AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PRINTING SURFACES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Colville, of Red Lion Court, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Printer and Publisher, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PRINTING
SURFACES."
Sealed the 9th November 1869, and dated the 9th September 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Colville at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th September 1869.
I, DAVID COLVILLE, of Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Printer and Publisher, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PRINTING
SUBFACES," to be as follows:-
My Invention of "An Improved Mode of and Apparatus for Pro-
ducing Printing Surfaces," has for its object more particularly to
facilitate the printing of music, but is also applicable for printing other
works, such as maps or plans. To this end I first produce in some
plastic composition, such as wax or a compound of gutta percha and
beeswax, with the addition of a little rosin, a mould such as is required

page_text: for electrotyping or stereotyping, and from this mould I obtain an
electrotype copy in the ordinary way, which when properly mounted may
be printed from in a common printing press.
In carrying out my Invention the wax or other plastic substance or
composition to form the mould is spread evenly over the surface of a
metal plate, which is then to be mounted vertically in a frame arranged
to be moved up and down in vertical guides by means of a lever or a
rack and pinion motion or other suitable mechanical device. A lever
with an adjustable stop motion is adapted to the side of the machine
for the purpose of raising and lowering the wax or mould plate the
extent of a line or space of music at a time. Another lever or treadle
may be made by means of the rack and pinion to move the wax plate to
the extent of a stave of music. The notes, marks, letters, and signs
used in music are made in the wax or other plastic surface by means of
a suitable punch or tool mounted in a moveable holder, which is capable
of being moved laterally along a guide or rack bar in front of the wax
or composition in a line level with the stave on which the notes are
to be marked. The lines of the stave should be marked or impressed
on the wax before any of the notes, signs, or other marks are marked
thereon. The guide which carries the holder of the punch or impressing
tool is secured to the upper end of a vibrating frame or platten, which
is capable of being rocked on its pivots so as to admit of moving forward
the holder with its guide in order to bring the punch or impressing tool
against the face of the wax or plastic composition. The guide or the
platten or frame to which it is secured is provided with set screws, which
when it is moved forward will come against fixed stops and thus cause
the punches at all times to enter the wax or plastic composition to an
uniform depth. The stave consisting of the five lines may be produced
by five "column rules" properly spaced out and secured in the punch
holder, which may be brought forward against the wax or other com-
position plate so as to make the impression of the lines thereon, or the
lines may be ruled thereon with a roller or other suitable tool. The
signature and marks for the "clef" may then be marked, then all the
crochets (for instance) are marked on the wax, then all the quavers or
other notes of the same kind are in succession impressed on the wax.
When words accompany the music they are first set up in the ordinary
way and are properly spaced out to correspond to the music. The line
of types is then placed in the holder, when it may be brought against
the wax or other composition so as to make the requisite impression

page_text: thercon. If the line of words is repeated, as in part music, the same
line of types will suffice for three, four, or more lines, the wax plate
being moved up in its guides in order to bring the proper places in
succession opposite to the lines of type. Punches with the requisite
characters or signs may be made expressly for my improved apparatus,
but I have found that ordinary music types may be assembled together
and made to form the proper punches.
I would also remark that instead of making an intaglio mould in a
plastic substance or composition the punches may be made to make
marks or impressions with printers' ink on a sheet of transfer or other
paper, from which the impression may be transferred by any well-known
means to a metal or other surface, from which impressions may be taken
by means of a printing press.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said David Colville in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 9th March 1870..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
COLVILLE, of Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, in the City of London,
Printer and Publisher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said David Colville, Her special licence that I, the
said David Colville, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said David Colville, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, usc, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRO-
DUCING PRINTING SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said David Colville, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals,

