IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGRAVING OR FOR PRODUCING PRINTED SURFACES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Adie Dalglish, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Designer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
Sealed the 17th May 1861, and dated the 24th November 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Adie Dalglish at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th November 1860.
I, ANDREW ADIE DALGLISH, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Designer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGRAVING OR FOR PRODUCING PRINTED SURFACES," to be as
follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the application or employment of photography for
the purpose of putting designs upon rollers, or mills, or plates, or other surfaces
made of steel, copper, wood, or other material, with the object of transferring
the design on to and repeating it on larger rollers and plates used in the print-
ing of calicoes, paper, or any textile fabrics, as well as to the printing of the
design on the roller, or mill, or plate, upon the larger roller or plate with varuish
or other material, and printing, embossing, or impressing the design on a
varnish coated upon the larger roller or plate; also to the transferring a design
or picture to copper, steel, wood, or other material for copper plate, steel plate,
wood engraving, or wood cutting. The means by which this is accomplished
are as follows:-The design is photographed in the ordinary way upon glass,

page_text: paper, or other suitable material, and transferred to the mill, or roller, or plate,
by means of a varnish with which the surface of the mill, or roller, or plate, is
coated; a solution, when requisite, is applied to the surface of the photograph
by means of which the film of the photograph is transforred to the surface of
the mill, or roller, or plate, when their surfaces are brought into contact. The
pattern being transferred upon the mill, or roller, or plate, the varnish being
capable of resisting acids. The design is etched or bitten completely or
partially thereon by means of an acid, or the ground of the design may be
etched or bitten with the acid, and the design left in relief, or instead of being
etched or bitten with acid, the design or ground of the design may be engraved,
or it may be partially etched or bitten with the acid, and finished by engraving.
For the printing of the design on tho larger roller or plate, the design on tho
roller, or mill, or plate, may be filled with a varnish, by means of which the
design may be printed on the larger roller or plate. For the printing, em-
bossing, or impressing of the design on the larger roller or plate, the larger
roller or plato may be coated with a varnish, and the design on the mill, roller,
or plate, may be printed, embossed, or impressed thereon, or the ground of the
design on the mill, roller, or plate, may bo etched or bitten out, or engraved,
and printed, embossed, or impressed on the larger roller or plate. The larger
roller or plate may then be immersed in an acid, which etches or bites in tho
usual way. The process may also be carried out by coating the plate or other
surface with gutta percha, or other varnish, and afterwards with collodion, and
then taking the picture direct in the camera. For transferring a design or
picture to copper, steel, wood, or other material, the same process may bo
applied as for transferring the design to the mill or roller.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Androw Adio Dalglish in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
ADIE DALOLISH, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Designer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Androw Adio Dalglish, Her special license that I, the said Andrew Adie Dalglish,

page_text: my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Andrew
Adie Dalglish, my executors, administrators, or 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 ENGRAVING, OR
FOR PRODUCING PRINTED SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Andrew Adie Dalglish, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of
one of them, 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 Andrew Adie Dalglish, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the application or employment of photography
for the purpose of putting designs upon rollers, or mills, or plates, or other
surfaces made of steel, copper, wood, or other material, with the object of
transferring the design on to and repeating it on larger rollers and plates used
in the printing of calicoes, paper, or any textile fabrics, as well as to the print-
ing of the design on the roller, or mill, or plate, upon the larger roller or plate
with varnish or other material, and printing, embossing, or impressing the
design on a varnish coated upon the larger roller or plate; also to the trans-
ferring a design or picture to copper, steel, wood, or other material, for copper
plate, steel plate, or wood engraving, or wood cutting. The means by which
this is accomplished are as follows:-The design is, photographed in tho
ordinary way upon glass, paper, or other suitable material, and transferred to
the mill, or roller, or plate, by means of a varnish, with which the surface of
the mill, or roller, or plate is coated; a solution, when required, is applied to
the surface of the photograph, by means of which the film of the photograph
is transferred to the surface of the mill, roller, or plate, when their surfaces are
brought into contact. The pattern being transferred upon the mill, or roller,
or plate, the varnish being capable of resisting acids, the design is etched or
bitten completely or partially thereon by means of an acid, or the ground of
the design may be etched or bitten with acid, and the design left in relief;
or instead of being etched or bitten with acid, the design or ground of the

