IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL ROLLERS FOR PRINTING CALICO AND OTHER TEXTILE FRICS, PART OF WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO THE REFINING OF COPPER
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Wilde, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF METAL ROLLERS FOR PRINTING CALICO AND OTHER
TEXTILE FRICS, PART OF WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO THE REFINING OF
COPPER."
Sealed the 4th April 1876, and dated the 28th December 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Wilde at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th December 1875.
I, HENRY WILDE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL ROLLERS FOR PRINTING CALICO
AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS, PART OF WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO THE REFINING OF
COPPER," to be as follows:-

page_text: for the solid copper roner's used in canico printing and in other processes,
but owing to the expense of the battery power and the slow rate at
which the copper was deposited in the reguline state such attempts
have not hitherto been commercially successful.
my
Now Invention consists in giving to the electrolyte or depositing
liquid in which the roller to be coated is immersed, or to the positive
and negative electrodes themselves a rapid motion of rotation, in order
that fresh particles of the electrolyte may be brought successively in
contact with the metallic surfaces. By this means powerful currents of
electricity may be brought to bear upon small surfaces of metal without
detriment to the quality of the copper deposited, while the rate of the
deposit is greatly accelerated.
..
Motion may be communicated to the electrolyte either by the rotation
of the electrodes themselves, or when the latter are stationary by paddles
revolving in an annular space between them.
The iron roller to be coated with copper is mounted on an axis, the
lower end of which is insulated to prevent its receiving a deposit of
copper at the same time as the roller. The roller, after having received
a film deposit of copper from an alkaline solution in the manner well
understood, is immersed in a vertical position in a sulphate solution of
copper, and a motion of rotation is given to the roller or rollers by
means of suitable gearing.
The positive electrodes are copper rollers or cylinders of about the
same length and diameter as the roller to be coated, and are placed
parallel with it in the sulphate solution. The electrical contacts are:
made near the upper and lower extremities of the electrodes respectively
for the purpose of securing uniformity in the thickness of the deposit.
The sulphate solution may be maintained at a uniform density from
the top to the bottom of the bath by rotating a small screw propeller
enclosed in a tube communicating with the liquid, and driven by the
same gearing that imparts motion to the roller.
The electric current employed for depositing the copper is that derived
from the electro-magnetic induction machines described in the Speci-
fications of Letters Patent granted to me on the 1st day of December
1863, No. 3006; on the 26th day of October 1865, No. 2762; and on a

page_text: the 23rd day of March 1867, No. 842, or other machines constructed on
the same general principle.
Although I have only mentioned cast iron as the metal upon which
the copper is deposited the process is applicable to rollers made of zinc
or other metals and their alloys.
The method of accelerating the rate of deposit by giving to the
electrolyte or to the electrodes a motion of rotation may be applied to
the electrolytic method of refining copper described in the Specification
of Letters Patent granted to James Ballines Elkington on the 3rd day of
November 1865, No. 2838, in which the copper is refined by electric or
magnetic currents. In this application the rotation of the electrolyte
may be brought about by paddles revolving in the aunular space between
the positive and negative electrodes arranged in concentric circles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Wilde in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WILDE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five,
in the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Wilde,
Her special licence that I, the said Henry Wilde, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said Henry
Wilde, my executors, administrators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL ROLLERS
FOR PRINTING CALICO AND OTHER TEXTILE FABRICS, PART OF WHICH IS APPLICABLE
TO THE REFINING OF COPPER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,

page_text: the said Henry Wilde, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 saine 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 Henry Wilde, 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 (that is to say) :-
Attempts have been made from time to time to substitute iron rollers
covered with a thin layer of copper by means of electricity for the solid
copper rollers used in calico printing and in other processes, but owing to
the expense of the battery power and the slow rate at which the copper
was deposited in the reguline state such attempts have not hitherto been
commercially successful.
Now my Invention consists in giving to the electrolyte or depositing
liquid in which the roller to be coated is immersed, or to the positive
and negative electrodes themselves a rapid motion of rotation, in order
that fresh particles of the electrolyte may be brought successively in
contact with the metallic surfaces. By this means powerful currents of
electricity may be brought to bear upon small surfaces of metal without
detriment to the quality of the copper deposited, while the rate of the
deposit is greatly accelerated.
This Invention may also be applied to the electrolytic method of
refining copper described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted
to James Balleny Elkington on the 3rd day of November, 1805, Number
2838.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood I will
proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan of the apparatus which
I employ in the manufacture of metal rollers.
According to my improvements a is a vat
or depositing liquid, and b is the iron or other
which is secured to the axle of rotation c, c¹.
containing the electrolyte
metal roller to be coated,
This axle is made in two

