IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE. OF TYPES FOR PRINTING AND FOR THE PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION AND FOR THE PRODUCTION OF NAME AND OTHER SIMILAR SHOW PLATES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Nall, George Goldsmith, and James Dilkes,
all of Leicester, in the County of Leicester, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE. OF TYPES FOR PRINTING AND FOR THE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Nall, George
Goldsmith, and James Dilkes at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents with their Petition, on the 28th July 1874.
We, JAMES NALL, GEORGE GOLDSMITH, and JAMES DILKES, all of
5 Leicester, in the County of Leicester, do hereby declare thic nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE, OF TYPES FOR
PRINTING AND FOR THE PRODUCTION OF NAME AND OTHER SIMILAR SHOW PLATES,"
to be as follows:-

page_text: one-eighth of an inch, more or less thick. Oorresponding to this letter
two plates, cach about one-half of the thickness of the letter, are pierced
so that the letter shall exactly fit the openings or recesses in each plate.
Where, as in the letter B, there are white spaces in the centre uncon-
nected with the white space surrounding the letter the pieces representing !
such interior spaces when cut from the steel letter are fixed to a third
plate placed below the two plates before mentioned, all the plates being
made to register by suitable holes and pins. The way such tool is used
is as follows: The lowest and next upper plate are fitted together; a
thin piece of sheet metal is then placed upon them and the upper plate
upon it. The steel letter is then dropped into the recess in the top plate
and the whole subjected to suitable pressure. Upon removing the stecl
letter and top plate a letter of the requisite size and form will be found
stamped out and lying in the recess and on the bottom plate, when it
may be removed and the operation repeated. The letters so formed of
sheet metal are then mounted upon suitable blocks of wood, type high,
and are fastened thereto by pins, which may be soldered to the sheet
metal letter or otherwise. By these means letters of large size with a
metallic face may be made with great economy, and besides giving a
sharper and cleaner outline, will bear being engraved, and thus produce
highly ornamental letters when printed from.
By the preparation of tools in the manner before described what are
called shade letters or letters in which the lines and spaces are printed
from, of a different colour, may be made to correspond with the body of
the letter and fit with great exactitudo.
For the purpose of making name or show plates a thin sheet of metal,
say of brass or zinc, is subjected to the action of the tools before-
mentioned, and the letters thus cut out. The sheet is then reversed and
mounted upon wood or other material. The spaces cut out may then be
filled in with the usual sealing wax
finished in the ordinary way.
or other colored cement, and

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Nall, George Goldsmith, and James Dilkes
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wo, James
NALL, GEORGE GOLDSMITH, and JAMES DILKES, all of Leicester, in the
County of Leicester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said James Nall, George Goldsmith, and James
Dilkes, Her special licence that we, the said James Nall, George Gold-
smith, and James Dilkes, our exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said James Nall, George Goldsmith; and James
Dilkes, our 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TYPES FOR PRINTING AND FOR THE
PRODUCTION OF NAME AND OTHER similar Show PlaTES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said James Nall, George Goldsmith, and
James Dilkes, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to bo 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 we, the said James Nall, George Goldsmith, and
James Dilkes, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had
to the accompanying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked.
thereon, that is to say. :-
:
This Invention relates to tho manufacture of type of a size ordinarily
masters and show cards and consists in forming the

page_text: one-eighth of an inch more or less thick. Corresponding to this letter
two plates, each about one-half of the thickness of the letter, are pierced
so that the letter shall exactly fit the openings or recesses in each plate.
Where, as in the letter B, there are white spaces in the centre uncon-
nected with the white space surrounding the letter the picces representing
such interior spaces when cut from the steel letter aro fixed to a third
plate placed below the two plates before mentioned, all the plates being
made to register by suitable holes and pins. The way such tool is used
is as follows: The lowest and next upper plate are fitted together; a
thin piece of sheet metal is then placed upon them and the upper plate
upon it. The steel letter is then dropped into the recess in the top plate
and the whole subjected to suitable pressure. Upon removing the steel
letter and top plate a letter of the requisite size and form will be found
stamped out and lying in the recess and on the bottom plate, when it
may be removed and the operation repeated. The letters so formed of:
sheet metal are then mounted upon suitable blocks of wood, typc-high,
and are fastened thereto by pins, which may be soldered to the sheet
metal letter or otherwise. By these means letters of large size with a
metallic face may be made with great economy, and besides giving a
sharper and cleaner outline will bear being engraved, and thus produce à
highly ornamental letters when printed from.
By the preparation of tools in the manner before described what are
called shade letters or letters in which the lines and spaces are printed
from, of a different colour, may be made to correspond with the body of
the letter and fit with great exactitude.
For the purpose of making name or show plates a thin sheet of metal,
say of brass or zinc, is subjected to the action of the tools before-
mentioned, and the letters thus cut out. The sheet is then reversed and
mounted upon wood or other material. The spaces cut out may then bo
filled in with the usual scaling wax or other coloured cement, and
finished in the ordinary way.
In order that the foregoing may be more easily understood Drawings
are attached hereto, of which the following is a description, the formation
of the letter B being taken as an illustration :-
Fig. 1 represents the bottom plate with its pins A, A, A, and the &
removable pieces C, C, to form the internal spaces in the letter.
Fig. 2 shows the second plate with its holes D, D, D, which slip over the
pins A, A, A, in Fig. 1, keeping it in its place and ensuring its registration.

page_text: Fig. 3 is the third plate with similar holes to that in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4
is the letter or punch that exactly fits the opening in Fig. 3, into which
it is placed when the sheet metal is to be operated upon.
Fig. 5 is the letter made by the foregoing tools, and Fig. 6 is the
remnant of the sheet from which it has been punched. By making
suitable punches this remnant may be utilized by converting it into
type, from which shade letters may be printed, as shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 8 represents the letter when mounted upon a wooden block, typc-
high, and ready for use.
The plate, Fig. 1, may be dispensed with in making all letters except
those having internal spaces, such as B, P, and D.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of this
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, we would observe in conclusion that we do not confine
or restrict ourselves to the precise details or arrangements which we have
described or referred to, as variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of this Invention, but
what we consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,―
Firstly. The production of printing letters from sheet metal and
mounting them type-high on wooden blocks, as and by the process
herein described and shown on the Drawings.
And, Secondly. The manufacture of name and show plates, as hercin