IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE DECORATION OF TIN-PLATE OR TINNED SHEET IRON WITHOUT DIRECT IMPRESSION
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine; Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE DECORATION OF TIN-PLATE OR TINNED SHEET IRON
WITHOUT DIRECT IMPRESSION." A communication from abroad by Neuburg
& Co.. of Vienna, Austria,
Sealed the 5th June 1877, and dated the 26th March 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th March 1877.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DECORATION OF TIN-
PLATE OR TINNED SHEET IRON WITHOUT DIRECT IMPRESSION." A communication
from abroad by Neuburg & Co., of Vienna, Austria.
These improvements have for their object the decoration of tin-plate or tinned
sheet iron without direct impression.
Hitherto tin-plate has been decorated by direct impression or printing, and Letters
Patent for such method of direct impression or printing were granted to William
Edward Gedge, dated the 8th day of March, A.D. 1864, No. 571.
.
By the present Invention similar results are obtained in a totally different
manner, and more advantageously. Amongst these advantages may be mentioned
that the backs of plates decorated in this indirect manner remain perfectly smooth,
whilst in the direct process the back of the plate is more or less raised by the
indents of the type. The outlines of decorations made by the present Invention are
also much purer.
In decorating tin-plate according to the present Invention I proceed as follows,
that is to say-Sheets of paper are first coated with sizing, glue, gum, or starch,
and the so prepared surface is then printed with any desired design, words, or
letters in the ordinary manner, so that there will then be a layer of sizing, glue,
gum, or starch between the printing ink or printing colors and the sheet of paper.
The tin-plate to be decorated is carefully cleaned, then supplied with a very thin
but equal coating of varnish, and finally kept in a suitable oven or heating chamber
until the varnish is half dry, that is, until the varnish when touched with the finger.
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page_text: will just stick to it but cannot be drawn into threads. The tin-plate so prepared is
then laid in a press, the paper prepared as above is laid on the tin-plate, and both
are then drawn through the press. After both have been passed two or three times
through the press the paper is damped with a wet sponge, and finally carefully
drawn off so as not to be spoilt, as it can be afterwards again sized, printed, and
used as above. The printing ink and colors will then remain on the tin-plate,
which is then cleaned with a wet sponge to remove the sizing, glue, starch, or gum
which has remained on it after drawing off the paper. The tin-plate is finally
supplied with a coating of varnish. It is preferred to use for this purpose a varnish
composed of a mixture of asphaltum dissolved in turpentine, of copal varnish, and of
linseed oil varnish. The mixture is allowed to stand for one or two days, and can
then be used, turpentine being added until sufficient fluidity is obtained.
The tin-plates coated with this varnish have at first a white appearance, but when
left in an oven for several hours at a temperature of from about forty to forty-five
degrees centigrade they assume a golden or silvery lustre.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th
September 1877.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, 'London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DECORATION OF TIN
PLATE OR TINNED SHEET IRON WITHOUT DIRECT IMPRESSION." A communication
from abroad by Neuburg and Co., of Vienna, Austria.
Hitherto tin plate has been decorated by direct impression or printing, and Letters
Patent for such direct impression or printing were granted to Willian Edward
Gedge on the 8th March, A.D. 1864,.No. 571, and to P. W. Flower and W. Flower
on the 12th May, A.D. 1869, No. 1452.
By the present Invention similar results are obtained in a totally different manner
and very advantageously.
In decorating tin plate according to the present Invention I proceed as follows,
that is to say Sheets of paper are first coated with a mixture of glue and starch,
and then dried. Should the paper become crumpled in drying it may be passed
through rollers to restore its sinoothness.. The prepared surface of the paper is then
printed with any designs, words, or letters, by any of the well known ordinary
modes of printing; there will then be a layer of the glue and starch between the
printing ink or colours and the said paper. The plates to be decorated are first
coated with copal varnish, to which some boiled linsed oil is added to make the
varnish more fluid. The linseed oil is added until the varnish can be drawn into
threads. The coating is applied to the plates by means of a brush, and very
carefully, so that the surface may be quite smooth and without indents from the
brush. The plates so coated are now heated in a stove or in a holder arranged for
the purpose; this holder may be a square frame of iron rods with cross bars. A
serpentine of gas pipe of about one-half inch diameter, and perforated at intervals
of about one-half inch to one inch is arranged beneath this said frame, so that when
the gas escaping from these perforations is ignited small flames are emitted. The
coated plates laid on this frame are heated until the varnish when touched with the
finger can no longer be drawn into threads; they are then put into a suitable
printing press, and the printed paper is laid on them, and both are then drawn once
or twice through the said press. The paper adhering to the plates is now wetted
with a sponge, and the water is allowed to soak into the paper for a few minutes.
When the paper has been drawn off the plates their printed surface will have been
transferred to the said plates. If carefully handled the paper can be again printed
and re-used several times. The process remains the same whether the design has

page_text: been printed on the paper in one or more colours. After the paper has been drawn
from the plates the latter must be washed with a wet sponge in order to remove
the starch and glue remaining thereon.
The advantages of this process as compared with direct impression on plates are
as follows, namely:-
First. When the printing is effected by means of lithographic stones these do not
require to be engraved so deeply as when they are used for direct printing, and not
only is there a saving of time thus effected, but the stones are less worn, as less has
to be ground off the said stones than heretofore.
Secondly. The plates do not lose their smooth surface, whereas in direct printing
they become bent and indented.
Thirdly. The plates are at once dry, whereas in direct printing the colors require
a certain period and a certain degree of heat for drying.
Fourthly. All kinds of colors may be employed, and they may be vegetable or
mineral colors, whereas when the plates are printed by direct impression the colors
must be mineral colors, and special mixtures are required.
For giving the plates a golden, silvery, or other tone the following compositions
are used:-
For producing a golden varnish one part of asphaltum varnish is mixed with two
parts of boiled linseed oil and eight parts of copal varnish, and as much pure oil
of turpentine is added as is required for giving it sufficient fluidity for painting.
For producing a silvery varnish the first-named composition is used, but without
the asphaltum varnish.
For producing red, green, blue, or other colored varnish a sufficient quantity of
aniline, cochineal, or other suitable coloring matter dissolved in oil of turpentine or
alcohol is added to the first-named composition.
The varnished plates are finally put in a vertical position into wire baskets, each
holding about thirty or forty plates, and subjected to a temperature of about 120 to
135 degrees Fahrenheit in a hot-air oven. Any ordinary varnish oven may bo
used for this purpose, whereas this is not the case with plates treated by the process
of direct impression.
Plates with little or no tin on them must be first coated with a white, yellow,
green, or other colored varnish before they can be decorated in the manner above
described; but a golden or silvery lustre cannot be imparted to them, although they
may receive a brilliant polish by being after decoration finally coated with the
varnish used for giving a silvery lustro to tin plates.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim, the process for decorating tin plates or tinned sheet iron without direct
impression, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.