A NEW OR IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF ROLLERS OR CYLINDERS WITH PATTERNS OR DESIGNS THEREON FOR PRINTING FABRICS AND OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Schaub, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Electro-Metallurgist, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
MANUFACTURE OF ROLLERS OR CYLINDERS WITH PATTERNS OR DESIGNS THEREON
FOR PRINTING FABRICS AND OTHER MATERIALS."
'
Sealed the 12th March 1858, and dated the 21st September 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Schaub at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
September 1857.
H
I, GEORGE SCHAUB, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Electro-
Metallurgist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
OR IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF. ROLLERS OR CYLINDERS WITH PATTERNS OR 'DESIGNS
THEREON FOR PRINTING FABRICS. AND OTHER MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
.
My said Invention consists in producing rollers or cylinders for printing
fabrics and other materials, the said rollers or cylinders having designs on
them either sunken or in relief, and made by the process of electro-deposition..
In carrying my Invention into effect I take a cylinder of wood or other
material, and compose or build up upon the same a number of metallic pieces,
which said metallic pieces surround and enclose the solid inner cylinder of
wood. The said metallic pieces consist of sections of a hollow cylinder, the
said sections being so made that their common intersection is in the axis of

page_text: the cylinder. The said metallic pieces are made of type metal cast in moulds;
the said metallic pieces are so formed on their sides that they lock into one
another; the insides of the said metallic pieces or sections carry the pattern
or design, which said pattern or design is either sunken or in relief, as may be
determined on. The several metallic pieces or sections being fastened together
so as to form a hollow cylinder, the inner wooden cylinder or support is with-
drawn, and I deposit in the inside of the hollow metallic cylinder a thick layer
of copper.
When the deposit is sufficiently thick I separate the metallic
pieces or sections of which the hollow cylinder is formed, and thereby liberate
the hollow copper cylinder or tube having a pattern upon it, which was
deposited in the inside of the type metal hollow cylinder. The copper cylinder
or tube may be deposited of sufficient thickness for a printing roller, or it may
be deposited thin and strengthened or supported in any convenient manner to
fit it for use as a roller or cylinder for printing fabrics and other materials. I
sometimes construct the hollow cylinder of type metal, in which the copper
deposit is effected of small portions somewhat resembling, printing types,
excepting that two opposite sides of the body of each piece are pyramidal or
inclined to one another. When built up the said pieces form a hollow
cylinder, the small end of each piece carrying a pattern or portion of a design.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Schaub in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th
March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
SCHAUB, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Electro-Metallurgist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred-and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me; the
said George Schaub, Her special licence, that I, the said George Schaub,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Schaub, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED MANUFACTURE

page_text: OF ROLLERS OR CYLINDERS WITH PATTERNS OR DESIGNS THEREON FOR PRINTING
FABRICS AND OTHER MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,.
the said George Schaub, 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 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 George Schaub, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say:-
My said Invention consists in manufacturing rollers or cylinders for printing
fabrics and other materials, the said rollers or cylinders having designs or
patterns on them either sunken or in relief, the printing surfaces of the said.
rollers or cylinders being made by the process of electro-deposition in the
manner herein-after described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing..
In carrying my Invention into effect I take a cylinder of wood or other
material represented in transverse section in Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawing,
and marked a; the said cylinder is also shewn in side elevation at a, Figure 3..
I build up or compose upon the surface of the cylinder a a series of metallic
pieces marked b; the inner or concave surfaces of which have upon them, either
sunken or in relief, portions of the design or pattern to be produced on the.
roller or cylinder.. The pieces 6 are represented on a larger scale than. in.
Figure 1, in Figure 4 and in Figure 5; Figure 4 representing at 61 an.
elevation of one side of one of the pieces 6 and 62; Figure 4 representing in.
elevation the opposite side of one of the pieces 6, 63; Figure 5 represents a
plan of one of the, pieces 6 and 64; Figure 5 represents a vertical section of
one of the said pieces b. By an examination of Figures 4 and 5 it will be.
seen that.on two adjacent sides each of the pieces 6 has a projection c, and on
the two other adjacent sides. a groove or recess d. When the pieces 6 are
built up or composed upon the cylinder a, Figure 1, as represented in the said
Figure 1, the ribs or projections c on the pieces b engage in the grooves or
recesses d, in the said pieces b, and lock the whole securely together.
b
It will be seen by an examination of the Drawing that the said metallic
pieces 6 consist of sections of a hollow cylinder, the said sections being so
made that their common intersection is in the axis of the cylinder; the said
sections are further divided in planes perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder.
In building up or composing the pieces 6 upon the cylinder a I prefer to build.
b

