CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WINDOW BLINDS, CURTAINS, AND HANGINGS
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT 10 Philippe D'Homme, Manufacturet, of Paris, in
the French Empire. for the Invention of CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WINDOW BLINDS, CURTAINS, AND HANGINGS."
A communication.
Scaled the 27th May 1858, and dated the 15th December 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
SPECIFICATION left by the said Philippe D'Homme
at the Ollice of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th December 1852.
1. PHILIPPE D'HOMME, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WINDOW
BLINDS, CURTAINS. AND HANGINGS," to be as follows: -
The cotton, linen. or other fabric which is to be employed for the
purposes of the Invention, is dressed or prepared with glue. size, or
gum, or other dressing, which gives it a certain degree of rigidity.
is then printed upon with oil colours applied by means of zinc or
copper plates, a separate plate being employed for each colour.
The
fabric is laid upon the inked plate in a large press, and covered with
paper, so as to form a sort of elastic cushion or pad. and it is then
submitted to strong pressure, so as to transfer the colour from the
[Price Sd.]

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Philippe D'llomme in the
the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 7th June 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1,
PHILIPPE D'HOMME, Manufacturer, of Paris, in the French Empire,
send greeting.
all
WHEREAS er most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by er
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of
of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two,
in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, er heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Philippe D'[fomme,
Her special licence, that I, the said Philippe Dllomme, my executors.
administrators, and assigns, or such others as the said l'hilippe
Domme, my executors administrators, Or assigns should
any time agree with, and no others. from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use. exercise, and vend, within the 'nited Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland. the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man.
an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
WINDOW BLINDS, CURTAINS, AND HANGINGS," communicated to me from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that f, the said Philippe
D'Homme, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Pateul.
NOW KNOW YE. that J. the said Philippe D'Homme, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be
be particularly described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the accompanying Drawing, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon (that is to say):
The Invention relates to Certain Improvements in the Manufacture
of Window Blinds. Curtains, and Hangings, by printing in vil
colours upon calico, silk, canvass. paper or other suitable fabric
by means of zinc plates employed in a manner analogous to that of
lithographic or zincographic priming.
In order to produce with facility many impressions in succession,
it is necessary to prepare the zine plates in a particular manner, and
to employ a press of suitable dimensions. furnished with pointing
apparatus or other means of causing the different colours applied by
the different plates to be printed in their proper places.
The plate of zine is first cut to the size required for the design
which is to be printed, and its surface is then filed with a coarse file,
the teeth of which are about one sixth of an inch apart; the plate
is then hammered flat and afterwards washed with spirits of wine
or alcohol.
The design is then transferred to the plate in the ordinary manner
of transferring a design to a zine plate. but with an ink composed
of equal parts of lamp black. gum, and varnish. ground up together
on a marble slab. After the transfer of the design, the plate is
powdered with black lead or red chalk, to absorb any greasy matter
which remains. and to facilitate the disappearance of the design by
passing over it a sponge moistened with water after the completion
of the work of the designer. This transfer serves as a guide for all
the colours.
The design is then fixed on the plate, by passing over it an acidu-
lated preparation made in the following manner: Six parts by
weight of nut galls are boiled in one hundred parts of water, until
the hundred parts are reduced by evaporation to sixty parts. When
this solution has become cold. the following ingredients are added
videlicet, ten parts of saturated aqueous solution of gum traga-
canth. ien parts of nitric acid, fifteen parts of saturated aqueous
solution of alum, and five parts of hydrochloric acid. The whole is
-

