AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COPYING LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wrigley, of High Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF AND APPARATUS FOR COPYING LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS.
Sealed the 20th December 1875, and dated the 2nd July 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wrigley at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd July 1875.
I, THOMAS WRIGLEY, of High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declaro the nature of my said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COPYING LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS," to be
as follows:-
The Invention relates to a novel construction and adaptation of an
arrangement of parts, which in combination form a portable article of
great use to be employed for damping paper in lieu of a brush, or as a
damper and roller press combined for copying letters.
1

page_text: In carrying out my Invention I mount upon a roller boss, some two
or more inches long, a covering of felt or other absorbent material, or a
covering of india-rubber and felt. This roller so constructed is mounted
in a suitable holder connected to a handle, which may be made solid or
hollow; if the latter, it is provided with a screw cap or cover and a 5
bottle of copying ink. The portability of this article will admit of its
being connected with a portfolio containing paper and other necessaries
required by a correspondent.
In copying a letter or manuscript by this apparatus proceed as
follows: Place a sheet of the oil paper under the tissue designed to ]
receive the copy, then pass the roller saturated with water over the
tissue, blotting paper being used to remove the superfluous moisture,
after which place the writing to be copied under the damp tissue, as is
usual; finally, cover with an oil paper and pass the flexible roller with
moderate pressure over the surface in both directions, and the result will i
be a clearly defined copy of the letter upon the damp tissue.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Wrigley in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WRIGLEY, of High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Wrigley, Her special
licence that I, the said Thomas Wrigley, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Wrigley, 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 " AN Ix-

page_text: "
PROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR COPYING LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Wrigley;
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
'j
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Wrigley, 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:—
j
The Invention is designed for the purpose of providing commercial
men, professional men, students, and others, whether at home or abroad,
with an arrangement of writing materials combining a novel form of
roller, damper, and copying press, the whole being contained in a com-
pact and portable form.
. The improvements consist in combining with a portfolio containing
writing paper, copying tissues, and other material requisite for a corre-
spondent, a novel form of apparatus designed for copying letters, the
peculiarity of which consists in mounting in a suitable metal frame à
flexible roller.composed of a metal tube first covered. with india-rubber
and then absorbent material. The framing supporting this roller is
fixed in a handle provided with a hollow screw top containing a bottle
supplied with copying ink; this top when detached is used as an ink-
stand, and in combination with the rest forms a compact and useful
correspondent's compendium.
In order that the Invention may be well understood and explained'
in detail I have hereunto annexed a Sheet of Drawings, upon which'
letters of reference are marked on corresponding parts on all the Figs.
alike.

page_text: Fig. 2 represents the roller press detached with the tip of the handle
unscrewed so as to form an inkstand.
In these Figs. a is a portfolio provided with writing paper, copying
tissues, and oil paper, which when closed is secured by the pen b. An
elastic loop.c on the cover of this portfolio is provided for the purpose
of having slipped therein when the portfolio is closed a novel form of
copying apparatus, which consists of a hollow handle d provided at one
end with a screw top e containing an ink bottle, and at the other end
the framing ƒ, in which there is mounted the flexible roller g, having a
base of metal covered with india-rubber; and finally, with a tubo of
absorbant material.
The manner of using this apparatus may be thus described :—First
having written the letter or other manuscript with the copying ink
contained in the bottle e, dip the roller g into a glass of water and roll it
in its wet condition over one of the tissues of the book, first having
placed thereunder an oil paper. The tissue so damped, together with
the oil paper upon which it was placed after the superfluous moisture
has been absorbed therefrom, is turned over so as to allow the written
letter to be placed behind the same, face upwards, on the opposite page.
When in this position the oil paper alone with the adhering damp tissue
is taken hold of and drawn in a level position over the surface of the
written sheet, the action of which leaves the damp tissue laying evenly
over the whole surface of the writing to be copied. The withdrawn oil
paper must now be placed on the top and the roller y passed over the
same with moderate pressure in every direction, the effect of which
will transfer on to the damp tissue a clearly defined copy of the letter
or manuscript.
The roller g in the frame f combining a damper and roller press can
be used at home or for office purposes without the ink bottle e, in which
case the handle will be made solid.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, together with
the method of carrying the same into practical effect, I would wish it to
be distinctly understood in conclusion that the feature and novelty of this
Invention does not consist in the individual parts taken separately, but
in the combination of parts forming a damping and pressure roller,
together with appliances in connection therewith, to be used in the

page_text: manner and for the purpose as herein-before described, set forth, and
fully illustrated in the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wrigley, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
Witnessed by,
CHA³. W. STEVENS,
5, Great Queen Street,
Lincoln's Inn Fields,
London
THOMAS WRIGLEY. (L.S.)