US1436423A - Method of forming printing surfaces - Google Patents

Description

. WOOD METHOD 0F FORIVIING PRINTING SURFACES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG,I

Patented Nov. 21, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

/NVEA/To 5 Wo o .P Ano/MIEI Patented Nov. 21, 1922.

UNITED STATES rERcIvAL J. woon, or PATERsomNEW JEnsEY.

METHOD 0F `FOlR1\[Il'.\TG PRINTING SURFACES..

Application led August 6, 1921. Serial No. 490,225.

To all wlw/m. it may concern.

Be it known that I, PERoivAL J. Woon, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Forming Printing Surfaces, of which the following is a specification.

In certain kinds of printing with rollers or plates it is desired to obtain graded-tone effects; for' instance, the printing of fabrics for dress goods and the like is frequently done in clouded or mottled effects, splotches or stripes, usually with set figures (without tone-grading) also brought out.- Heretofore it has been the custom to produce graded-tone effects on the surface t o be treated by forming the numerous minute recesses or incisions (generally of the stipple kind) one by one by hand, of course properly varying them as to size so as to obtain the graded-tone effect. In the printing of fabrics, as in many other kinds of printing, it is usual to proceed by the etching process; but the present invention broadly contemplates, in the art of printing, the production ofrecesses or incisions in either a varnish or other mere coating surface or in the surface forming the actual printing surface, the only prerequisite being that the surface to be treated, whichever it is, shall be sufficiently soft to yield to the incising or engraving media. The object of the invention is to eliminate the tedium and loss of time and labor that are incident to the preparation of the printing surface for producing in the printing these graded-tone effects. The result of the invention as shown by actual practice is to cut down the time required to prepare the surface for the printing of the graded-tone effect so that it is a matter of a few minutes instead of hours, as heretofore.l

The invention is vbroadly the method of producing graded incisions in the surface to be treated which consists in forcing into said surface the acting faces of an assembly yof gravers while said assembly is maintained' in convergent relationl to said surface; inthe best form of the invention and especially with the vobj ect and result of obtaining variegated or diversified leffects the gravers are yielding. The maintaining of the assembly of gravers in convergent relation tothe surface being treated may be a matter of supporting the same, connected as ay unit, at a higher elevation than said surface; or it may be an incident of the relative forms of the, acting face of ythe gravers-assembly and the surface to be treated so that they do not conform, as by the graversfassembly presenting a convex face. I shall hereinafter by' example describe yWays of carrying out my, method which fall in both these classes, claiming herein specifically those which fall within the first class and `reserving for a separate application such as fall within the second class.

In the drawings,

- Figures l to 8 illustrate the iirst class and Figures 9 to 1l the second.

Figure l shows in section a stencil or support used in carrying out the invention according to one way;

Figure 2 shows a printed piece with graded effects;

Figure 3k illustrates aform of implement that may be employed;

Figure 4 shows a Varnished copper roller with the stencil thereon in position for performing my method;

Figure 5 is a view, mainly in section, showing the said roller,.stencil and implement at the moment the implement acts to form incisions in the varnish surface of the roller; y y

Figure 6 shows mainly in section a varnished .copper roller with'a device including a stencil or support thereon vpreparatory to carrying' out the invention according to anotherway.

Figure 7 shows an implement that may be used with the device seen in Fig. 6;

'Figure 8 shows'in section and on a magnifiedscale the parts shown in Fig. 6 at the moment of formingvthe incisions; Figure 9 shows a tampon that vmay be used in carrying1 out my invention according to still another way; Figure 10 shows in section and on a magnified scale this tampon and the surface to be treated at the moment of forming the incision; and

Figure 11 the effect'produced in the surface treated when an 'implement like that shown vin Fig. 9 is employed. v

j Describing, first, ways for example which fall within the first class:

