IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR GRAINING AND EMBOSSING LEATHER, SKINS, CARDBOARD, CLOTH, PAPER, AND OTHER MATERIALS IN IMITATION OF MOROCCO, AND OTHERWISE ORNAMENTING THE SAME
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PRESSES FOR GRAINING AND EMBOSSING LEATHER, SKINS, CARDBOARD,
CLOTH, PAPER, AND OTHER MATERIALS IN IMITATION OF MOROCCO, AND
OTHERWISE ORNAMENTING THE SAME." A communication from abroad by
Alphonse Henri Léonold Oudry. of Paris, France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st May 1878.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in tho County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR GRAINING AND EMBOSSING
LEATHER, SKINS, CARDBOARD, CLOTH, PAPER, AND OTHER MATERIALS IN IMITA-
TION OF MOROCCO, AND OTHERWISE ORNAMENTING THE SAME." [A communication
from abroad by Alphonse Henri Léopold Oudry, of Paris, France.]
This Invention relates to a machine for graining and embossing leather, skins,
cardboard, cloth, paper, and other materials in imitation of morocco, and otherwise
ornamenting the same.
The embossing of leather and other materials has hitherto been generally effected
by pressure with the aid of heated hand tools, and the object of this Invention is to
replace theso tedious and costly hand work by mechanical means, whereby a con-
siderable economy both in time and expense is effected.
The Invention consists in the employment of an india-rubber or other elastic
diaphragm or membrane, which receives the pressure of a liquid or gaseous fluid,
and transmits it directly to the leather or other material placed upon a die bearing
the grain or other design to be reproduced.
It will be evident that the arrangement and construction of the press may be
varied, and the Invention includes any press provided with an extensible or elastic
diaphragın or membrane operating in the manner above mentioned.

page_text: By means of this Invention all kinds of leather, paper, and other materials may
be embossed with designs or marks, whereby a cheap class of products may be
obtained suitable for hangings, seat coverings, upholstery, and other decorative
purposes, and also for the better kind of bookbinding.
The accompany Drawing shows by way of example an embossing press arranged
according to this Invention.
Figure 1 is a central vertical section of the press taken on line 1-2, Figure 3;
Figure 2 is a front view, and Figure 3 a top view of same.
The same letters of reference are used in three Figures to designate the same
parts.
The press is composed of two plates a and b, with a cavity or chambor
between them in which the pressure is produced and applied, the plates being
rigidly connected by screw bolts c, and supported upon a base frame d. The upper
plate a carries the india-rubber or other diaphragm e, which is stretched over a
rectangular frame f, and clamped between it and plate a by screw bolts g; i, space
to contain the die j and the leather or other material to be embossed placed upon
it; h, slide for closing the space i; l, chamber in which the pressure of water or
other liquid or fluid is produced.
The action is as follows:-The dio j bearing the counterpart of the design or
marks to be reproduced, and upon which is fixed the leather or other material k to
be operated upon, is first introduced at opening m, and placed upon the bed plate b,
as shown. The hand wheel o and screw are then turned so as to lock the
plates a, b, firmly together, and at same time act on the levers p, p, to bring down
the slide h, and close the space i before the pressure is applied. Water or other
liquid or fluid is then introduced by a pump or otherwise through piper into the
chamber above the diaphragm e, which is distended, and caused to exert a power-
ful pressure upon the whole surface of the leather or other material k, whereby it is
made to receive the impress of the design engraved on the die j. The pressure is
then relieved by letting off the water or other fluid by a cock, and the slide / raised
by means of hand wheel o, after which the die bearing the embossed material may
be removed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th November 1878.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESSES FOR GRAINING AND EMBOSSING
LEATHER, SKINS, CARDBOARD, CLOTH, PAPER, AND OTHER MATERIALS IN IMITA-
TION OF MOROCCO, AND OTHERWISE ORNAMENTING THE SAME." A communication
from abroad by Alphonse Henri Léopold Oudry, of Paris, France.
This Invention relates to a machine for graining and embossing leather, skins,
cardboard, cloth, paper, and other materials in imitation of morocco, and otherwise
ornamenting the same.
The embossing of leather and other materials has hitherto been generally effected
by pressure with heated tools, and the object of this Invention is to provide a
mechanical means of producing the same effects as by the tedious and costly hand
tooling, whereby considerable economy both in time and expense is effected.
The Invention consists in the employment of an elastic or extensible diaphragm
or membrane of india-rubber or other material, which receives the pressure of a
liquid or gaseous fluid, and transmits it directly to the leather or other material to
be ornamented, which is placed upon a die bearing in cameo or intaglio a counter-
part of the grain or other design to be reproduced.
By means of this Invention all kinds of leather, paper, and other materials may
be embossed with designs or marks at a comparatively small expense, the material
thus ornamented being suitable for hangings, couch and chair coverings, and for
upholstering and other docorative purposes generally, and also for the better kind
of bookbinding.
The accompanying Drawing shows by way of example an embossing press pro-
vided with a diaphragm, and constructed to work according to this Invention.
Figure 1 is a central vertical section of the press taken on line 1-2, Figure 3;
Figure 2 is a front view, and Figure 3 a top view of the same.
The samo lottors of reference are used in the three Figures to designate the same
parts.
The press is composed of two plates a and b, with a cavity or chamber between
them, in which the pressure is produced and applied, the plates being rigidly con-
nected by screw bolts c, and supported upon a base frame d. The upper plate a
carries the india-rubber or other diaphragm e, which is stretched over a rectangular
frame, and clamped between it and plate a by screw bolts g; j is the die and k
the leather or other material to be embossed placed upon it, and both contained in
a space between the plate b and the diaphragm e, the entrance to which is closed
i
by a slide h, Figure 1; 7 is the chamber in which the pressure of water or other
liquid or fluid is produced.
The action is as follows:-The die j bearing the counterpart of the design or
marks to be reproduced, and upon which is fixed the leather or other material k to
be operated upon, is first introduced into the space i through the opening m, and
placed upon the bed plate b. The hand wheel o and screw are then turned so as
to lock the plates a, b, firmly together, and at same time act on the levers p, p, to
bring down the slide h, and close the entrance to the space i before the pressure is
applied. Water or air or other gaseous or liquid fluid is then introduced by a
pump or other suitable means through piper, Figure 3, into the chamber & above
the diaphragm e, which by the pressure exerted by the liquid or fluid upon it is
distended, and caused to transmit this powerful pressure over the entire surface of
the leather or other material k, and cause it to receive the impress of the design
engraved on the die j. When the pressure has been sufficiently applied, it is then
1elieved by letting off the water or other fluid by a cock; the slide h is then raised

page_text: by means of hand wheel o, and the die bearing the embossed material may then be
removed.
It will be evident that the arrangement and construction of the press may be
varied, and the Invention includes any press provided with an extensible or elastic
diaphragm or membrane operating in the manner above mentioned.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of performing the
same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the employment in a suitably constructed
press, and in combination with a die or its equivalent, of an elastic or extensible
diaphragm or membrane, applied in such way as to transmit the pressure of a
fluid to the leather or other material placed on the said die, substantially as and for
the purposes herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)