A METHOD OF OBTAINING IMPRESSIONS FROM DIES AND OTHER ENGRAVED AND FIGURED SURFACES BY STAMPING OR PRESSURE
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of the firm
of Robertson, Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"A METHOD OF OBTAINING IMPRESSIONS FROM DIES AND OTHER
ENGRAVED AND FIGURED SURFACES BY STAMPING OR PRESSURE."—
A communication.
ealed the 27th October 1853, and dated the. 12th August 1853..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard
Archibald Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th August 1853.
Specification.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of the firm of Robertson, Provisional
Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A METEOD OF OETAINING IMPRESSIONS FROM DIES AND
OTHER ENGRAVED AND FIGURED SURFACES BY STAMPING OR PRESSURE
to be as follows:-
At the bottom of a socket or cylinder open at top, the die or

page_text: engraved surface is placed, and immediately upon it the blank on
which the impression is to be produced, and on this blank is placed
a layer of some clastic or spring-like material, such as caoutchouc,
gutta percha, the new composition of gelatine and sulphate of
iron, for which I have applied for Letters Patent, of even date
herewith, or other suitable yielding material, and on the top of
this is a piston or mandril which fits and hermetically closes the
cylinder and rises a little above it. I place the whole in a press,
and apply strong pressure, when the design on the die or other
surface will be reproduced upon the blank. When the impression
is to be obtained on any thin material, such as silk, it is advisable
to fix it upon cardboard.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Richard Archibald Broonian, in the
- Great Seal Patent Office, on the 11th February 1854. - .
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of the firm of Robertson,
Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,
in the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Richard Archibald
Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard Archibald
Broonian, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, ad-
ministrators, 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 "A METHOD OF OBTAINING IMPRESSIONS FROM DIES AND OTHER

page_text: ENGRAVED AND FIGURED SURFACES BY STAMPING OR PRESSURE," com- S
municated to me by a foreigner residing abroad, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Archibald
Brooman; by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Richard Archibald Brooman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
imanner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and, ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is
to say:
The Invention consists in the employment or interposition of a
plastic substance, capable of becoming softened by the application
of heat or moisture, between the object on which tlie impression
is to be produced, and the pressing or stamping instrument 'by
which the pressure or stamping action is applied. The substances
which may be advantageously employed in this manner are ex-
tremely numerous;; they should possess, as a distinctive charac-
teristic, the property of softening by gentle heat, or of absorbing
moisture from the air. Amongst these may be mentioned 'gutta
perclia, caoutchouc, gums capable of softening by heat, a mixture
of gelatine, sawdust, and tân oil, or of gelatine and sulphate of
iron (such as the compositions described in the Specification of a
Patent granted to inc, of even date herewith, för "Certain new
compounds which may be employed for mouldings, frames, and
many purposes to which wood, papier maché, plaster, gutta
percha, and other like substances are applicable"); and, lastly,
vegetable and animal oils mixed in different proportions. with
wheat; flour, or any other feculent powder, or with sawdust:
To overcome the difficulties of applying the ordinary process of
stamping to sheets of veneer, however thin, cardboard, paper, and

page_text: stuffs, it was necessary to discover a means of applying the force
of the stamping press, not directly to the object to be stamped;
but (as effectively) through the intervention of a plastic body. It
was necessary for this purpose to interpose between the instru-
inment of pressure and the object to be stamped a soft and plastic
substance, placed so as to receive the impression of the design,
and to preserve the object to be stamped from injury, such a
substance as gutta percha, caoutchouc, or any of those above
mentioned.
The manner in which the Invention is carried into effect is as
follows::
At the bottom of a socket or cylinder open at top is placed the
lie or engraved surface, and immediately upon it the blank on
which the impression is to be produced; on this blank is placed
a layer of some elastic or spring-like material, such as caoutchouc,
gutta percha, the new compositions of gelatine, sawdust, and tan
oil, or gelatine and sulphate of iron above mentioned, or other
suitable yielding material, and on the top of this is introduced a
piston or mandril which fits and hermetically closes the cylinder,
and rises a little above it. The whole is then placed in a press,
and strong pressure applied, when the design on the die or other
surface will be reproduced upon the blank. When the impres-
sion is to be obtained on any thin material, such as silk, it is
advisable to fix it upon cardboard. Thus prepared, it is placed
in the open cylinder on the engraved die; above it is placed a
layer of yielding material of the softer kind, such as gutta percha
or caoutchouc, then the mandril is introduced, and the whole
submitted to pressure, as before described.
When the impression is to be obtained on thicker or harder
objects, it is better to employ, instead of gutta percha or caout-
chouc, a substance of more solidity, such as the compound of
gelatine, saw dust, and tan oil, described in the Specification of
the Patent before mentioned; or a mixture of vegetable or animal
oil with feculent matters or sawdust. In these cases, care must.

page_text: be taken to mould the blocks or layers of the material of larger
size than they are actually required, so as to allow for the 'con-
traction which they undergo in drying.
By this process of stamping, and without altering the mode of
operation, articles can also be produced in marquetry or mosaic
work. In this case, the object which is to be reproduced in
marquetry is placed on the engraved die or stamp, and the plastic
material and mandril are introduced into the cylinder or socket.
as before directed, and the pressure is then applied. The detached
material which is to form the marquetry, and which has been cut
out before-hand, drives back the wood under the action of the
pressure, becomes inlaid in it, and thrusts it back into the plastic
matter.
Whatever may be the objects produced by this improved pro-
cess, and whatever their nature, after they have been perfectly
dried they may be varnished, bronzed, or gilt, according to the
particular purpose for which they are designed.
When this improved process is adopted, it matters not what is
the thickness, the resisting power, or the nature of the materials
to be stamped. The stamping is effected in every case with
facility and without injury, whether the operation is performed
on sheet metal, veneers, stuffs, cardboard, &c. There is no fear
that the stamping will affect or deteriorate the quality of the
objects on which it is performed. The plastic material inter-
posed between the pressing instrument and the object to be
stamped receives the force of the pressure which would other-
wise break that object, and preserves it, and prevents its being
crushed.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that
what I claim as constituting the said Invention is,-
The mode of obtaining impressions from dics and other en-
graved and figured surfaces by stamping or pressure, as herein-
before described; that is to say, by the use or application of a

page_text: plastic or fielding material interposed between the object on
which the impression is to be produced and the stamping or
pressing instrument for the purpose berein-before mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day
of February, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
R. A. BROOMAN. (LS.)