IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING THE PROFILE OF VARIOUS FORMS OR FIGURES
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, OCTAVIOUS
DILLINGHAM MORDAUNT, of Clifford Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-first day of November, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Octavious Dillingham Mordaunt, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Octavious Dillingham Mordaunt, my exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Octavious Dillingham
Mordaunt, 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 vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING THE PROFILE OF VARIOUS FORMS OR
FIGURES," communicated to me by a certain foreigner residing abroad; in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Octavious
Dillingham Mordaunt, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
the 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
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
Octavious Dillingham Mordaunt, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon (that is to say):
The Invention consists of a mode of arranging apparatus whereby a series
of thin sliding pieces confined in a suitable frame are capable of sliding in
contact with each other, in order to take a profile of any surface, and then of
being fixed to retain such apparatus with the profile so obtained, in order that
the same may be carried away, or copied, or otherwise. And in order that the
Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into effect I will proceed
to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed in the various Figures of which the
same figures are used to indicate similar parts.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a plan of the apparatus; Figure 2 is an edge view thereof;
Figure 3 shows the apparatus when taking the profile of a cornice or other
figure; and Figure 4 shows some of the parts. a, a, are a series of very thin
sliding pieces in contact with each other, so that they being very thin and
pointed at their ends, they will enter into the smaller part of the design, and
the profile will be obtained by sliding each of the sliding pieces till it touches
the part of the figure opposite to it, and each sliding piece will be slided in its
frame to 'an extent depending on whether the part of the figure to be taken is
protruding or sunk. b, c, are two side plates or bars between which the
sliding pieces move, the bars or plates b, c, being kept apart sufficiently to
allow the 'sliding pieces to slide between them, and when the profile of a figure
is taken, then by causing the bars or plates b, c, to come closer together, they
will prevent the sliding pieces being slided, and thus retain the profile obtained
for any desired length of time; d, d, are two screws and nuts by which the
bars or plates are combined together, and by which they can be brought to
press so strongly on the edges of the sliding pieces between them, that they
will be held fast, there being filling pieces e, e, one at each end between the
plates b, c, which are as thick as the sliding pieces are wide, and the immer
surfaces of the plates or bars b, c, are coated or covered with thin wash 'leather
or other suitable material'; and in order that a horizontal line and vertical line
may be obtained to work from, I apply 'a square with a spirit level. f is the
horizontal bar of the square, having a spirit level at 9; and h is the vertical 'bar
of the square which is hinged to the bar f, as is shown; the other end of the

page_text: I
bar f is attached to one of the plates 6 or c by a pin joint, as is shown.
b
would, however, remark that it is not necessary in all cases to have a square
9, f, in combination with the other apparatus as described. In using this appa-
ratus in taking a profile of a cornice or other figure, the apparatus, Figure 1,
is placed against the figure, and the sliding pieces pressed successively so as
to cause each of them successively to come against the part of the figure
opposite to that end, as is shown at Figure 3, where i is the section of a cornice,
the series of sliding pieces a coming against all the undulations of the figure;
and when the apparatus is brought into position, and all the ends of the sliding
pieces a touch the contour of the figure, by means of the screws and nuts, the
sliding pieces may be secured as above explained, and the profile, thus obtained,
may be transferred on to paper (or other surface) by laying the apparatus
upon the paper, and moving a pencil or fine pointer along the ends of the
sliding pieces; and by moving the sliding plate a with the pencil along the
edges of the square f, g, the horizontal and vertical lines may be obtained.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the means of
carrying the same into effect, I would wish it to be understood, that I do not
confine myself to the precise details, so long as the peculiar character of the
Invention be retained; but what I claim is, the mode of combining a series
of sliding pieces a, sliding in contact with each other, in a suitable frame b, c,
as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Octavious Dillingham Mordaunt, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of April, in the
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid Octavious Dillingham Mordaunt came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, 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 Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-four.