CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDERS, PLATES, AND BLOCKS USED IN PRINTING AND EMBOSSING
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICE
HARRIS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty hath granted unto me
Her Letters Patent, sealed at Westminster, the Twelfth day of May, in the
third year of Her reign, for making, using, exercising, and vending, within
that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDERS, PLATES, AND BLOCKS USED
IN PRINTING AND EMBOSSING;" subject to the usual proviso obliging me to
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, and to cause the same to be inrolled in the High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next after the date of the said Letters Patent."
NOW KNOW 'YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the 'said
Rice Harris, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as follows, that is to say :-
The first part of my Invention applies to such cylinders, plates, and blocks
to be used in printing or embossing cotton, linen, woollen, silk, or other
similar fabrics as are made of or coated or covered with the vitrified substances
herein-after mentioned, instead of the cylinders, plates, and blocks now used

page_text: for those purposes; and the other or second part of my Invention applies to the
use or application of tubes or linings within such of the cylinders used in
printing and embossing cotton, linen, woollen, silk, and other similar fabrics,
as are made of copper or brass, or any other expensive material, whereby I am
enabled to make such cylinders with a smaller quantity of the more expensive
material than is necessary for that purpose, according to the mode now used in
making such cylinders, and without requiring any increase in the weight or size
of the mandrils or axes of such cylinders. The vitrified substances which I use
for carrying into effect the first part of my Invention are glass and enamel
and such other vitrified substances contain silica and boracic acid, or either of
them, sufficient to render the cylinders, plates, and blocks, which are made of
or coated or covered with the same, capable of being etched by the action of
hydrofluoric acid, either alone or in combination with ammonia or some other
base. These vitrified substances may also be engraved by the usual process
of engraving on glass. These vitrified substances may be composed of various
materials, but I will describe the manner in which make that which I
prefer to use for making cylinders, plates, and blocks, and which I have
always found to contain sufficient silica, and the manner in which I apply it to
the making of cylinders, plates, and blocks. I take twenty-eight parts by
weight of well cleansed Isle of Wight sand, thirty-five parts by weight of red
lead, fourteen parts by weight of soda ash, seven parts by weight of nitrate of
soda, seven parts by weight of calcined iron scales, seven parts by weight of
boracic acid in the state of refined borax, seven parts by weight of calcined
copper, seven parts by weight of oxide of manganese, and twenty parts by
weight of pulverized flint glass, and I mix these well together; I put the
mixture into a large crucible or pot, and then place it in a furnace similar to
the furnaces used in the ordinary manufacture of flint glass and heated to a
similar degree, and I continue to apply heat to the furnace. When the whole
or nearly the whole of the volatile gas contained in the mixture has been thus
disengaged, I transfer the mixture whilst in a fluid state into smaller crucibles
or pots convenient to be used in casting, and put it as it is, contained in such
crucibles or pots, into a furnace similar to the furnaces used in the manufacture
of plate glass, and heated in such manner as to keep the mixture in a fluid
state, and I continue the mixture in such furnace so heated until I require it
for use, as herein-after mentioned. The apparatus to be used in casting must be
varied according to the articles intended to be made, whether such articles are
cylinders, plates, or blocks. Plates or blocks made of glass, enamel, or such
other vitrified substances, as herein-before mentioned, may be cast in any
suitable mould, but for casting cylinders I use such an apparatus as is

