IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SLATE BILLIARD TABLES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ADRATS ADDAR AMTEAD D PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Victor Blumberg, of Bloomfield Lodge, Notting Hill,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SLATE BILLIARD TABLES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ADRATS ADDAR AMTEAD
D
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Victor Blumberg, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd November 1858.
⚫I, VICTOR BLUMBERG, of Bloomfield Lodge, Notting Hill, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SLATE BILLIARD TABLES, WHICH IMPROVE-
MENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," to be as follows
Many articles in the construction of which slate is now used are very
expensive and cumbrous, in consequence either of the quantity of slate
required in the manufacture, or by reason of the iron or other framework
requisite to hold the parts together. I propose to remedy this, and give as
example the construction of two articles, a slate billiard table and a water
cistern.
In slate billiards as now made the slate is from one and a half to two and a
half inches thick, so rendering it comparatively useless for moveable, folding,
or billiard tables for exportation. I propose to construct the table or foun-
dation of a billiard of layers of wood, placed diagonally or crosswise on each
[Price 8d.1

page_text: other; on this felt or other soft substance saturated with glue or other
adhesive material is placed, and a thin layer of slate over all; or the thin layer
of slate may
be veneered on to the wood without the intervention of the felt or
other material, if desired; the surface is then ground, edged et cetera, by any
known process. The weight of a tabe so made will be scarcely half that of
the usual slate table, and the cost considerably diminished.
For cisterns I proceed in the same manner, the wood being prepared,
morticed, or jointed, as if for lead, the slate veneered after preparation on to
the wood, and the parts being brought closely together produces a cistern
light in weight, water-tight, impervious to frost, and of comparatively
• small cost.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters l'atent, filed
by the said Victor Blumberg, in the Great Seal Patent Office ou the
3rd May 1859.
I,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,
VICTOR
BLUMBERG, of Bloomfield Lodge, Notting Hill, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give und grant unto me,the
said Victor Blumberg, Her special licence that I, the said Victor Blumberg,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Victor Blumberg, 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 CONSTRUCTION OF SLATE BILLIARD TABLES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE FOR OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Victor Blumberg, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Victor Blumberg, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and forming part of this my Specification, and to the several
Diagrams drawn thereon, whereon similar letters of reference are placed to
denote similar parts (that is to say) : —
The object of my Invention is to coat or veneer wood with slate, so as
to render thecombination of slate and wood applicable not only to the con-
struction of many articles now composed of slate only, but also that by so per-
paring slate it may be brought into economical use in various cases where
from its great weight it is now dispensed with.
And, first, I apply my Invention to billiard tables, making the playing
surface in a single or two or more parts, each part being veneered or coated
with thin pieces of slate, veneered on wood, in the manner herein-after
described, and shewn in the Drawing.
Secondly, I veneer slate on squares or oblong pieces of wood, making such
squares or oblong pieces of wood so to fit into each other that they may form
diagonal squares, straight lines, or other designs for parquets, or flooring for
halls, churches, laboratories, kitchens, and other floors where stone or marble
is usually laid down.
Thirdly, by veneering slabs of wood made so as to fit into each other, as
referred tohereinafter in reference to the Drawing, rooms are also constructed
or partly constructed for use in chemical works, the slabs being either so
made as to permit their being removed and reconstructed, or the wall,
ceiling,or floor is veneered with thin layers or veneers of slate over the surface
or surfaces thereof.
And this also applies to the construction of larders, which are difficult
to keep cool, unless by employing in their construction costly materials
such as marble, stone, slate, et cetera, (in slabs), and larders so constructed
keep the provisions placed or stored therein cool, although the surrounding
temperature be very high; I also employ these slabs in constructing store
rooms on board ship,and provisions stored therein will suffer much less from a
long sea voyage than those stored in the ordinary manner, and a further
advantage occurs from the use of store rooms constructed according to my
Invention on board ship, which is, that they may be taken to pieces when not
required, and packed or stowed away in a very small space.
The slabs made according to my Invention are useful for storing flour,
wheat, oats, or other grain, keeping these articles cool and fresh; corn binns

