IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEREOTYPES AND IN APPARATUS FOR USE THEREIN
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Girton Briggs, of No. 53, Gracechurch
Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STEREOTYPES AND IN APPARATUS
FOR USE THEREIN."
Sealed the 8th November 1872, and dated the 10th May 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Girton Briggs
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 10th May 1872.
I, JOSEPH GIRTON BRIGGS, of No. 53, Gracechurch Street, in the
City of London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STERESTYPES AND IN
APPARATUS FOR USE THEREIN," to be as follows:-
To make a matrice for a stereotype, I impress a shect of any suitable
substance between types and dies, of which I employ any required
number, and which I bring to bear on the sheet in any desired
succession.

page_text: Back by pe cars a letter, agure, sign, or design, or any comomation
of letters, figures, signs, or designs, or any, some, or all of them raised
in relief, and in the corresponding die the same letter, figure, sign,
design, or combination is sunk. The sheet which receives the im-
pressions is herein-after termed a "matrice sheet," and may be flat or
curved, the types and dies being shaped accordingly.
For the purpose of "composing" the impressions in the matrice
sheet in any desired succession, I prefer to use two chains, one of which
carries the types and the other the dies. In each of two moveable
frames I mount a wheel or polygon, and a smaller wheel or several
sided revoluble piece, and the respective chains travel on the peripheries
of these wheels or polygons and revoluble pieces. When wheels are
used, their peripheries should be provided with protuberances or notches
fitting into or receiving corresponding notches or protuberances on the
chains. The moveable frames travel in a fixed frame, the smaller wheels
or revoluble pieces being nearer to the middle, and the principal wheels
or polygons nearer to the ends of such fixed frame. The matrice sheet
is placed at or about the middle of the fixed frame, and between the
type and die, which may for the time being have been brought opposite
to each other. The principal wheels or polygons are so connected by
gearing or otherwise, that the rotary movement of one of them governs
the rotary movement of the other, and the types and dies are so
arranged on the respective chains, that when a type is nearest to the
matrice sheet, its corresponding die must be opposite to it on the other
side of the said matrice sheet. The moveable frames are connected by
a pair or pairs of arms, which pair, or each of which pairs works on
axes in or on the respective moveable frames, and on a common axis
which travels in the fixed frame, or by any equivalent mechanical device
for causing the moveable frames to approach to or recede from each other,
and the matrice sheet on the application of pressure or traction to one
of them. The types and dies, or the links of the chains, are furnished
with studs or ribs, which during the journeys of the moveable frames,
enter and travel between, or in guide bars or grooves attached to the
fixed frame.
I may use a weight or weights, or spring or springs, or any com-
bination of weight or weights and spring or springs for the purpose
mming the two and dion frans a Sanning them mainst the

page_text: By operating with the herein-before described portion of my apparatus,
I can bring any desired type and its corresponding die into opposition,
and force them against the matrice sheet which is to be impressed
between them, but when the types and dies are so numerous as to render
it convenient, I also use an index fixed on an axis which is connected
and moves with one of the moveable frames, and passes through and
turns in an end of the fixed frame. This axis is geared to the shaft of
one of the wheels or polygons, and around it I place upon the fixed
frame letters, figures, signs, designs, and combinations, or any or some
of them corresponding with those of the types and dies, and so arranged
that by turning the index to any one of them the corresponding type
and die must be brought into opposition on the opposite sides of the
matrice sheet. By regulating the relative sizes of the wheels of the
gearing I may dispose the letters, figures, signs, designs, and combina-
tions on the fixed frame in two or more rings around the axis of the
index.
For the purpose of arresting the rotary movement of the wheels or
polygons at the proper moment, I prefer that the free end of the index
should, during the journeys of the moveable frames, enter and travel in
grooves in the fixed frame, or the index may be furnished with a bolt
entering and travelling in holes in the fixed frame. After each im-
pression the matrice sheet is moved so as to expose a fresh part of it
to the next impression, and this movement is effected by a suitable
mechanical contrivance acted upon by the hand, or by the types or dies
or chain links, and attached to or acting upon a frame or clip holding
the matrice sheet.
Bands may be substituted for the chains, and if very few types and
dies be used, they may be arranged on the peripheries of wheels or
polygons and the chains and smaller wheels or revoluble pieces dispensed
with. It is indeed obvious that the machinery for moving the types
and dies, and the matrice sheet may be very much varied without
departing from my Invention.
To prevent the substance of the matrice sheet from unduly slipping
or shifting during the making of the impressions, I take such pre-
cautions as may be rendered necessary by the nature of the said
substance. I may roughen, serrate, or otherwise prepare the dies, and
in some cases I employ spring sheaths on the types.

