Improvements in Making Negatives in Relief or Sheets of Raised Type on Tin Foil or Thin Metallic Sheets, and in the Apparatus for Printing Copies from such Negatives.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 16th July, 1894-Accepted, 22nd Sept., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Making Negatives in Relief or Sheets of Raised
Type on Tin Foil or Thin Metallic Sheets, and in the Apparatus
for Printing Copies from such Negatives.
I WILLIAM CORDEAUX "Eryholme" Yearsley Bridge, York Barrister-at-Law,
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:-
This invention relates to certain improvements in the method and apparatus
described in my two previous Specifications (Patents No. 531, 1886, and
No. 18,835, 1888), but before stating what these improvements consist of, they
will be more readily understood and set forth, if I first describe the apparatus as
shown in the accompanying sheet of drawing, and also shortly explain the method
of making the negatives, and printing copies from them.
Referring to the accompanying drawing
:-
Figure 1. is a view of the whole apparatus, with the various instruments made
use of during the process.
Figures 2. 3. 4. show the manner in which the steel strips D. are made use of as
herein described.
Figure 5. represents the inking roller passing over the steel strips when inking
the negative.
Referring to Fig. 1.-A is a glass plate about one quarter inch thick (plate
glass). B. is a sheet of tin foil, us herein described. C. is a tin box. N. is the lid
of the box, which opens flat, the same depth as the box. D. are two strips of steel
fastened together at one end, so as to open out. E. is a plate of glass about
2 inches wide. F. F. are two other strips of steel which carry the roller as shown
in Fig. 5. The frame upon which they are fixed, lifts off and on to the glass plate.
G. is the inking roller made as herein described. H. is the tin containing the ink,
or it may be contained in a tube. K. is a palette knife for the ink. L. is a small
flat piece of soft wood, the edge of which is used to scrape or flatten out the tin
foil. M. is a sheet of india rubber, such as herein described, and it is attached to
the zinc plate Z. R. is a brush, the handle of which is used to flatten out the
raised negative, when it is intended to use the tin foil for other work. S. is an
agate style or pencil, the point of which is made round and polished smooth. The
sharper the point is, the finer is the writing or drawing. T. Fig. 5. is the sheet of
tin foil being inked by the roller. Extra strips of steel are used to carry the roller,
the side ones are always to remain at the side-it is not absolutely necessary
that the steel strips should rest on the margin of the negative, but it is safer that
they should do so. The tin foil when it has been used 10 or 12 times may be used
again double, in that case it is always necessary to place the strips on the margin.
V. V. Fig. 1. are 2 wood partitions in the box which support the glass plate, and
the eye holes which form the hinges of the frame and ink plate are also fixed in
them. W. is a wire which passes through clips on the steel strips F. F. the ends of
the wire being bent at right angles, and about one inch long, working loose in two
small brass tubes Y. Y. the wire & tubes making a frame to hold the steel strips.
X. X. are wire racks to hold the roller when not in use. Z. is the zinc plate herein
described.
The process of making a negative, and printing copies from it consists in taking
the glass plate A. from the box, placing it on the table, and then fixing a sheet of
tinfoil on it, the size of it being in proportion to the subject-matter of the writing

page_text: or other delineation. The foil is then fixed on the glass in the improved manner
hereinafter described, and the strips of steel D. are made use of as shown in the
drawing Figs. 2. 3. 4. The thin strip of steel thus placed under the foil, slightly
suspends it above the glass plate, and by writing firmly with an agate pencil S. Fig. 1
just above the steel strips a negative in bold relief, similar to the raised type on a
blind man's book, is produced on the reverse side of the sheet so written or drawn
upon. The tinfoil is then taken off the glass plate, and replaced, this time having
the reverse side uppermost. The negative is pressed or smoothed down with a soft
cloth or handkerchief, and it may also be pressed down with the ink plate and
roller after it replaced in the box. The parts not written upon will adhere
closely to the glass plate leaving the raised type or writing in relief.
The frame having the other two strips of steel F. F. on it, is then turned over on
to the glass plate. The ink roller is passed over the negative as shown in Fig. 5.
