A NEW OR IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING OR MANUFACTURING CAPSULES FOR ENCLOSING MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS OR OTHER LIQUID OR SOLID SUBSTANCES
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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 Twenty-second day of May, in the tenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said William Edward Newton, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exer-
cise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the
Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, an Invention of "A
NEW OR IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING OR MANUFACTURING
CAPSULES FOR ENCLOSING MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS OR OTHER LIQUID OR SOLID
SUBSTANCES," being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William
Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal;
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Edward Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following, description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The improved instrument which forms the subject of the above in part
recited Letters Patent consists of the following parts, which are represented
in the accompanying Drawing at Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, the latter of which
is a vertical section taken diagonally through Figure 1 at z, z, when the parts
have been all combined.
In Figure 1, A represents a plate of metal or hard wood, which may be
about three eighths of an inch in thickness, and of any suitable form, pierced
with round holes of any convenient size according to the size of the capsule
required to be produced. These holes are made at equal distances apart, and
their edges rise some extent above the body of the plate so as to present the
appearance of a number of tubes. There is a rim or ridge a, a, a, round
this plate of any suitable width, say from a quarter to half an inch.
Figure 2 represents a frame B of the same dimensions as the rim of the
plate A, and in other respects precisely similar to the rim a, a, a, round the
plate A on which it is intended to be applied, and it is provided with guide,
pieces to attach it to the plate A; another plate C, shown at Figure 3, and
similar in construction to the internal part of the plate A, minus the rim
which surrounds it, is made so as to fit accurately on to it and into the
frame B which is placed thereon. The circular holes of this plate must
correspond exactly with those of the plate A, and be similar in all its parts
except that the plate C is twice the thickness of the former. The following
is the method of manufactering capsules. with this instrument:-A paste
composed of sugar, gum, and a small quantity of honey and gelatine, or any
other suitable composition, is spread out into thin sheets. The frame B is
then placed bottom upwards, that is to say, with its angular fastenings up-
wards, and a sheet of the material is laid upon it. The liquid to be enclosed
is then poured into the cavity presented by the sheet of gelatinous material of
which the capsules are to be formed, and the whole is covered over with
another sheet of the gelatinous material, which is wetted at the edges so
as to cause it to adhere to the under one; by this means the liquid is

page_text: enclosed in a kind of large capsule or bag. The plate A is then laid on it,
and slight pressure is applied in order to cause the edges of the two sheets of
material to adhere well together. The apparatus is then turned over, and the
plate C is introduced into the frame B, and on applying suitable pressure the
capsules D, D, D, will be completed, as shewn in the sectional view Figure 4.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me
by my Foreign Correspondent as aforesaid, I would observe that it will be
evident that various modifications may be made in the form of the apparatus
as well as in the form, size, and number of the holes, and the ingredients or
materials of which the capsules are composed, without departing from the
character and object of the Invention. I do not, therefore, mean to confine
myself to the above details, which have only been given as one of the forms
of carrying out the Invention, nor do I intend to claim the exclusive right of
enclosing liquid or solid matters in capsules composed of gelatinous or gummy
matters. But that which I consider to be new, and therefore wish to claim
as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is, making or producing capsules by means of an instrument or
apparatus similar in its mode of operation to that above shewn and described,
or any modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.