INVENTION FOR COATING, FINISHING, AND ORNAMENTING THE SURFACE OF PAPER, TEXTILE FABRICS, METAL SHEETS, WOOD VENEERS, AND GLASS OR EARTHENWARE PLATES OR SLABS, SO AS TO RENDER THEM LUMINOUS OR PHOSPHORESCENT IN THE DARK, OR FOR PRODUCING UPON THEM PATTERNS, ORNAMENTS, OR LETTERS WHICH SHALL BE LUMINOUS
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Henry Rees at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th October 1880.
THOMAS HENRY REES, of 196, Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth, in the
County of Surrey. "INVENTION FOR COATING, FINISHING, AND ORNAMENTING
THE SURFACE OF PAPER, TEXTILE FABRICS, METAL SHEETS, WOOD VENEERS, AND
GLASS OR EARTHENWARE PLATES OR SLABS, SO AS TO RENDER THEM LUMINOUS
OR PHOSPHORESCENT IN THE DARK, OR FOR PRODUCING UPON THEM PATTERNS,
ORNAMENTS, OR LETTERS WHICH SHALL BE LUMINOUS."
Substances and compounds possessing the property of absorbing light and then
from the effect of vibration becoming luminous or phosphorescent in the dark are
already known, but bitherto they have not been applied to coating, finishing, or
ornamenting paper, toxtile fabrics, metal sheets, wood veneers, or glass or earthen-
ware plates, and it is obvious that such materials, prepared and applied in the
manner herein described will be of great public utility and benefit for the purposes
of covering the ceilings, walls, and floors of rooms, or for lining coaches, cabins, &c.,
in the form of paper, drapery, veneers, floor cloth, or tiles, and in the form of paper
or metal sheets, it would be useful for advertizing purposes or notice required to be
visible in the dark. My Invention is applied in the following way:-Having
prepared a luminous or phosphorescent powder in any of the known ways, namely,
by calcining pearl shells, inagnesia, lime, carbonate of lime, alabaster or rock
crystal with sulphur or a suitable sulphate, and grinding it very fine, I proceed as
follows: I take the paper, textile fabrics, metal sheets, wood veneers, or glass
plates and cover the surface with adhesive size or varnish either with rollers or
brushes, or I print by any of the ordinary methods, patterns, ornaments or letters in
adhesive size or varnish, and then before the size or varnish is dry, by either hand
or a suitable machine, I dust over the surface with the luminous or phosphorescent
powder already described. Whether the material is paper, textile, metal, wood,
glass, or earthenware the same method will answer by only modifying the means of
application to suit the materials used. When the adhesive size or varnish is dry
the loose powder is swept or gently rubbed from the surface and the material is
passed under a smooth roller to harden, fix, and glaze the surface. The luminous
or phosphorescent powder may be made in various colours by grinding with suitable

page_text: dry or liquid colours, and thus designs in any or in several colours, each and all
luminous, can be obtained by seperate printings and dustings in the way well
known to printers; in this way luminous patterns upon a dark ground or dark
patterns on a luminous ground can be easily obtained. The fabrics prepared as
here described can be dried in the air or in hot rooms and then finished or better 5
protected by glazing after the method known to calenderers, or they can be
varnished in a way suitable to the particular fabric or material employed.