IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANufacture OF PAPER-HANGINGS, AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Amable Cyprien Thibault, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, Painter, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANufacture
OF PAPER-HANGINGS, AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Amable Cyprien Thibault
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th April 1858.
I, AMABLE CYPRIEN THIBAULT, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Painter,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER-HANGINGS, AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED
THEREIN," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to forming surfaces for printing paper-hangings
by means of thin surfaces or veneers of wood, & taking advantage of the
natural structure of the fibres of the wood for forming the hollows and reliefs of
the printing surface, these thin substances being coated with the colouring
matter intended to supply the colour. The woods most suitable for this purpose
are those which are formed of compact parts, joined together by porous rugged
parts, giving by this formation two opposite effects; these woods comprise oak,
ash, and other woods. The wood cut into thin slices or veneers reproduces by
means of the colour the veins or porous intervals and the meshes or clear parts.
For the purpose of printing or producing the pattern of the wood, the veneers
are fixed to a bench, and submitted to the action of a sliding press passing
along their entire length, and carrying the colour for the printing and the

page_text: paper as indicated in the annexed Drawing, in which Fig. 1 represents a plan
of the lower part below the line B, C, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, front. elevation, parallel
to the bench; Fig. 3, plan of the upper part above the line B, C, Fig. 2;
Fig. 4, end elevation on the side parallel to the bench; Fig. 5, section through
the line H, I, Fig. 4; Figs. 6, 7, and 8, details of the said machine. In all
these Figures similar letters of reference indicate like parts where they recur.
1, hopper, furnished at the interior with india-rubber, carrying the colour
for printing by means of the veneers; 2, copper hinge, closing and opening the
hopper by means of the rocking lever 3; 4, copper rod, connecting the hinge
of the hopper with the rocking lever; 5, hinge movement of the contact part
6, for closing the hopper at the termination of each impression; 7, arms of the
roller that unwinds the paper; 8, spindle of this roller; 9, wheel, drawing the
paper through; 10, red line, showing the passage of the paper; 11, holding
cylinder, furnished with woollen stuff mounted on a moveable axis, free to rise
and fall in its bearings 12; this cylinder gives motion to the cloth 13, which is
mounted on it, and also on the conducting cylinders 14; 13, endless cloth
coated with wax; 15, clutches fixed to the slide box for the ascent and descent
of the holding cylinder, the pivots of which turn in the sliding bars of the
lower extremities of these clutches; 16, slide box of wood, having brackets 17,
for sustaining the pressing keys; 18, pressing keys, sliding together when
descending the slide box, they rest on their lower extremities, which are
terminated by plates of wood; 19, fly wheel mounted on a screw for raising or
lowering the slide box, pressing keys, and holding cylinder; 20, fixed cross
beam on which the screw of the fly wheel is mounted; 21, moveable cross
beam of the screw of the fly wheel, holding the connecting rods 22 of the slide
box; 23, copper scraper, with a projecting edge, mounted on a hinge for
receiving and communicating the weight of the pressing keys through the
cloth; 24, hinge for sustaining the scraper; 25, parts extending the waxed
cloth; 26, frames of the machine; 27, wheels of the machine mounted on
iron turning axles; 28, rails; 29, supports of the rails; 30, printing plank;
31, frame of the bench.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Amable Cyprien Thibault in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th October 1858.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Amable Cyprien Thibault, Her special licence that I, the said
Amable Cyprien Thibault, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Amable Cyprien Thibault, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER-HANGINGS, AND
IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Amable Cyprien Thibault, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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 Amable Cyprien Thibault, 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 Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of, 1st, a new process of imitating wood on paper-
hangings, oilcloths, and other fabrics or materials; 2nd, of a sliding printing
machine for the manufacture of the printed papers, which machine is also
applicable for printing from surfaces in relief, or of a reverse character.
For imitating wood in printing, I make use of thin sheets of wood, which
are smoothed and polished to obliterate the marks of the saw. After such
preparation I dip them in a bath of water or liquid fat, to render them
pliant, and, according as I wish to produce impressions, in water or in oil;
I then stretch them on a slab of marble previously coated with paste or
oil, according to the purpose intended; I then roll the carriage over. the
surface after bringing down the pressing cylinder, which, passing in contact
with the sheets of veneer, causes them to adhere in all parts to the table.
These sheets of veneer thus prepared serve immediately as the impressing
surfaces; the veins and the pores of the wood, by the pressure of plates,
reproduce themselves on the paper or the fabric receiving the impression.