page_text: b
b
up one-third of the circumference of the cylinder at a time, for which purpose
I cover the other two-thirds of the cylinder with the supports or blocks e, e.
Having covered one-third of the cylinder a with the pieces b, as represented
in Figure 1, I connect the whole of the said pieces 6 together by sheets or
strips of gutta percha or india-rubber, which I attach thereto in any con-
venient manner; or the pieces 6 may be held together by plaster of Paris
cast over them, or be held together by any other suitable means. I then turn
round the cylinder a into the position represented in Figure 2, taking care to
support the pieces b, Figure 2, in a proper trough or channel; and I then
remove one of the pieces or blocks e, leaving the space f on the cylinder a,
Figure 2, on which said space f I build up or compose other metallic pieces,
so as to cover two-thirds of the cylinder, and now removing the piece or
block e, Figure 2, I completely cover the cylinder with other pieces. Figure 3
represents in front elevation the cylinder covered with the pieces b; Figure 6
represents in longitudinal vertical section the hollow cylinder, made by building
up the pieces b; the solid cylinder or support a, Figures 1, 2, and 3, being
withdrawn from the cylinder, Figure 6; Figure 7 represents a transverse
section of Figure 6.
Before withdrawing the cylinder a, Figures 1, 2, and 3, the whole of the
pieces are securely bound together by bands of india-rubber or gutta percha,
or held firmly together by being imbedded in a suitable case or otherwise.
The cylinder a may be made in several pieces, for permitting its ready
withdrawal from the hollow metallic cylinder, Figures 6 and 7. I place the
hollow cylinder, Figures 6 and 7, on a semicylindrical trough or bed, to
which strong strips or cords of gutta percha are attached, and I let the said
cylinder down into a trough or tank containing a solution of copper, from
which copper is to be reduced on the inner surface of the said cylinder,
Figures 6 and 7. A cylindrical bar of copper is passed through the hollow
cylinder, Figures 6 and 7, and suspended therein, and the said copper bar is
connected with the copper or negative element of a voltaic battery, while the
cylinder, Figure 6 and 7, is connected with the zine or positive metal of a
voltaic battery. The trough in which the cylinder, Figures 6 and 7, is placed,
is filled with a solution of sulphate of copper, or other suitable salt of copper,
and the deposition of copper on the interior of the cylinder, Figures 6 and 7,
commences. Before immersing the cylinder, Figures 6 and 7, in the copper
solution, I prefer to rinse or wash the interior thereof with alcohol, which fills the
interstices between the metal pieces, and prevents the retention of air bubbles.
After a sufficient thickness of copper has been deposited in the interior of
the cylinder, Figures 6 and 7, I remove the said cylinder from the trough and-

