IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR REMOVING SUPERFLUOUS GOLD LEAF FROM BOOK COVERS DECORATED THEREWITH
Year: 1884

page_text: I ERNEST STRAKER of Wheatsheaf Works Farringdon Street in the City of
London Bookbinder do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR REMOVING SUPERFLUOUS GOLD LEAF FROM
BOOK COVERS DECORATED THEREWITH to be as follows:-
In producing gilt designs and inscriptions on the surfaces of book covers a piece
of gold leaf is placed on the cover and a stamp is pressed thereon. The gold leaf is
thus caused to adhere to the cover at the required parts and the superfluous gold
leaf or that part which is not caused to adhere to the surface of the cover is
removed by rubbing or brushing the said surface.
The
In order to prevent waste and theft of the superfluous gold leaf by the workmen
employed in removing it machines are sometimes used consisting of a brush secured
to a rotatory shaft the said brush being formed of bristles or of flaps of sheet india
rubber secured to a cylinder working within a closed case into which the book
covers are passed one at a time through a slit formed in one of its sides.
covers when inserted in the said case rest on a support secured in such a position
relatively to the said brush that when it is caused to revolve the free ends of the
bristles or the outer ends of the india rubber flaps pass in contact with the said
covers and remove the superfluous gold leaf which falls into a drawer in the lower
part of the case.
The use of these machines is attended by the following disadvantages. When
bristles are used for the acting parts of the brush the said bristles injure the
surfaces of the covers and when india rubber flaps are used they are liable to
destroy the book covers. Also the rapid rotation of the brush causes air to be
drawn into the case and to be discharged through the slit provided for the
insertion of the book covers the action being similar to that of a rotatory fan.
Part of the gold removed by the brush is thus driven out of the machine.
My Invention relates to machines of the kind hereinbefore described and my
said improvements consist in forming the brush of filaments of india rubber each
secured at one end to the cylinder which filaments when the brush is revolving are
extended by centrifugal force and their free ends strike the covers inserted in the
machine and remove the loose gold leaf without injuring them. In order to
[Pain fi71

page_text: diminish the fan like action of the machine I secure discs of india rubber to the
ends of the cylinder of the brush within the machine and in order to prevent the
escape of particles of gold at the apertures in the case through which the shaft
passes I surround the said shaft near the parts which pass through the case with
india rubber.
Dated this Samanth day of January 1884
I ERNEST STRAKER of Wheatsheaf Works Farringdon Street in the City of
London Bookbinder do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR REMOVING SUPERFLUOUS GOLD LEAF FROM
BOOK COVERS DECORATED THEREWITH and in what manner the same is to
be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
"
In producing gilt designs and inscriptions on the surfaces of book covers a piece
of gold leaf is placed on the cover and a heated stamp is pressed thereon the gold
leaf is thus caused to adhere to the cover at the required parts and the superfluous
gold leaf or that part which is not caused to adhere to the surface of the cover is
removed by rubbing or brushing the said surface.
In order to prevent waste and theft of the superfluous gold leaf by the workmen
employed in removing it machines are sometimes used consisting of a brush secured
to a rotatory shaft the said brush being formed of bristles or of flaps of sheet india
rubber secured to a cylinder working within a closed case into which the book
covers are passed one at a time through a slit formed in one of its sides. The
covers when inserted in the said case rest on a support secured in such a position
relatively to the said brush that when it is caused to revolve the free ends of the
bristles or the outer ends of the india rubber flaps pass in contact with the said
covers and remove the superfluous gold leaf which falls into a drawer in the lower
part of the case
The use of these machines is attended by the following disadvantages. When
bristles are used for the acting parts of the brush the said bristles injure the surfaces
of the covers and when india rubber flaps are used they are liable to destroy the
book covers. Also the rapid rotation of the brush causes air to be drawn into the
case and to be discharged through the slit provided for the insertion of the book
covers the action being similar to that of a rotatory fan. Part of the gold removed
by the brush is thus driven out of the machine.
My Invention relates to machines of the kind herein before described and my
said improvements consist in forming the acting parts of the brush of filaments of

