IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM FOR EN- GRAVING AND OTHERWISE COPYING IN LINE, PAINTINGS AND OTHER DESIGNS ON FLAT AND CURVED SURFACES OF METAL, PAPER, AND OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Roberts, of the City of Manchester, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention. of." IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM FOR EN-
GRAVING AND OTHERWISE COPYING IN LINE, PAINTINGS AND OTHER DESIGNS ON
FLAT AND CURVED SURFACES OF METAL, PAPER, AND OTHER MATERIALS."
Sealed the 20th August 1858, and dated the 11th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Roberts at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
March 1858.
I, RICHARD ROBERTS, of the City of Manchester, Civil Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM FOR
ENGRAVING AND OTHERWISE COPYING IN LINE, PAINTINGS AND OTHER DESIGNS ON
FLAT AND CURVED SURFACES OF METAL, PAPER, AND OTHER MATERIALS," to be as
follows:-
My improvements consist, firstly, in adapting such mechanism to produce
copies in outline from a superficial pattern design attached to a rotary cylinder
or to a sliding frame, instead of being attached to a fixed table as at present.
Secondly, in giving one motion to the pattern design and the other to the
tracer, instead of giving as at present both motions to the tracer, which motions
when properly combined will produce any required pattern-in plan.
Thirdly, arranging mechanism whereby the motion of the pattern is

page_text: effected by one hand of the operator, and that of the tracer by the other hand,
instead of moving the tracer only as at present.
Fourthly, performing one or both of the last named operations by means
of a friction roller connected with the tracer carriage, and acting upon the
rotary cylinder or sliding frame to which the pattern design is attached, which
roller is guided by hand and made to revolve by any convenient power.
Fifthly, constructing graver, .tool, or instrument carriers with their legs in
different planes, so as to allow the last leg of each carrier to span the first leg
of the preceding one.
Sixthly, in the adaptation of pentagraphic machines to produce copies of
the required hand and dimensions from pattern designs of almost any size, by
the application of change wheels instead of levers and change pulleys as at
present.
Seventhly, in varying and regulating the pressure upon the copying instru-
ment by means of cams acting upon springs.
Eighthly, in the use of a cam or cams acting upon the tool slide through
the medium of a screw, for the purpose of adapting the longitudinal motion of
the said tool slide to the pattern required.
Ninthly, in the use of a cam or excentric in connection with a wheel or other
suitable machinery loose on the shaft or maundril, for communicating to the
copper roller, or other subject on which the design is to be traced, an irregular
or varying speed with reference to the said wheel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Roberts in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th September 1858.
TO_ALL_TO_WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ROBERTS, of the City of Manchester, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Roberts, Her special licence that I, the said Richard Roberts,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard
Roberts, 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,

page_text: and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MECHANISM FOR ENGRAVING AND OTHERWISE COPYING IN LINE, PAINTINGS AND
OTHER DESIGNS ON FLAT AND CURVED SURFACES OF METALS, PAPER, AND OTHER
MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard
Roberts, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Roberts, 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 follow-
ing statement (that is to say):-
I shall first describe the Drawings of my improved machine wherein the
pattern design is attached to a rotary cylinder.
In Sheet 1, Fig. 1 is an end, and Fig. 2 a front elevation of this machine;
and Fig. 3 is a detached plan of the shafts F and g', together with their
mechanism.
In these Figures, A, A, are the frame ends, and B, B', B2, B3, and B', the
stretchers connecting these frames; C is the cylinder to be engraved, mounted
upon the maundril or arbor C¹ in the usual manner, and turning freely in the
bearings C and C³, which are fitted between guides on the framing, so that
the upper side of the cylinder C may be adjusted to the proper height with
reference to the engraving tools a, a, which I shall call the "copy" or "diamond
tools" in contradistinction to b, which I name the "pattern tracer;" a¹, a', are
the diamond tool holders, each having one foot in a small hole and the other
foot in a small groove in the tool carriage a³, as will be more fully explained
in reference to the enlarged Drawings, Figs. 10 and 11 on Sheet 3; c, c, are
carriers, bolted to the stretcher B in which the rollers turn, upon which
the tool carriage a³ traverses; D is a cylinder, upon which the pattern design
is fixed, its shaft turning freely in bearings on A, A, and carrying a toothed
wheel or pinion d, which through the intermediate wheel d¹ and the wheel d
gives motion to the cylinder to be engraved C; b¹ is a carriage mounted on
four wheels, which travels along the trough-formed stretcher B, carrying the
pattern tracer 6 from side to side of the design, and giving corresponding
motion on a reduced scale to the diamond tools a, a, by the following means,
namely, the steel belt 2, which is secured to the tracer carriage b' by any