page_text: design may be engraved, or may be partially etched or bitten with the acid,
and finished by engraving. For the printing of the design on the larger roller or
plate the design on the roller, or mill, or plate may be filled with a varnish by
means of which tho design may be printed on the larger roller or plate. For
the printing, embossing, or impressing of the design on the larger roller or
plate the larger roller or plate may be coated with a varnish, and the design
on the mill, roller, or plate, may be printed, embossed or impressed thercon, or
the ground of the design on the mill, roller, or plate, may be etched or bitten
out or engraved, and printed, embossed, or impressed on the larger roller or
plate. The larger roller or plate may then be immersed in an acid, which etches
or bites in the usual way. The process may also be carried out by conting
the plate or other surface with gutta percha or other varnish, and afterwards
with collodion, and then taking the picture direct in the camera. For trans-
ferring a design or picture to copper, steel, wood, or other material, the same
process may be applied as for transferring the design to the mill or roller.
And in order that my said Invention of "Improvements in Engraving, or for
Producing Printed Surfaces," may be properly understood, I shall now proceed
to describe the several processes, and the Figures on the explanatory Sheet of
Drawings hereunto aunexed, for the purpose of showing certain modifications
under which the said Invention may be judiciously carried out in practice,
that is to say, if it be required, for example, to cause a die to take or have
transferred to it a photographic impression the design is first prepared in the
usual way, and from this design a photographic imago is taken either
upon glass, paper, leather cloth, or other suitable material. The "die" is
then coated with an etching varnish, and the design, pattern, or picture, is
photographed to the exact size of the circumference of the die. The collodion
film impressed with the photographic image is now to be transferred to the die,
when the design has been taken on glass. On the surface of the photograph
is placed a piece of paper or other suitable material, which has been previously
coated with a solution of gum or other similar adhesive material. The paper
is allowed to remain on the photographic film until the gum is nearly dry; the
paper is then carefully removed from the glass or other plate, so as to strip off
the collodion film and leave it adhering to the paper. The collodion film with
the paper outside is then carefully rolled round, or is otherwise applied to the
varnished surface of the die, which is afterwards placed in cold water to remove
the external paper. If preferred the photograph may be transferred to the
die by rolling its varnished surface over the photographic film, and so causing
it to adhere to the die. In transferring designs, patterns, or pictures to cylin-
drical dies used in preparing rollers for calico printers I prefer to use for the

page_text: transfer process the machine which is represented in the accompanying
Drawing.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation of the apparatus; Figure 2 is a transverse
vertical section taken on the line 1, 2, Figure 1; Figure 3 is a corresponding
section taken on the line 3, 4, Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a plan of the machine.
It consists of the base or table A, on which is fitted the dovetailed guides B;
these are supported a short distance above the base on short columns. Tho
groove formed by the guides B has fitted in it the longitudinally traversing
rack C. Outside the guides B are fitted the pedestal bearings D, in which is
carried the small shaft or transverse spindle E, having fast to it the pinion F.
The shaft E is put in motion by means of the winch handle G, so as to traverse
the rack C to and fro at pleasure. The fore end of the rack is attached to the
end cross bar II, which forms a part of an open traverse frame. This portion
of the apparatus consists of two side pieces I, through which pass the two
adjusting bars J; the side pieces I are adjusted to the desired width asunder,
and are fixed to the bars J by means of the pinching screws K. At the front
ends of the side pieces B are fitted in each two laterally projecting studs
carrying the antifriction rollers L. The peripheries of these rollers rest upon
the journals of the die or mill M, the surface of which rests upon the glass,
paper, or other material N, on which the photographic image is impressed.
With this arrangement it follows, that when the rack C is moved backwards,
and the photographic picture which is to be transferred to the die or mill N is
properly arranged on the base A, that upon turning the handle G, the die or
mill N will be rolled over the photographic film, and the die or mill having
been previously prepared with a suitable varnish, the film adheres thereto, so
as to completely coat its surface: The traverse of the moving parts of the
machine being very regular, the utmost accuracy is obtained in the junction of
the edges of the film, as well as of the lines and figures forming the design or
other photographic impression. In this way photographs may be readily
transferred to dies or mills, either from gummed paper or at once from the glass.
When there are several colours in the design, pattern, or picture to be prepared,
one or other of the following modes may be advantageously employed. A
photograph is transferred on to a die, and the outlines of all the colours are
From this die an impression in
then etched or engraved through the film.
white or other colour is put upon as many dies as there are colours to be
printed, the surfaces of these several dies having been previously varnished.
The outlines of the figures for each separate colour are then etched in upon
their respective dies, the coating of varnish is then entirely removed, and they

