Improvements in Copying Pencils, Crayons, Pastels, Sticks, Tablets and the like.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Mar., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 1st Apr., 1887.
[Communicated from abroad by HENRY SENCIL MYERS, of 309, Broadway, New York,
United States of America, Chemist.]
Improvements in Copying Pencils, Crayons, Pastels, Sticks, Tablets
and the like.
I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of the firm of Allison Brothers, of 52 Chancery Lane,
London, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of this invention is the preparation of different materials or substances of
color, such as black, red, blue, green and yellow, and the colors or shades of color
resulting from combinations of two or more thereof, so as to fit them for copying
purposes, and to put the prepared colors into the shapes and forms of pieces or cores
for pencils, crayons, pastels, sticks like India ink, cakes or tablets, like water color
paints, and such other forms as may be required to adapt them for the use of artists
and scholars for drawing and painting purposes, for making originals to be transferred
to the "Composition for Copying" described in United States Patent No. 287,457,
dated 30th October 1883, and for general writing, drawing, and copying
purposes. Heretofore copying pencils have been used that were made of aniline
violet colors, which have the serious objection of being fugitive in their nature, fading
and disappearing entirely if exposed to the atmosphere or light, rendering them unfit
for permanent copying, and one purpose of this invention is to overcome this
objection by producing pencils and other articles which will give permanent and
durable copies in black and other colors that will remain under all ordinary conditions
of exposure.
To meet these objects it is necessary to have substances of color which can be made
into a mass or powder which will be soluble in water and capable of being united or
combined with certain soluble or insoluble substances, or with both. To obtain such
coloring matters 1 proceed as herein described.
To prepare the black color an extract of logwood is made by any of the ordinary
modes in use, or the extract of logwood as sold in the market may be employed, the

page_text: semi-liquid extract being preferred to the solid, but in using either it is necessary to
reduce it with water to about the consistency of thin cream. The quantity of water
best to be used depends much upon the condition and character of the extract
employed, but usually two parts of water to one part of the semi-liquid extract, or
three to four parts of water to one of the solid extract, answer the purpose. The
extract is first dissolved in two-thirds or three-quarters of the water to be used, and
when the solution is fully completed about fifteen or twenty grains of the yellow
chromate of potash are added for each fluid ounce of the semi-liquid extract employed,
or about twenty to twenty-five grains for each ounce of the solid extract. The potash
is added by degrees in the form of powder, the solution being well stirred as each
addition is made. The solution is then strained through a sieve or strainer into a
receiving vessel, that portion remaining on the strainer being returned to the mixing
vessel and the balance of the water added to it, when it is well stirred and again
strained into the receiving vessel. By this means such portions of the logwood as
were rendered insoluble by the action of the potash are separated from the soluble
portion. The strained solution is then thoroughly agitated, when it is allowed to
stand undisturbed until a deposit settles to the bottom. When the deposit is com-
pleted the top liquid is poured off, by which means a portion of the logwood which
has not been fully acted on by the potash is got rid of, and the deposited matter is put
into a shallow vessel and dried spontaneously or by moderate heat. When fully dry
it is finely powdered, producing a fine black powiler which is soluble in water, and
which I call powdered soluble logwood black. Two or three parts of this powdered
soluble logwood black are then well mixed with one part of freshly slaked lime, when
sufficient water is added to make a watery mass or thin batter, which is then dried
spontaneously or by moderate heat, when it is finely powdered, and this I call
powdered soluble logwood black with lime. It is best to let this mixture stand for a
little time, as it undergoes some change which improves it for the purpose intended.
Blacks prepared from tannic or gallic acid, as found in nutgalls and many vegetable
substances, or blacks made by combinations of reds, yellows, and blues or greens, or
blacks produced by oxidizing or carbonizing kerms, carmine, and similar subsiances,
or any black which can be prepared in a dry mass or powder sufficiently soluble in
water, may be united with or substituted for the logwood.
To better adapt the powdered soluble logwood black for copying directly from paper,
I use in combination with it a black made from reds, yellows, and blues or greens,
which are prepared as follows:-
The red is made by taking any required quantity of carmine of fair quality (that
known as No. 40 answering very well, or simple cochineal will do), and adding to it
a saturated solution of borax in water in quantity sufficient to completely dissolve
the carmine, or a little in excess. When the solution is completed it is poured into a
shallow vessel and dried spontaneously or by gentle heat. When dry, the carmine,
now in combination with the borax, is collected and finely powdered. This produces
a carmine powder very soluble in water, which I call powdered soluble carmine. The
mixture of the carmine and borax may be made by simply grinding or triturating the
two together in the proper proportions, but the union will be less complete than by the
mode of solution. Two or three parts of the powdered soluble carmine are then mixed
with one part of slaked lime and sufficient water to make a watery mass or thin batter,
which is then dried and finely powdered; and this I call soluble carmine with lime.