page_text: suitable means, is first passed partly around the pulley 63, and is then attached
to it; the other end of this belt after passing round the carrier pulley * and
then partly around the pulley 8 (alongside the other end of the belt) is also
attached to it. This belt may be kept in a state of tension by means of a
coupling screw (not shewn in the Drawing) at 65; or by moving the carrier
pulley a little. The shaft 6, upon which the pulley b is fixed, works in
bearings attached to the stretchers B¹ and B, and carries at the back of the
macbine a change pinion e, which through the intermediate wheel e¹ com-
municates motion to the wheel e² upon the shaft es, on which a pulley e* is
fixed; to this pulley two steel belts (after passing partly around it in opposite
directions) are attached, the other ends being secured to the ends of the tool
carriage a by adjusting screws, not shewn in the Drawings. f is a bar, which
extends nearly the whole length of the machine, and by means of the adjusting
screws is made to bear against all the tool holders simultaneously. This
bar being connected by the rods f2 (working in guides at their upper ends)
with the treadle E, which is loaded at the off end, lifts the diamond tools from
the work whenever the operator withdraws his foot from E.
From the foregoing description it will be seen that by employing suitable
wheels to connect the pattern cylinder D with the cylinder to be engraved C,
the length of the design may be so varied that any required number of
"repeats" may be produced upon the circumference of a cylinder of any
ordinary diameter, and that by varying the wheels that connect 6 and e³ the
width of the design may in like manner be adapted to the length of the
cylinder to be engraved; moreover, by the use of double intermediate wheels
to connect with e³, the pattern design will be produced in reverse upon the
cylinder C.
In working this machine (which so far as described is adapted only to copy
and at the same time to reduce to almost any scale upon the cylinder under
operation, a pattern design affixed to a rotary cylinder) the operator moves
the pattern tracer 6 with one hand and the cylinder D with the other hand,
_ except when one or both these operations is performed by power, as herein-
after explained, in reference to Figs. 6, 7, 8, and-9-on-Sheet-3.-
In this machine (and-in-the-machine herein-after described) instead of the
usual levers and other mechanism now used in pentagraphic machines, it will
be seen that I employ toothed change wheels to effect the same object.
Whilst referring to this machine I must describe the improved mechanism
whereby I adapt it to produce various kinds of original patterns, which may be
further ornamented before they are taken out of the machine by the addition
of flowers, wreaths, and other pentagraphic work.

page_text: The bar g, Figs. 1 and 2, is similar to the bar f herein-before described, and
is adjusted to bear lightly against the tool carriers a¹, a¹, by means of a screw
in one end of the spring g¹ (the other end being screwed to the tool carrier a¹),
and is connected by the link g with the short arms or levers g³ fixed upon the
shaft g, on the left end of which is fixed a lever g', bearing against a cam g³
fixed upon a shaft g' at the back of the machine (best seen in Fig. 3); this
shaft receives motion from the wheel d³ on the maundril, through the inter-
mediate wheel h and the change wheel . F is a shaft immediately in front
of and driven by the shaft g', by means of the wheel g³ fixed upon its left end,
and gearing into the broad intermediate wheel F', which drives the wheel F³,
fixed upon the shaft F. On the right-hand end of this shaft is a screw,
whose nut i has a large flange, against which the cam bears; upon this nut
is a change wheel, driven by the wheel on the shaft g' (these wheels may;
be connected by an intermediate wheel, though not shewn in the Drawings).
The cam i¹ is fixed upon a shaft i, upon the other end of which is a change
worm wheel is gearing into a worm fixed upon the shaft 97. The shaft +
revolves in a swing frame, one end of which turns upon the projecting end of
the bush in which the right-hand end of the shaft F revolves. In the other
end of this swing frame is a curved mortice (Fig. 1), to admit of wheels of
various diameters being adjusted to work in the worm 2. On the left end
of the shaft F is fixed a cam j of suitable pattern, which communicates motion
through the lever.j¹ and the link to the tool carriage a², and consequently
to the copy or diamond tools a, which by changing the wheel h¹ on the right-
hand end of the shaft g' may be made to repeat the cam pattern upon the,
circumference of the cylinder a corresponding number of times. The lever j'
is made to bear against the cam j by means of a spiral spring a³, one end of
which is attached to the tool carriage a² and the other end to a stud a* in the
stretcher B.
In order to cause the tools to operate upon fresh ground at every revolution.
of the cylinder, I employ the wheels 2 and 3, of such relative numbers of
teeth that the nut i is caused to turn so much faster or slower than the
shaft F that this shaft is advanced in any given number of revolutions through
a space equal to the width of that part of the pattern under operation. The
shaft F. is shewn at the extent of its range towards the left side of the
machine; consequently if the screw upon which the nut iworks be right-,
handed, and an intermediate wheel be employed, the nut i must turn slower
than, the shaft F, to advancé it from left to right.
It will be evident that if a concentric wheel be substituted for the cam i¹,
the tools will trace the cani pattern spirally upon the cylinder, and that the

