AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND MEANS FOR PRINTING AND DECORATING METAL PLATES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Thacker, of New Street Square, in the
City of London, Ink Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF AND MEANS FOR PRINTING AND DECORATING METAL
PLATES."
Sealed the 14th September 1875, and dated the 24th July 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Thacker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th July 1875.
I, HENRY THACKER, of New Street Square, in the City of London,
› Ink Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND MEANS FOR PRINTING AND DECORATING METAL
PLATES," to be as follows.

page_text: Third To the mode of finishing the printed or decorated plates.
Fourth. To the composition with which the plates are coated before
and after the printing or decoration.
And, Fifth. To the ink which is employed for the purpose of printing
or decoration
The design is produced upon the printing surface by the employment
of perforated or embossed plate or card which I cover with transfer ink,
and from the inked surface I take an impression on transfer paper.
The design is then transferred to a stone or zinc plate properly prepared
to receive the same. The design may be drawn directly upon the stone
or transferred from steel or copper plates, and the same result be
obtained by the employment of the other parts of my Invention,
my peculiar manner of transferring the designs is preferable chiefly on
account of the expedition and cheapness with which the designs are
produced upon the printing surface.
but
The plates are prepared for printing or decoration by coating the same
with the composition herein-after described, which coating is produced
in any desired colour citlier transparent or opaque. This coating may
be effected by the use of ordinary japan or other compositions, but I
have proved my composition to be admirably adapted for the purpose.
The plates when coated with my said composition will dry sufficiently
for printing without artificial heat, and thus 1 obviate the trouble and
expense of ovens or furnaces The plates may however be subjected to
heat when covered with my composition without injury, and I adopt
the natural process of drying for its convenience and economy. These
plates when dry are preferably printed upon a lithographic press with
a scraper or roller, and as they are removed from the press they
are placed in a rack to dry, or they may be placed upon hot plates,
which mix or combine the ink with the coating on the plates, giving a
smoother surface to the ink as well as effecting the drying more
expeditiously.

page_text: artificial heat for some designs and colours may produce a more desirable
effect.
The composition with which the plates are coated is made of the best
gilder's gold size, or its ingredients spirits of turpentine and gum damar
when it is desired that the finished plates shall have a silvery appearance
The proportions preferably employed by me for this purpose are six
parts of the gold size, six parts of the spirits of turpentine, and one part
of gum damar, but these proportions may be somewhat varied without
departing from the spuit of my Invention, and when it is desired to give
the plates a golden appearance I increase the proportion of size, and
add a quantity of asphalte or other suitable colouring matter.
In order to produce other shade of transparent colours I use the first
named composition in connection with any suitable colour soluble in
the spirits of turpentine The first named composition is rendered
opaque by the addition of mineral colours
The ink employed by me is composed of the ordinary colours used in
lithographic or letter-press printing, ground with strong lithographic
varnish, and when ground I add a small proportion of the silver
composition, and may add advantageously a quantity of driers
The chief object of first coating the plates is to prevent the plate being
indelibly marked by the water or dampness on the stone, as would be the
case if the impression were made directly on the plate The stone may
be damped with a solution of glycerine, spirits of wine, and acetate of
lead, which solution preserves the work or design on the stone for a
much longer period, and is therefore very advantageous.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of July in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of er reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Thacker, Her special licence that
I, the said Henry Thacker, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Thacker, my executors, admını-
strators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 MODE OF AND
MEANS FOR PRINTING AND DECORATING METAL PLATES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Thacker, 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 sıx calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Thacker, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :—
My said Invention relates to the printing or decorating of metal
plates and other surfaces by the following novel process -The pattern
or design is produced upon a lithographic stone or a zinc plate
The metal plate or other surface is prepared with a composition or
compound hercin-after described, and is then dried or allowed to
dy. The pattern or design is printed with a peculiar kind of ink
leiem described upon this prepared surface, and the printed or decorated
inetal plate or other surface is finished with a coating or covering of
the aforesaid composition or compound, and when dried is ready for
usc
In practising this Invention I proceed as follows, that is to say :—
The design is produced upon the pinting surface by the employment
of perforated or embossed plates or cards, which can frequently be