Or instead of carmine, the red may be made by using Brazil wood, in the form of the
extract, which may be brought to a red resembling carmine in different ways, but the
mode preferred is to add to two or three parts of powdered extract of Brazil wood one
part of slaked lime, which is mixed thoroughly with water into a thin paste, and then
dried and powdered, and this I call powdered extract of Brazil wood with lime. For.
the carmine or Brazil wood other reds may be substituted, such as kerms, madder, or
any red which can be prepared in a dry mass or powder sufficiently soluble in water.
The blue is obtained by making an extract of indigo by any of the ordinary
methods, or by taking the extract of indigo, or indigotine, as found in the market,
preferably such in which the acid employed in its manufacture has been well

page_text: neutralized. This is finely powdered and I call it powdered soluble indigo. One part
of slaked lime is then added to two or three parts of this powdered soluble indigo, and
made into a thin paste with water, which is dried by moderate heat and powdered,
and this I call powdered soluble indigo with lime.
The yellow is obtained by taking fustic in the form of the extract and reducing it
to a fine powder, which I call powdered extract of fustic. Of this powdered extract
of fustic, two or three parts are mixed with one part of slaked lime and sufficient
water to make a thin mass, which is dried and powdered, and this I call powdered.
extract of fustic with lime. For the fustic other yellows may be substituted, such as
gamboge, saffron, vegetable coloring matters which strike a yellow with alkalies or
metallic salts, or such as can be prepared in a dry mass or powder sufficiently soluble
in water.
The green is prepared by mixing one part of the powdered soluble indigo and about
five parts of the powdered extract of fustic before described in about sixteen parts of
water. The mixture is best effected by first dissolving the fustic in the water and.
then adding the indigo. The water is then evaporated spontaneously or by gentle
heat and the dry mass is finely powdered, producing a green powder very soluble in
water, which I call powdered soluble green. The mixture of the blue and yellow may
also be effected, though in a less complete form, by simply grinding or triturating the
proportions of the two powders together. By varying the proportion of either the
blue or the yellow different shades of green are produced. Two or three parts of this
powdered soluble green are mixed with one part of slaked lime and water sufficient,
to make a thin mass, which is then dried and powdered, and this I call powdered,
soluble green with lime.. Any yellow and blue soluble in water or made soluble may
be used to form a substitute for the green.
I now take of the powdered extract of fustic about one part, of the powdered
soluble carmine about four parts, and of the powdered soluble green about eight parts,.
and work them into a thin mass with water, which is then dried and powdered. This
produces a blackish powder soluble in water which I call powdered combination black..
Two or three parts of this powdered combination black are mixed with one part of
slaked lime and water sufficient to make a thin mass which is dried and powdered, and
I call this combination black with lime. For the powdered extract of fustic, the
powdered soluble carmine and the powdered soluble green in this combination black,
any other soluble yellows, reds, and greens or blues may be substituted.
The colors, when prepared as described, or in similar ways, can then he put into
the shapes and forms before mentioned by various modes, means, or substances. One
way by which I make the black pencil is by combining the powdered soluble logwood
black and the powdered soluble logwood black with lime before described with
powdered hard soap, preferably such as is neutral, and powdered mineral wool in
about the following proportions:-Powdered soluble logwood black, eight parts;
powdered soluble logwood black with lime, one part; powdered combination black,
twelve parts powdered mineral wool, two parts; and powdered hard soap, four parts.
These are mixed together and the whole is then worked into a mass with a solution of
oxgall and soap. This solution is made by dissolving dried or inspissated oxgall in
water until the water assumes a muddy dark color, when it is set aside until the
insoluble portion of the bile has settled to the bottom. The clear dark liquid on top is
then poured off, and to two parts of this clear solution one part of powdered hard soap
is added, effecting a union of the two, in the form of a thin paste, by rubbing or
trituration. This paste is then added to the mass in quantity sufficient to moisten it,
and the whole is thoroughly intermixed or combined by rubbing, grinding, or
otherwise. It is brought to a state which may be described as simply moist, and can
then be rolled, or pressed in moulds, or forced through holes, as in the manufacture of
the ordinary lead pencil, thus forming flat, square, or round wire-like pieces or cores,
as may be desired, and of any thickness or length required. These are dried and may
then be placed in wood, like the common lead pencil, or used in holders adapted for
the purpose. When so completed a pencil is produced which makes a mark on paper
and other substances like the ordinary lead pencil, and which can be transferred or

page_text: copied by pressure on moist tissue or other paper, producing a readable and permanent
black copy. The mineral wool serves alike as an aid to hold the pencil in form and to
separate the particles of color to be deposited on the paper in the act of writing, and
some of the pigments or dye-stuff's, or talc, tripoli, emery, some of the clays, starch,
the ashes of paper, and similar substances may be used in connection with or
substituted for it, and they may be similarly used with or substituted for the lime.