page_text: lines so traced will be equidistant; and moreover that by the use of the cam i¹,
in form and speed properly adapted to the purpose, it will (by causing the
shaft F to advance at varied speeds) cause the tools to trace patterns having
an appearance of rotundity, which effect may be heightened by causing a cam
upon the shaft i' so to act upon the bar g as gradually to remove the pressure
from the tools as they approach the highest part of the figure, and again
gradually to restore the pressure as the other side of the pattern comes under
operation.
Dots and broken lines may be produced by employing a suitable cam g' upon
the shaft g'.
.
It will be seen on inspection of the Drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, Sheet 1, that
if rotary motion be given to the cylinder D the cylinder C will revolve also,
and at a speed determined by the proportion of the wheels d and d³, and that
if linear motion be given to the tracer carriage 61, the tool carriage a² will
traverse in the plane of the axis of the cylinder C, its speed likewise being
regulated by the connecting change wheels e and e³.
Having thus explained my improvements in engraving machines, in which
the pattern design to be copied is affixed to a rotary cylinder, I will next
describe those of my improvements which relate to the use of a sliding frame
instead of the rotary cylinder just mentioned, or the fixed table ordinarily
employed. The principal parts of this machine being the same as those of the
machine herein-before described, I shall confine myself to the description of
the sliding frame and its adjuncts, together with those parts necessary to the
correct comprehension of the Drawings.
In Sheet 2, Fig. 4 is an end, and Fig. 5 a front elevation of this machine,
in which D2, D3, are rails having angular faces. These rails are secured to
the stretchers B and B, and to the brackets B7, B7, (bolted to the
stretcher B), and upon them the wheels k¹ attached to the sliding frame D¹,
to which the pattern design is affixed, travel. To this sliding frame are
attached two steel belts, which after passing (in flat-bottomed grooves) round s
-the-pulleys, k³, fixed upon the shaft k, are attached to them. One of these
pulleys is grooved to receive-a_cord, to whose extremity a counterpoise k³ is
fastened. On the right-hand end of the shaft kis-a-change pinion d', which,
through the intermediate wheel d³ and-the-wheel d², gives motion to the
cylinder to be engraved C.
The tracer carriage b' is moved by one hand of the operator, and the sliding
frame D by the other hand, through any convenient medium, unless one or
both of these operations be performed by power.
By means of the treadle E and the links f³, the bar f lifts the diamond

