An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Reproducing Photographs, Sketches, and the like.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Oct., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 10th Feb., 1897-Accepted, 13th Mar.. 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Reproducing Photographs,
Sketches, and the like.
I, NOAH STEINER AMSTUTZ, of No. 27 Hillsdale Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, United
States of America, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the art of reproducing photographs, sketches and the like,
for printing or other purposes; and it consists in first forming the subject to be
reproduced with an uneven surface, and then causing a graver or cutter or other tool
to automatically interpret the subject upon another surface that is superimposed upon
the surface of the said subject, as hereinafter explained.
In carrying ont the said invention I prefer to employ a device whereby the subject
and the superimposed material, upon which the subject is to be reproduced, are moved
contiguous to a fixed cutter having a cross feed, but it will be apparent that the former
may be moved, in a horizontal direction, while the latter is held stationary.
The mechanism comprises a bed or base frame having guide ways formed for the
support of a slide rest, which carries the tool holder and which is moved by a feed
screw.
The relief surface and recording material are held superimposed upon a drum in
gear with the aforesaid feed screw and provided with a pair of slotted shafts that
receive the ends of the said relief surface and recording material. The said slotted
shafts are geared together and are used for drawing the relief surface and recording
material tightly
on the drum against each other. A suitable pawl serves to lock the
shafts in position.
The gears between the drum and feed screw can be replaced by others so that any
number of lines per inch can be used, depending upon the ratio of the change gears to
each other and to the feed screw.
In practising my method I first produce a photogelatine sketch or other relief
surface of the subject either as a positive or a negative, according to the kind of
the reproduction desired.
The relief subject thus produced is mounted upon the rotatable roller or drum
support and a reproducing sheet of yielding material such as gelatine, celluloid, soft
metal or the like, is placed directly against the relief subject. The recording material
is made preferably of a sheet or other yielding form so as to be secured against the
relief surface in an easy manner. The cutter is set with its point at a predetermined
distance from the relief surface support, a distance about the thickness of the film
more or less, upon which the subject is to be reproduced, and as the drum is rotated,
the reproducing material will be caused to move under the cutter in a to and fro
direction, according to the unevenness of the relief surface, causing the cutter to
record cuts of varying depth in the reproducing material and in this manner
automatically executing an engraving from the relief surface, which may be used, for
surface or steel plate" printing or embossing as desired according to whether the
cutter has a pointed or blunt end. It is understood that an intaglio surfaced subject
comes within the scope and general meaning of a relief surface, because one is simply

page_text: a counterpart of the other, and an uneven surface of any kind is intended to be
included under the general term "relief surface" whether the, unevenness varies
between maximum and minimum points or not.
Should a blunted cutter be used and the cuts occur near enough to each other to
overlap, then a duplicate relief surface is produced, which is serviceable for embossing,
die-printing, and the like. It is immaterial, however, whether the gravers, scorers, or
cutters are of the chisel or rotary form, or of any other type so long as the record
which is made by the tool is an indication of the design or subject reproduced, whether
the same shall be used for one purpose or another. A rotary cutter would be
preferable for engraving on thin sheets of steel, or other materials other than celluloid
or gelatine, the essential points to be attained being to cause the cutter to penetrate
the material, upon which the reproduction is to be made, a greater or less depth
according to the variations in light and shade or surface of the subject to be reproduced,
and transposing the relief variations, when ink-printing surfaces are desired, into
similar variations in lines at about right angles thereto, or if the reproduction is to be
simply another relief, or intaglio then the variations would be about on the same
to and fro plane as the variations of the subject that is to be reproduced.
