AN IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCING THIN METALLIC SHELLS ADAPTED TO PRINTING."
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isaac Taylor, of Stanford Rivers, in the County of
Essex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCING
THIN METALLIC SHELLS ADAPTED TO PRINTING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Isaac Taylor at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd June
1854.
I, ISAAC TAYLOR, of Stanford Rivers, in the County of Essex, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
PRODUCING THIN METALLIC SHELLS ADAPTED TO PRINTING" to be as follows:-
Heretofore various means of producing thin metal shells, adapted to the
purpose of being engraved and printed from, have been proposed.
This Invention consists of employing sheet metal for such purpose in the
following manner:-A sheet of copper or other suitable metal is bent round a
mandril or stock, its two edges being turned over so that the turned edges may,
when the sheet is beut round the mandril, be inwards, and in the direction
of the radius. The two bent edges are to be secured in their juxtaposition
by rivets or otherwise. The outer surfaces of the two bends thus brought
together, and presenting a double protrusion, are then subjected to great

page_text: pressure, so as to reduce these protrusions to the level of the general surface of
the cylinder, and at the same time so as to produce such a continuity of the
metallic substance as that a planishing tool in passing over the joint may
cause the line of contact to disappear. The shell, as thus jointed, receives a
general planishing and polishing, and is then in a state to receive the engraving.
The shell is fixed to the cylinder or mandril for use in any convenient
manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Isaac Taylor in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd
December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISAAC
TAYLOR, of Stanford Rivers, in the County of Essex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Isaac Taylor, Her special licence that I, the said Isaac Taylor, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Isaac
Taylor, 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 IMPROVEMENT IN PRODUCING
THIN METALLIC SHELLS ADAPTED TO PRINTING," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Isaac Taylor, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and scal, 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 Isaac Taylor do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment thereof (that is to say):
The use of ponderous cylinders of copper or brass for the purpose of calico
printing, and other similar operations, has prevailed from various causes, which,
well known as they are need not here be particularly mentioned; these reasons,

page_text: however, have been supposed to render so expensive and cumbersome a
practice unavoidable. Nevertheless, it is well understood, that a method
which involves an outlay disproportionably large, in relation to the result, and
which necessitates the locking up of capital for long periods of time, which
might be usefully employed, is in the highest degree disadvantageous; conse-
quently, endeavours have frequently been made to introduce metallic shells of
no greater, weight and substance than is found to be actually requisite for sup-
porting an engraving, and for resisting the strain and torsion of the printing
machine. What this minimum thickness may be must be determined, partly
by the method adopted for engraving the roller, but chiefly by a regard to the
structure of the printing machine; and it is proper here to state, that shells
made of that extreme thinness which it is the object of my Invention to pro-
duce, are supposed to be engraved in the mode that is now successfully
employed under my Patent for that purpose, and also that such shells shall be
printed by machines on the construction of my Patent, of March the Twenty-
first, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, or of that of July the Fifteenth,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three. Shells engraved by mill and dye,
and printed also by any machines now ordinarily in use, may indeed be pro-
duced in the method now about to be described; but in that case the metallic
crust must be of considerably greater thickness than otherwise would be
required.
Little success has hitherto attended the endeavours that have been made to
produce and to make available shells of much less substance than those ordi-
narily employed, for it has been found that the manufacture of such shells, in
any way that includes the brazing a joint throughout their length necessarily
fails, from the fact that however fine the actual join may be, even though it be
invisible to the naked eye, yet the employment of a flux in effecting the joint
has the effect of imparting more or less density or hardness to the metal bor-
dering upon that joint, and which in fact is converted into an alloy. This
strip of metal, differing as it must in density from the roller itself, does not
fail to show itself as soon as the printing has proceedled long enough to wear
the engraving, for then the work upon the margin of the point shows a stronger
or a weaker shade upon the piece than does the rest of the surface. As to the
various methods that have been or that are now in use for manufacturing
rollers, by casting cylindric ingots or tubes, which require to be hammered out
or rolled, or by some other means brought to the proper dimensions, these
methods have the disadvantage of requiring great height of metal in the
casting, so as to get clear of the spongey head, and they also require a great
cost of labor in the manufacture, which together constitute a very large per-

