US1416311A - Art of lithographing - Google Patents

Description

G- B. WEDOW.

ART OF LITHOGRAPHING.

APPLICATION H'LED FEB-1, 1921.

Patented May 16,1922.

' effect.

GUSTAV B. WEDOVV, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ART OF, LITIIOGRAPI-IING.

Application filed February 7', 1921.

T 0 all whom may concern Be it known that l, G'US'EAV B. l l nnow, a citizen of the United States, residing at 1718 North -llichmond Street, Chicago, in the county of Cook and FBtate of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Art of Lithographing, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the art of lithograpning and more especially to the lithographing of mar-bled or mottled paper, parchment, cloth or other materials such as are used, for example, for lining of book cove s and similar purposes.

v re, in performing such marbleizing, or in lithographing of such marbleized or mottled effects it was necessary carefully to draw or otherwise prepareon the lithographic stone, zinc plate, or other material r-e-d, a small design of the marbleized 0r mottled effect desired. It was then neces sary to duplicate or repeat such design by copying or by lithographic processes in order to prepare astone or zinc plate of the desired size which would be entirely covered with the desired marbleized or mottled It will be seen that "this processrequircd a considerable amount of time and labor. In the first place, the preparation of the small portion of the desired design in itself was very diricult requiring great care i and skill; and then toe duplicating and repeating of this smallportion in order to obtain aplate of the desired area required great skill, time and labor. In performing this process it was a so diflicult to make the large area appear continuous and not divided by lines marking the l-in'iits of the small portions from which it was made. It is obvious, of course, that it was possible to prepare in the first instance a stone or plate of the desired area with the desired effect by drawing or etching the design over the entire surface; but it is also obvious that such a method would have required so much time, care and skill to make its use almost prohibitive.

By my improved method I am able to prepare very quickly, and at a minimum cost, a plate of Zinc or othermaterial with a beaut1- ful and desirable marbleized or mottled effect over its entire surface so that such plate may be used, by means of the ordinary and well known lithographing processes, for printing on paper or other sheets the design on the plate.

Serial No. 443,038.

cheated by the line 2 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a v fragmentary view of the plate used in carrying out my invention, and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of a completed print.

In the practice of'my invention, 1 take a plate of zinc or other material suitable for lithographing purposes such as indicated by 10 and. wrap the same about a cylindrical roller 11. The plate 10 is held in place on the roller by the bands 12 as shown; or it may be held in place in any other desired manner. The edges of the plate 10 may also be tacked to the roller if desired. The ends 0:": the roller 11 are reduced in diameter and ex tended as indicated by 14s, each extension having mounted on its outer end a wheel.

I also provide flat shallow trough or tray rectangular in shape such as is indicated by 16. The tray 16 is suitably supported by legs 1'? and framing 18 and has mounted on its two sides the bracket rails or uides 19 in which the wheels 15 are adaptedto roll. As shown in. F 2, it will be noted that when the wheels 15 are in place in the grooves formed by the guides 19 that the roller 11 will extend a. bout one-half way down into the trough 16. l ll the trough 16 about onehalf full of water as indicated by 25. I then iioat on the water a very small amount of ink. Not enough ink is floated on the water to make complete layer of ink- Only enough ink is placed on the water to cause the ink to spread over the surface in separated portions, to form a mottled effect. The exact amount of ink required may be found by experimentation and may be varied in order to varythe character of the design whieh it is wished to produce. lit is this spreading of'the ink over the surface to give a. mottled or marbelized appearance which finally gives the mottled or marbled final print through successive steps of the lithographing process. After enough ink has thus been floated on the water to give the desired effect the roller 11 with the zinc plate 10 fastened on it is put in place as shown in the drawings with the wheels resting on the rails 19. lit should be stated here that the water which was placed in the trough 16 must be of just suilicient depth so that when the ink is floated on its surface and the roller 11 is put in place, as stated, the plate 10 will just touch the ink floating on the surface of the water. It is obvious, of course. that the apparatus must be level and remain quiet. When the parts are thus arranged, the roller 11, as stated, is put in place atone end of the trough with the zinc plate 10 just touching the ink floated on the surface of the water. The roller is then rolled the length of the trough thus causing the plate 10 to roll over the surface of the water bringing the entire area of the plate 10 into contact with the ink floating on the surface of the water. It should be stated here also that the wheels 15 must be of the same diameter as the roller 11. so that as this rolling. process above described is car ried out there will be no friction between the surface of the plate 10 and the surface of the water. As shown in the drawings, the thickness of the plate 10 may be disregarded; but it is obvious that if a thicker plate is used, the diameter of the wheels 15 should be equal to the diameter of the roller 11 extended through two thicknesses of the plate mounted thereon. It will be noted from the construction shown that where the wheels 15 are the same diameter as the roller 11 that the height of the water inthe trough should be substantially the same as the level of the tracks upon which the wheels 15 roll; in order to make the plate 10 just contact wit 1. the ink floating on the water.

The steps in the process described above by which the entire area of the plate is brought into contact with the ink floating on the water serves to transfer the ink to the plate thus producing on the plate a marbled or mottled effect similar to the appearance presented. by the ink floating on the water.

After the ink has been put onto the plate, the plate prepared for printing by any of the regular well known lithograpl'iic pro cess s. A portion of the plate 10 as it appears after the ink has been put on it is shown in Fig. 3; and Fig. 4c shows a part of a print, indicated by 30, taken from such a plate by any common lithographic process.

I have described above one method of carrying out my invention, the main features of which are the forming of a mottled ink effect by floating a small quantity of ink on water, and the transferring of this ink to a lithographic plate by bringing the surface of the plate in contact with the ink on the water. Such a disclosure is sufficient for anyone having a knowledge of lithographing processes in general to fully understand and comprehend my invention and carry out the same. In performing the operations described, however, it is obvious that, without detracting from the spirit of my invention, any of the steps in known lithographic processes may be used in conjunction with the same. For example, the surface of the plate may be prepared in any suitable mannor by any well. known lithographic process before it is brought into contact with the ink in order to make the ink more readily adhere to its surface; and after the plate is removed it should be gummed up with a sponge and solution of gum-arabic and water or otherwise prepared in order to partially solidify the ink and wash off the surplus water. It is obvious, however, that after the ink has been placed on the plate, that the plate may be prepared for printing by any other suitable lithographing process.

I have found that it is some times desirable in the practice of my invention to make the ink a little bit thinner than that ordinarily used in the well known processes of lithographing. Such thinning of the ink will cause it to spread over the surface of the water more readily and give abetter or more desirable mar-bled or mottled effect. I have also found that some times it is desirable to place in the water gum-arabic if it is found that the ink has a tendency to separate too much so that the proper mottled. or marbled effect is not obtained.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes therefore in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claim, in which it is my invention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as possible in view of the prior art.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In the art of lithographing, the process of producing a mottled or marbled effect on a lithographic plate. which includes the floatin g of a small quantity of printing material on-the surface of a liquid and the bringing of the surface of the plate into contact with such printing material.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 1st day of February, 19:21.

GUSTAV B. VVEDOl V. [n s]

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