With my method I am able to preserve a maximum amount of detail, with the
smallest number of lines per inch, upon subjects having small detail, thus producing
printing surfaces capable of being used for the most rapid press work upon daily
papers and the like. This requisite detail cannot be attained by the present well
known half-tone process, because if the "mesh" of the cross-lines is made coarse
enough to produce the necessary depth in etching them, some parts, for instance, the
eye, mouth or nose, of a small face would disappear entirely, no detail thereof being
presented because the opening of the mesh may be larger than the detail to be
reproduced. If perchance it should occur at the intersection of the lines of the mesh
then a very small indication might be obtained, but no depen lonce can be placed upon
these small details occurring at the proper place. It is impossible, in using my
method, to skip details with the coarsest lines, provided the angle of the cutter is
properly disposed relatively to the depth of cutting and the number of lines per inch,
since with a greater number of lines the relative depth of cutting must be increased,
that is to say it must be greater relatively to the width of cut than in the wider cuts,
or with coarser or a smaller number of lines. In half-tone engraving as ordinarily
practised the ratio of depth to the distance between centres of lines is almost a
constant value, while the finer lined suojects (more lines per inch) should have a
greater depth, that is the ratio between the depth and the distance between centres of
lines is different from coarse line work so that the fine line reproductions will stand
rapid press work, stereotyping and the like. In order to clearly show what is meant,
it is assumed that an ordinary half-tone with 80 lines per inch, or 0125 in. from
centre to centre of the lines, has between the lines a maximum depth of etching
of
the distance between the centres, in other words the relation would be 0125
to 00156, while with my system I am able to procure effects which numerically bear
the following relations to each other 0125 to 005, the depth being 005 in. as against
00156 in. In practice the relief surfaces used vary in maximum relief from 002 in.
to 004 in. and the thickness of the reproducing material from 005 in. to '012 in.
and 015. iu. If the cutter is so arranged that the maximum relief causes the cutter
to slightly overlap a contiguous cut so as to bring the apex of the pyramidal ridge,
formed between them, just even, or slightly below the normal face of the reproducing
material, then the maximum white or black effect is produced, according to the kind
of surface which is used, whether a positive or negative. When the relief is a
minimum then the cutter ordinarily penetrates the reproducing material slightly or
not at all; thus it will be seen that, no matter how small the detail (which may within
its small area vary between a maximum white and black and still be lost with coarse
half-tone lines) it will be indicated with my method, especially with any plan of
operation wherein the reproducing material is placed, in the shape of a yielding film,
sheet, or plate between the cutter and the relief-subject, because the small area of
detail, even if it occurs between two contiguous paths of the cutting, will have a

page_text: distinct effect upon the wall of the groove which occurs nearest to it, causing the
material to be cut away more or less, as the case may be, independently of the other
wall of the groove; thus making it possible for me to produce small faces of group
for example, in coarse enough lines and relatively deep enough lines and relatively
deep enough grooves for ordinary newspaper printing, without sacrificing detail.
For ordinary newspapers, or other printing if I desire to have a cross line effect I
first form parallel grooves of V or other shape upon one side of the material upon
which the reproduction is to be made; these grooves are made in the material at
about right angles to its path of travel, or 1 may so design the means for supporting
my films as to make it possible to retain their "register" and cut them directly from
the relief surface.
When the grooves are first cut in the reproducing material, the cutter, as it
subsequently passes over the other (or the same) side of the material, cuts uniformly
across these grooves, regardless of the variation of the relief surface thus producing
a cross line effect.
If the grooves are on the underside of the reproducing material, then the cutting on
the other side will he just a trifle shallower and narrower, as the cutter passes over
the grooves, thus breaking up the recording cuts into periodic variations independent
of the subject. When the grooves are formed on the face of the reproducing material
the ridges are broken up at right angles thereto, so that a "stipple" effect is produced
in contradistinction to the suggestive cross lines when the grooves are on the under side.
When a blunt cutter is employed the reproduction contains delicate relief lines in
conformity to the pattern on the under side.
J
My process is entirely automatic and very rapid. The relief surface can be
repeatedly used.
One of the great advantages of my invention is the possibility of. re-engraving a
subject within a few minutes, thus affording facility for correction.
