AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRINTING IMPRESSIONS UPON AN ENLARGED OR REDUCED SCALE, EITHER FROM PLATES, ELECTROTYPES, BLOCKS, DRAWINGS, OR OTHER SURFACES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Mackenzie, Publisher, of Glasgow, County
Lanark, Scotland, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRINTING
IMPRESSIONS UPON AN ENLARGED OR REDUCED SCALE, EITHER FROM ENGRAVED
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Mackenzie at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th April 1859.
I, WILLIAM MACKENZIE, Publisher, of Glasgow, County Lanark, Scotland,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF PRINTING IMPRESSIONS UPON AN ENLARGED OR REDUCED SCALE, EITHER
FROM ENGRAVED PLATES, ELECTROTYPES, BLOCKS, DRAWINGS, OR OTHER SURFACES,"
to be as follows; and in as regards the aforesaid Invention I claim,-
Firstly, the mode of producing electrotype surfaces for printing or other
purposes either from engraved plates, wood blocks, electrotype, stereotype, or
other printing surfaces, when such electrotype blocks or surfaces have been
produced upon an enlarged or reduced scale from the original design or
impression, by means of the elastic properties of vulcanized indian-rubber or
other such suitable substances; and the manner in which I produce such
electrotypes may be understood briefly to be as follows; but I do not confine

page_text: myself to the particular mode herein described more than is sufficient to make
clear the nature of my Invention:-The plate, block, or impression being
selected, I lay a sheet of indian-rubber of suitable thickness upon its surface,
and then by means of hydraulic or screw pressure force the elastic material into
the interstices of the block or plate; this is then removed while under
pressure into suitable apparatus necessary for applying heat & completing the
vulcanizing process, and fix the impression or reverse of the block or plate
upon its surface, when the pressure is released. The impression is then
placed upon a suitable frame, & by means of its elastic property extended to
the required size, either in equal proportion, or otherwise, as may be desired,
inasmuch as if the design originally were round, it may be formed into an oval
or any other shape. While in this extended condition the surface is prepared
for electrotype either by a silver solution or other suitable medium, and when
the copper deposit is of sufficient thickness the electrotype is detached from
the mould.
Secondly, I claim the use of electrotypes made for printing or other
purposes upon an enlarged or reduced scale, when such electrotypes shall have
been made by the employment of any elastic material, transfering such
impression to a stone or other surface, such surface being afterwards treated
and prepared in such a manner as to produce the necessary depth and arrange-
ment of parts to produce an electrotype.
Thirdly, I claim the making of stereotype plates for printing or other
purposes when such are increased or diminished by the elastic properties of
vulcanized indian-rubber or any other suitable elastic substance.
4th, I claim a new method of stretching and regulating the size of any
such design, either proportionally or otherwise, and be it understood that I do
not bind myself to these particular modes of production; but what I wish
chiefly to claim is, the power of producing enlarged or reduced copies of any
surface, either electrotype, stereotype, or other similar material when such
impressions shall have been produced by the use of any elastic substance.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Mackenzie in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MACKENZIE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, Scotland, Gentleman, send 35
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Mackenzie, Her special licence that I, the said William Mackenzie, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Mackenzie, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PRINTING
IMPRESSIONS UPON AN ENLARGED OR. REDUCED SCALE, EITHER FROM ENGRAVED
PLATES, ELECTROTYPES, BLOCKS, DRAWINGS, OR OTHER SURFACES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Mackenzie, 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 William Mackenzie, 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:-
This Invention has for its object an improved method of printing
impressions upon an enlarged or reduced scale, either from engraved plates,
electrotypes, blocks, cylinders, drawings, or other surfaces, when such electro-
types, blocks, or other printing surfaces have been produced upon an enlarged
or reduced scale from the original design or impression, by means of the elastic
properties of vulcanized indian-rubber or other such suitable substances. A
piece of vulcanized indian-rubber or other elastic substance of suitable size and
thickness having been selected, the surface is first evenly washed with a thin coat
of any transfer composition, such as is known and in use amongst printers for
that purpose. When dry, the design or other intended object is transferred
upon its surface in transfer ink, either from an engraved plate, block, type, or
cylinder, by means of pressure with an ordinary press, or the drawing may ba
traced in transfer ink by hand at once upon its surface after the usual manner;
the sides of the elastic sheet are now secured to an adjusting frame and
stretched to the required dimensions, the frame being constructed in the
manner hereafter to be described, and while in this state of tension it is re-
transferred by the ordinary pressure usually applied for that purpose to such