page_text: are recoated or painted with varnish up to the outline etched upon each die.
The dies are lastly immersed in acid, which eats away the metal to the required
depth, and when necessary, are finished by an engraver. From these dies the
mills are prepared for engraving the printing rollers according to the ordinary
mode.
Under another modification the process consists in putting the photograph
upon the die, and then etching in the outlines of all the colours. A mill is
then made from this die which is caused to slightly impress the surfaces of the
several dies required for the separate colours; when this is done the outlines,
which are not required, are erased. The dies are then painted with varnish
and bitten in with acid in the way already described.
A third mode of proceeding is to take a photograph for each colour which is
put on or transferred to its proper die, the subsequent etching or engraving
being confined to the colour wanted on each die, rollers, mills, and other
cylindrical surfaces may be quickly and effectively etched or engraved by one
or the other of the foregoing processes or modes of operation. So also plates,
curved, flat, or other surfaces, may be prepared in a similar manner, that is to
say, by varnishing the surface, and afterwards transferring the photographic
picture thereto, either direct from the glass, or by using tho gummed paper as
herein-before described. In cases where the design, pattern, or picture is
too large for one photograph; the picture is taken in sections or parts, each of
which is removed from the glass by means of the gummed paper, and after-
wards joined on to the roller or plate, which must have been previously
varnished in the same manner as observed in the preparation of the dies.
This mode of procedure is particularly applicable to the preparation of rollers
or plates used with the pentagraph machine.
Stamps, punches, and other generally similar surfaces may also be prepared
and engraved by the means herein-before described in reference to preparation
of dies and mills.
The photographic imago may also in some cases be advantageously trans-
ferred by the means already described to any metal used in the printing or
preparatory to the printing of paper, the outlines being etched or engraved on
the metal; the metal is revarnished, and the shading is then etched or engraved.
In practising these improvements it may occur that the collodion film hardens
upon the glass or other material before the operator is ready to transfer it';
this difficulty is readily overcome by immersing the plato in a solution com-
posed of one ounce of spirits of wine, to which ten or twelve drops of nitric
acid are added. A short immersion in this fluid will soften the film so as to

page_text: admit of its easy removal from the glass. The several processes I havo
herein-before described may be more or less modified without departing from
the essential features of my Invention.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the putting on of photographs of patterns, designs, or pictures, with
the view of etching or engraving the same upon any metal or other material
used in the printing of textile fabrics, or preparatory to the printing of the
same, as hercin-before described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the putting on of photographs of patterns, designs or pictures, upon
rollers or plates, whether of zinc or other metal or material, for the purpose of
tracing, etching, or engraving the same on other rollers or plates, by means of
a pentagraph machine or other equivalent means, as herein-before described.
Third, the putting on of photographs of patterns, designs, or pictures, with
the view of etching or engraving the same upon metal surfaces intended to be
used in the printing of paper, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the general arrangement and combination of parts forming the
apparatus for transferring photographic films to cylindrical surfaces, as herein-
before described and delineated in the accompanying Drawings, or any mere
modification of the same.
In witness whereof, I, Andrew Adie Dalglish, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-one.
ANDREW ADIE DALGLISH. (L.S.)