page_text: should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said David Colville, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say)
My Invention of an improved mode of and apparatus for producing
printing surfaces, has for its object more particularly to facilitate the
printing of music, but is also applicable for printing other works, such as
maps or plans. To this end I first produce in some plastic composition
(such as wax or a compound of gutta percha and beeswax, with the
addition of a little rosin) a moulding surface such as is required for
electrotyping or stereotyping, and on this soft surface I impress by means
of suitable tools the lines, notes, words, marks, and devices which are
required to be reproduced to form the printing surface.
From a
mould thus formed I obtain an electrotype copy in the ordinary way,
which when properly mounted may be printed from in a common
printing press, the same as if the printing surface has been produced by
setting up typographical characters. In the ordinary method of
printing music from typographical characters the notes and other
musical signs and also the lines forming the stave and bars are set up
in type, and the form is then printed from in the usual manner in an
ordinary printing press. Or an electro or stereo cast may be taken
from it and this stereotype plate may be printed from. The setting up
of type involves considerable skill and the use of a great multiplicity of
pieces which are to be grouped together so as to form the desired
characters,
In my process several ordinary types may be permanently joined
or cemented together so as to form one piece or group of notes or signs,
or punches may be cut for the purpose. When these punches or tools
are prepared they are to be mounted in suitable holders, so that the notes
are to be punched either singly or in groups into the plastic substance
above mentioned, the stave being previously ruled in by means of a

page_text: roller or wheel, as will be hereafter more particularly described. Or the
stave may be produced from the impression of a solid metal stave, or one
composed of brass rules, or of type, the tools to produce the stave being
mounted in a suitable holder, as will be presently described. I however
prefer to use a small roller for ruling the five lines of the staves simul-
taneously. This roller is mounted in a holder and travelling carriage, so
that it may be drawn over the surface of the plastic composition and
caused to mark the stave thereon. The notes and words are then im-
pressed on the stave, as will be hereafter explained. When the wax or
composition mould has thus been prepared by the use of the punches and
tools above mentioned the "mould" may be handed to the electro-
typer, who will produce a plate from it which may be printed from in the
usual way.
This mode of producing printing surfaces therefore saves
the labor of setting up the portions of the stave between the notes, and
as the mould produced will be a facsimile of the page to be printed the
operator can read the impression as easily as he can a page of printed
music. Further as the grouping of the types is only necessary at the
outset that department can be performed once for all by a skilled com-
positor, after which the operation of securing the punching or impression
tools in the holders and punching in the notes on the plastic surface
can be easily done by young people.
The mode of operation will be best understood by referring to the
accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 1, Sheet I., is a front elevation
of the machine; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same.
The composition in which the mould is to be taken (say wax as used by
the clectrotyper) is cast perfectly level on a metal plate a, which is then
mounted in a frame or chase b, and the whole is suspended in the press
between vertical guides c, c, which permit the mould to slide easily up
and down without however admitting of any motion sideways. The face
of the mould or plastic composition is of course opposite the operator,
but it is removed in Fig. 1 in order that the parts behind may be more
clearly seen. The chase b, with the mould affixed thereto, is raised by
means of a rope or cord d, which passes round an axle d', at the end of
which is a hand wheel d³ whereby the axle is turned for the purpose of
raising or lowering the chase and mould. The cord d passes over a pulley ď²
at the upper part of the press, and is hooked on or otherwise attached to the
upper end of the chase b, as seen in Fig. 1. The weight of the mould and

page_text: fittings is sufficient to lower it, but for additional security the cord after
passing a turn or two round the axle d' is carried down to the bottom
of the press and passed under another pulley, and is attached to the
lower end of the chase, as seen best in Fig. 2. By means of this vertical
motion of the mould plate a the vertical position of the staves and of
the notes, characters, and words to be impressed thereon is determined
so that a correct mould may be formed. The horizontal position of the
notes along the stave is determined by arranging the punching tool in a
holder, which is made to travel horizontally along guides e, e, in the
platten at the front of the machine and in front of the mould. It will
now be understood that the chase with the mould plate is capable of
being moved up and down in its guides behind the punching tool, and
the latter is capable of being moved horizontally along its guides e, e, in
front of the mould plate, so that by these motions combined I am enabled
to operate upon any part of the composition surface of the mould plate.
A detent hook or pawl fattached to the upper end of the chase 6 catches
in a stationary rack g, the teeth in which are placed at intervals corre-
sponding to the intended distance between the staves in the page of
music to be produced. By this means the mould may be suspended
in the various positions required as regards the staves. In order to lower
the chase b and the mould plate after they have been raised up the
rack g (in the manner explained) it will be necessary to release the pawl
or click from the rack. This is effected by lifting up the finger lever j
on the axle ¹, which carries also the lever, which is attached by its
other end to a rod. By lifting up the finger lever j and the lever
the vertical rod will be thrust outwards, and will push the click or
pawl out of the rack 9 and allow the chase and mould plate to descend.
In order to adjust the mould plate for each separate line of the stave a
lever or regulator h (by means of a rack and pinion h', h¹,) raises or lowers
the rack g previously mentioned, and with it the chase 6 and mould
plate a, and thus determines the position of the note or other mark to
be made upon, above, or below the lines of the stave. The lever h is set
to the required position by catching in pins i, i, which are arranged in a
segment of a circle on a plate at the side of the machine. These pins
correspond to the lines and spaces of the stave, and the leger lines and
spaces above and below. A paper index representing on a large scale
the lines and spaces of the stave may be used as a guide for the operator
to place the regulator or index h, and by setting the regulator h to any

