IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING ENGRAVINGS ON GLASS, METALS, WOOD, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Amédée Auguste Wilbaux, of Paris, Boulevard
do Strasbourg, No. 23, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRODUCING ENGRAVINGS ON GLASS, METALS, WOOD, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 8th October 1870, and dated the 14th April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Amédée Auguste
Wilbaux at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 14th April 1870.
I, AMÉDÉE AUGUSTE WILBAUX, of Paris, Boulevard de Strasbourg,
No. 23, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN PRODUCING ENGRAVINGS ON GLASS, METALS, WOOD, AND OTHER
SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to produce engravings on glass, metals,
wood, and other substances by means of elastic types, such as those
described in the Specifications of Letters Patent granted to Alfred
Leighton, dated the 21st day of April 1864, No. 1008, and the 9th day
of January 1866, No. 73, respectively; and to obtain economically all

page_text: the effects which are at present produced by enamelling or engraving
upon similar surfaces after they have been covered with a protecting
compound.
In order to obtain an engraving upon glass I proceed by printing it
(by means of elastic types made of india-rubber, gutta percha, gelatine,
or other flexable and malleable substance) with fluoride of calcium,
which I cause to adhere by means of some viscous body, such, for
example, as printing ink. I then bring sulphuric acid at a convenient
temperature, either by means of a brush or by dipping, into contact with
the surfaces upon which the impression has been made. This sulphuric
acid effects the disengagement of fluorhydric acid which attacks the
glass at those parts which have been printed with the fluoride of
calcium, and the printed objects or designs are therefore hencefourth
indelibly engraved upon the glass. The operation is finished by washing
the surface with lukewarm or potash water, and by drying it. I can
also proceed by using elastic types of india-rubber, gutta percha,
gelatinous bodies, and the like in order to print a fatty body upon the
glass, leaving reserved places upon the latter. I then obtain the
engraving by passing a brush impregnated with fluorhydric acid over the
reserved places, and I finish by washing with lukewarm or potass water
in order to remove the fatty body or other protecting compound that
may have been used. Or I may make use of gaseous fluorhydric acid in
order to attack the surfaces which are left unprotected. This process is
equally applicable to the engraving of metals. I print by means of the
same elastic types upon metallic plates of all kinds, iron, tin, copper, zinc,
and others, with a fatty body, leaving reserved parts, and I afterwards
pour upon these parts an acid which will attack the particular metal
being engraved at the uncovered parts, and thus engrave upon it all
sorts of designs in an indelible manner.
Among the various acids suitable for different metals I may mention
the following-For iron, nitric acid; for tin, a diluted mixture of nitric
and sulphuric acids; for copper, sulphuric acid; for zinc, sulphuric acid.
By means of elastic types I am also able to print upon wood directly
with agents which will attack it at the very place where they are
deposited, with sulphuric acid, for example, which forms an incrusted a
black design upon wood.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Amédée Auguste Wilbaux in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AMÉDÉE
AUGUSTE WILBAUX, of Paris, Boulevard de Strasbourg, No. 23, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of April, 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 Amédée Auguste Wilbaux, Her special licence
that I, the said Amédée Auguste Wilbaux, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Amédée Auguste
Wilbaux, 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 PRODUCING ENGRAVINGS ON GLASS, METALS, WOOD, AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Amédée Auguste Wilbaux, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Amédée Auguste Wilbaux, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention is to produce engravings on glass, metals,
wood, and other substances by means of elastic types, such as those
described in the Specifications of Letters Patent granted to Alfred
Leighton, dated the 21st day of April 1864, No. 1008, and the 9th day
of January 1866, No. 73, respectively; and to obtain economically all the
effects which are at present produced by enamelling or engraving upon
similar surfaces after they have been covered with a protecting com-