The soap: which may be used in varied proportions or in combination with substitutes
or equivalents mentioned herein, serves the purpose of enabling the pencil to make a
mark or write on or over such portions of the paper as have been soiled or touched by
the fingers or hand, and with some combinations of the substances described an
equivalent is found for it in borax and some of the salts of potash. Some of the
cements, gums, and similar adhesive agents may be used in connection with the
oxgall and soap paste or substituted therefor.
The powdered combination black and the powdered combination black with lime
described, taken alone, or united with other blacks, or blacks similarly prepared, are
also capable of being made into a copying pencil by the modes and means described.
They serve the double purpose of acting as a supplier of color and to some extent as a
binder of the mass with which they are united.
I do not confine myself strictly to the proportions or formula before given as one
way of making the black pencil, but deviate therefrom in certain ways within the
scope of the descriptions herein given, to produce pencils adapted for different uses
and of different degrees of hardness. Thus, to obtain pencils specially designed to
deposit a large amount of coloring matter on the paper I omit some of the substances
named in the formula or use in the place thereof some of the substitutes mentioned, by
which means a pencil is obtained which will give from ten to twenty copies if the
writing or drawing made with it be transferred to the Composition for Copying before
mentioned, and if the pencil be made very soft and handled with extreme care from
twenty to thirty copies may be obtained, according to the size and character of the
original.
By using separately each of the soluble colors before described copying pencils of
different colors are obtained. Thus, by combining the carmine and the powdered
soluble carmine with lime or the powdered extract of Brazil. wood with lime, with
powdered mineral wool and soap in about the same proportions as for the black, a
red copying pencil is produced; or it may also be obtained by combining the
powdered soluble carmine with red pigments, such as vermillion, red lead, and the
like, or the reds now employed for making the ordinary non-copying red pencils and
crayons, the coloring matter of the pigments remaining on the original while the
soluble color combined with them is transferred to the copy. By proceeding in
the same way with the powdered extract of fustic and the powdered extract of fustic
with lime for the yellow, and with the powdered soluble green and the powdered
soluble green with lime for the green, yellow and green pencils are respectively
produced or they may also be made by combining the powdered extract of fustic and
the powdered soluble green described with pigments of their respective colors, such as
chrome for the yellow, and green verditer, copper, and the like, for the green. The
blue pencil is best made by uniting the powdered soluble indigo and the powdered
soluble indigo with lime with the pigments commonly used for ordinary blue pencils
and crayons, such as blue verditer, imitation cobalt blue, and similar blues, or with
common indigo finely powdered, and proceeding as before stated for the black; or a
pencil which does not make a blue mark, the mark resembling that made by the
ordinary lead pencil, but which gives a fine blue copy, may be made by uniting the
powdered soluble indigo with the powdered soluble logwood black and the powdered
soluble logwood black with lime. By varying the proportions of the powdered soluble
colors used different shades of the respective colors are obtained, and by an inter-
mixture of the powdered soluble colors in varied proportions pencils of different colors
and shades thereof are produced. Thus, a mixture of the red with the blue gives a :
purple or violet copying pencil, the shade of which is governed by varying the
proportion of either the red or blue employed; a mixture of the red with the black

page_text: gives a brown, and so on through a variety of shades of color. The pencils so made
all produce copies of their respective colors on moist paper by pressure, and from one
to six copies and upwards on the Composition for Copying before mentioned,
according to the color and softness of pencil, excepting the yellow, which in pencil,
crayon, or pastel form has but faint copying power, while in the other forms named it,
produces good copies.
All the pencils are made by taking the powdered soluble colors and the powdered
soluble colors with lime and mineral wool and soap and uniting them with the oxgall
and soap paste, as described for the black, and the substitutes for the lime and mineral
wool mentioned for the black answer a similar purpose with the other colors.