page_text: and boxes to contain corn or flour for store are also made with my veneered
slabs of slate. I also construct vats for fermentation of any kind, and the use
ofslate veneers is especially servicable to brewers and distillers, as in vats so
constructed the yeast keeps better, and is produced purer, such vats being
cleaned with facility, and resisting absorption, while vats made from wood
absorb gases and become saturated therewith.
Premising that I also veneer almost every description of stone upon wood
in the same manner as slate, I will now proceed to describe my mode of pre-
paring the wood and the veneered slabs, giving three examples which, with
slight variations, will answer for all purposes to which my Invention is
applicable.
To construct the foundation table or slabs of wood, I begin by glueing
together 4, 6, 8, or more boards or planks of very dry wood, placing the veins
or grain of the wood in contrary directions, as, for example, if the grain of one
piece run from north to south, the grain of the adjoining piece shall run from
sonth to north. I subject these glued boards or planks to a process of pres-
sure, and when the glue or other adhesive substance (to which I do not fix
myself) has sufficiently dried, I take these prepared boards and cut them into
long laths,, of a thickness of 1, 2, or 3 inches as may be required; I then
glue these laths together,andafterwards cut them to an angle of 45° degrees,
or to any other shape or form that may be required, and havingdone so I gluc
the slabs or squares of wood so together as to cross each other, as shewn at
a¹, Figure 1, in the Drawing; I then veneer slate on these squares or slabs
of wood, causing the slates or veneers to adhere to the surface by any of the
usual adhesive substances (such as glue) or compounds, taking care that the
slates shall fit with great nicety together. I sometimes place felt or other soft
material saturated with adhesive matter on the surface of the wood before
placing the veneers; having laid on the veneers, I weight or press them on
the wood, and leave them until the adhesive material is dry, and the coliesion
complete. I then grind the slate surface smooth as plate glass is ground,
or by any of the known methods. Foundation tables for billiards con-
structed in this manner are light in weight compared with the slate foun-
dation in ordinary use, and less costly; they are especially applicable for
folding billiard tables or billiards for exportation. In the accompanying
Drawing, Figure 1 denotes the foundation table of a billiard in three parts,
a shewing the foundation diagonal layers of wood a¹, the same crossed with
upper diagonals of wood, as shewn in dotted lines, and a² the slate surface,
composed of layers or veneers of slate. Figure 2 shews a view of the founda-
tion in section. In making slabs for chemical purposes or other, I place

page_text: between the edges of the veneers a thin piece of lead, as shewn at b,
Figures 3 and 4; this lining of the edges will prevent corrosion or abrasion
thereof by the action of acids, et cetera. In ordinary cases, such as making
slabs for butchers or fishmongers, tables for hospitals, barracks, or dissecting
rooms, for walls, ceilings, or floors, I dispense with the lead, and either edge
the slate to fit, or fill in the divisions with any suitable cement. Figure 5
shews a portion of a wall constructed with my slabs fitting into each other,
but the joinings may be made of any form whatever suitable to the purpose
of holding the slabs together. In making cisterns I prepare the parts com-
posed of wood in the ordinary manner, with dovetails, mortices, or other
joinings, I then veneer these parts with thin slate, as before described, grind
the surfaces smooth, and chamfer or bevil all the edges, so that the inside
joinings shall fit exactly to each other when the parts are put together, or I
place thin lead between the edges of both slate and wood, taking care to have
the edges of both properly chamfered or hevilled; constructing cisterns or
tanks in the manner just described I obtain a cistern light in weight, water-
tight, irrefragible, and of comparately small cost.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it clearly understood that
I do not confine myself to the precise details herein described, as the same
might be varied without departing from the general principle thereof; nor do
I claim the exclusive use of any of the materials herein named when not
combined or used for the purposes of my said Invention, which materials
combined, as herein-before described, form improvements in the construction
of slate billiard tables, and are applicable for other useful purposes, some
of which are herein-before mentioned or set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Victor Blumberg, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
W. E. GEDGE,
4, Danes Inn, Strand.
VICTOR BLUMBERG. (L.s.)