A New Paste, Adaptable for the Manufacture of Type and of Typographic Plates and Matrices, Designed as a Substitute for Lithographic Stones, and Process for the Preparation and Use of this New Paste.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Dec., 1896-Accepted, 27th Feb., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by CHARLES DELAZE, of 74 Rue Amelot, Paris, in
the Republic of France, Lithographer.]
A New Paste, Adaptable for the Manufacture of Type and of
Typographic Plates and Matrices, Designed as a Substitute
for Lithographic Stones, and Process for the Preparation and
Use of this New Paste.
I WILLIAM REED-LEWIS of No. 1 Army and Navy Mansions Victoria Street
in the City of Westminster 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 :-
The experiments and attempts hitherto made in order to replace type and
matrices plates or blocks as well as lithographic stones by material produced more
cheaply have not yielded satisfactory results. On the other hand it has not been
heretofore possible to produce lithographic cylinders notwithstanding all attempts
made in that direction. The invention which forms the subject matter of this appli-
cation for a patent has for its object to fill the gap and relates to the preparation
of a paste or composition which owing to its peculiar properties and its low cost of
production is destined to be advantageously applied to the manufacture of typographic
type and matrices and to replace lithographic stones for the latter purpose it may be
exclusively used for the manufacture of plates and cylinders produced by casting
or in any other suitable manner or it may be used as a coating or layer covering
metal plates or cylinders or plates and cylinders of wood or of any other suitable
substance or material.
The process for the preparation of this new paste is as follows:-
I use as a fundamental and integral part of the stone either in pieces or reduced
into sand known under the name of calcareous stone that is limestone which is
found in France in the vicinity of Vigan in Hungary (Austria) near Fünfkirchen
in Bavaria near Munich and which should have the following composition clearly
defined that is to say :-
Carbonate of lime
Oxide of iron -
Oxide of aluminium
Clien
E
96-39
0.13
0.90
1.09

page_text: Muriatic acid
the latter being diluted with an equal quantity of water.
3 litres
This mass is boiled for a few hours and when it is reduced to a pasty consistence
and is fairly compact it is poured into cold water and is filtered through fine
linen.
After repeated washings the paste is filtered anew in order to entirely free the
same from the grains that it may still contain, then it is dried in the open air for a
few days.
To apply this composition when sufficiently dry to the manufacture of type and
typographic plates or matrices it is soaked in a water bath to which an equal
quantity of silicate of potash @36° B. is added then it is cast to the required
shape. The paste is left in the moulds for about two hours when the casting is
carefully removed from the mould and the object cast type matrix &c. is subjected
to a temperature of from 35° to 45° or thereabouts preferably in a drying stove in
order to impart thereto the necessary degree of hardness and strength. At the
end of about ten hours the paste has acquired the hardness of stone and the type
and matrix formed.thereof are ready for printing purposes.
When the paste is required for lithographic purposes it is prepared in the
following manner 15 kilos. of the dried paste or thereabouts are diluted in 60 litres
of water to which about 250 grammes of silicate of potash @ 36° B. is added.
After the whole has been diligently stirred about 250 grammes of carbonate of
soda is added in order to neutralize any acid which the mass may still contain.
The paste thus diluted is then blown or caste through a pulverizer or other suitable
apparatus on to the plane surface which must be very even or on to the cylinder
destined to receive an impression.
I may use for pulverizing and for throwing or blowing the paste any suitable
apparatus but I prefer to use the casting pulverizer hereinafter described with
reference to the accompanying drawing annexed by way of example only. This
apparatus consists essentially of a paste receptacle A filled through the funnel b
and the inlet pipe c, the latter terminates slightly below the partition d which
divides the receptacle into two compartments a and a'. In the upper com-
partment a provided with the baffle plates e and e¹ terminates an air pipe/forming
a handle to which is fitted an india rubber tube g connected to a suitable blower or
fan. The air current supplied by this blower ascends along the pipe f passes
through the upper compartment a in the sense indicated by the arrows and exits
through the tryere or nozzle h. On its way up through the upper compartment
the air currents strike successively against the baffle plates e, e' the action of which
is to stop the dust or foreign matter carried away by the air these impurities fall
to the bottom of the compartment and cannot hence contaminate the paste
immediately in front of the outlet opening of the nozzle h ends the pipe i
through which the diluted paste is expelled when the apparatus is tilted forward as
it escapes from the nozzle h the air comes into contact with the outflowing paste
pulverizes the same and casts it upon the plate or cylinder required to be coated in
as uniform a layer as possible. This pasty layer is allowed to dry at a fairly high
temperature (about 100 to 150°) and is subsequently rendered even by the aid of a
sponge and of brushes suitably moistened with water. The paste is caste and made
even until it has the thickness required. The paste thus spread over adheres
tightly and the draughtsman or workman can work on the plate or cylinder thus
prepared under the same conditions as on lithographic stones. When the layer of
paste is worn out by the work and by rubbing it with pumice stone it is restored in
the manner described. I may vary the forms details accessories material and
dimensions of my casting and pulverizing apparatus without departing from the

page_text: nature of my invention. I may also form lithographic plates and cylinders with
the above paste exclusively by casting or otherwise as stated in the preamble of this
description.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A new paste of determined composition adaptable for the manufacture of type
or typographic plates blocks or matrices designed as a substitute for lithographic
stones by its application to the making of lithographic plates and cylinders by the
aid of a casting and pulverizing apparatus of suitable construction substantially as
herein described and shewn.
2. The particular process for preparing this new paste or composition substantially
as herein described and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 11th day of December 1896.
FREVILLE J. CHRISTOPHER,
43 Bedford Row, W.C., Agent for W. Reed-Lewis.