page_text: tools from the work, as described in reference to the other machine. A
second treadle, connected by the links with the bar g, may be used to
temper the pressure upon the diamond tools, or a cam fixed upon the shaft k*,
together with other well-known mechanism, may be used to effect the same
object. is a division plate of the ordinary kind.
In Sheet 3, Fig. 6 is a side view of an apparatus adapted to move by
power the pattern and tracer as required, the operator having only to guide it
by hand; Fig. 7 is a back view (the carriage b₁ being omitted), and Fig. 8. is
a plan of the same; Fig. 9 is a plan of the carriage b¹.
In these views, which are drawn half size, D is the pattern cylinder, 6 the.
tracer, and p the "perambulator," which is covered with caoutchouc or other
suitable material, to cause (by friction) the tracer or the pattern cylinder, or.
both, to travel as directed by the operator. p¹ is an arbor, carrying a milled
button p at its upper end; on this arbor, which turns freely in the piece p³,
is fixed a wheel p', gearing into the intermediate wheel p³, which gears into
the wheel po, fixed upon the upper end of the stem of the forked piece p';
this piece turns freely in p³, which is jointed to the carriage by the piece p³,
as shewn in Fig. 6. q is a band pulley fixed upon the upper end of the
arbor q', which turns freely in the stem p', and carries at its lower end a,
worm gearing into the wheel 3, fixed upon the same arbor as the
wheel q', which gears into the wheel 95, fast upon the same arbor as p, the
perambulator.
Z₁
The tracer is adjusted to stand a little above the design when the peram-
bulator is at work, and both are raised clear of the design when the operator
takes his hand off the button p². This elevation is effected by a spring (not
shewn in the Drawings) attached to 6', or to the piece p³, in any convenient
manner.
:
The operation of this mechanism is as follows:-Motion being given to the
pulley 9 (in any convenient manner) is communicated through the train of
wheels just described to the perambulator p, which by friction against it
causes the roller D to rotate. It will be evident that the relative amounts of
rotation of D, and of motion of the tracer carriage b', will depend upon the
angle which the axis of the perambulator p shall assume with reference to
the axis of the cylinder D, for if their axes be in the same plane, and p turn
in the direction of the arrow, then D likewise will rotate in the direction
indicated by its arrow; but if the perambulator p be swivelled (by turning
the button p² half a revolution) so as to turn in the opposite direction, then
the cylinder D also will proceed in a contrary direction. Again, if the axis
of p be caused to assume a position at right angles to the axis of D, then D

page_text: will remain stationary, and the tracer carriage will travel along its railroad;
but if the axis of p be at an angle of 45° with reference to the axis of D, then
both the cylinder D and the carriage 6¹ will move at equal speeds, and it will
be evident, that however the angle which these axes assume to each other be
varied, corresponding changes will be effected in the motions of the cylinder D
and the tracer carriage b. In turning acute angles, the pressure is to be
removed from the button p² whilst the perambulator is swivelled in the required
direction. By the control which the operator thus exercises over the motions
of both the cylinder D and the carriage b', he is enabled to copy almost every
variety of pattern.
Instead of tracing from lines in the original pattern design, or making use
of an auxiliary tracer (in connection with the pattern tracer) guided along the
furrows of a fixed metal plate, in order to fill in with parallel oblique lines
those portions of the design to which it is required to give an appearance of
solidity, I employ the following mechanism:-s (Figs. 1 and 2, Sheet 1,) is a
mitre wheel fixed upon the shaft 60, and gearing into the wheel s¹ upon the
arbor s. The other end of this arbor is adapted to receive a change wheel, to
be connected by an intermediate wheel with another change wheel on the left
end of the shaft D³.
It will be evident that by employing suitable change wheels the diamond
tools may, by this arrangement, be made to describe spiral lines, or lines
having any angle of obliquity; and that when the pattern design roller or
slide is in gear with 'the tracer, it will only be necessary to move one of them
to impart motion to the other.
Hitherto I have spoken only of copying on to round or cylindrical surfaces,
but it must be evident to any skilled mechanic that these machines may be
rendered capable of copying on to plane surfaces by the substitution for the
arbor C', of a shaft carrying a pulley whereby to actuate (through steel belts
or other convenient medium) a sliding frame upon which the plate to be
engraved is to be fixed, and by bringing one or more diamond tools a to bear
upon this plate-in-the-manner already described in reference to the machines
shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, Sheet 1, and Figs. 4 and 5, Sheet-2.
In Sheet 3, Fig. 10 is an end elevation, partly in section, shewing the
cylinder to be engraved C, together with my improved tool holders a¹, and the
carriage a², on which they are placed, and Fig. 11 is a plan of the same.
(These Figures are drawn half size.) a, a, are the diamond or copy tools; f
the bar which lifts the tools off the work; and g, the other bar by which
the pressure upon the tools is regulated by its action against the spring g'.
In order to be able-to place the tools a sufficiently near together, and at