page_text: For wood too tender to resist the pressure of the carriage after cutting it into
veneers, I take casts thereof by means of galvanoplasty, or by the aid of any
other known process, and I make use of these copper or other casts as the
printing surfaces, which are exact counterparts of the wood, and I can further
ornament these casts by engraving, so as to produce imitations of panels or
'ornaments.
For imitating inlaid flooring or marqueterie, I arrange the blocks or parts
in thin pieces or veneers on the marble slab, to which I cause them to adhere;
and I also reproduce them by means of galvanoplasty, to form an impressing
or printing surface, as before mentioned.
The machine which serves for the impressing or printing on paper or fabrics
is represented in the annexed Drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows an elevation
of the whole apparatus; Fig. 2 shows a transverse vertical section on line
A, B, Fig. 1, while Fig. 3 shows a sectional plan of the same apparatus on lines
C, D, and with the table or slab used in the operation. The same letters of
reference indicate like parts where they recur in all the Figures. a, framework
of the machine, of cast iron, of the necessary form; b, wheels of the apparatus,
four in number, of different forms, coupled together; they serve to guide the
apparatus the length of the table in the horizontal motion which is imparted
to it by hand; c, rails placed on each side of the table, which serve as guides
for the apparatus, so that it may always move parallel to the length of the
table; d, table or slab of stone; it is covered with the veneering which it is
wished to reproduce on the paper or fabric; e, roller carrying the paper to be
printed or impressed placed in front of the machine, and supported by two
arms, which are cast in one with the frame a; f, stretching roller bearing on
the carrying rollere of the paper, for the purpose of keeping the paper con-
stantly stretched; at the termination of the operation it is held up in the air
by means of a hook fixed at the other extremity of its lever support; ġ, plates
of cast iron fixed on the frame, serving to guide the paper during the passage
of roller e to table d; h, endless cloth placed on rollers mounted in bearings
I on the framework, which passes in close proximity to the table; i, suspension
rollers of the cloth h, one of which by bearing on the table receives rotatory
motion by the movement of the apparatus, and communicates this movement
to the cloth; another of these rollers 1 is moveable on its support, and which
can recede from the others when required, serving to stretch the cloth, and
which at the end of some operations is released; j, tension roller of the cloth,
it serves during the operation to tighten the cloth as much as necessary, it
oscillates by its supporting levers on a fixed point in the framework, and may
be held in the air by means of a hook placed at the other extremity thereof;

page_text: k, k, plates, to the number of thirty or more, if required, and weighing about
eleven pounds each, placed in the direction of motion of the machine; they
serve as detached weights to bear on the paper at any required point; these
plates are pivoted on a shaft which holds them in such manner that they may
rise separately if an obstacle presents itself; each of their lower extremities
is terminated by a small thin strip of brass. 1, carrying shaft of the plates k;
m, screw placed at the upper part of the machine; it traverses a fixed part of
the frame m', forming a nut; n; fly wheel placed on the screw m, and serving
to turn it o, moveable cross bar sliding in guides fixed to the framework; it
has a screw socket or nut at its middle to receive the screw m; p, p, rods
connecting the shaft 1 (carrying the plates) with the moveable cross bar o ;
9, scraper, of leather or other supple material, with a projecting edge, which is
placed under the plates k, and transmits their weight to the paper. The
movement of the plates is so arranged that they only act on the scraper q by
their own weight; they are brought down on. the scraper by the aid of the
screw m, and having reached the scraper, the shaft is free to descend in slots
cut downwards nearly their whole length, in this way the weight of the plates
only acts on the paper, and the pressure produced by the screw does not take
effect thereon in any way; the scraper q may also be fixed to an arm of iron
connected to one of the rods p, so that it may be raised at the same time as the
plates k. A, plate of copper, serving on the upper side to conduct the paper,
and on the lower, to prevent the said paper receiving too large a quantity of
color in front of the scraper q; r; hopper, placed in front of the machine, which
is filled with color to be distributed during the passage of the paper; s, stop,
placed on the rails; it serves to open the hopper at the moment of starting;
a similar stop, but arranged to act in a contrary manner, is placed at the other
end of the rails, which serves for closing the hopper at the termination of the
course of the machine. t, brushes fixed behind the hopper for spreading the
.color uniformly on the table; u, brushing roller placed in front of the
machine, serving to fill the pores of the printing surface; v, connecting rods
and gearing wheels for transmitting the movement of the shaft in front of the
machine to the brushing roller u; a, rod attached to the shaft l, serving to raise
the principal roller from the cloth, and consequently to stop the movement of
the paper; y, rods, serving to raise the hopper r and brushes t, to prevent
them coming in contact with the table, they are also fixed to shaft 1.
The movement of the machine is easy to be understood. Before setting the
apparatus in motion the paper is drawn by hand after having passed through
bars and under the scraper q, it is then fixed at the extremity of the table, the
plates are lowered on to the rake or scraper, and bear upon the paper with

page_text: all their weight, at this monient an attendant placed behind the machine
pushes it on the rails, at which time the hopper opens by means of stop s, the
paper is set in motion, and also the cloth by means of roller ³, which rolls on
the table.
It will be easily understood that the weight placed on the paper, which is
represented by the plates r arranged throughout the width of the table, divides
the pressure on thirty or more parts, the plates being independant of each
other, and capable of being removed singly without removing the remainder;
any inequalities presented by the table will be obviated by the use of these
plates, and the printing or impressing will be effected in the same manner as
if working with a perfectly smooth surface.
.
For printing from types in relief, the hopper is replaced by inking cylinders
or rollers, and the rake or scraper by a pressing roller.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention, to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
1st, the process of printing or impressing paper-bangings or fabrics by
employing wood blocks formed of sheets of wood, by which the veins, knots,
or other natural formation of the wood is represented.
2ndly, the above described process of printing or impressing papers or
fabrics by means of veneers glued or otherwise secured to fixed tables of stone
or marble, &c.
3rdly, the above described process of printing or impressing paper or fabrics
by means of galvanoplastic or other similar casts or representations obtained
by moulds of the natural objects themselves, of which it is wished to reproduce
the image by impression or printing.
4thly, printing or impressing in relief by means of type, as herein-before
described.
5thly, the sliding carriage used in effecting the said printing or impressing,
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Amable Cyprien Thibault, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
•
A. C. THIBAULT. (L.S.)