page_text: described in the Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings hereunto annexen,
the same letters being used in each of these Figures for denoting the corre-
sponding parts of such apparatus.
Figure 1 represents an elevation of such apparatus, and Figure 2 a
a is a cylindrical
vertical section taken through the middle of the same.
mould of cast iron or other suitable material, formed in three pieces braced
together by flanges and bolts, and fitted at the bottom to the foundation plate
of an ordinary screw press; b is a hollow tube also fitted to the foundation
plate of the press, and constituting a core for forming a cylindrical opening
through the intended cylinder; c is a funnel fitting loosely upon the mould a,
and provided with ears or lugs which slide upon the vertical guide rods d, d, of
the screw press; e is a piston or plunger fitting the interior of the mould a,
and attached to the screw of the press in any ordinary manner. This piston
or plunger has a cylindrical passage to to receive the tube or core b, when the
piston or plunger is screwed down. 9 represents a pipe communicating at one
end with a tank of water placed at an elevation above the waste pipe h,
herein-after mentioned, and connected at the other end with the interior of the
tube or core b, for supplying a current of water to prevent such tube or
core from becoming fused and adhering to the vitrified matter used in forming
the cylinder; h represents another pipe, being the waste pipe attached to the
top of the tube or core b, for the purpose of carrying off steam and the surplus
water supplied through the pipe g, after the tube or core 6 is filled, and the
piston or plunger e having a slot or opening at i to provide for the piston or
plunger descending whilst the waste pipe h remains stationary. In using this
apparatus I pour the vitrified matter from the smaller crucibles or pots
herein-before mentioned into the mould a by means of the funnel c, and then
screw down the piston e, in order to compress the matter in the mould.
I fasten the piston to the funnel by means of the screws k, k, and by
means of the screw I fasten the upper end of the core also to the piston.
I allow the vitrified matter to remain in the mould until it is sufficiently
cool to be removed, and thus the cylinder is formed; I then raise the
piston or plunger e and the tube or core b, and the funnel c (which will
have been fastened or attached together, as already mentioned), by means
of the screw of the press, and the cylinder is ready to be annealed. For
the purpose of annealing the cylinder I prefer to take the mould a to
pieces, and to remove the cylinder therefrom, and put it into a case
of sheet iron, which is open at one end, and which is made larger than the
cylinder, to provide for a vacant space being left on every side between the

page_text: cylinder and the case. I put the cylinder as nearly into the middle of the
case as may be, and then fill the vacant spaces within the case with powdered
charcoal, and close the end of the case in any convenient manner to exclude
atmospheric air as much as may be. I then put the case into an annealing
air or kiln similar to the annealing arches or kilns in general use in the manu-
facture of articles of glass, and the process of annealing may be conducted in
the same way as is commonly done in such manufacture; but I prefer to
suspend the iron case (which I use as before mentioned) containing the cylin
der during the operation, in order that the case may be surrounded by or
entirely exposed to the heat within the arch or kiln. If it is desired that the
cylinder should be annealed without this process, it may be put into the
annealing arch or kiln without being removed from the mould, and the mould
may be suspended in such arch or kiln. When the cylinder has been
annealed it is prepared for being ground, and it may be ground, smoothed, and
polished by any convenient means for grinding, smoothing, and polishing glass;
but for these purposes I prefer to use a mill with a revolving disc. Plates
and blocks made of such vitrified substances as herein-before mentioned may
be annealed in..the ordinary manner of annealing glass, and they may be
ground, smoothed, and polished either upon a revolving disc or in the ordinary
manner of grinding, smoothing, and polishing plate glass. If it is desired to
use cylinders, plates, or blocks of any other suitable material, not being such
vitrified substance as herein-before mentioned for printing or embossing such
fabrics as are herein-before mentioned, such cylinders, plates, and blocks may
be coated or covered with any such glaze or other substance capable of vitrifi-
cation suitable to the material of which such cylinders, plates, or blocks may
be made, as contains a sufficient quantity of silica and boracic acid, or either
of them, to provide for the required patterns or devices being etched on such
coating or covering by the action of hydrofluoric acid alone, or in combination
with ammonia or other base, and such cylinders, plates, and blocks may be
coated or covered with such glaze or other substance, and this glaze or other
substance afterwards vitrified in the same manner as is in general use for
glazing porcelain. When cylinders, plates, and blocks made of such vitrified
substances as herein-before mentioned for that purpose have been ground,
smoothed, and polished, and when cylinders, plates, and blocks made of any other
suitable material have been sufficiently coated or covered with such vitrified
substances as herein-before mentioned for that purpose, they are respectively
prepared to receive patterns or devices by etching or engraving. As to
engraving, I have already stated the mode. As to etching, this is capable of