page_text: centage upon the value of the bullion contained in the roller when finished.
Now as the roller is charged to the printer by the manufacturer according to
the weight of the entire mass, the former pays this extra cost per pound, not
only upon that part of the substance of which in course of time he actually
avails himself for successive engravings, but he also pays per pound at precisely
the same rate upon that large part of the whole substance of which he never
makes any use, and for which, when he finally returns it to the manufacturer,
he is credited only by the value of the raw copper. As to any methods of
producing jointless cylinders by forging them from ingots, or dises, or in any
other manner, I believe they have been found to be precarious and costly,
especially so inasmuch as they require very expensive machinery to produce
them. Moreover, the cost of the manufacture increases in a rapid ratio in
proportion to the increased diameter and length of the roller; whereas, in the
method now to be described, the manufacturing cost is little greater in pro-
ducing a cylinder of large diameter or of great length than for one of the
usual dimensions. A metallic shell which does not exceed the twentieth or
even the thirtieth of an inch is, I believe, amply sufficient both for receiving
an engraving and for the purposes of printing, supposing the machine to be
adapted to the printing of such shells. The qualities which ought, in my opinion,
to belong to a shell which shall meet and satisfy all the requirements of the
engraver and of the printer on woven fabrics, are these four First, that the
metal shall be in a state of uniform density throughout its substance and not
merely on its surface; secondly, that the surface shall be highly polished, so
as to clean well under the doctor, and to show a sharp and sustained impres-
sion on the piece; thirdly, that it shall be easily put upon its mandril for
printing, and as easily removeable, and that this oporation shall not involve
risk to the engraving by the employment of force; and, fourthly, that the
engraving itself shall be removable or be easily discharged when it is to give
place to another, and that this erasure should be effected by some other means
than that of turning off; in a word, that the erasing of an engraving should not
involve any appreciable loss of metal. For producing metallic shells of the
minimum substance,-and-which in the above-named respects shall meet and
satisfy the requirements of both the processes to which they are to be adapted,
namely, the engraving and the printing, my method is this:-I employ copper
sheeting (or brass, or any other alloy, if such be preferred,) the metal, of what-
ever kind it be, should be chosen, first, in regard to its quality, as the very
purest and best; and, secondly, as having been manufactured in the best
manner, so as to be free from all fleakes, holes, and flaws, and from foreign
particles imbedded in the surface. The sheeting as thus selected, and when

page_text: cut into the required sizes, according to the intended dimensions of the shells,
is to be prepared for the subsequent operations by several annealings and
rollings between cylinders, until it presents a surface that is free from inequali-
ties, and that is mechanically true. A metallic sheet being thus prepared, it is
curled upon a mandril, having a slot along its length, as shown in the Drawing,
Figure 1, and which is also recessed at its two opposite sides, in the manner
that is also there shown. The two approaching edges of the sheet. are then
turned over upon a square edge inwards as to the shell, and each in
the direction of the radius of the cylinder when brought together.
This stock or mandril has a protuberance at its very angle, as shown in the
Drawing. These folded edges or margins, being brought into perfect me-
chanical contact, are inserted in the fold of a strip of metal, say, of copper,
in the manner shown in the Drawing, Figure 2, and then this folded strip
with its contents is nipped together by the action of a lever applied to successive
portions of it interiorly. If thought desirable, copper rivets may be passed at
intervals through this fold, so as to secure it against any accidental disruption
when the shell is removed from the mandril, herein afterwards to be described.
In turning over the two edges of the sheet, as has now been mentioned, each
edge at the very angle is so brought upon a slightly projecting rib as to give
it a corresponding protuberance, in the manner represented in the Drawings,
Figure 1 and Figure 2. When, therefore, the two edges are brought together,
and secured in the manner now mentioned, these two protuberances form a
double nib along the length of the shell, and together they contain a small
excess of metal as related to the general surface. This excess of metallic
substance supplies what is required in the after process of effecting an invisible
joint.
The shell, which is now mechanically entire, is next shod upon a mandril in
two parts, held together by bolts, placed at intervals in its length, and which is
carefully adapted on its upper and under surfaces to the dimensions of the
shell; when complete, the two lateral portions, speaking of the two parts as
constituting one mandril, being recessed so as to facilitate the removal of the
one body from the other, as is shewn in the Drawing, Figure 3. The shell on
its mandril is thus placed within the nip of a machine, such as the one pre-
sently to be described, and where it is subjected throughout the extent of the
joint, a small part of it at. a time, to a mechanical pressure, so great as to
bring the two metallic surfaces into absolute contact, the protruding nib con-
taining, as it does, metal enough for completing a superficial continuity; so
that when a planishing tool is afterwards passed over the line of. combination,
that line ceases to be visible, and is available for the purposes of engraving