page_text: pin i corresponding to a given line or space a corresponding mark can be
made in the mould by means of the punch in the holder hereafter
described, and shewn at Figures 3 and 4, Sheet II. of the Drawings.
As regards the horizontal motion of the punching or impressing tool
the latter is placed in a holder (shewn in end elevation at Fig. 3, and in
front elevation at Fig. 4,) which can be moved along the horizontal
guides e, e, Figures 1 and 2, of the platten in front of the press. It is
moved along the guides e by the hand of the operator, and is held in
position by a pawl or click which works in a horizontal rack placed
underneath and between the guides e, e. Dots or other marks made to
scale on a piece of paper and placed underneath the type holder will
guide the operator to the proper tooth to be used for each note. It is
more convenient when the teeth of this rack (which I shall term the
horizontal or punching rack) correspond to the "ems" in the fount of
music type being used, but this is not indispensible, all that is necessary
being that the marks on the paper scale should correspond to the teeth
of the punching rack. The impressions are made in the wax compo-
sition on the mould plate in the following manner-The chase 6 which
carries the mould plate a rests firmly against the bed of the press, and is
practically a fixture while the impressions are being made by the
punching tool, although it is capable of being moved when required.
The holders for the punching tool or for the roller which makes the
stave or for the line of words (as the case may be) is mounted on the
guides e, e, of the frame or plattern k, which works horizontally back-
wards and forwards on guides in the side frames of the machine, for which
purpose it is hung on pins or screws, which work in grooves at the sides
of the press. The frame or platten k with the punch holder is moved to
and fro by a bell-crank lever connected by a link to a treadle lever ¹ below.
The forward motion of the frame k with the holder mounted on the
guides e, e, brings the punching tool in contact with the composition
surface of the moulded plate and makes the desired impression. The return
motion is effected by two springs . Metal stops to regulate the im-
pression of the punching tool may be adapted to the face of the platten k,
as shewn in the enlarged views in Sheet II., or these stops may be adapted
to the bed of the press, and they serve to regulate the impression of the
punching tool, and cause it to enter to an uniform depth into the com-
position of the mould. It will be seen on referring to the Figures in
Sheet II. that those stops consist of set screws y, y, screwed into the

page_text: metal and are adjustable to any required extent. On the face of the
frame or platten k is a pair of flat springs, which are carried forward
along with it and press on the sides of the chase so as to hold the mould
firmly against the bed of the press while it is receiving the impression.
On the frame k going back the chase and mould plate a will be
released from the pressure of the springs and may be raised or lowered
as may be required. The holders for holding the punching or impress-
ing tools, and also the rollers for marking the staves and bars are shewn
in Sheet II. in which Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the holder or carriage
for the punching tool for the notes; Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the
same; and Fig. 5, a plan view. The type holder consists of a clamp o,
which holds the punch p in a proper position for making the impression
when the platten is carried forward to bring the punch against the wax
mould. The clamp is made in the form of a lever o, which is acted
upon by a spring q to hold the punch p in its place, but will permit it
to be inserted and withdrawn from the holder with facility. The lever o
has for its fulcrum the teeth of a rack r, which admits of a larger or
smaller punch being placed therein as may be required. The rack r
may be moved by means of the screws & so as to tighten the grasp of the
clamp o on the punch p. In order to prevent the punch from wearing
by rubbing against the platten a piece of thin metal is attached, against
which the bottom of the punch is placed and which rests in the platten.
The height of the punch and the thickness of this metal together form the
standard of depth to which all the impressing tools are regulated, and
a piece of metal of the same thickness goes on the back of the moulding
sticks used for the words. The holder travels in the horizontal guides
e, e, of the platten and is adjustable vertically to a nicety by means of
screws t, t, which serve as feet for it. It is found convenient in practice
to keep the surface of the punch wet so that the wax will not stick to
it. This is done by means of the damping pad u which is attached to
the end of a lever mounted on a pin, as shewn at Figures 3, 4, and 5.
The words, headings, and other marks or signs may be secured in another
holder of suitable form, and are impressed a line at a time (or two or
more lines if they go between the staves). These holders may be called
"moulding sticks," and consist of pieces of wood or metal a little
narrower than the height of the type and of uniform thickness. They
have an abutment or raised part at one end, and a small screw is used to
tighten and hold them securely in the stick. They are placed on the