page_text: material as is best adapted to receive the necessary manipulation to produce
that arrangement and depth of parts for an electrotype block, plate, or cylinder
for printing. One of the materials found suited to this purpose is rolled zinc
in plates about one-sixth of an inch in thickness, but other substances are
found equally well adapted to receive the design for after treatment. The
plate of zinc being cut to the required size, the surface is prepared to receive
the impression by being first well scoured with pumicestone, and afterwards
granulated with fine sand, until the surface presents an even texture, free from
all marks and grease. In this state the drawing or design, having previously
received the degree of dampness requisite, is applied in its enlarged or reduced
scale to the surface with pressure; the transfer composition being afterwards
washed off the plate, as is well understood, gum is applied to the surface of
the zinc together with a weak solution of nut galls, the design is then inked in
with the roller in the usual manner. A conducting wire being attached to
the plate, the sides and back are coated over with some resinous material, such
as Brunswick black, and the whole immersed in a trough containing a solution
of sulphate of copper or other exciting solution, either saturated or otherwise,
as may be found necessary according to the nature of the material to be acted
upon. By contact with a galvanic battery as a positive electrode in connection
with an electro-negative metal, the surface of the zinc will, by galvanic agency,
be removed in all those parts not covered by the design, and protected by the
ink or other bituminous matter superimposed upon the lines of the design or
drawing; thus an electrotype of raised lines will be produced corresponding in
every way in an enlarged or reduced scale with the original design. When
the object to be electrotyped requires additional depth in portions of its surface,
those parts are exposed to the electro-galvanic action for a longer period, the
surrounding parts being protected by a coating of any bituminous matter such
as herein-before mentioned. The quantity or intensity of the current used
depends upon the nature and size of the metal operated upon, but under ordinary
circumstances better effects are produced when a quantity current is employed
from a single cell or series of cells combined to form a quantity arrange-
ment, under such circumstances a few minutes suffice to produce the requisite
galvanograph. When a reverse effect is required, that is to say, an impression
with the lines of the original design sunk in the manner of an engraved plate,
the electrotype with the raised lines upon it becomes the matrix or mould upen
which to deposit copper by means of electro-galvanic action, and the crust
removed in the form of a plate for ordinary printing purposes, the surface
being first burnished and prepared after the manner of copper plates, or the
following method, which I also employ, may be used to produce the same effect:-

page_text: If it is an engraved plate that requires to be copied upon an enlarged or reduced
scale, the plate is first well cleaned out with ley to remove all ink and grease
from the lines; the surface of the plate is then rolled over carefully with a roller
and transfer ink, care being taken to keep the ink only upon the surface, those
portions that are much sunk being afterwards dabbed in with a small dabber
to regulate the ink; an impression of the plate, thus charged, is then
pulled on transfer paper and laid down either direct on to the indian-rubber
sheet for enlarging or reducing, or, which I prefer, on to a lithographic stone
or zinc plate, and brought up and etched as is well understood before it is
applied to the indian-rubber; by this means a clear and sharp reverse of
the plate is obtained, the black or cut lines of the plate being left white; the
reverse after being enlarged or reduced is transferred from the indian-rubber to
the zinc or other surface, and subjected to the electrotype process as before
described, when all such white lines become sunk after the manner of the
original plate, only upon the enlarged or reduced scale; the requisite gradation
of depth of line is obtained by the stopping-out process, as is well understood
and in common use by engravers, or instead of the electrotype, if required, acid
may be employed for the same purpose.
An
When I require to make an engraved plate from a block or other raised
surface, a different process is used to obtain the negative or reverse.
impression taken in common ink is transferred, as is well understood, to a
stone, the surface of which has previously been washed over with gum water.
Gold or silver leaf, or some equally suitable material, is then laid over the
whole, and which, when subjected to pressure, adhers to the ink; the surface
of the stone is then carefully dusted off, leaving the impression in gold or other
material used. Transfer ink is then washed over the whole surface, and the
impression brought up, as is well understood, white lines or spaces being left.
in place of the covered parts. The negative of the block or other raised surface
being now obtained, it is transferred to the elastic sheet, stretched or
diminished, and procceded with as before described.
I use the same process or processes to produce enlarged or reduced copies of
any printing surface or matter on cylinders or blocks for printing calico, paper,
or for embossing purposes.
Sometimes also I employ the following method to produce the mould for the
electrotype, if required, from plates or blocks, or from moulds made from them
for the purposes of embossing or printing :-A sheet of indian-rubber of suitable
thickness is laid upon its surface, and by means of pressure. is forced into
the interstices of of the mould or block, and in this state it is secured by screw
plates, and removed into suitable apparatus such as in general use for applying