The roller is replaced in its racks X. X Fig. 1. and the frame is lifted off the
glass. The paper is then placed on the inked negative, and the ink plate turned
over on to it. The roller is then passed with some pressure over the ink plate, and
a copy is impressed on the paper and this operation is repeated for each copy.
Having now described the apparatus and process, the improvements which I now
claim as a new invention, can be more readily explained and understood by referring
to the above named Specifications, Nos. 531, 1886-and 18,835, 1888. First, with
regard to the tin foil, in my Specification No. 531, 1886-line 18-I state that
"I take a sheet of thin copper or brass or tin foil" &c. but I do not specify the best
foil to use.
I now find that the most suitable and reliable foil to use, is pure tin
foil, manufactured by Messrs. Erhardt & Co. Walbrook, London, and known in the
trade as No. 3. about 14 sqre. feet of it making 1 lb. in weight. By the use of this
particular kind of foil, the raised type or writing is much stronger, and is not liable
to be flattened down by the pressure put upon it.
No other kind of metallic foil
will answer the purpose so well, and it is this particular discovery and improvement
which I now claim as a new invention.
Referring to my previous Specification No. 18,835, 1888, at line 23, I state
that I slightly wet or damp the glass plate upon which the negative is fixed.
I now find it is better not to use any water in the process, as it does not agree with
the oily nature of the ink, and the tin foil gets coated with a sticky or glutinous
substance, which makes it difficult to write upon, when used, as it can be, a second
time for new work. It is necessary that the metallic sheet should be fixed on the
glass plate, both when the negative is being made, and when it is being printed
from, and the improved method which I now claim as a new invention, consists in
first coating the glass plate with printing ink, such as herein described, or with
vaseline or similar substance of a like greasy nature. The advantage and utility of
so doing, consists in the fact that it enables the agate pencil to travel over the tin
foil more easily and without disturbing the metallic sheet-the greasy medium
preventing the foil adhering too closely to the glass plate-merely holding it in
position and acting as a lubricator also, it reduces the friction, and this is a distinct
and essential improvement. This method only applies to negatives made by a type-
writer machine in respect to the fixing of the same on the glass plate previous to the
printing operation.
Referring again to my previous Specification No. 18,835, 1888, line 14, I say,
"I now find it is better to use only one strip of steel about one thirty second of an
inch thick." This thickness or gauge of steel is not suitable for the purpose, and
it is an improvement and almost essential to the process that the strip of steel
placed under the foil for the purpose of suspending or raising it above the glass
plate, should not be any thicker than one sixty fourth of an inch, and it may be
even less than that. If the steel is too thick the indentations are made too deep,.
and the letters are not all so level-and it is also more difficult to write upon the
metallic sheet. Corresponding with the steel strip such as above described, 1 :
place another similar strip on the top of the tin foil, so that the sheet is between

page_text: the two strips of steel-and on the top of this second strip I place also a plate of
glass about two inches wide, as shown in Fig. 4. The glass is about a quarter of
an inch thick, and the object of it, is to make the steel strips and the foil keep close
on the glass plate. This also is an improvement in the method.
At lines 3-13 page 2 Specification 18,835, I describe what kind of a roller I
prefer to use, and I state that the composition (such as printers use) is moulded on
the stock not more than one eighth of an inch in thickness, the object being to make
the roller as hard as possible. The process depends almost entirely on the character
of the roller, and I have improved this part of the process by using a roller made
absolutely straight, round and true, and level on the surface as possible-so that
when the ends of it are running on the side strips resting on the margin of the
glass plate, the roller will not touch the glass, the space between it and the glass
plate, corresponding with the thickness of the strips of steel. It is an improvement
also in making the roller to add to the composition (I prefer the durable roller
composition) a small quantity (say an ounce to a six inch roller) of dry powdered
glue, so as to make it harder than it otherwise would be, and less liable to cushion
down between the words and spaces, as an ordinary printer's roller would do. The
roller should be made in its other parts, as light in weight as possible, Fig. 5.
