Improvements in the Art of Embossing.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 13th May, 1897-Accepted, 3rd July, 1897.
Improvements in the Art of Embossing.
I, DURAN FERNANDO HULBERT, Photographer, residing at No. 4418 Washington
Boulevard, in the City of St. Louis, State of Missouri, U.S.A., 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:―
My invention relates to improvements in the art of embossing and consists of the
novel methods or processes hereinafter illustrated, described and claimed, and of
the metal construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter shown,
described and claimed.
Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the embossing frame, the malleable
metallic plate, the photographic print pasted upon the plate and the open mask
and illustrating the use of the embossing tool. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view
through an ordinary letter-press, together with a single embossing form or die, the
frame or chase, a single pattern, a photographic print and the flexible elastic
tympan, all arranged as required in carrying out the principles of my invention.
Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through an ordinary letter press, together with
the male and female embossing forms or dies, the frame or chase, the male and
female pattern and the photographic print, all arranged as required to carry out
the principles of my invention.
Referring to Fig. 1, 5 is the chase or frame which is an open rectangular frame
constructed in two mating parts, said parts being secured together by the hinges 6;
is the metallic plate, 8 the photographic print pasted upon the plate, 9 the open
mask, and 10 the embossing tool.
The malleable metallic plate 7 is a sheet of lead or an alloy of lead and tin, or
a sheet of any similar malleable metallic substance, cut to the desired size and
shape, and I paste the photographic print 8 upon said malleable metallic plate, or
I sensitize said malleable metallic plate and photograph a picture thereon, or I
print a picture on said malleable plate from a printing form, or I draw or paint
a picture or design upon said malleable metallic plate.
I paste a copy of the picture or print upon a sheet of card-board, and then cut
out from said sheet of card-board the portions corresponding to the portions which
I desire to emboss upon the picture, thus producing the open mask 9, which I
place upon the picture in position to have the openings in said mask register
with the portions of the picture which I desire to emboss. The plate 7 carrying
the picture and the mask 9 are then placed in the frame 5 and secured in position
by drawing two sides of the frame firmly together and securing them together with
the hooks 11. The operator then takes the embossing tool 11 and places it against
the opposite side of the malleable metal plate 7 from the print or picture and by
the operation of said embossing tool, presses the desired portions of said plate and
said print or picture upwardly into the openings in the mask 9, and thus produces
the desired embossing. By using a malleable metallic plate, such as lead, or an
alloy of lead and tin, or a plate of other similar malleable metallic substance, the
plate and print will readily stretch under the influence of the embossing tool to

page_text: form the desired relief. After the embossing is completed, as desired, the frame
and mask are removed from the plate and the indentations on the back of the
plate may be filled with a suitable plastic material, such as plumber's cement,
which will harden when cold or dry, and thus stiffen the plate and prevent the
embossing from flattening, or being otherwise mutilated.
When it is desired to produce a number or accurate copies of the embossed
picture, I remove the mask 9 from the frame and leave the plate 7 in the frame.
Then the operation is as illustrated in Fig 2. The plate 7 now becomes a pattern,
and I fill the space within the frame and above the pattern with plaster of paris,
or other suitable plastic material which will harden when cold or dry, and thus
I make the embossing form or die 12. After the die or form has became sufficiently
hardened, the pattern may or may not be removed from the form. I then turn
the frame bottom upwards and place it upon the bed 13 of the press. I then take
copies of the picture or design which I used in making the pattern 7 and place
said copies one at a time upon the pattern 7, registering with the picture or design
upon said pattern and place the flexible elastic tympan 14 upon said copy and
operate the screw 15 to depress the platen 16 and press the flexible elastic tympan
firmly against the copy, thus forcing the copy firmly against the pattern and
embossing the copy. After the copies have been embossed, the depressions upon
the backs of the copies may be filled with any suitable plastic material which will
harden when cold or dry, or said copies may be stiffened by applying coats of
shellac, or in any suitable way, as desired.
I have described and illustrated my invention in connection with the very
simplest form of mechanism for producing embossed copies of pictures or designs.
The frame 5 may be removed from the form 12 and said form may be locked in a
chase and placed upon a printing press. The flexible elastic tympan 14 may be
placed upon the platen or cylinder of the printing press and the photographic
prints may be fed to the press and embossed in the usual way of feeding a printing
press, or the prints may be pressed into the depressions of the form with the fingers,
or with a suitable tool by the hands, or in any suitable manner.
When it is desired to make a large number of copies of a picture, the form 12
may be used as a pattern for making stereotype or electrotype plates, or dies, either
male or female, or both, and said electrotype or stereotype plates or dies may be
used in the ordinary way.