page_text: modifications. I shall describe two modes of etching which I adopt, videlicet,
according to one, I heat the cylinders, plates, and blocks gradually by any
convenient means until they are sufficiently warm to melt common etching
wax, and I then cover them with a slight coating of such wax, and transfer
5 the pattern or device intended to be etched to the coating of wax by any
means in ordinary use for that purpese, and when cylinders or plates are to be
etched, I remove those portions of wax to which the pattern or device has been
transferred by means of a pointed instrument or other convenient tool or
machine; but when blocks are to be etched, I in like manner remove those
parts of the wax to which the pattern or device has not been transferred,
and after the wax has been thus removed, I immerse the cylinders, plates, and
blocks in hydrofluoric acid, and keep them in such acid until the pattern or
device is sufficiently bitten or corroded in. Another mode which I adopt is as
follows: I take of white wax one ounce, asphaltum one ounce, Burgundy
pitch half an ounce, common pitch half an ounce, and melt these materials in
a glazed eathenware pot over a slow fire. I then allow the mixture to cool,
and make it into balls. I inclose these balls in a silk bag, and lay a ground
of the mixture upon the cylinders, plates, and blocks to be, etched in a similiar
manner to that practised by copper-plate engravers in respect to copper
plates. I then place the pattern or device drawn on thin paper upon the
cylinder, plate, or block, and for cylinders or plates I go over the lines of such
pattern or device with a soft black lead pencil, and shade the. same according
to the ordinary mode of executing a pencil drawing; but for etching blocks I
go over the other parts of the paper with a similar pencil, and shade it so as
to leave the pattern or device; I then remove the paper, and the mixture with
which the cylinder, plate, or block was covered is removed with the paper
from those parts over which the pencil has passed, leaving such parts exposed.
I then submit the cylinder, plate, or block to the action of hydrofluoric acid
in the same manner as I have already described for that purpose. After the
cylinders, plates, or blocks have been subjected to the action of hydrofluoric
acid, any portions of the pattern or device may be stopped out in any con-
venient manner, and the cylinders, plates, or blocks may be again immersed in
the acid to complete or improve the pattern or device. Before the cylinders,
which are made of glass, enamel, or other such vitrified substances as herein-
before mentioned, are fit for use in printing or embossing, they must be
adapted to a mandril or axis, and for this purpose a tube or lining of iron or
compressed wood or other suitable material is to be fastened or screwed to
such cylinders by any convenient mode. I prefer the mode herein-after

page_text: described in reference to the second part of my Invention for fastening of
securing tubes or linings to cylinders of copper or brass or other expensive
materials.
. I will now describe the means by which I carry into effect the second part
of my Invention. It consists of tubes or linings of iron or compressed wood,
or other suitable material, to be put into cylinders of copper or brass or other
expensive materials, to be used in printing or embossing such fabrics as afore-
said, for the purpose of reducing the quantity of the more expensive material
required to make such cylinders, and thereby reducing the expence of the
same without requiring any increase in the weight or size of the mandrils or
axes of such cylinders. In order that this part of my Invention may be better
understood I have annexed to this my Specification Figures 3 and 4 of the
Drawings hereunto annexed, the same letters being used in each of these
Figures for denoting the corresponding parts in such Figures.
Figure 3 is a cylinder with this part of my Invention applied thereto, drawn
in section at one end thereof, and Figure 4 is a cross section of such cylinder.
A is the cylinder; B is the tube or lining which is cemented to the cylinder
throughout its length, and has each end formed as a screw projecting beyond
the cylinder for the purpose of receiving the caps or nuts c, c, to screw and
attach it by the ends to the cylinder a. d is a rib or feather edge upon the
tube or lining b, and fitting into a corresponding grove upon the axis or
mandril in the usual manner of mounting cylinders for printing and em-
bossing the fabrics before mentioned. The tube or lining 6 may be of any
convenient thickness, and may be made of cast or wrought iron, or compressed
wood, or other suitable material, but I prefer wrought iron; and the rib or
feather edge may be fixed into the mandril and the corresponding groove
formed in the tube or lining b, if this is thought to be more convenient.
Now I hereby declare that I claim as my Invention only,
First, the manufacture of cylinders, plates, and blocks, made of or coated
or covered with glass or enamel, or any other vitrified substance containing
silica and boracic acid, or either of them, sufficient to render such cylinders
plates, or blocks capable of being etched by the action of hydrofluoric acid
alone or in combination with ammonia or other base, and to be used in
printing or embossing cotton, linen, woollen, silk, or other similar fabrics.
And, secondly, the use or application of tubes or linings for cylinders made
of copper, brass, or other expensive materials, for printing or embossing cotton
my Invention
linen, woollen, silk, and other similar fabrics, by which part of
such cylinders are, as herein-before appears, made with a smaller quantity o

page_text: the more expensive materials of which they are now usually composed, without
requiring an increase in the weight or size of the axes or mandrils to be used
with the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Rice Harris, have hereunto set and
affixed my hand and seal, this Ninth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
within-named Rice Harris, in the
presence of
THO SMITH JAMES,
Sol', Birmingham.
W. H. GRIFFIN,
His Clerk.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of November, in the
fourth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said Rice
Harris came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained
And also the Instrument aforesaid
and specified, in form above written.
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth
year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.