At line 30, Specification No. 18,835, 1888, I state that it is essential to the
improved process that the ink should be of a fluid nature like oil. I find now that
it is better to use a more solid or dense ink-it is much cleaner to use, and the copies
are sharper, I take ordinary letter press printing ink, any colour will do, and in
order to make it work freely, and not be of a sticky nature "reduce" it, as
ordinary printer's do, by adding sufficient vaseline, "veseloid," or what is known in
the trade as "solid oil," I prefer the latter, and it works freely-it being essential
to this process that the ink should not be sticky. The improvement consists in the
use of ink of this kind instead of a fluid ink.
Referring to Specification No. 531, 1886 at lines 38-45, I describe how by
using a second roller, I am able to press the paper upon the negative after it has
been inked by another roller. I now only use one roller, the essential character of
which I have herein described-and with the same roller I now take copies or
impressions from the negative, in the following manner-
Having inked the negative, I place a sheet of paper on it, and then turn over the
ink plate. This consists of a sheet of thin pliable zinc, it should not be more than
No. 4 gauge-one side of it is covered with a sheet of red india rubber about one
sixteenth of an inch thick. Having turned over the plate, the rubber side of it
rests on the paper, and the other side serves as an ink slab or plate upon which the
ink is distributed in the usual way. The roller is then passed over it, and with
a certain amount of pressure, the softer and thinner the paper (or if it has been
damped) requiring less pressure than if the paper was hard and thick. The zinc
plate being very thin and pliable bends to the roller, and a uniform, equal pressure
is obtained, without any attachment or adjustment of screws &c. By using india
rubber, such as herein described, there is no risk of the raised letters or type being
flattened down, and although india rubber may be used for printing purposes, the
special novelty and utility I claim, is the attachment of a sheet of india rubber, of
such a thickness and quality as mentioned, to a sheet of thin pliable zinc of the
nature and quality particularly described, the two together being used for the
double purpose, as an ink slab or plate, and as a tympan at the same time.
It must be clearly understood that in this Specification, no claim for novelty or
utility is made for any part or parts of the method of making negatives, or of the
apparatus for printing copies from such negatives, which has or have been made the
subject of my two previous Specifications herein referred to, the combinations I
claim, and the subordinate integers or separate parts of the combinations I now
claim are new and essential improvements, and if old and well known things, it
is a new method of applying them when used in conjunction with the whole
invention.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
1. The use of pure tin foil substantially of the nature and quality herein
described, and for the purpose set forth and explained.
2. The improved method of fixing a sheet of pure tin foil such as herein
described, on a plate of glass for the purpose of indenting it when writing on it
with an agate pencil, and when it is being printed from-the improvement being or
consisting of ther use of printing ink, such as described, or any similar composition
of a greasy nature, in the place of using water, substantially as herein described.
3. The use and application of a narrow strip of steel, not more than one sixty
fourth of an inch in thickness, as and for the purpose described, the improvement
being the use of this particular gauge in place of one of greater thickness.
4. The use and application of a plate of glass about two inches wide; placed over
the two strips of steel, as shown in Fig. 4 on the drawing herewith, as and for the
purpose described.
5. The combination with the sheet of pure tin foil, such as described of the two
glass plates, and of the strips of steel, applied and used for the purpose of obtaining
a more uniform negative substantially in the manner herein described.
6. The use and application of a roller, substantially as and for the purpose
described, the improvement being that it is made more exactly true round and
straight, and also harder in its composition.
7. The use and application of ink of the nature and quality substantially as
herein described.
8. The use and application of a zinc plate of the nature and quality, and for the
purpose herein described.
9. The use and application of india rubber of the nature and quality, and for the
purpose described.
10. The combination with the zinc plate and india rubber sheet as and for the
purposes herein described.
11. The several improvements in the method of making negatives in relief on
pure tin foil or thin metallic sheets, and in the apparatus for printing copies from
such negatives, taken as a whole substantially in the manner as herein described.
Dated this 12th day of July 1894.
WILLIAM CORDEAUX.