When the prints to be embossed are stiff, or it is desired to emboss sharp, fine
lines which require more pressure than can be applied to the elastic tympan, the
operation is as shown in Fig. 3. The pattern 7 now becomes a female pattern and
the form or die 12 becomes a female die. I now open the frame and place a
second malleable metal plate upon the pattern 7 and depress portions of said
second plate into the indentations of the pattern 7, thus forming the male pattern
17, which exactly matches the female pattern 7. I then fill the space above the
pattern 17 and within the frame with plaster of paris, or other suitable plastic
material which will harden when-cold-or-dry, and thus I make the inale embossing
form or die 18. The patterns 7 and 17 may, or may not, be removed. I prefer
not to remove them, as they form a substantial face for the forms or dies, making
the dies resemble electrotype plates. I then open the frame on its hinges, place a
copy of the picture or design which I used in making the pattern 7 in position
above the form 12, then close the frame thus bringing the copy between the forms;
then I place the frame upon the bed of the press and depress the platen, thus
pressing the forms tightly together and embossing the copy. The copies to be
embossed may be made or pasted upon sheets of stiff paper or card-board, or upon
the malleable metal plate before being embossed, or they may be pasted upon a
suitable mount after having been embossed.
The frame 5 may be removed from the forms 12 and 18, and said forms may be
locked in chases and placed upon an embossing press and operated in the usual way,
said forms being in effect embossing dies, which embossing dies may be used in
the ordinary way of embossing.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1.
The herein described method of producing embossed photographs, which consists
of pasting the photographic print to a. malleable metallic mount, such as lead,
and embossing the mount and print with a tool held in the hand, substantially as
specified.
2.
The herein described method of producing embossed photographs, which consists
of pasting the photographic print to a malleable metallic mount, such as lead,
and embossing the mount and print and filling the depressions upon the back of
said malleable metallic mount with a plastic material which will harden when
cold or dry, substantially as specified.
3.
As a new article of manufacture, an embossed photograph consisting of a
malleable metallic mount, such as lead, a photographic print pasted to said
malleable metallic mount, portions of said malleable metallic mount and of said
photographic print being embossed by the use of a tool held in the hand,
substantially as specified.
4.
As a new article of manufacture, an embossed photograph consisting of a
malleable metallic mount, such as lead, a photographic print pasted to said
malleable metallic mount, portions of said malleable metallic mount and of said
photographic print being embossed by the use of a tool held in the hand, and a
filling of plastic material which will harden when cold or dry cast in position in
the indentations upon the back of said malleable metallic mount, substantially as
specified.
5.
The improvement in the art of embossing, which consists of taking a malleable
metal plate having a picture or design upon one of its sides, embossing said
picture with embossing tools and thus producing a pattern, placing plastic material
against one side of said pattern and allowing said material to harden, thus pro-
ducing a form, placing the copy to be embossed against the face of said form and
pressing said copy into the depressions of said form by means of a flexible elastic
tympan, substantially as specified.
6.
The improvement in the art of embossing, which consists of taking a malleable
metal plate having a picture or design upon one of its sides, embossing said
picture with embossing tools and thus producing a pattern, placing plastic
material against one side of said pattern and allowing said material to
harden thus producing a form, and using said form as a pattern for producing
metallic embossing dies or plates, substantially as specified.
7.
An embossing die or form, consisting of a malleable metal plate having a picture
or design upon one of its sides and said plate being embossed to form a pattern, said
pattern being outlined and indicated by said picture, and a mass of plastic material
placed against one side of said plate and allowed to harden. substantially as
specified.
8.
The improvement in the art of embossing, which consists of taking a malleable
metal plate having a picture or design upon one of its sides and embossing said
picture with embossing tools and thus producing a pattern, substantially as
specified.
9.
The improvement in the art of embossing, which consists of taking a malleable
metal plate having a nicture on design unAN
e

page_text: or design with embossing tools and thus producing a pattern, placing plastic
material against one side of said pattern and allowing said material to harden
thus producing a form or die, placing a second malleable metal plate against the
first plate and pressing said plate firmly into the indentations of the first plate
thus producing a second pattern, placing plastic material against one side of said
second pattern and allowing said material to harden thus producing a second form
or die, placing the copy to be embossed between said forms or dies and pressing said
forms firmly together, substantially as specified.
10.
The improvement in the art of embossing, which consists of taking a malleable
metal plate having a picture or design upon one of its sides and embossing said
picture or design with embossing tools and thus producing a pattern, pressing a second
imalleable metal plate against said pattern thus producing a second pattern, placing
a copy of the picture or design to be embossed between said patterns and pressing
said patterns firmly together, substantially as specified.
11.
A set of embossing dies or forms, one of said embossing forms or dies consisting
of a malleable metal plate having a picture or design upon one of its sides and said
plate being embossed to form a pattern, said pattern being outlined or indicated
by said picture or design, and a mass of plastic material placed against one side
of said plate and allowed to harden, and the other one of said embossing dies or
forms consisting of a malleable metal plate pressed firmly against the first men-
tioned malleable metal plate and a mass of plastic material placed against the
opposite side of said second plate and allowed to harden, substantially as specified.
Dated the 30th day of April, 1897.
HIGDON, LONGAN & HIGDON,
Agents for Applicant.