IMPROVED MODES AND APPARATUS FOR PRINTING, IM- PRESSING, OR ENAMELLING ON PAPER, GLASS, CRYSTAL, WOOD, PORCELAIN, AND ALL DESCRIPTIONS OF MATERIALS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes
& Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED MODES AND APPARATUS FOR PRINTING, IM-
PRESSING, OR ENAMELLING ON PAPER, GLASS, CRYSTAL, WOOD, PORCELAIN,
AND ALL DESCRIPTIONS OF MATERIALS."-A communication from abroad
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 25th September 1872.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes & Son, Patent
Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED MODES AND APPARATUS FOR PRINTING,
IMPRESSING, OR ENAMELLING ON PAPER, GLASS, CRYSTAL, WOOD, PORCELAIN,
AND ALL DESCRIPTIONS OF MATERIALS," a communication to me from abroad
by Amédée Auguste Wilbaux, of 34, Rue du Progrès, Brussels, to be as
follows:
This Invention consists, first, in an improved mode of obtaining by
means of a vacuum and suitable apparatus impressions on a sheet of

page_text: caoutchouc of type, engraving, writing, lithography, designs for
enamelling, or any other shape or pattern, and transmitting the same
by means of a vacuum and similar apparatus to paper, glass, crystal,
wood, porcelain, earthenware, metals, or any surface whatever.
On a table fixed to legs or standards are fixed iron or wooden frames
of any required depth, and having their inner ends opposite each other
but at a short distance apart, all the sides having internal ledges or
recesses and also a hole leading from the outside to the inside.
In the middle of the table between the frames there is a bearing in
which a pin and hinge can turn, and to this hinge is hinged a moveable
frame, which can be lowered to the right or left as required, and enter
the recesses formed in the inner sides of the stationary frames, and
around each of these frames there is a pipe communicating with the
interior of the corresponding frame by four short tubes or pipes, one for
cach side of the tubes passing through the holes before mentioned, and
the internal pipes communicate with a pipe to the pump or machine
used for producing the vacuum.
The bottoms of the recesses are covered with a layer of caoutchouc,
gutta percha, leather, or any other material that can make a tight
joint, and the moveable frame, on which is properly stretched a sheet
of caoutchouc, is also provided with packing or tightening material.
To produce the impression there is first placed in one of the frames a
lithographic stone or an engraved plate, or any surface having counter-
parts of forms required to be printed, and then the moveable frame
with its sheet of caoutchouc is lowered into the recesses in one of the
stationary frames, after which a tap is opened to communicate with the
vacuum, and then the sheet of caoutchouc is drawn upon the inked,
coloured, or coated type, stone, or design in the frame and takes up the
ink, colour, or coating. Another tap is now opened which allows air to
enter into the interior of the stationary frame and then the moveable
frame is raised and turned half round to allow it to be lowered into the
other stationary frame in which has been previously placed the matters
to be impressed or printed upon, and a tap is opened to the vacuum so
that the caoutchouc sheet will be drawn down and deposit the ink,
colour, or coating on the object or surface to be impressed or printed,
and then another tap is opened for the admission of air after the other
tap is closed to enable the moveable frame to be raised and the printed

