IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MAnufacture OF METAL PLATES EMPLOYED FOR FLAT PRINTING AND OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Daintry Hollins, of Stoke-upon-Trent,
in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer of Tiles and Mosaic
Pavements, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MAnufacture
OF METAL PLATES EMPLOYED FOR FLAT PRINTING AND OTHER ANALOGOUS
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 5th May 1871, and dated the 15th March 1871.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Michael Daintry Hollins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 15th March 1871, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
DAINTRY HOLLINS, of Stoke-upon-Trent, in the County of Stafford,
Manufacturer of Tiles and Mosaic Pavements, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL PLATES EMPLOYED FOR FLAT PRINTING AND OTHER
ANALOGOUS PURPOSES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me,

page_text: my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the true and
first Inventor thereof, and that the same is not in use by any other
person or persons to the best of my knowledge and belief.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Michael Daintry Hollins, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the
following statement:-
My Invention relates to an improved method of making metal plates,
such as are used for printing from flat surfaces, and in carrying my said
Invention into practice I proceed as follows:-In the first place a
foundation or "bat" is formed of plaster of Paris or of other similar
material, and its upper surface is then coated with a thin layer of clay or
wax upon this clay or wax a pattern is then traced, and the portion of
clay comprised within the lines of the pattern and forming that part of
the pattern which will be the indent on the metal plate is cut out
and removed. A plaster cast is then taken of the surface of the "bat "
which has been so treated, and from this cast an impression in clay is
taken. This impression is allowed to dry, and when sufficiently hard it is
heated, and molten metal is poured upon it. The metal when cold forms
a plate, the front surface of which must be carefully rubbed down and
made perfectly true and smooth; the back surface must be turned upon
a lathe and made perfectly true. From this plate printing can be:
effected in the same way as from a metal plate engraved by hand in the
way usually adopted in producing metal plates used for flat printing.
If required to produce a series of plates from which a pattern may be
printed in more than one color a second and third impression are taken
in the manner before described from the original block, and such portions
of the pattern as are not required to be printed by the additional plates
are removed. From the impression so altered-second or third plates may
be cast, and in this way plates may be prepared to print a pattern in any
number of colors in the same way as from hand engraved plates.
This improved process of producing the above mentioned plates is
found to be well adapted for the manufacture of printed tiles, but it may
also be applied to the manufacture of printed china and earthenware
articles of various kinds.

page_text: The metal employed in this improved process of manufacture is the
same as is used for metal printing plates engraved by hand, but other
metals may be employed.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner in which it is
performed, I claim the method herein described of manufacturing the
above-mentioned metal plates used for flat printing, and their application
for printing designs upon tiles or the surfaces of other articles formed of
earthenware, china, or other similar substances.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Daintry Hollins, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
M. D. HOLLINS. (L.S.)