By changing the adjustments of depth of the cutter, or recording tool, the
reproductions serve as ordinary printing plates. Stereotypes and electrotypes can be
made from them directly; or the films may be mounted upon suitable supports and
used for printing purposes. The reproductions when a blunt cutter is used may also
be utilised as embossing printing plates.
ليم
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant."
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Reproducing Photographs,
Sketches, and the like.
1, NOAH STEINER AMSTUTZ, of 27 Hillsdale Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of this 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 relates to the art of reproducing photographs, sketches and the like
for printing or other purposes; and it consists in first forming the subject to be
reproduced with an uneven surface and then causing a graver or cutter to automatically
interpret the subject upon another surface that is superimposed upon the surface of
the said subject, as hereinafter explained, the depths of the cuts varying in accordance
with the lights and shades of the acting surface.
In carrying out the said invention I prefer to employ a device, such as that
illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the subject and the superimposed

page_text: material upon which the subject is to be reproduced are rotated or otherwise moved
contiguous to a cutter having a cross-feed, but it will be apparent that the cutter
may be stationary and the subject be fed horizontally.
Referring to the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a cross-section of a greatly-enlarged portion of a relief-surface and
recording material with a cutter and support in diagrammatic relation thereto.
Figure 2 is a cross-section of a simple form of mechanism embodying the
features of my invention.
The mechanism shown in Figure 2 comprises a bed or base frame 6, having
guideways 15 formed for the support of the slide-rest 4, which is moved in the
guideways by the feed-screw 5 acting through the nut 16 projecting from the
slide-rest.
The feed-screw is supported by bosses 17, and at one end a change-gear 7 meshes
with a similar gear upon the drum-shaft. 8. The slide-rest carries the tool-
holder 3, which holds the recording-tool 1 through the set-screw 14.
The relief-surface and recording material are held superimposed as follows: The
drum 2 is furnished with a pair of slotted shafts 9, which have pinions 12 secured
thereon. These pinions mesh with each other, and when the sheets A B are placed
in the slots II and one of the shafts 9 is turned by a key placed upon the square
end 10 the said sheets are drawn tightly against each other. A suitable pawl
engages one of the pinions 12 and serves to lock them in position. The shafts 9 are
held in heads of the drum or cylinder 2, which has about the same diameter in the
drawings as the driver 13.
The change-gears 7 can be replaced by others, so that any number of lines per
inch can be used, depending upon the ratio of the change-gears to each other and to
the feed-screw.
In practising my method I first produce a photogelatin sketch or other relief-
surface of the subject which is to be reproduced by any of the processes adapted to
produce the same, such relief surface being a positive or negative, according to the
kind of the reproduction desired.
The relief-subject thus produced, which is indicated in the drawings by the
letter A, is mounted upon the rotatable roller or drum support 2, and a reproducing-
sheet of yielding material B, such as gelatin, celluloid, soft metals or the like is
placed directly against the relief-subject. The recording material is made, preferably,
of a sheet or other yielding form, so as to be secured against the relief-surface in an
easy manner. The cutter 1 is set with its point at a predetermined distance from
the relief surface support 2, a distance about the thickness of the film, more or less,
upon which the subject is to be reproduced, and as the drum 2 is rotated the
reproducing material will be caused to move under the cutter 1 in a to-and-fro
direction, according to the unevenness of the relief-surface A. In this way the
cutter 1 records cuts of varying depth in the reproducing material B and
automatically executes an engraving from the relief-surface, which may be used for
surface or steel-plate" printing or embossing, as desired, according to whether
the cutter has a pointed or blunt end. It is understood that an intaglio-surfaced
subject comes within the scope and general meaning of a "relief-surface," because
one is simply a counterpart of the other, and an uneven surface of any kind is
intended to be included under the general term "relief-surface," whether the
unevenness varies between maximum and minimum points or not.