page_text: pound, and thus to produce upon all sorts of materials vitrifiable
enamelling, and painting by direct printing.
I proceed to describe the various processes which constitute the
essential features of my Invention, and by which the above object is
obtained.
In order to obtain an engraving upon glass I proceed by printing it (by
means of elastic types made of india-rubber, gutta percha, gelatine, or
other flexible and malleable substance) with fluoride of calcium, which I
cause to adhere by means of some viscous body, such, for example, as
printing ink. I then bring sulphuric acid at a convenient temperature,
either by means of a brush or by dipping, into contact with the surfaces
upon which the impression has been made. This sulphuric acid effects
disengagement of fluorhydric acid, which attacks the glass at these parts
which have been printed with the fluoride of calcium, and the printed
objects or designs are therefore henceforth indelibly engraved upon the
glass. The operation is finished by washing the surface with lukewarm
or potass water, and by drying it. I can also proceed by using elastic
types of india-rubber, gutta percha, gelatinous bodies, and the like in
order to print a fatty body upon the glass, leaving reserved places upon
the latter. I then obtain the engraving by passing a brush impregnated
with fluorhydric acid over the reserved places, and I finish by washing
with lukewarm or potass water in order to remove the fatty body or
other protecting compound that may have been used. Or I may make
use of gaseous fluorhydric acid in order to attack the surfaces which are
left unprotected. This process is equally applicable to the engraving of
metals. I print by means of the same elastic types upon metallic plates
of all kinds, iron, tin, copper, zinc, and others with a fatty body, leaving
reserved parts, and I afterwards pour upon those parts an acid which
will attack the particular metal being engraved at the uncovered parts,
and thus engrave upon it all sorts of designs in an indelible manner.
By means of the elastic types I am also able to print upon wood
directly with agents which will attack it at the very place where they are
deposited, with sulphuric acid, for example, which forms an incrusted
black design upon wood.
The types can be formed of plates produced by moulding, but I prefer
to make them in separate pieces composed either of single letters or
words or designs which may be brought together as required in the same
manner as characters are set up for ordinary printing; when thus

page_text: brought together they are placed upon elastic plates, which are flat or
curved according as it may be desired to print or engrave plain or
rounded surfaces. These elastic types are made of caoutchouc, gelatine,
or other similar body which is capable of being hardened after having
been moulded by vulcanization in the case of caoutchouc, and by
drying or otherwise in the case of other substances. By means of
these elastic types I apply either black inks, inks of various colours, or
colourless inks. These inks which possess a fatty or gummy character
serve to fix upon the surfaces various powders or metal in leaf. The
powders I employ are for producing white designs, sulphate of baryta,
white of zinc (blanc de zinc), carbonate of lead, phosphate of lime, the
various white clays, and similar matters; for producing colored designs,
the various known colouring and metallic powders, and gold, silver,
copper, aluminium, tin, and other metal leaf. When these matters
become adherent upon the surfaces they are coated with a siccative
varnish, the action of which is hastened by heat from a stove or
clsewhere.
These varnishes are modified according to the nature of the printing
or colouring matters in order that the various emblems, inscriptions, or
ornamentations may not be injured.
I also print with an ink of a special composition directly upon glass,
porcelain, metal, and other substances, which I afterwards bake to a
sufficient temperature to produce fusion by which the design is so firmly
fixed in as to be unalterable to any possible dissolving agent. In order
to effect the printing I make use of elastic types either single or in
continuous sheets made of vulcanised caoutchouc or other elastic
material capable of deposing an ink or varnish upon various surfaces of
whatever form they may be. The employment for these types of such
substances as honey and the various gums or of different sulphurets
or other bodies for the purpose of giving density or elasticity, has
nothing to do with the principle of my Invention.
The ink is made from oils or other fatty bodies or from gum; with
these materials are mixed the compositions which by fusing produce the
desired effect. For enamelling the composition is a powder which will give
an opaque design; for simple colouring, one which will give a transparent
design. In order to make the opaque powder I take according to the
colour desired to be produced the different enamels known in the arts,
and add to them an alkaline or boracic flux, so as to attain the degree of

page_text: fusibility desired, and which ought to be below the temperature which
would injure the object to be printed. The flux and enamel are melted
together, or preferably the chemical compounds which enter into their
composition. The resulting mass is then ground in a mill, and it is the
fine powder thus obtained which is worked up into the adhesive liquid.
The paste thus produced. is laid upon the elastic types by means of a
roller, and these types on being pressed upon the surface to be printed
will leave an impression of their design upon it. The thickness of the
layer of enamel thus applied may be increased by powdering with the
same material or with others upon different places, by which means also
several colors or shades may be produced.
In order to obtain transparent impressions I employ instead of opaque,
transparent vitrifiable matters. I would especially mention that the
coloured glass of commerce may be powdered, which on being added to
a flux a more flexible glass is produced, which on being reduced to
powder itself is employed as above described. The proportions and
constituents of the fluxes vary according to the colouring matters and
the resisting powder of the object to be printed. Thus for glass a more
fusible powder is required than for faience porcelain or the different
metals. In order to lay the enamelling or colouring powder it may be
dusted on through a small sifter or by means of pads or tufts.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
-
First. The process of engraving as herein-before described characterised,
first, by the direct application of corrosive agents upon glass, metals, wood,
and other substances; and, secondly, by the application of matters which
at first inactive become corrosive on another agent being applied.
Secondly. Engraving by means of corrosives acting upon bodies from
parts of which elastic types have removed the protecting matters.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said Amédée Auguste Wilbaux, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of September
One thousand eight hundred and seventy.