page_text: guides e, e, in front of the platten, and are impressed in the same way as
the notes by moving forward the platten. In choral music it frequently
occurs that the words under each stave are alike; in this case one line of
words will serve for three, four, or more lines of music, thus avoiding
composing the line more than once; also in cases where the lines of
words differ only slightly, as by a portion being omitted, the same line
of words will serve, as the redundant words can be easily stopped out
from the mould by covering them with melted wax. In cases also
where the lines of words differ only by a word or two one line can be
made to serve by impressing the additional word separately, but this
of course would only be done when it effects a decided saving of time.
The lines of the stave may be impressed on the moulding surface either
before or after the notes are impressed thereon. It has been already
said that they may be impressed in various ways, but at Figures 6 and 7
I have shewn in plan and êlevation a convenient device for marking the
stave on the soft moulding surface. This device consists simply of a
roller formed of five thin discs arranged at proper distances apart to
form the lines and spaces of the stave. This roller is mounted vertically
between two adjusting screws w, w, whereby its position may be adjusted
to a nicety. The roller and screws are mounted in a carriage & con-
structed like the holder carriage for the punching tool, as shewn at
Figures 3, 4, and 5, and rest in the guides e, e, of the platten, which
when the roller is to be brought into use is moved forward as is done for
the punching tool, so as to bring the roller against the wax surface of the
mould a, as indicated by dots in Figure 6. y, y, are screw stops adapted to
the front part of the moveable platten for the purpose of regulating the
depth to which the punching, impressing, and marking tools are allowed
to penetrate the wax. It is omitted in Figures 1 and 2 in order to avoid
unnecessary complexity in the Drawing, the Figures in which are drawn
to a small scale, whereas all the Figures in that II, are drawn on a
large scale.
The most suitable moulding substance to be used for the purposes of
my Invention is wax, and as is now used by electrotypers for taking
impressions. During the process of working the wax requires to be
kept at the temperature best fitted for moulding, and for this purpose

page_text: the plate and of any convenient depth. It is closed on all sides except
the bottom, which is open to receive hot air from a jet of gas placed under-
neath. A tin plate of similar size to the box is placed inside and resting
at its lower edge on catches placed at the mouth of the box, and curves
upwards towards the side of the box next the plate, so as to send a
greater part of the heat to that side. Holes in the lower part of the
same side permit the hot air to escape along the surface of the mould.
The gas flame is adjusted to produce a sufficient amount of heat, which
is further regulated by the box being made so as to be capable of being
brought nearer to or further from the mould. An additional gas burner
is employed when it is wished to raise the heat quickly without altering
the adjustment of the ordinary burner, the latter being kept at one
position subject only to alterations in the weather.
Having now described my Invention of an improved model of an
apparatus for producing printing surfaces, and having explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,-
First. The mode herein set forth of obtaining moulds for producing
printing surfaces.
Second. I claim the general arrangement and construction of appa-
ratus herein shewn and described, or any mere modification thereof,
whereby the notes, signs, words, lines, and other marks or devices are
impressed on the soft wax or composition of which the mould is com-
posed.
Third. I claim mounting the mould plate with the composition surface
thereon in such a manner that the punching or other impressing tool
(which is capable of being moved forward so as to make an impression
on the wax or other composition) may be moved along the lines of the
stave or across or over the surface of the plate so as to make the impres-
sions at the proper parts of the stave or plate.
Fourth. I claim the means shewn and described, or any mere modi-
fication thereof, for forming the staves and rules.
Fifth. I claim the use of the regulator or index for adjusting the
position of the mould plate so as to cause the latter to receive the im-

page_text: pression from the punching or impressing tool in the desired line or
space.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Colville, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
DAVID COLVILLE. (L.S.)