page_text: obtained at a trifling cost, of the exact pattern required, and which
obviate the necessity of drawing or other expensive production of the
design. I cover these perforated or embossed plates with transfer ink,
and from the inked surface I take an impression on transfer paper The
design is then transferred to the stone or zinc plate properly prepared to
receive the same. The design may be drawn directly upon the stone or
transferred from steel or copper plates, and the same result be obtained
by the employment of the other parts of my Invention, but the use of
the said perforated or embossed plates for transfeiring the designs is
preferable chiefly on account of the expedition and cheapness with
which the designs are produced upon the printing surface.
The tin or other metal plates to be printed or decorated are prepared
for the reception of the pattern or design by coating them with the
composition herein-after described, which coating is produced in any
desired colour either transparent or opaque. This preparation or coating
of the plate might be effected by the use of ordinary Japan or
materials other than my said composition or compound, but none of
them to my knowledge will be so advantageous or so well adapted for the
purpose as my composition The plates when coated with my said
composition will dry sufficiently for printing without artificial heat, and
thus I obviate the trouble and expense of ovens or furnaces. The said
plates may however be subjected to heat when covered with my
composition without injury, but I adopt the natural process of drying
for its convenience and economy. These plates thus prepared when dry
are ready to be printed or decorated; they are preferably printed in a
lithographic press with a scraper or roller, and as they are removed from
the press they are placed in a rack to dry, or they may be placed upon
cast-iron or other plates heated by steam or otherwise, which mixes or
combines the ink with the coating on the plates, giving a smoother
surface to the ink as well as effecting the diying more expeditiously.
The printed or decorated plates may be dried in ovens, but I prefer
when heat is employed for the purpose the use of hot plates as aforesaid
The employment of artificial heat for some designs and colours may
produce a more desirable effect.
My composition for coating the plates is made of the best gilder's gold
size or its ingredients, spirits of turpentine, and gum damar, when it is
desired that the finished plates shall have a silvery appearance. The

page_text: proportions preferably employed by me for this purpose are six parts of
the gold size, six parts of the spirits of turpentine, and one part of gum
damar, but these proportious may be somewhat varied without departing
from the spirit of my Invention, and when it is desired to give the
plates a golden appearance I increase the proportion of size, and add a
quantity of asphalte or other suitable colouring matter.
In order to produce other shades of transparent colours I use the first-
named composition in connection with any suitable colour soluble in the
spirits of turpentine The first-named composition is rendered opaque
by the addition of mineral colours.
The ink employed by me is composed of the ordinary colours used in
lithographic or letter-press printing, ground with strong lithographic
varnish, and when ground I add a small proportion of the above
described composition for giving a silvery appearance, and may add
advantageously a quantity of driers
After the printing or decoration of the metal plate or other surface
prepared with the said composition, I apply over the printed or
decorated surface another coating of the same composition, and when
the same is dry the plate is finished
The chief object of the first coating of the plate is to prevent the plate
being indelibly marked by the water or dampness on the stone, as would
be the case if the impression were made directly on the plate. The
stone may be damped with a solution of glycerine, spirits of wine, and
acctate of lead, which solution preserves the work or design on the stone
for a much longer period, and is therefore very advantageous
1 may print or decorate the metal plates or other surfaces in a variety
of colours by the use of a number of lithographic stones or zinc plates,
cach of which prints one colour in the same manner as in chromo-
lithography.
Having thus fully described my said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it understood that 1 claim,-
First The production of patterns or decorations upon metal or other
surfaces, by the means and in the manner above set forth
Second. The composition for coating the metal plates or other
surfaces before and after the printing or decorating of the same, as
herein described.

page_text: Thud The ink for printing on metal or other surfaces composed of
he ingredients herem set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Thacker, have licrcunto
set my hand and scal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
SIX.
Witness,
JA' EDWARDS,
S, Southampton Buildings,
London.
HENRY THACKER (L.S)