IMPROVEMENTS IN MOULDS USED IN STEREOTYPING, AND IN APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
" IMPROVEMENTS IN MOULDS USED IN STEREOTYPING, AND IN APPARATUS FOR
PRODUCING THE SAME. "A communication from abroad by Hippolyte
Auguste Marinoni, Machinist, of 13, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris.
Sealed the 23rd August 1870, and dated the 17th March 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville
.
Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 17th March 1870.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOULDS USED IN STEREOTYPING, AND
C.11

page_text: of any suitable fabric in the manufacture of the moulds used for taking
the imprint from the type.
Secondly. In the employment of an hydraulic screw or other press for
producing a uniform pressure over the whole surface of the "form."
And thirdly. In the application of a frame for securing the combined
paper fabric in position.
The above improvements form a substitute for the ordinary means
hitherto employed in this manufacture in which either a brush operated
by hand or mechanically, or rollers are employed. The means hitherto
employed in the manufacture of the paper moulds have the following
objections, viz. :— -The damage by tearing to which the mould is liable,
owing to its being composed entirely of paper; the excessive labor
required, and the imperfect results obtained in consequence of the
irregularity and insufficiency of the brushing operation, which fails to
ensure a perfect impression being obtained from the type.
By the adoption of the improvements of this Invention I am enabled
to produce moulds of the desired firmness and regularity in a simple and
certain manner, and divested of all the objections above cited.
As already mentioned I, 1st, employ a material composed of paper,
and woven fabric, for example, I may employ a cotton fabric combined
with five or more thicknesses of paper. 2ndly, by the aid of a press
I
obtain a uniform pressure simultaneously applied over the whole surface
of the "form," with the object of producing moulds to be used in
stereotyping. 3rdly, by the application of a frame to prevent the
material from rising when brought in contact with the heated "form."
The mode hitherto adopted for taking imprints of the type is as
follows:-
:
The "form" being set up, the paper is then placed thereon and a
brush applied to its surface by hand, so as to take an imprint of the
type, the furniture in the blanks is then covered with one or more sheets
of paper. The whole is next placed in a press and allowed to remain
until perfectly dried and hardened.

page_text: In the annexed Drawing I have represented a machine for producing
moulds from type arranged according to this Invention. Figure 1
shows a longitudinal elevation of the machine, and Figure 2 a plan
of the same. A, metal table or slab, on which the "form" is placed; B,
hydraulic or other press of any suitable arrangement; C, pumps; D, D,
screw drying presses; E, frame in which the sheet F is placed.
The "form" being first placed on table A, I next apply thereon a
sheet composed of paper and woven or other fabric; I then apply on
the sheet a frame E of copper, corresponding in form to the " chase,"
whereby the sheet F is firmly held at its edges, so as to prevent the
creasing to which it is liable when simply placed on the "form,"
without being secured by a frame as represented in section on an
enlarged scale in Figure 3. The sheet being thus placed on the "form"
and secured by the frame, I then bring the latter on to the table of the
hydraulic press, and put the pumps in action so as to produce the pres-
sure desired, which is regulated by a suitable guage. The pressure is
maintained a sufficient time to obtain a good imprint, after which I
return the "form" to table A in order to place the "furniture" in the
blanks, and I then paste one or more sheets of paper on the imprint
to protect said "furniture." This being done I place the "form"
and imprint in one of the screw presses D, having previously covered the
mould with some thick fabric as a protection for the same, and I then
subject the whole to great pressure in press D. These presses D are heated
by gas or otherwise for the purpose of drying the paper mould, after
which it is ready for immediate use. I prefer to have two screw presses
D in the same machine to accelerate the production and enable several
imprints to be finished in a short space of time as required in printing
newspapers and other publications.
It will be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise
arrangement of apparatus illustrated in the Drawing, as such may be
varied. By the employment of moulds composed of paper and woven
or other fabric, together with a press and frame as described, I am
enabled as before mentioned to save labor, irregularity in the impression,
and all creasing or tearing of the said moulds.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th September 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark, Her special
licence that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander
Melville Clark, 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, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOULDS USED IN STEREOTYPING, AND IN APPA-
RATUS FOR PRODUCING THE SAME," a communication to me from abroad by
Hippolyte Auguste Marinoni, Machinist, of 13, Boulevart St. Martin,
Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander
Melville Clark, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti-
cularly 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 Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said. Alexander Melville Clark, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and, ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
two Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):—
!. . .

