IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR AND METHODS OF PRODUCING DESIGNS UPON PAPER, CLOTH, OR OTHER FIBROUS OR SOFT MATERIAL
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Bentley Woodbury, of Norwood, in the County
of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR AND METHODS
OF PRODUCING DESIGNS UPON PAPER, CLOTH, OR OTHER FIBROUS OR SOFT
MATERIAL."
Sealed the 21st January 1879, and dated the 22nd July 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Bentley Woodbury
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd July 1878.
WALTER BENTLEY WOODBURY, of Norwood, in the County of Surrey.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR AND METHODS OF PRODUCING DESIGNS UPON
PAPER, CLOTH, OR OTHER FIBROUS OR SOFT MATERIAL."
My Invention relates to the method of producing designs upon the surface of
paper in which the design is first obtained in relief upon a plate or sheet of
sufficiently hard material, and this plate being placed upon the sheet of paper upon
which the design is to be produced, both are passed together through a press or
between rollers, the pressure of which causes the parts of the design which are in
relief to compress the paper and render it more transparent when viewed by trans-
mitted light, whilst by reflected light it appears darker.
In order to obtain the design in relief as described upon a sufficiently hard
surface, I take a sheet of gelatine tissue prepared upon paper by coating the paper
with a solution of gelatine in water, with a sufficient quantity of any suitable
opaque pigment added in order to render the gelatine less transparent. The sheet
of gelatinous tissue thus prepared is dried and can be kept in this state until it is
wanted. I then render it sensitive to light by floating it upon or treating its
surface with a solution of bichromate of potash or ammonia, in the way well
understood and practised. The sheet thus rendered sensitive is then dried and
exposed to light under a transparent photographic negative or positive picture,
upon which the required design has been obtained in the usual way.
This design may consist of any landscape, portrait, or other natural objects, or
of geometrical or other ornamental designs, or of any other desired object of which

page_text: a photographic picture can be taken. I then take the gelatinous film upon which
has now been produced a picture, the parts of which are insoluble in proportion to
the degree to which the light has acted upon them, and I fix it to the surface of
a plate of zinc or other metal or other suitable material, but preferably of steel
coated with nickel. This I do by pressing the surface of the gelatine into close
contact with that of the plate whilst both are immersed in water, and I prefer to
coat the surface of the plate with a thin film of collodion before so immersing them.
I then carefully wash away the paper or support upon which the gelatinous film
was first formed, and the parts of the gelatine which not having been affected by
light remain soluble in warm water, and I then dry the remaining gelatine either
naturally or by artificial heat, but preferably by immersing it in alcohol, and the
design or picture is visible upon the surface of the gelatine, which remains firmly
adherent to the steel or other plate. I take the sheet of paper, cotton, or linen
cloth, or other sufficiently soft material upon which the design is to be produced,
and having placed it upon the surface of the gelatine picture I pass both together
through a press or between rollers, or a roller and plate of sufficient power to com-
press the parts of the paper or other substance which are in contact with the
relief parts of the gelatine picture, such compression being proportioned to the
amount of relief of the several parts of the design.
The effect of the compression described is to render those parts which have been
compressed more transparent to transmitted light, and darker in colour by reflected
light, so that the gelatine picture must be obtained from a photographic positive
or negative, according to the light by which it is intended that the resulting
pictures upon the paper shall be viewed.
By the method described of obtaining the gelatine picture every detail is repro-
duced upon the paper or other material under pressure, and half-tones or graduations
of light are also reproduced.
Instead of attaching the gelatinous sheet to a metal or other plate in the way
above described, I sometimes attach it in the same way to a flexible sheet of
gelatine or gelatinous substance which has been rendered insoluble by the addition
of a sufficient quantity of chrome or other alum, or other substance having the
property of rendering gelatine insoluble. I prepare this sheet by pouring the
gelatine so treated upon the surface of a sheet of plate glass previously greased. In
this way I obtain a durable though flexible sheet, having the design upon its
surface in sufficient relief to reproduce itself upon the paper or other material under
pressure.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Walter Bentley Woodbury in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd January 1879.
WALTER BENTLEY WOODBURY, of Norwood, in the County of Surrey.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR AND METHODS OF PRODUCING DESIGNS UPON
PAPER, CLOTH, OR OTHER FIBROUS OR SOFT MATERIAL."
My Invention relates to the method of producing designs upon the surface of
paper, in which the design is first obtained in relief by the aid of photography
upon a plate or sheet of sufficiently hard material, and this plate being placed upon
the sheet of paper upon which the design is to be produced, both are passed
together through a press or between rollers, the pressure of which causes the parts
of the design which are in relief to compress the paper to an extent sufficient to
render it more transparent when viewed by transmitted light, whilst by reflected
light it appears darker.
