ff, are the radie, by means of the friction wheels g, g,
under the legs d, d¹. In order to keep the play of the framing within
the arcs of the same circles, the two outer frames are firmly braced
together by means of two sets of levers working on pivots, the one
placed horizontally, as shewn in plan, Figure 1, and the other vertically,
as represented in elevation, Figure 2. The horizontal braces con-
sist of two equal and similar levers h³, i¹, and h2, 2, at the outer
edges of the framings, and along excentric slots j¹, and 3, at their
other extremities. The two levers have a pivot passing through them
at their central point of intersection k, by which means the angles,
with the working line of the slots, are kept constantly equal
during the opening or shutting of the moveable glass A¹. The slots

page_text: are made with excentric curvature to allow for the perfect closing
of the two frames, notwithstanding the difference of the lengths
of the inner and outer arcs of the angle f, f, f. These lovers are
so proportioned, and the slots so adjusted to the framings, that the
lines joining the centres and i', h³ and f, on the one side, and h²,
and i, h, f, on the other, are each and all equal to one another.
To the axis e, of the moveable glass A', is aflixed a wheel 1, to which is
fastened the end of a piece of cord m, passing round the rollern, and
friction wheel o, and finally tied to the eye in a bent projection p, of the
cross lever ', ', herein-before described. The radius of the wheel I, and
the length of the lever p, h', are so proportioned to each other that
while the moveable frame describes the entire arc of the angle f, f, f
the glass A, is kept facing the stationary glass of the fixed frame
A, while the frames are opened, as shewn in Figure 1, by means
of a spring or other convenient means acting on the wheel 7, is
pulled by the lever p, h', and cord m, until it has performed one half
revolution on its central axis, so as to assume the position of the full
flue line A', A', in Figure 3, when the two glasses are shut up against
each other: a catch q, is affixed to the fixed frame of the glass A². In
order to brace effectively the vertical strains, a vertical rod r, r,
passing through the plane besecting the angle f, f, f, works on
pivots s, s, on which turn the equal and similar levers t¹, t, t, t, the
other extremities of which work on centres at the sides of the outer
framings of the glasses, A' and A².
Having now described the nature of this Invention for "Improve-
ments in the construction of looking glasses and the apparatus con-
nected therewith," and the mechanical means by which it is carried
into practical effect, I desire it to be understood that I lay no claim to
any of the parts or means used when taken separately, as such parts
of mechanism, framing, or glasses are not new when so considered and
not used in the combinations shewn and described in this my Specifica-
tion, or similar combinations arising out of similar mechanical means;
and I have explained that the idea of shewing the human person at
one view (front and back) is not new, but that attempts more or less
successful or unsuccessful have been made for that purpose. But

page_text: what is new, useful, and economical in this Invention is, and I claim,
the placing by mechanical means two plates or sheets of looking-glass in
framing so as to have the appearance, when not in use, of a single
looking-glass, and when seperated or apart, and in position (as
herein-before described), shewing or reflecting the human form (when
it is placed in the interval between such plates or glasses) both before
and behind, or back and front, at one view.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ephraim Sabel, have herein-
before affixed my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of
September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-three.
EPHRAIM SABEL. (L.S.)
Witness, FRED. S. FULD, 25, Broad Str. Buildings.