page_text: the same time ensure stability, I construct the tool holders with their legs in
different planes so that the last leg of each may span the first leg of the pre-
ceding one, as will be seen on inspection of the Drawings, and to facilitate
the adjustment of the tools to the size of the pattern to be engraved, I propose
that a row of shallow holes be drilled in the length of the carriage, at accurate
distances apart, and as near as convenient to each other, for the reception of.
one foot of each of the tool holders, the other foot resting in a small groove
parallel to the row of holes. This facility of adjustment will be further increased
by having four rows of these holes drilled respectively 6, 7, 8, and 10, to the
lineal inch (with grooves corresponding), as these will divide into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6;
7, 8, and 10, to the inch.
:
The tool slide may be adjusted laterally to bring the tools into the proper
position over the work by means of the carriers c, which are provided with
mortices through which they are bolted to the stretcher B.
the other end to
contact with the
Fig. 12 is a horizontal section, and Fig. 13 an elevation of the
spur wheel
d, which is fitted to work freely upon the arbor C¹ mounted in the bearings
C³, fixed to the framing A. is a balanced arm fitted upon the conical end
of the arbor C, and screwed up tightly. Cs is a bearing formed to receive
the wheel (see Fig. 12), which is bolted to it. 2 is an arbor turning freely
in an arm of the wheel d², and carrying a change cam 23 at one end, and a
change wheel at the other end. is a caoutchouc or other spring (see
Fig. 13), one end of which is attached to the arm, and
the wheel for the purpose of keeping the arm r in
cam (the wheel is furnished with a counterpoise 77). The operation of
this mechanism is as follows:-The wheel d being put into motion by any
convenient means, will carry round with it the wheel.; this being connected
by the intermediate wheel r, (see Fig. 13,) with the stationary wheel 1, will
also be made to turn, and will at the same time through the shaft * cause
the cam to revolve likewise. The edge of this cam being .furnished
with depressions and elevations, the. cylinder C will be made to turn at
irregular and varying speeds with reference to the wheel d².
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my said improvements,
I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the exact
details herein described, as such may be varied or modified without departing
from the peculiar character thereof; but I claim as new and of my Inven-
tion:-
Firstly, the employment of mechanism substantially the same as that
herein-before described, for copying in line on to round or plane, surfaces of
metals, paper, and other materials, a superficial pattern design affixed to a

page_text: .
'
t
rotary cylinder or sliding frame, and I also claim the use of a rotary cylinder,
or of a sliding frame on which to affix the pattern design when applied to any
other combination of machinery for copying designs.
.
Secondly, communicating rotary or linear motion to the pattern design, and
to the tracer linear motion at right angles to that of the pattern design.
Thirdly, the employment in machines adapted to copy on a reduced scale,
of mechanism, in such manner that the pattern may be brought to the tracer
by one hand of the operator, and the tracer to the pattern by the other hand.
Fourthly, the application to pentagraphic machines of suitable mechanism
for effecting by mechanical agency, directed by hand as herein-before described,
the requisite motions of the pattern and of the tracer.
Fifthly, the construction and arrangement of diamond tool or instrument
carriers, having their legs in different planes; also, the improved arrangement
of holes and grooves in the tool carriage to receive the feet of the tool carriers,
as lierein-before described.
Sixtly, the application to pentagraphic machines of change wheels to pro-
duce right or left handed copies (of any proportion) of the pattern design; also,
the connection by toothed wheels of the pattern design cylinder or slide, with
the tracer, to produce spiral lines and patterns, and to engrave the lines for
producing "solids." or "blotches."
Seventhly, the employment of mechanism as herein-before described, for
regulating the pressure upon the diamond or other tools to produce the
required effect.
Eighthly, giving variable motion to the tool slide as herein-before described,)
(by means of cams or other mechanism in combination with a screw,) to
produce certain patterns.
Ninthly, the communication to the copper roller or other object upon which
the design is to be copied, of an irregular and varying motion as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Roberts, have hereunto set my
hand-and-seal, this Ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
-
RICH ROBERTS. (L.S.)