page_text: the heat requisite to complete the vulcanizing process, and fix the impression
or reverse of the plate or block upon its surface when the pressure is removed.
The elastic sheet is then placed upon the frame and extended to the required
size, either in equal proportion or otherwise, as may be desired, inasmuch as
if the design originally were round, it may be formed into an oval or any other
shape. In this extended condition the mould is prepared for the electrotype
process by washing over with a thin coating of nitrate of silver or some other
suitable conducting medium, and placed in the battery as before described;
when a sufficient thickness of copper has been deposited, the mould is removed,
and the electrotype used for the purpose of printing or otherwise.
The frame for extending the sheet is composed of four stout pieces of wood
or metal firmly fixed together in a rectangular shape, the inner edge of two of
the sides being bevelled to receive two interior sliders working on them across
the frame up and down their whole length; these sliders are formed of two
pieces clamped together by screws, and serve to. fix the ends of the elastic
material, so that on their being drawn asunder the sheet stretches the required
length; should the design require to be extended proportionably, these sliders
are provided with a long slot, into which, by means of pius, slide freely up
and down as many small clamps, one inch wide, as are required to make
up the width of the sheet before tension, and constructed so as to be fixed
into any position required along the slot; these small clamps being fixed to the
ends of the sheet, it is drawn out the required length either by screws working
through the sides of the rectangular frame into the long transverse sliders, or
by cords passing through a series of holes in the sliders and over the frame.
Similar clamp pieces, the length of the extended sheet, are fixed to its sides
and distended in a similar manner, the small clamps gradually separating
along the slot as the sheet attains the required proportion.
To obtain reduced impressions of any design, the elastic material is first
stretched to the required size, and while in this condition, the drawing plate or
other printing surface is transferred to its surface in the manner herein-before
described, and afterwards, when the sheet has regained its natural size, the
process of electrotyping and transferring to zinc or other suitable surface is
completed.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, when I require to make copies upon
an enlarged or reduced scale from any engraved plate, block, die, cylinder, or
other printing surface, either as engraved plates, blocks, dies, cylinders, or
other printing surfaces, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the exact details described; but what I claim is, the making

page_text: electrotypes blocks, plates, or dies upon an enlarged or reduced scale, for
printing or other purposes, when such electrotypes shall have been made by
the employment of any elastic material transferred and prepared in the manner
described, to give the necessary depth and arrangement of parts to produce the
electrotype plate, block, die, or other printing surface; and further I claim
the making of moulds and stereotype plates in place of electrotypes, when
such have been increased or diminished by the elastic properties of vulcanized
indian-rubber or other elastic substance; and be it understood that I do not
bind myself to these particular modes of production, but what I wish chiefly
to claim is, the power of producing enlarged or reduced copies of any surface,
either in electrotype, stereotype, or other similar material for printing or other
purposes, when such electrotypes, blocks, or plates shall have been produced
by the use of an elastic substance.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Mackenzie, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
WILLIAM MACKENZIE. (L.S.)
Witness,
NATHANIEL J. HOLMES.