page_text: the moulds used in stereotyping for taking the imprint from the type
are formed of one or more thicknesses of woven or other suitable tissue.
Secondly. In producing said moulds by means of pressure applied
uniformly over the whole surface of the "form," which improvement
forms a substitute for the ordinary means hitherto employed in this
manufacture, in which either a brush operated by hand or mechanically
or rollers are employed for taking the imprint from the type.
Thirdly. In the application of a frame for securing the material to
form the mould in position when applying the pressure.
The means hitherto employed in the manufacture of the paper moulds
have the following objections, viz. :-The damage by tearing to which,
the mould is liable owing to its being composed entirely of paper;
the excessive labor required, and the imperfect results obtained in
consequence of the irregular action of the brush, which fails to ensure a
perfect impression from the type.
By the adoption of the improvements of this Invention I am enabled
to produce moulds of the desired firmness and regularity in a simple
and certain manner, and free from all the objections above cited.
As already mentioned I, 1st, employ a material composed of paper and
woven or other tissue, for example, I may employ a cotton fabric
combined with five or more thicknesses of paper. 2ndly, by the aid
of a press I obtain a uniform pressure simultaneously applied over the
whole surface of the "form," with the object of producing moulds to be
used in stereotyping. 3rdly, by the application of a frame I prevent the
material from rising when brought in contact with the heated "form."
The mode hitherto adopted for taking imprints of the type is as
follows:-
The "form" being set up the paper is then placed thereon and a brush
applied by percussion to its surface by hand, so as to take an imprint
of the type, the furniture in the blanks is then covered with one or
more sheets of paper; the whole is next placed in a press and allowed
to remain until perfectly dried and hardened.
In the annexed Drawings I have represented a machine for producing
moulds from type according to this Invention; Figure 1 shows a longi-
tudinal clevation of the machine, and Figure 2 a plan of the same.
A, metal table or slab, on which the "form" is placed; B, hydraulic or

page_text: .
,,
. The "form" being first placed on table A, I next apply thereon a
sheet composed of paper and woven or other tissue; I then apply on the
sheet a frame E of copper, corresponding in form to the "chase,"
whereby the sheet F is firmly held at its edges, so as to prevent the
creasing to which it is liable when simply placed on the "form
without being secured by a frame, as represented in section on an
enlarged scale in Figure 3. The sheet being thus placed on the
"form" and secured by the frame, I then bring the latter on to the
table of the hydraulic press and put the pumps in action, so as to pro-
duce the pressure desired, which is regulated by a suitable guage. The
pressure is maintained a sufficient time to obtain a good imprint, after
which I return the "form" to table A in order to place the "furniture"
in the blanks, and I then paste one or more sheets of paper on the
imprint to protect said "furniture." This being done I place the "form"
and imprint in one of the screw presses D, having previously covered the
mould with some thick fabric as a protection for the same, and I then
subject the whole to great pressure in press D. These presses D are
heated by gas or otherwise for the purpose of drying the paper mould,
after which it is ready for immediate use. I prefer to have two screw
presses D in the same machine to accelerate the production and enable
several imprints to be finished in a short space of time as required in
printing newspapers and other publications.
It will be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise
arrangement of apparatus illustrated in the Drawings, as such may be
varied. By the employment of moulds composed of paper and woven
or other tissue, together with a press and frame as described, I am
enabled as before mentioned to save labor, irregularity in the impression,
and all creasing or tearing of the said moulds.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to
be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. Forming the moulds used in stereotyping of paper and woven a
or other tissue, as herein-before described and for the purpose specified.

page_text: 2ndly. Producing said moulds by a uniform pressure applied over the
whole surface of the "form" by the aid of apparatus as herein-before
described and illustrated in the Drawings.
3rdly. I claim the frame for retaining the edges of the mould and
preventing its bulging and creasing when brought in contact with the
heated form as herein-before shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
Witness,
W*. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)