CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS, - STUFFS, AND TISSUES, AND OF CERTAIN NEW PRODUCTS OBTAINED BY THE AID OF SUCH IMPROVEMENTS
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
CLINTON ROBERTSON, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland,. bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth
day of January, One thousand eight, hundred and forty-eight, in the eleventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her, heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Joseph Clinton Robertson, my exors, admors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Joseph Clinton Robertson, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Joseph Clinton Robertson, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man,
and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies, and Plantations' abroad, the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE FABRICS, -
STUFFS, AND TISSUES, AND OF CERTAIN NEW PRODUCTS OBTAINED BY THE AID OF SUCH
IMPROVEMENTS," being a communication from a foreigner residing abroad; in
which said Letters Patent. is. contained a proviso that I, the said Joseph
'

page_text: Clinton Robertson, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Clinton Robertson, hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to performed, (as the same have been
communicated to me,) are fully described and ascertained in and by the present
Specification thereof (that is to say) :-
Whereas brocaded stuffs, in which the figures or designs are introduced in
the process of weaving, possess an acknowledged superiority over surface-
printed goods, look much better, and bring a higher price, but they are open
to this objection, that the mode in which they are manufactured admits but of
little variety in the figures, and is a great obstacle to freedom of design,
besides being exceedingly complicated and difficult, the jacquard loom in
which such stuffs are woven requires as many distinct wefts as there are colors
in the design, an increased number also of cards and most elaborate ingenuity
in the mounting, the more complex the design the more skilful must be the
workman, and be the workman ever so skilful, he can at best become the
master of but a small number of patterns.
Now the nature or object of the said Invention consists in giving to the
patterns or designs of surface-printed goods the same clearness and distinctness
and the same high finish which have been hitherto peculiar to brocades, and
in combining at the same time with this successful imitation of brocade work
that economy of production, and that power of varying the designs at pleasure,.
which belong to surface printing alone; and the manner in which the said object
is effected is as follows:-
First, the colors used in this improved mode of surface printing are pre-
pared in a different way from what is usual. In general they are not ground
sufficiently fine, the consequence of which is that they neither flow freely and
equally, nor penetratrate the fibres of the goods thoroughly. On some parts
they make but a faint impression, while in others they rest in spotty superficial
masses; and hence, a prevailing want, not only of clearness and continuity in
the lines of the figures, but of fixity in large portions of the colours.
To remedy these evils, the author of the present Invention grinds the metallic
oxides, the lacs, and other materials from which the colors are derived, to as

page_text: impalpable a state as is practicable by the grinding mill in ordinary use,
employing no new machinery for the purpose, but applying the old more
perseveringly and more carefully than heretofore. The coloring materials are
then mixed with any of the thick fatty oils, in the proportion of about one-
third part of the oil to two-third parts of the coloring material, and great care
also is taken to make this mixture as intimate and complete as may be. The
colors so prepared are applied to the engraved surfaces by rollers in the usual
way.
Second, to obtain plates which will yield impressions of the required vivacity
the following method is adopted :-A very thin plate of copper ("de deux à
trois millimétres d'épaisseur," or from No. 14 to No. 20, Birmingham sheet
metal guage) is well cleaned and polished, and the designer draws his pattern
upon it. The pattern is then redrawn ("dècalque "), that is to say, the plate
is cut through and through in those parts covered by the lines of the designer,
and this done, the plate is attached, by soldering or rivetting, to a foundation
block, in order that it may be printed from. In this way an engraved or
printing surface (in intaglio) is obtained, in which all the lines are not only
made deeper than usual, but all perfectly perpendicular and square, that is to
say, all at right angles with the surface, and as deep as they are broad, and
obtained, too, at an equal expence, much less than such work would cost if
performed by any other known means.
Goods printed from such plates, and with colors carefully prepared in the
way before described, are difficult to distinguish from the best brocades. The
colors penetrate the fibres so completely, and. the figures are so distinct and
clear, that there is no necessity, as usual, for subjecting them either to steaming
or to mordants or to river washing, in order to fix and bring out the colors.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that the improvements claimed
as constituting the said Invention are as follows:-
First, the improved mode or modes of manufacture, whereby surface-printed
goods may be made to rival or resemble brocades in beauty of pattern or
design, as herein-before described.
And, second, the manufacture of imitation brocades, as aforesaid.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Clinton Robertson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-eight.
J. CLINTON (L.s.) ROBERTSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED,. that on the Nineteenth day of July, in
the year of our Lord 1848, the aforesaid Joseph Clinton Robertson came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped t
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.