as
Should blunted cutter be used and the cuts occur near enough to each other
to overlap, then a duplicate relief-surface is produced which is serviceable for
embossing, die-printing and the like. It is immaterial, however, whether the gravers,
scorers, or cutters are of the chisel or rotary form or of any other type, so long
the record which is made by the tool is an indication of the design or subject
reproduced, whether the same shall be used for one purpose or another. A rotary
cutter would be preferable for engraving on thin sheets of steel or other materials
other than celluloid or gelatin, the essential points to be attained being to cause the
cutter to penetrate the material upon which the reproduction is to be made a

page_text: greater or less depth, according to the variations in light and shade or surface of
the subject to be reproduced, and transposing the relief-variations, when ink-printing
surfaces are desired, into similar variations in lines at abont right angles thereto, or
if the reproduction is to be simply another relief or intaglio then the variations
would be about on the same to-and-fro plane as the variations of the subject that is
to be reproduced.
"
With my method I am able to preserve a maximum amount of detail with the..
smallest number of lines per inch upon subjects having small detail, thus producing
printing-surfaces capable of being used for the most rapid press work upon daily
papers and the like. This requisite detail cannot be attained by the well-known
half-tone process heretofore used, because if the "mesh" of the cross-lines is made
coarse enough to produce the necessary depth in etching thein, some parts, for
instance the eye or mouth or nose of a small face would disappear entirely, no detail
thereof being preserved at all, because the opening of the mesh may be larger than
the detail to be reproduced. If perchance it should occur at the intersection of the
lines of the mesh, then a very small indication might be obtained, but no dependence
can be placed upon these small details occurring at the proper place. It is impossible
in my method to skip any details with the coarsest lines, provided the angle of the
cutter is properly disposed in relation to the depth of cutting and the number of
lines per inch more especially the relation between the angle and the number of
lines per inch, since with a greater number of lines the relative depth of cutting
must be increased or must be greater in relation to the width of cut than in the
wider cuts or coarser or smaller number of lines.
In half-tone engraving, as ordinarily practised, the ratio of depth to the distance
between centres of lines is almost a constant value,, while the finer-lined subjects
(more lines per inch) should have a greater depth, that is, the ratio between the
depth and the distance between centres of lines is different from what it is in coarse-
line work, so that the fine-line reproductions will stand rapid press work, stereo-
typing and the like. In order to clearly show what is meant, it is assumed that an
ordinary half-tone with eighty lines per inch, or 0125 inch from centre to centre of
lines, has a maximum depth of etching of the grooves between lines of one-eighth
the distance they are apart at their centres. In other words the relation would be
0125-00156, while with my system I am able to procure effects which numerically
bear the following relations to each other: 0125-005, the depth being 003 inch as
against 00156 inch. In practice the relief-surfaces used vary in maximum relief
from 002 inch to 004 inch and the reproducing material from 005 inch to '012
and 015 inch thick. If the cutter is so arranged that the maximum relief causes the
cutter to slightly overlap a contiguous cut, so as to bring the apex of the pyramidal
ridge formed between them just even or slightly below the normal face of the
reproducing material, then the maximum white or black effect is produced, according
to the kind of surface which is used, whether a positive or negative. When the
relief is a minimum, then the cutter ordinarily penetrates the reproducing material
the least or not at all. Thus it will be seen that no matter how small the detail
(which may within its small area vary between a maximum white and black and
still be lost with coarse half-tone lines) it will be indicated with my method,
especially so with any plan of operation wherein the reproducing material is placed
in the shape of a yielding film, sheet or plate between the cutter and the relief-
subject, because the small area of detail, even if it occurs between two contiguous
paths of the cutting, will have a distinct effect upon the wall of the groove which
occurs nearest to it, causing the material to be cut away more or less, as the case
may be, independently of the other wall of the groove, thus making it possible for
me to produce small faces of groups for example, in coarse enough lines and relatively
deep enough grooves for ordinary newspaper printing without sacrificing detail.