page_text: parts, united together by the flange coupling c², but insulated from each
other by a disc of ebonite or other insulating material placed between
the flanges of the coupling. The ends of the roller b are closed by the
brass caps c³ and c4, and the gutta percha or wood washers c5, the whole
being tightened together by the screw at the lower end of the axle c¹ for
the purpose of insulating the caps from the roller and for excluding the
depositing liquid from the interior of the roller. The pivot on the cap c
rotates in a footstep made of lignum vitae or other suitable material.
The cap c³ is insulated from the axle c by a bush of ebonite, and
electrical contact is established between the axle c and the roller 6 by
the piston block co, which is provided with metal packing rings which
press against the internal surface of the roller. At the upper end of
the axle c is fixed the friction pulley c³, the boss of which is provided
with a copper hoop, on which acts the copper brush d, shewn in Fig. 2,
connected with the negative pole of the electro-magnetic machine or
other electro-motor. The friction pulley c³ is driven by the disc e fixed
on the driving shaft e¹; the disc e is pressed against the friction pulley c
by the bowl fmounted on the end of the weighted lever . A second
disc e may be made to act on the opposite side of the pulley ci to increase
the driving power, and to reduce the friction on the axle c.
9, 9, are
the positive electrodes, the number of which can be varied. These
electrodes may be ordinary printers' copper rollers that have been
reduced in diameter until they are too small for use, and they are sus-
pended from the top of the vat a by copper rods connected by the metal
cross pieces 2¹, through which a copper bolt passes.
The positive electrodes can be turned partly round occasionally by the
nuts at the upper ends of the rods to bring fresh dissolving surfaces
opposite the roller. These nuts rest upon plates connected with the
positive terminal of the electro-magnetic machine.
Instead of producing the whirling motion of the electrolyte by the
rotation of the roller b, as above described, it may be produced by the
rotation of the positive electrodes y mounted on a revolving frame, or
by paddles revolving in the annular space between fixed electrodes
and a fixed roller; and instead of using cylindrical electrodes g, as shewn,
they may be segmental shaped plates of copper placed concentric to the
roller b. The roller b, after having received a film deposit of copper
from an alkaline solution in the manner well understood, is immersed
ju a vertical position in a sulphate solution of copper in the vat a, and a

page_text: motion of rotation is given to the roller by the means described, or
other suitable gearing.
The electric current employed for depositing the copper is that derived
from the electro-magnetic induction machines described in the Speci-
fications of Letters Patent granted to me on the 1st day of December {
1863, Number 3006; on the 26th day of October 1865, No. 2762; and
on the 23rd day of March 1867, Number 842, or other machines con-
structed on the same general principle.
Although I have only mentioned iron as the metal upon which the
copper is deposited the process is applicable to rollers made of copper 1
and other metals and their alloys..
The method of accelerating the rate of deposit by giving to the
electrolyte or to the electrodes a motion of -rotation may be applied to
the electrolytic method of refining copper described in the Specification
of Letters Patent granted to James Balleny Elkington on the 3rd day of 1
November 1865, Number 2838, in which the copper is refined by electric
or magnetic currents. This part of my Invention is illustrated by Fig. 3,
which represents a section through the lead lined vat a contraining the
electrolytic solution of copper, and the positive electrodes g, and the
negative electrodes g', which are supported by the annular brass frame 2
fixed to the inside of the vat. The upright shaft c is supported below
in a footstep and above in a bush let into the lid of the vat, and to this
shaft are fixed the arms i supporting the paddles j, which revolve in the
annular space between the electrodes y, g, and g¹, g¹. The crude copper
electrodes g are dissolved in the electrolyte as the pure copper is deposited
on the negative electrodes g¹.
Having thus stated the nature and particulars of my Invention I
declare that I claim,-
First. Imparting a rapid whirling or rotating motion to a depositing
solution in the manner and for the purposes described.
Secondly. The method of communicating motion to the roller to be
electro-coppered by means of friction wheels, as shewn and described.
Thirdly. The method of constructing and insulating the axle c, c¹, and
of making the electrical contact inside the roller for the purpose of

page_text: And, lastly. The application of the whirling or rotating motion of the
electrolyte in the refining of copper, and the apparatus for effecting the
same, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Wilde, have hereto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of June One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.
HENRY WILDE. (L.S.)