page_text: and printing. This species of combination is that which takes place in those
parts of a roller in which, according to the common practice, a plug is inserted,
which plug, though easily removeable, is not to be detected (if it has been
properly inserted) even by the microscope. In the operation of effecting an
invisible joint, as here described, the essential conditions are these two :-First,
the having an available excess of metal along the join for constituting the
joint; and, secondly, this, that the line of contact between the two metallic
surfaces shall always be in the direction of the radius of the cylinder, by which
means the wearing of the surface in the printing machine does not bring out
laminated edges or folds, the joint being throughout perpendicular to the sur-
face. It is manifest, that if these two essential conditions are observed, the
actual joint may be effected, as well as the after process of planishing and
polishing, in more than one mode, and by such means as are constantly
employed in similar operations, and which, being familiarly known, need not
be here described.
The machine represented in the Drawing, Figure 4, and presently to be
described, is found to be a convenient and effective means of obtaining that
degree of severe pressure or nip which is required in producing the joint.
The shell, when completed, and when it has been duly planished and polished
in the usual modes, or in any mode that may be thought the most expeditious
and effective, is lodged upon an expanding mandril while in the hands of the
engraver, the construction of which will vary, according to the method of
engraving to which it is to be subjected. When it has been engraved, and
when it comes into the hands of the printer, it is placed upon a mandril, that
must also be adapted to the machine to which it is destined. The Drawing,
Figure 5, represents an expanding mandril, adapted to either of the printing
machines lately patented by me, and which have been referred to above. This
expanding mandril is an iron shell, of such thickness as may be found requisite,
and which is constituted of four pieces, namely, the two corresponding pieces
a and a, and the two wedge pieces b and c, which, when driven home and
secured by a cross piece in a groove, throw a nip upon the folds of the joint at
d, bearing always upon the superficial-part-of it, and preventing any disruption
of the same; e, e, c, c, is the metallic shell.
Description of the jointing machine, represented in Drawing, Figure 4:-
A, A, A, a casting, which gives support to the working parts of the machine.
The form of this casting is shown in the sectional plan of one side through X, Y.
This frame is of course firmly bolted down to its foundations, which should be
perfectly solid. B, B, is a fitting, bolted on to the right-hand side of the
machine, and giving support to the shafts and wheels, which effect the advance

page_text: of the shell by successive movements through the machine.
C is the end of
a box or carriage, with its lid d, d, in the cylindrical cavity of which the
metallic shell is lodged, with the supporting stock or bar b, which is of the
length of the shell, and is turned on its upper and under surfaces, to fit
the dimensions of the shell. a, a, shows the shell in its position upon the
stock; and as lodged in the carriage or box. This carriage takes its bearing
upon the frame at its shoulders s, s. e, e, are the bars or levers, forming a
knuckle joint, pivoted in the adjustable block f above, and in the corre-
sponding block 9 beneath, which rises and falls in grooves, and which on its
under surface carries a dic, adapted as to shape and dimensions to the
particular effect that is intended to be produced by it upon the shell or joint.
This knuckle joint receives its motion to and fro from the horizontal bar i, i, i,
passing through mortices in the opposite cheeks of the machine. This bar
is jointed on to a crank or an eccentric, receiving its motion from the steam
power.
At the rear of the machine is another horizontal bar k, k, parallel with the
one now, mentioned, and which takes on to the same shaft, but upon a crank
of a longer radius, and which is set at a right angle with that moving the
bar i, i. This parallel bar, which is shewn in part at k and k, and which passes
through a guide at r, branches out, so as to enclose the wheel I, and has attached
to it two triggers or catches, adjustable as to their places and distance one from
the other, and which work the opposite sides of the ratchet wheel 7. At every
pass of the bar, therefore, these triggers act alternately upon this wheel, giving
it an intermitted rotatory motion to a certain extent, and which motion takes
place at the moment when the dye is raised from the shell. The shaft of this
wheel is socketted at o, into that to which are attached the pair of opposed
bevil wheels n and u. These, by the lever q, give a reversed movement to the
bevil wheel and shaft t, t, which shaft by its screw conveys movement to the
shaft p, as shewn in the elevation of the machine, and upon which is the pinion
a, which takes into a rack running the entire length of the carriage C. By
these adjustments, therefore, the carriage, with the shell and stock included,
is carried forward an eighth of an inch, more or less, as may be found best
at cach movement of the bark to and fro, that is to say, as often as the die,
by the rise of the block g, is raised from the surface of the shell upon which
it is to act.
By the action of the machine, as thus described and delineated, an extreme
pressure is applied to the whole length of the joint upon the shell, each impact
of the die extending over a length of the joint, which may be twice or three
times the distance which the carriage advances at every beat of the machine,

page_text: so that two, three, or more impacts of the die are brought to bear upon every
part of the joint.
The shell having passed in this manner once throughout its length beneath
the die, a reversed action may be given to the shaft and pinion, so as to repeat
the operation, if that be found requisite or desirable. When this operation
has been completed, a planishing tool is passed over the joint, so as to remove
any inequalities of surface, and the shell receives a general polish, which should
be effected by dry rubbing, not as is customary, by grinding with a stone and
'water.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isaac Taylor, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
ISAAC TAYLOR. (L.S.)