page_text: To cast a stereotype, I place the finished matrice sheet in a double
mould, or mould so constructed that the matrice sheet when placed in
it, divides the interior of the mould into two parts. Molten metal, or
alloy, or other material suitable for making a stereotype is then run
into the mould in such a manner as to be always, during the process, at
the same or as nearly as possible the same level on both sides of the
matrice sheet, or the mould may have an opening or openings at its
bottom or sides, and be sunk into the molten metal or material to a
sufficient depth, after which the opening or openings must be closed,
and the charged mould withdrawn from the exterior molten metal or
material.
->
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Girton Briggs in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
GIRTON BRIGGS, of Number 53, Gracechurch Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Girton Briggs, Her special
licence that I, the said Joseph Girton Briggs, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Girton
Briggs, my 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 STEREOTYPES AND IN APPARATUS FOR
USE THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph
Girton Briggs, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, 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 be performed, and cause the

page_text: 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 Joseph Girton Briggs, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :—
To make a matrice for a stereotype I impress a sheet of any suitable
substance, and I prefer to use paper, card, or millboard, between types
and dies of which I employ any required number, and which I bring to
bear on the sheet in any desired succession.
Each type bears a letter, figure, sign, or design, or any, some, or all of
them raised in relief, and in the corresponding die, the same letter, figure,
sign, design, or combination, is sunk. The sheet which receives the
impressions is herein-after termed a "matrice sheet," and may be flat or
curved, the types and dies being shaped accordingly.
in
For the purpose of "composing" the impressions in the matrice sheet
any desired succession, I prefer to use two chains, one of which carries
the types and the other the dies. In each of two moveable frames I
mount a wheel or polygon, and a smaller wheel or several sided revoluble
O piece, and the respective chains travel on the peripheries of these wheels
or polygons and revoluble pieces. When wheels are used, their peri-
pheries should be provided with protuberances or notches fitting into or
receiving corresponding notches or protuberances on the chains. The
moveable frames travel in a fixed frame, the smaller wheels or revoluble
pieces being nearer to the middle, and the principal wheels or polygons
nearer to the ends of such fixed frame. The matrice sheet is placed at
or about the middle of the fixed frame and between the type and die,
which may for the time being have been brought opposite to each other.
The principal wheels or polygons are so connected by gearing or other-
O wise that the rotary movement of one of them governs the rotary
movement of the other, and the types and dies are so arranged on the
respective chains that when a type is nearest to the matrice sheet its
corresponding die must be opposite to it on the other side of the said
matrice sheet. The moveable frames are connected by a pair or pairs of
5 arms, which pair or cach of which pairs works on axes in or on the
respective moveable frames and on a common axis, which travels in
the fixed frame or by any equivalent mechanical device for causing

