IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS HOUSE POTS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edgar Breffit, of Castleford, in the County of
York, Glass Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS HOUSE POTS."
Sealed the 7th December 1853, and dated the 18th June 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edgar Breffit at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th June 1853.
I, EDGAR BREFFIT, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS HOUSE POTS" to
be as follows:-
In the ordinary mode of manufacturing glass house pots for melting
glass the pot is made of clay, and is supported upon a base of stone or
wood or other suitable material. By this arrangement the sides of the
pot being more exposed to the air become dry sooner than the bottom,
and the pot is thus rendered liable to crack. To avoid this defect
I construct the base with a separate central portion of somewhat less
diameter than the base of the pot, and when the clay has acquired a
certain degree of strength and consistency I remove the central portion,

page_text: and leave the pot resting upon the exterior part of the base. The
bottom being thus exposed to the air dries quicker than when resting
upon the ordinary base. The whole pot is thus more uniformly
exposed to the air, and may safely be dried quicker than by the ordinary
method. The base is made of iron or of stone or other suitable
material. The central moveable portion of the base and the exterior
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edgar Breffit in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 14th December 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
EDGAR BREFFIT, of Castleford, in the County of York, Glass Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Ter
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Ter heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Edgar Breflit, Her special licence that I,
the said Edgar Breflit, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Edgar Breffit, 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 MANU-
FACTURE OF GLASS HOUSE POTS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Edgar Breffit, 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.
NOW KNOW YE. that I the said Edgar Breffit de horolu douleva

page_text: 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, reference being had to the accompany-
ing Drawing, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say:
In the ordinary mode of manufacturing glass house pots for melting
glass the pot is made of clay, and is supported upon a base of stone or
wood or other suitable material. By this arrangement the sides of the
pot being more exposed to the air become dry sooner than the bottom,
and the pot is thus rendered liable to crack. To avoid this defect I
construct the base with a separate central portion of somewhat less
diameter than the base of the pot, and when the clay has acquired a
certain degree of strength and consistency I remove the central portion,
and leave the pot resting upon the exterior part of the base. The
bottom being thus exposed to the air dries quicker than when resting
upon the ordinary base. The whole pot is thus more uniformly ex-
posed to the air without its removal from the base on which it is built,
and may safely be dried quicker than by the ordinary method. The
base is made of iron or of stone or other suitable material. The central
moveable portion of the base and the exterior part of the same may
each be made of one or more pieces.
Figure 1, is a vertical section of a glass house pot standing upon its
base. Figure 2, is a plan of the base, without the pot. A, is the pot;
B, is the external portion of the base; and C, is the internal portion of
the same. These parts may be made of cast iron, strengthened by ribs,
as shewn in the Drawing, or they may be made of any other suitable
material. They are supported by three or four blocks D. The pot A,
is constructed on this base with fire clay, brought into a plastic state
with water, and mixed or prepared in the usual manner; and as soon
as the bottom has become sufficiently dry to support its own weight the
base is raised a little at its outer edge by means of a lever or crowbar,
and the blocks D, are drawn out a little way so as to allow the central
portion of the base C, to drop out, leaving the pot resting upon the
external ring B. A support may be placed under the centre of the
bottom of the pot to prevent it from sinking with its own weight. The

page_text: central portion of the base C, may be left under the pot after being
lowered from it, as herein-before mentioned, or it may be removed
altogether, and employed with another external ring in the manufacture
of another pot in a similar manner.
In lieu of making the base of only two pieces B, and C, as herein-
before described, it may be made of several pieces. Thus, each of the
parts B, and C, may be divided into several segments, and portions
removed at pleasure, so that air may be allowed access to the bottom
of the pot before it could be removed from the base on which it is built,
and before the bottom is sufficiently dry to sustain itself with the aid of
the ordinary partial supports. I, however, give the preference to the
simpler arrangement first herein-before described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
what I claim as the Invention intended to be secured by the aforesaid
Letters Patent is,-
The manufacture of glass house pots by constructing the same upon
a base consisting of an external ring surrounding an internal or central
portion, which is afterwards removed to allow of the access of air to the
bottom of the pot, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edgar Breftit, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Tenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Witness,
WILLIAM MACVAY,
Castleford,
Yorkshire.
EDGAR BREFFIT. (L.s.)