IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PRINTING INK
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edouard George Peter Thomas, of the Star
Chemical Works, Brentford, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PRINTING INK."
A communication from abroad by Jules Persoz, of 28, Rue des
Ecoles, Paris, Chemist, and Auguste Jeannolle, of Levallois-Perret,
near Paris, Dyer.
'
Sealed the 2nd June 1874, and dated the 20th December 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edouard George Peter
Thomas at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th December 1873.
I, EDOUARD GEORGE PETER THOMAS, of the Star Chemical Works,
Brentford, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE. MANUFACTURE OF PRINTING
INK," to be as follows:-
J
This Invention has for its object to employ in the manufacture of
printing ink heavy oils and liquid pitches obtained from different sorts
of tar, but especially the heavy oils of coal tar (which are residues in the
manufacture of gas), and also the liquid pitch which the same tar
furnishes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edouard George Peter Thomas in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 20th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDOUARD
GEORGE PETER THOMAS, of the Star Chemical Works, Brentford, in the .
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edouard George Peter Thomas, Her
special license that I, the said Edouard George Peter Thomas, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Edouard George Peter Thomas, 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 PRINTING
INK," a communication to me from abroad by Jules Persoz, of 28, Rue
des Ecoles, Paris, Chemist, and Auguste Jeannolle, of Levallois-Perret,
near Paris, Dyer, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said

page_text: Edouard George Peter Thomas, 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.
bl
is
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edouard George Peter Thomas, 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 thereof, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to the preparation of inks suitable for typo-
graphic, lithographic, autographic, chromo-lithographic, and copper
plate printing, &c.
My Invention has for its object to employ in the preparation of inks, 1
as above-mentioned, heavy oils, and liquid pitches derived from the
different tars (such as petroleum tar, schist tar, coal tar, &c.).
Experience has shewn me that these heavy oils, suitably thickened,
possess the properties requisite for printing. They have suitable body,
they mix well with dry lampblack and colored powders, and when 2
applied as inks they do not soak through the paper or spread beyond
the impression as fatty oils do unless specially prepared. They can
consequently be used to replace either wholly or in part, as the manu-
facturer pleases, the fatty oils which are almost exclusively employed at
present.
2
A serviceable typographic ink may be made from any of the tars
thickened by evaporation, or liquid pitches, by adding suitable pro-
portions of tallow, resin, lampblack, and Prussian blue, or indigo, the
two last substances being intended to correct the yellow tint of the tar.
Nevertheless it has appeared to me, so far, that the heavy oils should be 3
preferred to tar or liquid pitch.
I make a very economical ink according to the following formula :–

page_text: The coal oil is first moderately heated, and the mixture of resin and
soap, rubbed down together, is then introduced, the whole is moderately
heated, care being taken to prevent boiling over; then it is allowed to
cool, and poured little by little upon the lampblack and carefully mixed
with it. The ink is afterwards ground or rubbed smooth by machinery.
This preparation gives when in use excellent results, the ink is very soft,
it dries rapidly, and it does not foul the types, on the contrary it cleans
them. Unfortunately, although altogether satisfactory as far as the
work is concerned, it has an odour, a wholesome odour it is true, and
in a little while it goes off, but people are not used to it. Nevertheless
there is no reason why it should not be used for posters, and even for
bookwork, if the trouble be taken to hang the printed sheets in the air
for a few hours. There is no other reason why this ink should not
replace other inks which by comparison are very expensive in the
printing of illustrated newspapers.
To obviate the inconvenience of the odour I have recourse for the
present to the purified heavy oils of petroleum, but these oils having
other properties, and especially being "shorter" than the heavy coal
oils, the ingredients must be employed in different proportions.
Although it is not indispensable I consider it generally advantageous
to produce in the midst of the ink a certain proportion of soap. For
this purpose after having dissolved a little oleic acid in the oil, or in
the oily mixture which I employ, I saponify this acid by the aid of
concentrated caustic soda. The excess of the alkali will combine very
usefully with a part of the resins added afterwards to form a resin soap.
By this treatment, however "short" the oils may be, they can be fitted.
for the manufacture of ink, and such inks combine body with great
freedom and softness.
From a number of formula which might be recommended I select the

page_text: Heavy oil of petroleum
Resin oil in
Resin
Heavy oil of petroleum
B
Resin oil
Oleic acid
11710
52
3
-
52
40
-
10
10
21.6
*No. 2.
. Caustic soda (40° Beaumè) 4 to 5
Water
Caustic soda (40° Beaumè) -
Light lampblack
-
20
1
33
For No. 1 the six first ingredients are introduced successively and into
a cautiously heated pot, and when the whole is melted and well mixed.
it is allowed to cool. The black is then mixed in and the ink is ground.
For No. 2 the first three of the ingredients and the caustic soda are put
into a pot heated until melted, then the 21.6 parts of the mixture
previously made are added. The mixture is heated for a short time, and
finished as before.
The soapy mixture is obtained by heating moderately the two oils
with the oleic acid and pouring in the soda diluted with the water.
In either case a portion of the soda is intended to saturate the acids
which the petroleum may retain after purification. The greater part
combines with the oleic acid, the remainder with the resin. The
proportion of soda may thus be varied according as it is desired to
produce more or less resin soap and consequently give to the ink more
or less body.
I will give another formula for typographic ink adapted to machine

page_text: Half of the galipot is melted with the two soaps, the rest of the resin
is dissolved in the mixture of the oils with the caustic soda, the whole is
mixed, heated, then cooled and mixed with the lampblack.
I will now give an example of an ink especially adapted for lithography.