page_text: the moveable frames to approach to or recede from each other, and the
matrice sheet on the application of pressure or traction to one of them.
▲ stop or stops on the fixed framo arrests or arrest all forward movement
of the moveable frame carrying the dies, as soon as the die in operation
touches the matrice sheet while the arm or arms attached to the moveable 5
frame which carries the types is or are made to spring sufficiently to
permit the type to be thrust forward far enough to make the desired
impression, when the type carrying frame is also stopped to avoid
perforation of the matrice sheet. The types and dies or the links of the
chains are furnished with studs or ribs, which during the journeys of 1
the moveable frames enter and travel between or in guide bars or grooves
attached to the fixed frame.
I may use a weight or weights, or spring or springs, or any combination
of weight or weights and spring or springs, for the purpose of with-
drawing the types and dies from or forcing them against the matrice 1
sheet.
By operating with the herein-before described portion of my apparatus,
I can bring any desired type and its corresponding die into opposition,
and force them against the matrice sheet which is to be impressed
between them, but when the types and dies are so numerous as to render 2
it convenient, I also use an index fixed on an axis which is connected
and moves with one of the moveable frames, and passes through and
turns in an end of the fixed frame. This axis is geared to the shaft of
one of the wheels or polygons, and around it I place upon the fixed
frame letters, figures, signs, designs, and combinations, or any, or some 2
of them corresponding with those of the types and dies, and so arranged,
that by turning the index to any one of them, the corresponding type
and die must be brought into opposition on the opposite sides of the
matrice shect.
For the purpose of arresting the rotary movement of the wheels or 3
polygons at the proper moment, I prefer that the free end of the index
should, during the journeys of the moveable frames, enter and travel in
grooves in the fixed frame, or the index may be furnished with a bolt
entering and travelling in holes in the fixed frame. After each
impression, the matrice sheet is moved so as to expose a fresh part 3
of it to the next impression, and this movement is effected by a suitable
mechanical contrivance acted upon by the hand, or by the types,
or dies, or chain links, and attached to or acting upon a frame or clip

page_text: holding the matrice sheet. It is evident that the said mechanical
contrivance must in order to form the impressions in lines and to shift
from one line to another, be capable of imparting motion to the matrice
sheet in different directions as may be required, and that the construction
of this contrivance must vary according as the matrice sheet is flat or
curyed. Various modes of imparting such motion are however already
too well-known to mechanical engineers to need description here.
Bands may be substituted for the chains, and if very few types and
dies be used, they may be arranged on the peripheries of wheels or
polygons, and the chains and smaller wheels or revoluble picces dispensed
with. It is indeed obvious that the machinery for moving the types and
dies and the matrice sheet may be very much varied without departing
from my Invention.
To prevent the substance of the matrice sheet from unduly slipping or
shifting during the making of the impressions, I take such precautions as
may be rendered necessary by the nature of the said substance. I may
roughen, serrate, or otherwise prepare the dies, and in some cases I
employ spring sheaths on the types.
To cast a stereotype I place the finished matrice sheet in a double
mould or mould so constructed that the matrice sheet when placed in it
divides the interior of the mould into two parts. Molten metal, or alloy,
or other material suitable for making a stereotype is then run into the
mould in such a manner as to be always, during the process, at the
same or as nearly as possible the same level on both sides of the matrice
sheet, or the mould may have an opening or openings at its bottom or
sides, and be sunk into the molten metal or material to a sufficient
depth, after which the opening or openings must be closed and the
charged mould withdrawn from the exterior molten metal or material.
After becoming cool the stereotype is to be taken from the mould and if
necessary finished in any already known way.
Having now particularly described my Invention, and the manner of
carrying it into practice, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim
any of the several parts which together constitute my apparatus, as
many such parts are or may be in common use, but I do claim,—
First. The general arrangement and combination of parts in my
apparatus, for the purpose and substantially in the manner herein-before
set forth.

page_text: Secondly. The use of types and dies, for the purpose and substantially
in the manner herein-before set forth.
Thirdly. The mode of casting stereotypes, substantially in the manner
herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Girton Briggs, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of November One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Tunwy. The mode of casting stereotypes, substantially in the manner
herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Girton Briggs, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of November One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
J. GIRTON BRIGGS. (L.S.)
Witness,
STEPHEN S. KNIGHT,
10, St. Swithin's Lane,
London,
E.C.,
Shorthand Writer.