IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MAKING AND FIXING OF WINDOW GLASS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
DIMES, of Oldston, in the County of Devon, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of December, in the ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Dimes, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Dimes, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Dimes, my exors, admors,
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 and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MAKING AND FIXING OF WINDOW GLASS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said William Dimes, 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 Dimes, hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described in and by the
present Specification thereof (that is to say) :-
I make the metal (as it is technically called) from which the glass is manu-
factured of the same materials as are ordinarily used for the purpose, and
employ the same fritting or calcining and melting processes as usual, but
instead of forming it into plates by blowing, as is commonly done in the manu-
facture of window glass, I transfer it at once by means of ladles from the
melting pot to.a casting table placed in a furnace and raised to a white heat.
The table is made of gun metal or cast iron, about nine feet long and six feet
wide; has a moveable rim corresponding in length to the thickness intended
to be given to the glass, and is divided lengthwise by moveable metal ridges
of the same height as the rim and placed at distances apart, which are also
determined by the required width or widths of the plates of glass to be cast.
The rim pieces are secured in their places by countersunk screws, so that they
may be quite even on their upper surfaces. The moveable ridges take at
their two ends into grooves made for their. reception, on the inner surfaces of
the top and bottom rim pieces, and are so held fast. The fluid metal being
poured upon the table to the height of the rim and ledges, it is flattened' by
passing over it a heavy roller of iron or gun metal. It is then cooled' gra-
dually down till it is in a sufficiently solid state (though yet warm) to be
lifted from the casting table upon which it is transferred in lengths of about
nine feet, and of' such width or widths as may have been determined, as afore-
said, to an annealing table, which is an exact counterpart of the casting table
in all respects, excepting only that it is formed of fireclay, and that each of the
longitudinal' divisions in it is slightly raised in the centre so as to exhibit in its
cross section the segment of a circle of large diameter. The annealing table
is then moved³ into the annealing furnace and kept there for the time usual in
the manufacture of glass of this description. When the plates come out of
the annealing furnace they are found to have assumed' permanently, the .curve
given to them by the form of the annealing table: The advantage- attending
this form in the application of the glass to windows is, that any water whichi
may collect on the glass runs down the centre of' it instead of getting to the
edges and rotting the wood' or other material of which the frame is constructed.
It is intended that the concave side of the glass shall be on the outside and
the convex on the inside; water can of course only be formed on the inside
of the glass by the condensation of steam upon it, and this as it is formed' will
be found to concentrate on. the convex ridge, and to flow down that ridge, to

page_text: the under part of the frame, where it may be collected in a groove or gutter
made for the purpose: The dripping of water upon the inside of premises
roofed with glass, and which is often of serious injury, as for example, to
delicate plants in conservatories and greenhouses, or to fine goods in ware-
houses and show rooms, will by this means' be wholly obviated. Where there
is not a separate case or frame for each pane of glass it is proposed to join
them not by overlapping in the usual way; but by bevelling the edges (by
rough grinding), so that when the edge of one pane is laid on the edge of
another, the uniformity of the general surface shall not be disturbed either on
the outside or inside.
It is further proposed to use as a substitute for putty in making such joints
water-tight, a solution of caoutchouc or gutta percha thickened with French
chalk and a little powdered sulphur, which forms a cement which, though
unaffected by any ordinary changes of temperature, is after becoming hard,
is easily softened again by the passing of a hot iron over the joinings; or that
in case of a pane being broken it can be readily replaced by another without
risk of damage to the adjoining frames.
And having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as of my
Invention is,
First, the improved mode of making window glass before described (that is
to say) of a curved form in the direction of its length (not limiting myself to
any particular degree or form of curvature), and bevilled at the edges; and,
Secondly, the employment in the fixing of window glass of a cement com-
pounded of the materials aforesaid.
And such my Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her said
Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon Tweed, 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 do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right
and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Dimes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord Que
thousand eight hundred and forty-six.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord 1846, the aforesaid William Dimes came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, 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.
Enrolled the Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-six.-