page_text: wash it well in water; I then remove the metallic pieces b, of which the
cylinder is composed; from off the copper deposit. The said metallic pieces
may be used again, either for composing the same or other patterns. The
copper cylinder thus obtained has upon it, either sunken or in relief, the
pattern or design formed on the inner faces of the several metallic pieces b.
In order to complete the roller or cylinder, I make a lining of sheet iron
exactly fitting the spindle on which the roller has to work in the printing
process, and in which lining the spindle can be easily fitted and removed. I
place this lining in the interior of the deposited copper cylinder, and by means
of collars at both ends of the copper cylinder I support the said lining, by
soldering or otherwise, in the axis of the copper cylinder. The space between
the interior of the copper cylinder and the lining is then filled up with some
material hard enough to resist the pressure employed in printing, and not
liable to be injuriously affected either by moisture or a moderately elevated
temperature. I prefer for this purpose a mineral cement which sets hard. I
have found in practice that the cement called Keene's cement answers very
well; I do not limit myself however to the use of any particular material in
filling the space between the copper cylinder and the lining.
After the cylinder has been filled I put it on its spindle, and if the pattern
thereon is sunken, I place it in a turning lathe, and I turn the surface thereof,
but only to such a limited extent as may be sufficient to take away all the
seans that may have been formed during the depositing process, by the deposited
metal insinuating itself between the pieces b on which the deposit was effected.
The said 'turning also makes the surface of the cylinder smooth, and perfectly
concentric with its axis. The cylinder is then ready to be used for printing.
The process of turning last described is not necessary where the pattern or
design on the copper cylinder is in relief, for the seams that may form during
the depositing process are not so high as the pattern itself, and are therefore
no source of inconvenience. When necessary, or desirable, the said seams
may be cut away by hand. I make the metallic pieces b, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, and 7, by casting after the manner of casting printing type. The
instrument wherein I effect the casting of the said pieces being represented
in side elevation in Figure 8, front elevation in Figure 9, in plan in Figure 10,
and in vertical section in Figure 11. It consists of two arnis g, h, turning
upon the axis i; one of the said arms is capable of sliding on the axis i, and
thus increasing or diminishing the distance between them. Each of the arms
g, h, carries at its summit a sliding piece, marked respectively k and 7. When
the arms g, h, are separated from each other to a greater or less distance than
is represented in Figures 9 and 10. the sliding picces k, l, are moved on the

page_text: arms g, h, the slide k being made to bear against the arm h, and the slide
being made to bear against the arm 9. There is thus enclosed between the
four plates g, h, k, l, (see Figure 10,) a space of the form of one of the pieces
b, Figures 4 and 5. Two triangular blocks m, n, are attached by screws to
the plates k, l, and close the upper portion of the space included between
g, h, k, l. The said blocks m, n, have a funnel-shaped passage o down their
middle, and through the said passage o the fused type metal is poured in
casting the metallic pieces b. The bottom of the mould is closed by an
engraved plate p, supported on the end of a rod q pressed upwards by the
helical spring r. When one of the pieces 6 has been cast, the thumb or finger
is pressed upon the nuts, by which the engraved plate p is depressed, and on
separating the arms g, h, in the manner represented in Figure 8, the cast piece
will drop from the mould on inclining the said mould. The faces of g and l
are provided with grooves, so as to form the projection c, and the faces of h
and are provided with projections, so as to form the grooves d in the
pieces b. The size of the pieces 6 to be cast in the instrument, Figures 8, 9,
10, and 11, may be varied, by enlarging the moulding cavity as described, but
the blocks m, n, by which the funnel is made must be changed each time the
size of the mould is changed. Instead of connecting the plates kand / with
the arms 9 and h by means of screws passing through slots, as represented in
Figure 9, I sometimes connect the said plates with the said arms in the
manner represented in front elevation in Figure 12, and in side elevation in
Figure 13, that is to say, each of the arms g, h, carries two brackets t, u, in
which brackets the plates k, l, slide. The plates k, l, are fixed in their position
by set screws v. Although I have only represented in Figures 12 and 13 the
adjustment of one of the plates, namely, the plate k, by the last described
method of adjustment, yet the adjustment of the plate is effected in precisely.
the same way as that by which the adjustment of the plate k has been
described.
Instead of constructing the hollow cylinder upon which the copper deposit
is effected by blocks of type metal, I sometimes construct the said cylinder of
small pieces resembling printing types, excepting that two opposite sides of
each piece are inclined to each other. When built up, the said pieces or
types form a hollow cylinder, the small end of each piece carrying a pattern
or portion of the design.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as

page_text: my Invention the new or improved manufacture herein-before described, and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, of rollers or cylinders with patterns
or designs thereon for printing fabrics and other materials, that is to say,
manufacturing rollers or cylinders by depositing copper in the interior of a
hollow metallic cylinder, which said hollow metallic cylinder is composed or
built up of portions carrying on their ends the pattern or design to be
reproduced in the copper deposit, the said copper deposit or cylinder being
strengthened and made up into a printing roller or cylinder in the manner
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Schaub, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
GEORGE SCHAUB (LS.)