Copying crayons and pastels of the different colors and shades thereof are made like
the pencils, and pressed in moulds giving them the required forms-differing from the
pencils only in form.
any
To put the colors into the other shapes or forms mentioned, almost adhesive
substance may be used, such as sugars, pastes, gums, cements, or whatever will hold
the mass together. I take the powdered soluble logwood black and work it into a
mass with mucilage of gum Arabic. When thoroughly worked up by rubbing or
grinding it is pressed in moulds to form pieces or sticks about two inches long, half
an inch wide, and a quarter inch thick, which are then dried, producing pieces which
resemble the ordinary sticks of India or Chinese ink. Any size, shape or form may
be made, and the pieces covered with foil or other material. Or, the sticks may be
made by first making a very thick solution of the powdered soluble logwood black in
glycerine, which will serve the purpose of a mucillage or cement. This solution is
added to the dry powdered soluble logwocd black in quantity required to barely
dampen it, and then a little water, or a thin solution of gum Arabic in water, is added
to render the mass sufficiently soft or plastic to be rubbed up or ground to the
requisite fineness. For use the stick so made is rubbed up with a little water in a
small dish or cup whereby an ink is obtained the body or strength of which may be
regulated to any degree required. When rubbed to a limited degree it produces an
ordinary black writing ink, and if this be made a little thicker by further rubbing, an
ink is produced which will make a copy on moist tissue or other paper by pressure
like ordinary copying ink, and if still further rubbed up to the proper thickness an
ink is obtained of such power that writings or drawings made with it will make
several copies on moist paper and from ten to twenty copies and upwards if trans-
ferred on the Composition for Copying before mentioned, according to the size and
character of the original. The mass as used for making the sticks is also formed in
moulds into cakes or tablets of different sizes, one of which is about one inch long,
half an inch wide, and about an eighth of an inch thick, resembling the ordinary
water color cakes or tablets. For use, these may be rubbed up with water as
described, or they may be otherwise used with pen or brush for drawing, painting
and other purposes, from which copies may be obtained in the same way and of like
character and number as with the sticks before described.
The red, blue, green, and yellow powdered soluble colors are also each made into
sticks and cakes or tablets like the black and by the same means and ways as described
for the black. They are used in the same way and for similar purposes, and produce
inks and paints of their respective colors of any body or strength required. Writings,
drawings, paintings, etc., made with them with pen or brush will produce copies on
moist paper and on the Composition for Copying before mentioned, varying in
number from one to two or three on paper, and from one to twenty and upwards on
the composition, according to the color employed.
The compounds and combinations may be varied within the limits of the invention,
for example, for any of the elements or materials named in the claims, or referred to
therein or in the description, the substitutes mentioned herein and others, may be
used instead thereof, and the equivalents of any of the materials or substitutes may
be employed therefor.
By mixing the colors in various proportions and then making them into the forms
described, a variety of different colors and shades thereof are obtained. Also all the

page_text: colors can be used singly or together, and they also may be blended in the usual ways,
thus furnishing resources in convenient forms for artists, draftsmen, scholars, and
others, which will enable them to obtain permanent copies of their work, which will
he true fac similes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:—
1. A composition of matter for pencils, crayons and such articles, consisting
substantially of a soluble color described eight parts, a soluble color with lime
described one part, mineral wool two parts, soap four parts, and oxgall and soap
paste described, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. A composition of matter for pencils, crayons, and such articles, consisting
substantially of a soluble color described, a soluble color with lime described, mineral
wool, soap, and oxgall and soap paste described, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
3. A composition of matter for pencils, crayons and such articles, consisting
substantially of soluble colors described, lime, mineral wool, soap, and oxgall as
specified, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
4. A composition of matter for pencils, crayons and such articles, consisting
substantially of a soluble color described, a soluble color with lime described, mineral
wool, soap, and oxgall, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
5. In a composition of matter for pencils, crayons and such articles, the com-
bination of a soluble color described, and lime, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
6. In a composition of matter for pencils, crayons and such articles, the com-
bination of mineral wool, and a soluble color described, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
7. In a composition of matter for pencils, crayons and such articles, the com-
bination of soap, and a soluble color described, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
8. In a composition of matter the combination of oxgall, and a soluble color
described, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
9. In a composition of matter the combination of substantially permanent, soluble,
copying colors described, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
10. In a composition of matter, the combination of a substantially permanent,
soluble, copying color described, and an adhesive substance, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth.
11. In a composition of matter for pencils, crayons, and such articles, the com
bination of a substantially permanent, soluble, copying color described, and a holding,
separating and binding medium as specified, for making writings, drawings, and the
like, in various colors that will afford substantially permanent and durable copies from
the originals on moist paper and from transfers on Compositions for Copying
indicated, substantially as set forth.
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.