Improvements in the Manufacture of Stained Glass Panels.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Jan., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 13th Oct., 1893-Accepted, 18th Nov., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Stained Glass Panels.
I, HENRY CLIFFORD HUGHES of 15 Marlborough Road, St. John's Wood,
London N.W. Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to further improvements in the manufacture of stained glass
panels composed of pieces of differently colored glass juxtaposed according to any
given artistic design and welded together, painted with vitrifiable enamel color and
welded to a covering sheet of plain glass as described in the Specification of a
former Patent dated December 9th 1891 No. 21542, and it has for its object to
enable such works of art to be produced more cheaply by the substitution for the
sheet platinum used in the process as described in my former Patent of a much
cheaper material which is not liable to oxidation and is not more liable than the
platinum to adhere to the glass, which does not require to be peeled off as carefully
as does the platinum in order to avoid breakage of the glass or injury to itself, and
of which any portions remaining adherent to the glass may be easily removed
therefrom by scraping or rubbing.
The invention also relates to an improved bed upon which the welding together
of the pieces of glass is effected, such improved bed replacing the fireclay slab
described in my previous Specification, which is liable to be cracked by the heat of
the furnace in the welding operation.
According to my present improvements the welding together of the pieces of
stained glass is effected by laying them upon a sheet of mics made of the necessary
dimensions by joining together small sheets of mica by covering strips of the same
material cemented thereto by water glass. or a vitreous flux the sheet of mica being
supported upon a bed constructed as hereafter described. The pieces of stained
glass are of different colors or shades, and are cut out of the proper sizes and shapes,
to suit the design to be produced and they are fitted together edge to edge as closely
as practicable A transparent vitreous flux is then applied to the joints to soften
the glass at the edges and bring them to the welding point. The welding is effected
without superposing upon the pieces of glass a top plate of platinum weighted by a
fireclay or iron slab as described in the former Specification, but when the edges
are brought to the welding point they are pressed into close contact by the
application on the joints of an iron tool introduced through a suitable aperture in
the furnace at which the manipulation of the tool, the arrangement of the pieces of
glass, and the progress of the whole operation, may be watched, there being no top
slab or plate to obstruct the view.
Should the mica adhere to the glass, as is frequently the case in parts, the greater
portion of the mica owing to its laminated and easily cleavable structure may be
easily torn or split off, leaving adherent to the glass only such thin laminæ as may
be casily scraped or rubbed off with sand and water, or which being transparent
will not be visible if left adhering, whereas when platinum is used it adheres some-
what tenaciously and great care is necessary in peeling it off from the glass, both to
avoid breakage of the glass and injury to the platinum itself which is a very
expensive item of the "materiel" employed in the process, whereas the mica is
comparatively so much cheaper that should it even be destroyed in effecting its
removal from the glass its loss will be more than compensated by the diminished
chance of breakage.
The bed upon which the operation is performed is constructed of a cast metal
frame in the form of lattice or other work which is embedded in a mass of whiting
with which the interstices of the frame are filled and the bars of the frame covered

page_text: to a uniform depth so as to form a smooth level surface for the bed to which the
metal frame imparts sufficient strength and rigidity to admit of its being handled,
whilst the whiting in which the frame is embedded protects the frame from the heat
of the furnace.
The succeeding operations of painting on the welded glass mosaic with vitrifiable
enamel colors, firing the same, and then protecting the artistic work by a sheet of
white glass covering over and welded to the whole of the artistically treated surface
of the stained glass mosaic, is performed in the way described in the previous
Specification, except that sheets of mica are used instead of platinum for preventing
the adhesion of the glass to the bed, the stained glass mosaic and the covering sheet
being pressed into close contact by a heavy iron tool.
Dated this 13th day of January 1893.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Stained Glass Panels.
HENRY CLIFFORD HUGHES of 15 Marlborough Road St. Johns Wood,
London N.W., England, Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to further improvements in the manufacture of stained
glass panels composed of pieces of differently-colored glass, juxtaposed according
to any given artistic design, and welded together, painted with vitrifiable enamel
color, and welded to a covering sheet of plain glass as described in the Specification
of a former Patent dated the 9th day of December 1891 No. 21,542.
My present invention has for its object to enable such works of art to be produced
better and more cheaply, and it consists mainly in the substitution for the_sheet
platinum used in the process as described in the Specification of my former Patent
of a much cheaper material which is not liable to oxidation and is not more liable
than the platinum to adhere to the glass, which does not require to be peeled off as
carefully as does the platinum in order to avoid breakage of the glass or injury to
itself, and of which any portions remaining adherent to the glass may be easily
removed therefrom by scraping or rubbing.
The invention also relates to an improved bed upon which the welding together
of the pieces of glass is effected, such improved bed replacing the fireclay slab
described in my previous Specification which slab is not only liable to be cracked
by the heat of the furnace in the welding operation but is also liable to become
warped or distorted so that it no longer presents the plane surface necessary for
the support of the glass panel to which the distortion then becomes imparted.
The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings,
forming part of this Specification, in which
Figure 1 is a part longitudinal vertical section through the bed and the glass
mosaic supported thereon.
Figure 2 shews a plan of the bed with the mosaic in position thereon, drawn to a
smaller scale and partly broken away to shew the frame of the bed.
According to my present improvements, the welding together of the pieces of
stained glass a is effected by laying them upon a sheet of mica b, the said sheet
being made of the necessary dimensions by joining together small sheets of mica by
covering strips of the same material cemented thereto by water glass or a vitreous
flux, the sheet of mica being supported upon a bed constructed as bereafter
described. The pieces of stained glass are of different colors or shades and are cut
out of the proper sizes and shapes to suit the design to be produced, and they are
fitted together edge to edge as closely as practicable. A transparent vitreous flux