For ordinary newspaper or other printing, if I desire to have a cross-line
effect, I first form parallel grooves of V or other shape upon one side of the material
upon which the reproduction is to be made. These grooves are made about at
right angles to the path of subsequent travel, or I may so design the means for

page_text: supporting the films as to make it possible to retain their "register" and cut them
at about right angles to each other directly from the relief-surface.
When the grooves are first cut into the reproducing material, the cutter as it
subsequently passes over the other or same side of the material cuts uniformly across
these grooves, regardless of the variation of the relief-surface, thus producing a
-cross-line effect.
If the grooves are on the under side of the reproducing material, then the
cutting on the other side will be just a trifle shallower and narrower, as the cutter
passes over the groove, thus breaking up the recording cuts into periodic variations
independent of the subject. When the grooves are formed on the face of the
reproducing material, the. ridges are broken up at right angles thereto, so that a
"stipple" effect is produced in contradistinction to the suggestive cross-lines when
the grooves are on the under side. When a blunt cutter is employed, the repro-
duction contains delicate relief-lines in conformity to the pattern on the under side.
"The useful effects of the grooves, as herein outlined, are made manifest by diagrams
Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings, Figure 3 being an enlarged supposititious
diagrammatic view of cuttings when the reproducing material is patterned on the
under side, and Figure 4 a similar view when the reproducing material is patterned
on the recording-face. Figures 5 and 6 are cross sections on the lines a, a and y, y
of Figure 3. z, z are uniform tint lines and, are varying recording cuts.
My process is entirely automatic. The relief-surface can be used repeatedly, and
the speed in actual practice is about ten square inches per one-tenth minute of time,
thus making an engraving comprising twenty square inches in two minutes time.
One of the great advantages of my invention is the possibility of re-engraving a
subject within a few minutes, thus affording facility for correction; moreover the
engraving can be made in the locality where the photograph or sketch is taken or
made.
By changing the adjustments of depth of the cutter, or recording-tool, which is not
possible with a chemical-etching process, the reproductions serve as ordinary printing-
plates. Stereotypes and electrotypes, can be made from them directly,
or the films
may be mounted upon suitable supports and used for printing purposes without any
other interventions. The reproductions, when a blunt cutter is used, may also be
utilized as embossing printing plates and the like.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The method of reproducing photographs, sketches and the like, consisting in
causing an unevenly-surfaced subject to automatically present a superimposed
recording sheet or plate against a recording-tool, substantially as specified.
2. The method of reproducing photographs, sketches, and the like, consisting in
first producing a composite plate or sheet by placing an unevenly surfaced subject
and a reproducing material one against the other, and then progressively subjecting
the reproducing material to the action of a graver or cutter disposed at a pre-
determined distance from the point of support, whereby the reproducing material is
caused to conform substantially to the undulations of the relief, or intaglio surface
and receive cuttings of varying depth, substantially as described.
3. The method of reproducing a relief or intaglio surface, consisting in placing the
material upon which the reproduction is to be made between such surface and a
contiguous cutter, and holding the surface and material in register, and while they
are so held either moving the cutter in parallel paths in one or more directions
across the material, or moving the material across the cutter, whereby owing to the
unevenness of the surface the cutter is caused to penetrate the material to a greater
or less depth, and a facsimile of the subject is reproduced in lines upon such surface,
substantially as described.
4. The method of reproducing a relief or intaglio surface, consisting in forming
parallel grooves upon à reproducing material, placing said material between such

page_text: surface and a contiguous entter and then moving the material and surface at about.
right angles to the grooves, whereby the unevenness of the relief or intaglio surface.
will cause the cutter to penetrate the material, to a greater or less depth, substantially
as described.
5. The apparatus for reproducing photographs, sketches and the like, substantially-
as described with reference to the accompanying drawings and operating as specified..
Dated this 10th day of February 1897.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, W.C., Agents for the Applicant...