My present Invention has for its object improved means and methods of pre-
paring in sufficiently hard relief the design which is subsequently pressed into the
surface of the paper in the way described.
By my improvements the relief designs as described are more perfect and durable,
more easily obtained, and more effective than has heretofore ordinarily been the
case.
In one method of putting my Invention in operation I take a sheet of gelatine
tissue prepared upon paper by coating the paper with a solution of gelatine or
gelatinous material in water, with a sufficient quantity of any opaque pigment
added for the purpose of rendering the gelatine less transparent. The sheet of
gelatinous tissue thus prepared is dried and may be kept in a dry state until it is
required for use. I then render it sensitive to light by floating it upon or treating
its surface with a solution of bichromate of potash or ammonia, in the way well
understood and practised. The sheet thus prepared being sensitive to light, the
gelatine being more or less insoluble in proportion to the amount of its exposure to
light, is then dried and is exposed to light under a transparent negative or
positive photographic picture, the design upon which has been obtained in the way
well understood and practised.
This design may consist of any landscape or portrait, or other natural object or
objects, or of geometrical or other ornamental designs, or of letters or inscriptions,
or, other desired objects of which it is possible to obtain photographic pictures.
The gelatinous film upon which has now been produced a picture or design, the
parts of which are more or less insoluble in proportion to the extent to which they
have been effected by the light passing through the transparent picture, is then
fixed upon the surface of a plate of zinc or other metal, or other suitable material,
but preferably of steel coated with nickel. This I do by pressing the surface of the
gelatine into close contact with that of the plate whilst both are immersed under
water. I prefer to coat the surface of the plate to which the gelatine is to be so
fixed with a thin film of collodion before so immersing them. When the face of
the gelatinous film has been thus fixed upon the plate I carefully wash away the
paper support upon which the film of gelatine was originally formed, as well as the
parts of the gelatine which not having been affected by light remain soluble in
warm water, and I then dry the remaining gelatine either naturally or by artificial
heat, but preferably by immersing it in alcohol. The design or picture is then
visible in sufficient relief upon the surface of the gelatine which remains firmly
adherent to the steel or other plate.
Instead of attaching the gelatinous film to the surface of a metal or other plate
as described, I sometimes attach it to a flexible sheet which may itself be formed of
gelatine or gelatinous substance which has been rendered insoluble by the addition

page_text: of a sufficient quantity of chrome alum or other substance having the property of
rendering gelatine insoluble.
To prepare such a flexible sheet I pour the gelatine so treated upon the surface
of a sheet of plate glass previously made slightly greasy.
Another method which I prefer for obtaining the gelatinous relief design upon
a flexible surface is the following:-I take a sheet of paper of even texture and I
coat it with water containing in solution about ten per cent. of gelatine, and when
the coating is dry I place it in a solution of chrome alum sufficiently strong to
render the gelatine insoluble. The sheet is then again dried and its reverse side
is floated upon a solution of shellac dissolved in water by the aid of borax.
The proportions of these ingredients may vary, but I prefer to use about 60
parts of white lac and 12 parts of borax, dissolved by boiling in 300 parts of water.
The sheet of paper thus prepared is rolled under great pressure, and I then use it
instead of the metal plate or gelatine sheet already described to receive the design
in gelatinous relief.
The sheet of paper, cloth, or other fibrous or soft material upon which the design
is to be produced is then placed upon the surface of the gelatine relief prepared and
supported in the way above described, and both together are passed through a
sufficiently powerful press or between rollers or a roller and plate, or under a
stamping press, so as to compress the parts of the paper or other material which are
in contact with the relief parts of the gelatine picture, such compression being
proportioned to the amount of relief in the several parts of the design.
The effect of the compression described is to render the parts of the paper which
have been so compressed more transparent to transmitted light, and on the other
hand darker in colour by reflected light, so that the gelatine relief picture must be
obtained from a photographic positive or negative, according to the light by which
it is intended that the resulting picture upon the paper or other material shall be
viewed when finished.
By the means described every detail of the picture or design, as well as half
tones or gradations of light, are reproduced upon the paper or other material to
which the pressure is applied. By the improved methods described of obtaining
and supporting the pictures in relief I obtain a durable though flexible sheet,
having the design upon its surface in sufficient relief to reproduce itself upon the
paper or other material under pressure.
Having now described my Invention and the manner in which it is to be per-
'formed, I claim, the means for and methods of producing and supporting gelatine
designs in relief for the purpose of reproducing such designs upon the surface of
paper or other material by pressure as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Bentley Woodbury, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
WALTER BENTLEY WOODBURY. (L.S.)