page_text: india rubber each secured at one end to the cylinder which filaments when the
brush is revolving are extended by centrifugal force and their free ends strike
the covers inserted in the machine and remove the loose gold leaf without injuring
them.
In order to diminish the fan like action of the machine I secure discs of india
rubber to the ends of the cylinder of the brush within the case of the machine.
And in order to prevent the escape of particles of gold at the apertures in the case
through which the shaft passes I surround the said shaft near the parts which pass
through the case with shields of sheet metal secured to the said case.
The accompanying Drawings represent a machine of the kind to which my
Invention relates and having my improvements applied thereto.
Figure 1 of the said Drawings is an elevation of the said machine. Figure 2 is
a vertical section thereof taken on the line 1 Figure 1. Figure 3 is a front view
of the upper part of the machine without the cover and drawn to a larger scale than
Figures 1 and 2 and Figure 4 is a vertical section of the upper part of the
machine drawn to the same scale as Figure 3. Figures 5 and 6 are details
hereinafter referred to.
In the following description the different parts of the Drawings are referred to
by means of the letters marked thereon. The same letters of reference indicate the.
same parts in the several Figures of the said Drawings.
The construction of the said machine is the same as that of ordinary machines
used for the purpose of removing superfluous gold leaf from the covers of books
with the exception of the brush which as herein before stated is formed of filaments
of india rubber secured to a cylinder and has discs of india rubber secured to its
ends. Referring to the said Drawings a is the cylinder of the brush b, b are the
india rubber filaments tufts of which are secured by means of any suitable cement
or in any suitable manner in holes in the said cylinder and c, c are the india rubber
discs secured to the ends of the said cylinder a. One of the said filaments is
shown separately drawn of the full size in elevation and transverse section
in Figure 5. I have found that filaments of the size and form and dimensions
illustrated in the said Figure 5 answer well in practice but these may be somewhat
varied without imparing the action of the brush. I prefer to use pure unvulcanized
india rubber for the filaments of the brush. The india rubber used in the
manufacture of "elastic web" and known in commerce as "Warne & Co Patent
magnetic cut (brown skein) india rubber thread" may be used both the form and
quality of the said india rubber being well suited for the purpose. The said
filaments may however be cut from sheet india rubber of suitable thickness.
g, g are the metal shields for preventing the escape of particles of gold at the
apertures in the case through which the shaft e passes one of which shields is shown
separately in Figure 6. The said shields are secured in pairs to the sides of the
case one of each of the pairs of shields being secured to the upper part of the case
on each side thereof and the other to the lower part on each side thereof so that
when the two parts of the case are put together as in Figures 1 and 2 the pair of
shields on each side of the case meet and completely surround the said shaft as
shown in dotted lines in Figure 4.
The said machine is used in the same manner as ordinary machines that is the
brush is caused to revolve by means of a driving belt connected to any suitable
motor and passed over one of the drums or pulleys d, d on the shaft e on which the
cylinder a of the brush is secured and the book cover from which the superfluous
gold leaf is to be removed is inserted into the case at the aperture f and the said
superfluous leaf is brushed off by the action of the said filaments which when the
brush is revolving are extended by centrifugal action as shown in Figure 4. The
discs of india rubber c, c prevent currents of air from being drawn in between the
filaments of the brush near the cylinder thereof and the fan like action hereinbefore
referred to is thus prevented and the gold leaf removed from the covers is
consequently not driven out of the case.

page_text: Instead of forming the discs c, c of india rubber they may be formed of stout
cloth soft leather or other flexible or yielding material which will not injure the
book covers should they come in contact therewith.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention of "Improvements in machines for removing superfluous gold leaf from
book covers decorated therewith" and in what manner the same is to be performed
I wish it to be understood that I do not claim broadly the use of india rubber in
the construction of the brushes used in such machines as I am aware that brushes
consisting of flaps of sheet india rubber each secured at one of its edges to a
cylinder and parallel to the axis thereof have been used in machines of the kind
herein before described the use of which brushes is attended with disadvantages
which are avoided by the use of brushes constructed according to my Invention.
Neither do I limit myself to the precise form or size illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings of the filaments of india rubber hereinbefore described nor to the method
or manner herein before described of securing them to the cylinder of the brush but
I declare that what I claim is :-
1.-Forming the acting parts of the revolving brushes of such machines of
filaments of india rubber substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings.
2. Securing discs of india rubber or other suitable material to the ends of the
cylinders of the said brushes substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore
described.