page_text: well mixed and spread upon the zine plate by means of a large
brush. This acidulated preparation fixes the design upon the zinc.
The plate is then inked and an impression taken in the ordinary
manner. Before taking a second impression. the plate is to be
washed over with a mixture of tragacanth gum water. with one
seventieth part of its weight of the acidulated preparation above
mentioned. This mixture is to be kept in a vessel immersed in ice
or otherwise cooled. so that its temperature may be kept down to
that of the freezing point of water. The plate is allowed to dry
after the application of the gum water, and its drying may be acce-
lerated by fanning it with a fan.
The cloth to be printed is dry, and the impression is taken dry.
The ink or colour is an oil colour, of the nature of printing ink:
water colour must not be employed. Several plates are employed
for printing the several colours. which are caused to fall into their
proper places by means of the system of pointing apparatus attached
In the press which employ for printing. and which is herein-after
described.
When it is required to give greater transparency to the cloth. it is
prepared before being printed by a solution of gum tragacanth.
which gives it stiffness and transparency. After the printing is com-
pleted, the cloth is covered with a thin coat of a solution of caout-
chote in turpentine. on the opposite side to that which has received
the impression.
The press which employ for printing window blinds, curtains,
and similar articles. is shown in the accompanying Drawing. It may
be made fifteen or twenty feet long, and seven feet wide, with a zinc
plate six feet long and four or five feet wide. more or less. according
to the size of the articles to be printed.
Figure 1, is a perspective view of the press; Figure 2. is a side
view and Figure 3, is a plan of the metal plate. showing the point-
ing apparatus attached to it. The same letters refer to similar parts
in each figure. A is the framing which carries the table a, which
slides upon it. The table a, is drawn forward by means of a band
or chain, one end of which is attached to the table, while the other

page_text: end is attached to a drum or pulley B. on the spindle C. This
spindle is turned by means of the hand wheel D; the table a, is
drawn back by a cord passing over a pulley. and attached to the
weight E. b, is a flat piece of dry hard wood, which is laid upon
the table a, and which carries the zinc plate d. which is fixed upon
it by the cars or projections c, c. F, is a light frame. hinged to
the table a. A sheet or skin of leather is stretched upon this
frame, as in the ordinary lithographic press, and a number of sheets
of paper are attached to it to form an elastic cushion. G. is a bar
or rubber. hinged to one side of the framing, and having a pin or
stud at its end. which enters an aperture in the piece H, on the
other side of the framing. I is a lever, by depressing which the
rubber G, is pressed down. The lever 1. is raised by a lever J. with
a balance weight K. and it is depressed by means of the pedal L. and
Connecting rod M. The plate D, has a small line marked upon it
at each of the places marked g, and opposite to each of these marks
is fixed a piece of wood or metal . carrying a point. The pieces h,
are fixed by means of the plates i, and screws j.
The plate having been prepared and inked. the blind or hanging
or other article to be printed is laid carefully upon it. The frame
F, is then brought down upon it, and the bar or rubber G, is brought
down upon the leather of the frame F, and the end of the bar is
passed into the aperture in the piece H. The pedal L. is now
brought down. and it is kept down, while the workman turns the
wheel D, and draws the table a. under the rubber G. The pedal is
then allowed to rise, and the rubber G, is lifted up, and the wheel
D, is turned in the opposite direction. The table is then drawn
back by the weight E, the cord from which passes over a pulley and
is attached to the table. The frame F, is thrown back, and the
blind is lifted off the plate. It has now received the impression of
one colour, and it is perforated by the pins : the other colours are
printed in a similar manuer, taking care to adjust the plates so that
their marks g, correspond with the pins . and also taking care to
lay the blind or other article upon the plate so that the perforations
made in printing the first impression may drop on the pins f. In

page_text: this way the colours are all printed in their proper places or in
register.
After the blind or other article has been printed, it may be var-
nished with a solution of caoutchouc, dissolved in vil of turpentine
or other suitable solvent.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
what claim is,
Firstly, the mode or modes herein-before described of manufac-
turing window blinds, curtains, and hangings by printing them with
oil colors in manner herein-before described.
Secondly, the mode or modes herein-before described of manu-
facturing window blinds, curtains, and hangings by printing them
with oil colours upon cloth previously rendered transparent in
manner herein-before described.
Thirdly, the mode or modes herein-before
modes herein-before described of man-
facturing window blinds, curtains and hangings by printing them
with oil colours, and varnishing them with a solution of, caoutchouc
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Philippe D'Homme, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
PIE D'HOMME. (L.S.)
Witness,
CHARLES ARMENGAUDE,
No. 6, Rue Filles du Calvaire, a Paris.