AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF GLASS LABELS
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I CRANSTONE WOODHEAD of 7 Holly Terrace, York in the County of York
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for AN IMPROVED
MANUFACTURE OF GLASS LABELS to be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is to produce in an economical manner glass
labels for chemical bottles the names or symbols on which are not affected by the
drippings from the lip of the bottles.
Hitherto these glass labels have been prepared by hand at a cost which provided
for the remuneration of the skilled labour of a writer.
I now propose to apply by a chemical process to the glass labels the names or
symbols designating the substances which the bottles jars or other receptacles are
intended to receive and thereby to effect a material economy in the production of
glass labels.
To this end I make use of the already well known process of photography by
which a sheet of paper covered with a film of. gelatine containing colouring matter
and dipped into a solution of bichromate of potash is rendered sensible to the
action of light. As the light has the power of making the gelatine tissue insoluble
any device which has been put upon a glass plate by photography or other means
may be reproduced in gelatine tissue.
In carrying out my Invention I prepare by photography or other means
transparent lettors or a negative of the device which I intend to reproduce on the
glass label and I apply the same to a sheet or strip of the coloured and sensitized
gelatine tissue which is then submitted to the action of light.
Strips of the tissue thus prepared I apply to the back of the glass labels and
wash away the soluble portions thereof leaving the clearly detined letters or device
upon the glass in black or any other desired opaque colour.
The label may
then receive a backing of gold silver or other metal which will throw up the letters
and give a finished appearance to the label.
I would remark that the Invention is applicable not only to labels for bottles
and jars but also for drawers and other receptacles.

page_text: I CRANSTONE WOODHEAD of 7 Holly Terrace, York, in the County of York,
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MANUFACTURE OF GLASS LABELS" and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
The chief object of this Invention is to produce, in an economical manner, glass
labels for chemical bottles, the names and symbols on which are not affected by
the drippings from the lip of the bottles.
The Invention also applies to glass labels for drawers and other like receptacles.
Hitherto these glass labels have been prepared by hand at a cost which provided
for the remuneration of the skilled labour of a writer.
I now propose to apply, by a chemical process, to the glass labels, the names or
symbols designating the substances which the bottles, jars, or other receptacles are
intended to receive, and thereby to effect a material economy in the production of
glass labels, besides improving their decorative quality.
To this end I make use of the already well known process of photography, by
which a sheet of paper covered with a film of gelatine containing colouring matter,
and dipped into a solution of bichromate of potash, is rendered sensible to the
action of light. As the light has the power of making the gelatino tissue insoluble,
any device which has been put upon a glass plate by photography or equivalent
means, may be reproduced in gelatino tissue.
In carrying out my Invention, I prepare by photography, or other means, a
negativo of the device which I intend to reproduce on the glass label, and I apply
the same to a sheet or strip of the coloured and sensitized gelatine tissue, which is
then submitted to the action of light.
Strips of the tissue thus prepared I apply to the back of the glass labels, and
wash away the soluble portions thereof, leaving the clearly defined letters or device
upon the back of the glass in black or any other desired opaque colour or colours.
The label is then to receive an opaque backing say of gold, silver, or other metal,
which will throw up the letters or device, and give a finished appearance to the
label.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn the Invention as applied to a
curved label suitable for bottles and jars, and also to a flat label suitable for
chemists' drawers.
Fig. 1 represents in perspective a chemists bottle fitted with a glass label
manufactured according to my Invention, the label being inserted in a recess
formed in the side of the bottle. The letters of the glass label are represented in
black, the border in red, and the backing ground has a cream colour, the whole
being surrounded by a border of bright gold.
To obtain this result, I apply to the centre of the label, at the back, a strip of
gelatine prepared with a black pigment, and exposed to light through a negative of
the device as above explained. Overlying or surrounding this strip of prepared
gelatine, I apply to the label a strip of gelatine prepared with a red pigment, which
has been exposed to the light, under a negative of the border that is required to be
applied to the label. This border, as represented in the Drawing, is of the simplest
character, but it is manifest that any pattern of border desired may be produce:
in like manner, and in any desired colour, which may either contrast with the
letters or device of the label, or carry the same tint.

page_text: On the removal of the soluble portions of the gelatine, the backing is applied to
the label, a suitable pigment being used to form the central part of the back
ground, and leaf gold burnished to complete the border.
Fig. 2 shews a flat label suitable for drawers, made according to my Invention.
In this example the letters forming the device are in black, and surrounded by
border lines of red. Within the border, the ground is formed of dull gold, the
remainder burnished gold.
To protect the backing, I apply to the flat labels a thick coating of black or other
varnish.
It will now be understood that instead of requiring a skilled workman to
produce the lettering and the border, whether plain or ornamental, of glass labels,
it is only necessary to employ an efficient writer or artist to prepare the original
device from which the negatives required for the reproduction of the device are to
be obtained. Thus, a great saving in the manufacture of glass labels will result,
and their beauty may be enhanced at little or no additional cost.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
The manufacture of glass labels by the aid of photography in the manner and
for the purposes above set forth.