AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR MAKING PAPER TRANSPARENT AND TRANSFERRING DESIGNS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED PROCESS FOR MAKING PAPER TRANSPARENT AND TRANSFERRING
DESIGNS." A communication from abroad by Henry Loewenberg, of
New York City, and Henry Schoonmaker, of Brooklyn, in the County
of Kings, and State of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 7th January 1864, and dated the 15th July 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th July 1863. .
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR MAKING PAPER TRANSPARENT AND TRANSFERRING
DESIGNS," to. be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the application to paper of a solution of gum,
rosin, alcohol, or volatile or fatty oils, or composition of such fatty oil or other
fatty substances, in such a manner that the paper is rendered transparent,
and that designs or characters printed or otherwise produced on that side
of the paper on which the adhesive substance has been applied can be

page_text: transferred on paper, glass, wood, or any other desirable surface simply by
glueing the paper down on said surface by means of the adhesive substance
and afterwards removing the paper. The design, together with the adhesive
substance, adheres to the surface on which said design is to be transferred. By
the application of this solution the paper is rendered transparent, and in this
condition it can be used with great advantage for tracing or transferring
designs or drawings in the ordinary manner, or if desired it can be used for
postage or revenue stamps or other similar devices. In this case the design
is printed on that side of the paper to which the solution has been applied,
and if the stamp is now attached to a letter or other sheet of paper or sub-
stance the design is protected by the paper or material on which it is
printed, but it is perfectly visible on account of the transparency of said
paper.
If an attempt is made to tear off the stamp, the design with the adhesive
substance on which it has been printed adheres to the letter or other sheet
of paper, and it is entirely impossible to remove the stamp so that it can
be used over again. There is no process by which the stamp can be removed
without mutilation or disfiguring the surface on which the stamp was printed.
The stamp is self-cancelling.
The paper is also of great advantage for transferring designs or any desirable
lines or characters on paper, cloth, or other material, for the purpose of
embroidering or for any other purpose whatever.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent; send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the Faid William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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 "AN IMPROVED PROCESS
FOR MAKING PAPER TRANSPARENT AND TRANSFERRING DESIGNS," a com". to me
from abroad by Henry Loewenburg, of New York City, and Henry Schoon-
maker, of Brooklyn, in the County of Kings, and State of New York, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Clark, 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 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 William Clark, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
This Invention consists in the application to paper or other material of
a solution to render it transparent, so that designs or characters printed or
otherwise, produced, or pictures taken by photographic process on one side of
the paper, may be distinctly visible from the other side, and by the application
of an adhesive substance over the printed characters, the latter can be trans-
ferred to paper, glass, wood; or any other desirable surface simply by gluing
the paper down on said surface by means of the adhesive substance, when the
design, together with the adhesive substance, will adhere to the surface on which
said design is to be transferred, and the transparent paper on which it was first
printed or produced may be removed or not as preferred.
In order that others skilled in the art to which this Invention appertains
may be enabled to fully understand and use the same, I will proceed to describe
the manner of carrying it into effect.
I employ a compound of resinous gum, camphor, bees-wax, benzine, and
spirits of turpentine or analogous material, in any suitable proportions, applied
by brushes, revolving cylinders, immersion, or in any other way to paper, linen,
or other flexible material to render it transparent. Upon paper or other
material so prepared any suitable designs or characters may be drawn or
printed in any color, or colors painted or retouched, for which purpose non-
reversed types or engravings on metal, wood, and stone, or lithographic
stones, or photographic process may be employed, the gums and wax pre-
venting contact of the ink with the fibrous material. Any suitable adhesive

page_text: substance is then applied to the printed side or before printed, and after
drying the sheets are ready for use.
If it be desired to transfer the design or characters to another surface of
paper, cloth, glass, wood, or other material, this may be effected by moistening
the adhesive surface and applying sufficient pressure to cause adhesion, the
words, characters, or design will. thus be fixed upon the surface to which
it is desired to transfer them and effectually protected from exposure, and will
be distinctly visible through the transparent paper or cloth, and if desired the
transparent paper or cloth may be removed without removing the design or
characters from the surface to which they were transferred.
To render it impossible to remove the design after transfer, I prepare the
said transparent paper with adhesive substance before printing. If the use
of adhesive substance be objectionable the surface on which the transfer is to
be made may be covered with a suitable varnish, which before drying will
permit the design to adhere to the surface, and after drying the paper may
be removed, Then if the said paper be removed the characters or designs
either remain upon the surface to which they have been transferred or will be
destroyed, according to the purpose for which they have been intended and
prepared.
The Invention may thus be applied to the production of self-cancelling
postage or revenue stamps. It is also valuable in its application to bank notes
and other documents which are required to be preserved from defacement or
injury, and also from the possibility of alteration. The ink being beneath the
transparent paper, it is protected from injury or alteration. By transferring
on to the surface of any suitable woven fabric great strength may be
obtained.
I do not restrict myself to the use of any of the materials named, but
propose to dispense with or change any of them as may be found desirable;
neither do I limit myself to the specific uses above named, as the Invention
may be applied to the production of transferable tracings for engravers' use,
and to many other purposes not necessary to be specified.
.
Having described the nature of this Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
Printing or drawing, photographing, painting, or otherwise producing
designs or characters on paper or cloth rendered transparent in the manner
described.
"
Also printing or drawing and otherwise producing designs on paper or
cloth rendered transparent in the manner described, and covering the surface

page_text: to be printed, or after printing either or both, as desired, with an adhesive
substance, to render the design suitable to be transfered to another surface by
moistening the adhesive substance, as herein-before explained.
Also the use and application of printing et cætera on transparent paper or
cloth and transferring the same on to any surface adapted to receive it by
covering said surface with a suitable varnish, as herein-before explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
JAMES DAISH,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)