page_text: article or matters removed, and the type, stone, or design in the first
fiame is inked, coloured, or coated, and the operations repeated as
desired; and in another arrangement instead of having a vacuum the
pressure of water or other fluid is employed for pressing the sheet of
caoutchouc on the inked, coloured, or coated type, stone, or design,
and on the articles or matters to be printed or impressed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 25th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents,
123, Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special licence
that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 " IMPROVED MODES
AND APPARATUS FOR PRINTING, IMPRESSING, OR ESAMELLING ON PAPER, Glass,
CRYSTAL, WOOD, PORCELAIN, AND ALL DESCRIPTIONS OF MATERIALS," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Amédée Auguste Wilbaux, of 34,
Rue du Progrès, Brussels, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that ¦
is to say :-
This Invention consists in the application to printing, engraving, and
enamelling of a vacuum produced by any well known machines adapted
for the purpose; or the pressure of fluid or air acting between two
surfaces, one stationary and the other clastic, for determining the juxta-
position of a sheet of caoutchouc or gelatine on any type or pattern
whatever, such as for typography, engraving, lithography, or any known
printing surface, the sheet of caoutchouc or gelatine being destined to
transmit the impression of the ink or colour with which the type has been
covered to glass, crystal, wood, porcelain, carthenware, metal, paper, or
other matter, whatever may be their form; and the sheet may, be
smooth or form of itself an clastic printing type.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Fig. 1 is a front view
of one of my improved printing machines; Fig. 2 is a plan; and
Figs. 3 and 4 are views shown more in detail of detached parts.
On a table A, A', A", A", mounted on legs or standards are fixed
two iron or wooden frames B, B', having a depth of about two inches
or other required distance, and having their inner ends opposite cach
other but at a short distance apart; all the sides of these two frames,
parts of which are shown in section, Fig. 3, may be rebatted to form
ledges or recesses to receive the moveable frames, or if desired the tops
of the frames may be smooth or plain and provided with holding pins
or projections, and in each side of the frames there is a round hole o
(sce Fig. 2.
In the middle of the table and between the two stationary frames a
(Figs. 1 and 2) I employ a moveable frame E fixed to a plate, and rod
jointed by a pin K to a hinge having a pivot working in a footstep fixed
to the table, so that the frame can be lowered as desired to the right or
to the left to cover one or the other stationary frame, and be turned
round from right to left and vice versa, when it is again raised.
A rectangular pipe (Fig. 2) distinct for each stationary frame
surrounds it externally, and communicates with the interior of the

page_text: frame by short pipes o, which pass through the holes o, Fig. 1, formed
in the sides of the frames B, B', and these external pipes are connected.
by other pipes i and i to the two-way cock T, by means of which either
one or other of the frames are put in communication with a vessel or
cistern in which a vacuum is made by any means whatever. The frame E
has its sides covered with suitable material for keeping it tight, and its
interior is mounted with a stretched sheet W (Fig. 3) of caoutchouc or
gelatine.
To produce the impression I place on the bottom of the frame B
any printing type whatever, inked or coated with color suitable for
engravings, lithography, typography, or other paints, and then lower the
frame E, interposing or not a sheet of paper, which when used receives
the impression. The two-way cock T is turned to open the passage
leading to the vacuum, and then the sheet W of caoutchouc is drawn
down upon the type placed at the bottom of the frame B, and takes
off the ink or color previously placed on the type. I now turn the
two-way cock T so as to allow air to enter the interior of the frame B
(Figs. 1 and 2), and then after raising the frame E turn it round by
means of the pivot at the bottom from one side to the other, so that it
can present to the frame B' the side of the sheet of caoutchouc on which
is deposited the ink or color, after which the sheet is lowered upon the
frame B' in which was previously placed the article of glass, crystal,
wood, porcelain, sheet metal, or other material to be printed. The
two-way cock T is now turned so as to form a vacuum in the frame B',
and the elastic sheet W is drawn down and deposits the ink or color
with which it is charged upon the object, article, or matter placed on
the bottom of the frame B'. I now open the tap T for air to enter the
frame B', which enables me again to raise the frame E and then remove
the object or article printed or covered with a coating suitable for
enamelling or engraving.
The type, which is on the bottom of the frame B, is again inked
or coated with paint or color and the operations continued indefinitely.
If a sheet of paper placed between the sheet of caoutchouc and the
type receives the impression the operations can always take place at the
same side of the table, or by having two sheets of caoutchouc the printing
can be effected on both sides or with two colors.
I also employ the opposite system, which operates by pressing the

page_text: sheet of caoutchouc by means of air, water, or any other fluid upon any
type whatever, for the purpose of transmitting the ink, paint, or color
with which the type is charged to another surface, object, or material.
In this case the moveable frame E is entirely covered so as to form an
internal chamber, which is provided externally with piping capable of
being connected to the pipe, which supplies the compressed air or fluid
to the chamber in order to press the sheet of caoutchouc upon the type,
and the frame E during the operation is maintained in its place by the
catch y.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which it is to be carried into effect, I claim, the modes and
apparatus for printing, impressing, or enamelling paper, glass, crystal,
wood, metal, porcelain, and all descriptions of materials, substantially as
described and shown on the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of March. One