A POCKET COPYING PRESS, AND ALSO CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS ON COPYING PRESSES
Year: 1820

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARC
ISAMBARD BRUNEL, of Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twenty-second day of December, in the first year of His reign, give and
grant unto me, the said Marc Isambard Brunel, my exors, adñors, and
assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Marc Isambard Brunel, my exors, adññors, and assigns, during the
term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "A POCKET COPYING PRESS, AND ALSO CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS ON COPYING PRESSES ;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained, a
proviso that if I, the said Marc Isambard Brunel, shall not particularly
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 cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and. all liberties
and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall, utterly cease, determine, and
become void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Mare Isambard Brunell, do hereby declare and: ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is performed, by a
description and Drawing thereof (that is to say):-
That my Invention doth consist in a light pocket press for transferring
writing by means of a damped medium, without the necessity of using wetting
or drying books, and for other purposes.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section of the press when closed or in the
act of pressing. A is the bottom of the press, made of the best gun metal, at
each end of which is a small standard or upright of the same metal; C, D,
the upper end of the standard; C forms a joint for the brass handle or lever;
E, G, is a second lever made of steel, moving from its fulcrum at X, resting at or
near its center on the screw head H, and acted upon at its extremity L by that
part of the handle or lever E at F. B is the convex bottom of a wooden casing,
the further side of which is in this section coloured red. This convex bottom
moves up and down between the standards C, D, and has a thin steel plate
spring J curved so as to correspond with the convexity of the bottom, and
attached to it by the screw H. The two ends of this spring rest in apertures
cut in the standards for their reception. By this means when the two levers
E and G act upon the screw head at H and press down the wooden casing,
the spring being kept up at each end, is forced into a straight line, and then if
the pressure on the screw head be removed by the elevation of the handle or
lever E, as shewn at Fig. 4, the spring resumes its curved form, raising the
wooden casing up with it. M is merely a hollow case in which to keep the
damper. Figs. 2 and 3 represent end views of the press. I shews the
damper, which will be hereafter described in the case M; the sides of the
wooden casing are represented at B, B. Fig. 4 represents the press when
open or when the pressure on the screw head H is removed by the handle or
lever E having been raised. In this Figure it will be seen that the spring j
has resumed its curved form, and that the wooden casing B is considerably
raised from the bottom of the press. Fig. 5 is a section of the press, shewing
the transferring book passing under it for pressure. O represents the trans-
ferring book which consists of blank leaves of very thin paper in the ordinary
way. Fig. 6 is a plan of the press shewing the form and thickness of the
lever G. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section of the press shewing the wooden
casing which conceals the levers, &c. Fig. 8 is a transverse section of the
handle or lever E. Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section of the damper, which

page_text: consists of a small metallic cylinder around which a number of sheets of calico,
fine linen, or other ligh material of the size of the paper used is rolled. This
cylinder of the calico rolled round it is damped and kept in a tube d, d, closed at
one end, and with a cap or cork at the other end with a sponge Q attached to it,
to be used for moistening the calico. The transfer of writing by means of the
press is performed in the following manner :-Put the original writing into
the transferring box, then turn over it as many blank leaves of the book as
there are pages in the original writing; next unroll from the cylinder of the
damper as many sheets of the damp calico, and lay each of them over each of
the blank leaves, and on each of these put a sheet of oiled paper, shut up the
book, and.it is ready to go under the press; having been drawn through the
press, at the same time undergoing a succession of pressures, the writing will
be found transferred. The materials of which this press is made may be
varied at pleasure, and a screw or wedge may be introduced to communicate
motion to the lever G. The dimensions also of the press may be adapted to
particular situations. But a light pocket press for transferring writing by means
of a damp medium in the manner here described being entirely new, and never
before used in this Kingdom, to the best of my knowledge and belief, I am
desirous to maintain this my exclusive right and privilege to the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marc Isambard Brunel, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-one.