AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOGRAPHIC PRINTING
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Edwards, of the Firm of Edwards and Co.,
Patent Agents and Engineers, of 40, Southampton Buildings, in the County
of Middlesex, for an Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND
APPARATUS FOR AUTOGRAPHIC PRINTING." A communication from abroad
by Otto Steuer, of Zittau, in the Kingdom of Saxony.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Edwards at the
: Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th November 1880.
EDMUND EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 40, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex. "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOGRAPHIC PRINTING."
A communication from abroad by Otto Steuer, of Zittau, in the Kingdom of
Saxony.
This Invention has for its object an improved method of making an indefinite
number of autographic copies of letters, drawings, or other designs, by means of
ordinary printing ink, and it consists essentially in a method of preparing the
plate or surface from which the impressions are to be obtained so that it does not
receive such printing ink except in the parts to which the writing or other design
to be copied has been transferred by means of a solution of acetic iron.
I mix 15 parts of gelatine moistened in water, and 5 parts of glycerine with
1 part of water-glass, and I prepare the mixture in a sheet or plate of suitable form
in a corresponding mould.
I then write or draw upon a sheet of paper the letter or design which is to be
copied with a solution of acetic iron or acetate of iron, and after drying it I place
this sheet upon the gelatinous surface where I leave it for a few minutes. The
paper being then removed the printing forme is ready for use, the letter or
drawing having having been transferred to its surface. The forme is then rolled in
the usual well known manner with a common printing roller charged with printing
ink, and a plain sheet of paper is placed upon it and is pressed down simply with
the hand, so that the copy is made upon the paper to the surface of which the
printing ink is transferred.
In the same way any number of copies may be obtained from the forme as
desired.
In order to clean the gelatinous forme when sufficient copies have been made it
is washed with warm water, and the writing or design is thus removed from
its surface, which may then be used to reproduce in the same way other writings
or designs.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Edmund Edwards in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th May
1881.
EDMUND EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
<< AN
Engineers, of 40, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex.
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOGRAPHIC PRINTING."
A communication from abroad by Otto Steuer, of Zittau, in the Kingdom of
Saxony.
This Invention consists of an improved process for making an unlimited number
of autographic copies of letters, drawings, or other designs, by means of ordinary
printing ink. It consists essentially of preparing a printing plate or surface in such
manner that the plate does not receive the printing ink except in the parts to
which the writing or other design to be copied has been transferred by means of a
solution of acetic iron and chloride iron.
For the purpose of preparing such printing surface I mix gelatine moistened in
water with glycerine, water glass, and soda.
The relative proportions of these ingredients may be varied, but I prefer to use
about the following proportions, that is to say:-I take 20 pounds of gelatine
moistened with water, 13, pounds of glycerine, 4 pounds of water glass, and
1 pound of soda.
The whole mixture is then boiled until entirely dissolved, and the mass is
afterwards poured or moulded into suitable form.
The design which is to be copied is then written or drawn upon a sheet of paper
with a solution of 0.5 acetic iron and 0.5 chloride iron, and after being dried this
sheet is placed upon the plate or surface, prepared as above described, where it is
left for a few minutes.
The printing forme is then ready for use, and in the ordinary well known manner
it is rolled with a common printing roller supplied with printing ink mixed with
th part of glycerine.
A blank sheet of paper is then placed upon it, and is pressed upon it simply
with the hand, and the copy is thus made.
In this way an unlimited number of copies can be obtained from the forme.
In order to clean the latter when sufficient copies have been made it is washed
with warm water, and the writing or design disappears from the plate, which may
now be used for the reception of any other design.
Having now fully described my Invention, and the manner in which it is to be
performed, I claim, the method of and apparatus for obtaining with printers' ink
an unlimited number of autographic copies of any design by means of a plate or
surface consisting of a composition of gelatine moistened in water, in combination
with glycerine and water-glass, substantially as hereinbefore described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Edwards, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this 14th day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty one.