IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PRINTING SURFACES FOR PRINTING ON PAPER HANGINGS, STUFFS, OR OTHER MATERIAL."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Amedée Wilbaux, Manufacturer, of Paris, in
the Republic of France, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF PRINTING SURFACES FOR PRINTING ON PAPER HANGINGS,
STUFFS, OR OTHER MATERIAL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Amedée Wilbaux at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th May 1872.
I, AMEDÉE WILBAUX, Manufacturer, of Paris, in the Republic of
France, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PRINTING SURFACES FOR PRINTING ON PAPER
HANGINGS, STUFFS, OR OTHER MATERIAL," to be as follows:-
Heretofore designs have been printed upon fabrics or stuffs and upon
paper by means of engraved rollers or blocks of metal or wood. When
employing wood particularly applicable to paper hangings, the designs
are formed in the blocks by metallic wires driven into the wood, but

page_text: these processes are very costly, and the rollers and blocks produced
thereby are not very durable, whilst by my Invention I avoid the great
cost of construction and maintenance heretofore involved.
In carrying my Invention into effect I first obtain moulds of the
designs to be reproduced in any suitable material with plane surfaces,
such designs being engraved or otherwise formed in such flat surfaces.
I apply upon the said moulds a sheet sufficiently thick according to the
relief of the designs, of india-rubber, gutta percha, or mixtures of these
two substances, or of gluc, gelatine, vulcanised oils, artificial preparations
or substitutes of india-rubber and gutta percha mixed or not, and lastly,
of leather or of any other known substance capable of taking the
impressions and of acquiring afterwards by themselves or by artificial
means a degree of hardness rendering them capable of resisting the
pressure and wear involved in the printing of paper hangings and stuffs
or fabrics for various purposes.
The moulds may be made of plaster, soft metal, sulphur, or other
appropriate material.
The sheet of india-rubber applied upon the mould is first dipped into
boiling water so as to render it plastic and therefore diminish its co-
efficient of clasticity in order that when it has been submitted to pressure
upon the mould it can be removed therefrom with the impression of all
the parts of the design and even of the finest lines without appreciable
shrinking.
These sheets of impressions are placed upon cylinders of wood, metal,
or other material, either hollow or solid, to which they are caused to:
adhere by means of india-rubber solution or by other suitable cement,
glue, or other means of attachment.
The lines of junction of the edges of the impression having been
previously hevelled can be united by simple pressure or by the application
of a little solution thereto.
According to the purpose for which the cylinder or the sheet of
impression thus prepared is required, I submit it or not to a certain
degree of heat to determine its shrinkage and its complete adhesion to
the roller, then I proceed to its vulcanisation. Some impressions may,
however, be vulcanised before being applied to the blocks or rollers.
A particular advantage of my Invention consists also in being able
to vulcanise more or less highly some parts of my impressions upon

page_text: rollers or blocks and leaving other parts according to circumstances
more or less elastic as'may be desired," whilst if desired they may be
rendered as hard as ebonite.
These rollers or blocks with the designs projecting therefrom are then
arranged in any suitable printing machine, and supplied with ink or
with various colours as required by the means ordinarily employed for
this
purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Amedéo Wilbaux in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AMEDÉE
WILBAUX, Manufacturer, of Paris, in the Republic of France, send
greeting. -
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Amedće Wilbaux, Her special license
that I, the said Amedée Wilbaux, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Amedée Wilbaux, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PRINTING SURFACES FOR PRINTING ON PAPER HANGINGS,
STUFFS, OR OTHER MATERIAL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Amedée Wilbaux, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 Amedée Wilbaux, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
-
Heretofore designs have been printed upon fabrics or stuffs and upon
paper by means of engraved rollers or blocks of metal or wood. When
employing wood particularly applicable to printing paper hangings, the
designs are formed in the blocks by metallic wires driven into the wood,
but these processes are very costly, and the rollers and blocks produced
thereby are not very durable, whilst by my Invention I avoid the great
cost of construction and maintenance involved in rollers and blocks
constructed as heretofore.
In carrying my Invention into effect I first obtain moulds of the
designs to be reproduced in plane surfaces formed of any material suffi-
ciently cheap and having the qualities necessary to the nature of the
designs to be reproduced, such designs being engraved or otherwise
formed in such plane or flat surfaces.
I apply upon the said moulds a sheet sufficiently thick according to
the relief of the designs of india-rubber, gutta percha, or mixtures of
these two substances, or of glue, gelatine, vulcanized oils, artificial :
preparations or substitutes of india-rubber and gutta percha mixed or
not, and lastly, of leather or of any other known substance capable of
taking the impressions and of afterwards acquiring by themselves or by
artificial means a degree of hardness rendering them capable of resisting
the pressure and wear involved in the printing of paper hangings and 2
stuffs or fabrics for various purposes.
The moulds may be made of plaster, soft metal, sulphur, or other
appropriate material.
The sheet of india-rubber applied upon the mould is first dipped into
boiling water so as to render it plastic and therefore diminish its co- 3
efficient of elasticity, in order that when it has been submitted to
pressure upon the mould it can be removed therefrom with the impres-
sions of all the parts of the design and even of the finest lines without
appreciable shrinkage.
These sheets of impressions are placed upon cylinders of wood, metal, or 3

page_text: by means of india-rubber solution or by other suitable cement, glue, or
other means of attachment. The lines of junction of the lips or edges ·
of the impression having been previously bevelled can be united by
simple pressure or by the application of a little solution thereto. .
According to the purpose for which the cylinder or the sheet of
impression thus prepared is required, I submit it or not to a certain
degree of heat to determine its shrinkage and its complete adhesion to
the roller, then I proceed to its vulcanisation. Some impressions may
however be vulcanised before being applied to the blocks or rollers.
A particular advantage of my Invention consists also in being able
to vulcanise more or less highly some parts of my impressions upon
rollers or blocks, and. leaving other parts according to circumstances
more or less elastic as may be desired, whilst if desired they may be
rendered as hard as ebonite.
These strong and untearable rollers or blocks with the designs pro-
jecting therefrom are then arranged in any suitable printing machine,
or they are supplied with ink or with various colors as required by the
means ordinarily employed for this purpose.
.It is then only necessary to pass between the two cylinders of this
printing machine the paper, stuff, or fabric which it is desired to print,
which is effected without any further trouble, tearings, or adhesions, and
without any delay in the operation or faulty impression in places; all is
uniform, is produced with rapidity and cheapness.
My rollers or blocks of impressions are never completely without
value whatever the amount of their use, as it suffices to recast the
material of which they are composed to make them at slight cost into
new ones, at the same time renewing their designs at will.
Finally, my Invention consists in replacing engraved blocks employed
in the manufacture of paper hangings and engraved cylinders employed
for printing upon stuffs or fabrics by either cylinders or blocks as desired
capable of serving for these two manufactures. These rollers or blocks
are furnished with a sheet or coating of plastic material, such as leather,
india-rubber, gutta percha, or any other natural or artificial plastic
compositions which have previously received the impression of a design
to be reproduced from a mould, as above described, and which have been

page_text: vulcanised or otherwise hardened, and by their means I produce upon
paper, stuff, or fabric impressions in any desired colors with a speed and
at a lowness of cost previously unknown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Amedée Wilbaux, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of October, in the year of i
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-two.