IMPROVEMENTS IN FORMING BLOCKS OR SURFACES FOR PRINTING
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Keenan, of Paris, Manufacturer, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FORMING BLOCKS OR SURFACES FOR PRINTING."
-A communication.
Sealed the 27th June 1854, and dated the 25th February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Keenan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
February 1854.
I, JAMES KEENAN, of Paris, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FORMING BLOCKS OR SURFACES FOR PRINTING"
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of obtaining a suitable surface for printing, by
employing sheets of wood, felt, or other suitable substance cemented or fixed
to a suitable block, after the pattern desired has been cut through the sheet by
means of a saw, such as is used for cutting scrolls and other forms. When
felt is used, it is first saturated with a solution of shellac and pressed, and
afterwards coated with rosin and pitch by the aid of heat, and subjected to
pressure.
The design to be printed from a block, according to this Invention, is first
sketched or marked on the sheet of material to be used; the same is then
sawed through and through so as to remove the substance, except where the
design comes which is to be printed from. The sheet is then cemented or fixed
to a block, and used in the ordinary manner of block printing.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Keenan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
KEENAN, of Paris, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Keenan, Her special licence that I, the said James Keenan,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Keenan, 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
FORMING BLOCKS OR SURFACES FOR PRINTING," being a communication from abroad,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Keenan, by an in-
strument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Keenan, 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 state-
ment, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
In making printing surfaces for what is known as block printing, the mode
heretofore and now practised is to produce the figure required in relief, by
cutting away the substance of a solid block all around the figure which is
intended to be left in relief; the operation being the reverse of engraving, in
which the figure to be printed is in intaglio, that is, cut in below the surface.
This method of producing printing blocks is attended with great labor, requires
great attention, and, as a consequence, is expensive.
The object of the first part of this Invention is to reduce the cost of pro-
ducing raised printing surfaces, and consists in cutting out the figures required,

page_text: in whole or in sections, by means of a saw or other instrument, from thin plates
of felt, prepared according to the second part of the Invention, or of wood or
other suitable substance of the thickness of the intended or required relief, and
then securing them by glue, cement, or other suitable means to the face of a
block of the required size for printing.
The object of the second part of the Invention is to produce a substance
which shall possess, in a higher degree than any other known substance, the
properties required for block printing and other like processes.
It has long been known that the fabric known by the appellation of "felt"
presents a surface well adapted to receive colors, and transfer them, but it
absorbs too much color, and has not sufficient consistency to resist the required
pressure in printing, and to make clear and sharp impressions. To impart to
felt, therefore, qualities requisite in a printing surface, is the object of the second
part of the Invention.
In manufacturing printing surfaces according to this Invention, I take a
plate of felt, prepared as hereafter explained, or wood, or other suitable sub-
stance of a uniform thickness, and equal in thickness to the relief which the
figures are required to possess, and on one surface thereof I draw the design or
figure required, as at Fig. 1 in the accompanying Drawing; I then, by means
of a fine and very narrow saw or other suitable instrument, cut along the lines
of the figure, as at a, Fig. 1, until I have cut out the part b. This forms the
surface for printing the ground, as represented by Fig. 2, and also the surface,
Fig. 3, for printing the figure c, of a different color; I then cut along the line
d, and thus separate the surface, Fig. 4, for printing with a third color
the fig. e within the fig. c. These several pieces being cut, the one out of the
other, in succession, must necessarily correspond in configuration, minus the
thickness cut away by the saw or other instrument. They are then properly
arranged in place on the surface of blocks f, g, and h, (Figures 5, 6, and 7,) of
suitable size and thickness for block printing, and there secured with glue,
cement, or other suitable means for working in the process of printing the
successive colors. It is only necessary to secure these several figures in
positions on their several blocks to ensure the printing of the successive colors
in their proper places; for Fig. 3 being cut out of Fig. 2 will print on that part
of the cloth which will not be touched by Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 being cut out of
Fig. 3 will print where Figures 2 and 3 will not touch, the thickness removed
by the saw or other instrument being about equal to the spread of the colors
at each impression. Fig. 8 represents an entirely different design, delineated
on the surface of a plate of prepared felt, wood, or other suitable substance of the
proper

page_text: required thickness. With a fine saw or other instrument I cut along the lines
of the design, and if the figure is to be printed on a fabric of the color of the
intended ground, I take the pieces marked i and secure them to the face of a
suitable block j, (Fig. 9,) and print therewith; and if the ground is also to be
printed, I secure the pieces to another block in like manner, and first print
the design with Fig. 8, and then print the ground all around the design, as in
the first example.
In this way blocks for printing the most intricate and delicate designs can
be produced at much less cost than by any other mode heretofore known.
For making the printing surface according to the second part of the Inven-
tion, I take sheets of felt which have been thoroughly felted and of greater
thickness than the intended relief; this is to be saturated with a solution of
gum shellac in alcohol (one pound of gum to one gallon of alcohol), by either
immersing it in the solution or applying the solution to the surfaces; and to
cause the solution to penetrate, a hot iron should be passed over both surfaces
with pressure. After the solution has thoroughly penetrated, the felt is to be
subjected to heavy pressure in a press and between two flat and parallel sur-
faces, by which it is reduced to an equal thickness, and well compacted to give
it the required consistency for printing. After this, powdered rosin or pitch is
put over the surface which is to receive the color, and sprinkled with turpen-
tine, and then a hot iron is passed over it to smooth down this surface and
cause it to penetrate as much as possible. It will be found that felt prepared
in this way presents a better surface to receive and transfer the colors, and
possesses the requisite hardness and toughness to produce and retain sharp
angles for giving sharp impressions, as it is termed, whilst at the same time it
is durable, and has a degree of elasticity peculiarly adapted to the purpose of
giving impressions.
But whilst I deem this preparation of felt better adapted to the purpose of
block or other like printing, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself
to the use of this preparation for block printing alone, as it may be successfully
used for other kinds of printing.
Nor do I wish to limit myself under the first part of this Invention to the
use of this preparation of felt, as wood and other substances will answer a
good, although not so good a purpose.
What I claim as the Invention communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, and desire to secure under the above in part recited Letters Patent
is, producing printing surfaces by cutting out the figure or design from a plate
or plates of prepared felt, wood, or other suitable substance of the thickness of

page_text: the required relief, and mounting the same by means of glue, cement, or other
suitable means.
And I also claim the above described method of preparing felt, by which
the required properties for block and other kinds of printing is imparted
thereto.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Keenan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
JAMES KELLY,
of 14, Rue Ferdinand,
Paris.
JAMES KEENAN. (L.8.)