page_text: 18 then applied to the joints to soften the glass at the edges and bring them to the
welding point.
In the former process the welding was effected by superposing upon the pieces of
glass an upper sheet of platinum weighted by a fireclay or iron slab, but this upper
sheet of platinum and slab I now dispense with and when the edges of the pieces
of glass are brought to the welding point they are pressed into close contact by
the application on the joints of an iron tool introduced through a suitable aperture
in the furnace at which the manipulation of the tool, the arrangement of the pieces
of glass, and the progress of the whole operation, may be watched, there being no
top slab or plate to obstruct the view as was previously the case.
Should the mica adhere to the glass as is frequently the case in parts, the greater
portion of the mica, owing to its laminated and easily cleavable-structure, may be
easily torn or split off leaving adherent to the glass only such thin laminæ as may
be easily scraped or rubbed off with sand and water or which being transparent will
not be visible if left adhering, whereas when platinum is used it adheres somewhat
tenaciously and great care is necessary in peeling it off from the glass both to avoid
breakage of the glass and injury to the platinum itself, which is a very expensive
item of the "materiel" employed in the process, whereas the mica is comparatively
so much cheaper that should it even be destroyed in effecting its removal from the
glass its loss will be more than compensated by the diminished chance of breakage.
The bed upon which the operation is performed is constructed of a cast metal
frame cof lattice-work or cellular form so as to provide spaces or pockets to receive
and retain a mass of whiting or equivalent material d, the upper surface of the
frame being covered to a uniform depth with this material so as to form a smooth
level surface to which the metal frame imparts sufficient strength and rigidity
to admit of its being handled, the whiting in which the frame is embedded
protecting the frame from the heat of the furnace. ee are strips or bars of
fireclay laid on the bed. to form a marginal frame-within which the pieces of
glass forming the mosaic are arranged, and ff are packing pieces placed between
the bars e and the upwardly standing flanges on the frame to hold bars e in
position.
The succeeding operations of painting on the welded glass mosaic with
vitrifiable enamel colors, firing the same, and then protecting the artistic work
by a sheet of white glass covering over and welded to the whole of the artisti-
cally treated surface of the stained glass mosaic, is performed in the way
described in the previous Specification (except that a sheet of mica is used
instead of platinum for preventing the adhesion of the glass to the bed) the
stained glass mosaic and the covering sheet being pressed into close contact by
a heavy iron tool.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is.
1. The herein described improvement in welding together, edge to edge, pieces
of stained glass to form a panel, which consists in laying the juxtaposed pieces
of glass upon a sheet of mica and after applying a vitreous flux to the joints,
causing the abutting edges of the pieces of glass to be welded together when
brought to welding heat by the pressure on the joints of an iron tool, substantially
as specified.
2. In the method of welding together pieces of stained glass to form a panel
as specified in Claim 1, supporting the sheet of mica with the pieces of glass
to be welded, on a bed in the furnace formed of a cast-iron openwork or cellular
frame filled and covered with whiting or equivalent material not liable to be
affected by the heat and serving to protect the iron frame from the heat of the
furnace and easily moulded to form a smooth and level surface, as specified.
3. The herein described process of manufacturing stained glass panels com-
posed of variously colored pieces of glass, which consists in juxtaposing and

page_text: uniting the contiguous edges of the pieces of glass by heat whilst in contact
with a sheet of mica by pressure applied to the pieces of glass to bring their
joints into close contact, then painting on the mosaic with vitrifiable enamel
colors and again firing to fix the colors, and then applying upon and welding
by heat to the artistically treated surface of the mosaic a protective covering
sheet of plain glass, substantially as herein described.
n
11
101
1000
H. C. HUGHES,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.