A stencilfor Support a is provided which is to expose an area of the surface tobe treated having some selected form, as Vthe stripe .b or the outline of a cloud, splotch or'some such irregular figure c, as in the Cir printed piece shown in Fig. 2. There is also provided, Fig. 3, an implement whose working portion is composed of a set of yielding gravers arranged like the bristles of a brush; in the illustration this implement is constituted by a piece of card clothing cl (such as is used in carding wool, etc.) attached to one end of a preferably more or less flexible handle e, each wire tooth or bristle al affording one of the assembly of gravers and being yielding, both because of vits own flexibility and because of its being yieldably mounted in the material CZ, as leather of fabric, which is not secured to the handle in such a way as -to preventa certain amount of bulgingftherefrom-see Fig. 5.- The stencil is laid on the surface A (shown as a varnish coating on a copper surface g) to be treated as shown in Fig. 4, and then the graded incisions are formed therein by striking the surface A through the opening in the stencil with the toothed or bristle or graver face of the implement but in such a way that outward of the margin of the opening the stencil will also be struck at the same time the said surface is struck; in other words, so that at the moment of impact the stencil as well as `the surface A supports the implement. Figure 5 iS a fragmentary view showing the positions of the parts at the instant of striking, it being noted that the wire gravers when they encounter the harder copper surface g after penetrating the material A either skid or bend, as shown, either of which effects results in the removal by each graver of a fragment of said material of greater area than is represented by the thickness or gage of the graver. (It will b e apparent, too, that the deeper any graver is forced into the surface, i. e., the greater the resistance it encounters, the more material will it displace.) Inward of the margin, as at the region f, the resulting incisions will be moreover consequently graded in size, (specifically, in the present example, area) as the result of the convergence here maintained as between the. surface A and the assembly of gravers by reason of the partial support afforded the latter by the stencil at the moment of impact. By a stencil I do not confine myself to the ordinary device, viz, with an opening therein.: It is a matter of some support (however constituted) being present, higher than and adjoining the surface A. Nor is this way of carrying out my invention limited4 to the striking of blows: howthe pressure is applied depends on the nature of the surface, the surface A in the present eX-i ample being taken as the' usual kmoreor less hard varnishy coating on a ycopper surface f/ which, after it has been formed with the incisions and so exposes thereat vthe copper will have applied to it theacid or mordant that acts to etch the exposed copper surface so as to make the latter a printing surface after removal of the coating. In view of what has been said the quality of the gravers to yield is a very important rfactor in forming the graded incisions when the work isto be done on surface material, as A, that is hard or backed by harder material. This quality has a further important advantage in that it makes possible the production of variegated or diversified effects as between areas of al surface treated by different applications of the implement thereto.

If cloud effects of various contours are desired to be printed of course stencils with divers irregular .forms of openings maybe used. Or I may proceed as follows: Let 7L, Fig. 6, represent a stencil or other support laid on the surface A, ande' `a piece of fabric glued to the surface soy that close to the support it will be spaced from the surface A a distance equal to the thickness of such support, as by bridging the stencil opening h. The fabric will be of suitable coarseness so that the bends z" in its threads at one face will make more or less distinct impressions or incisions in a yieldable surface if the fabricv is pressed against the latter; for the usual varnish surface A this would require the presence of a suitable solvent, as turpentine, to soften'the surface, which may be applied to the fabric.

lf the fabric, with the parts related as in Fig.

6, be now struck or pressed with a tampon j (Fig. 7) having convex form, the desired result will follow as before: that is to say, said threads of the fabric here form the gravers (incidentally yielding) and the assembly of gravers so constituted being maintained by the support 7L in a relation of convergence to the Surface A at the region 7c in Fig. 8 at the moment of impact, i.e., of pressure, incisions graded insize will be vformed in said surface.

Describing, now, a way which falls within the second class, i. e., where in the performance of my method the acting face vofthe Y assembly of gravers and; the surface to-be treated do not conform:

A tampon or pad Z (Fig. 9) is vformed either of a wad of indiscriminately massed fabric or of a wad of any other suitable preferably yielding material covered with fabric. Being spheroido-convex, whereas the surface (Fig. 10) is not so vbut cylindrical o flat 'inl the example illustrated, it does not conform to.; said surface, soV that, if laid against lit there would be convergence between the latter and the surface of the tampon. The fabric, as before. will be of suitable coarseness. so that its threads will make more or lessdistinct-impressions orrineisions in a yielding surface if the tampon is pressed against said surface; if the surface is the usual varnish surface it may be rendered soft by applying a solvent, as turpentine, to the tampon. IIpon now applying the tampon, by a blow or pressing, against the surface A the threads of the fabric, Which form the assembly of gravers (incidentally yielding), will form impressions or incisions therein, and since the assembly is maintained in a relation of convergence to said surface, due to its normal or convex form, these incisions will be graded at the margin m of the area of contact of the tampon with said surface: See Fig. 11, which also shows not only the margin of said area with the graded incisions but regio-ns n of graded incisions due to forming the tampon With a plurality of the convexities, as shown in Fig. 9.

Having thus fully described myy invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent l. In the art of printing, the method of producing the hereindescribed gradedL incisions in the surface to be treated which consists in forcing into said surface the acting faces of `an assembly of gravers While maintaining said assembly in con- Ver-gent relation to said surface.

2. In the art of printing,the method of producing the hereindescribed graded incisions in the surface to be treated Which consists in forcing into said surface the acting faces of an assembly of yielding gravers While maintaining said assembly in convergent relation to said surface.

3. In the art of printing, the method of producing the hereindescribed graded ink cisions in the surface to be treated Which consists in forcing the acting faces of an assembly of gravers connected as a unit against and into said surface as to one region of said assembly While supporting the assembly as to another region thereof at an elevation higher than said surface.

Lf. In the art of printing, the method of producing the hereindescribed graded incisions in the surface t0 be treated Which consists in forcing the acting faces of an aS- sembly of yielding gravers connected as a unit against and into said surface as to one region of said assembly While supporting the assembly as to another region thereof at an elevation higher than said surface.

5. In the art of printing, the method of producing the hereindescribed graded incisions in the surface to be treated Which consists in forcing the acting faces of an assembly of gravers connected as a unit against and into said surface and at the same time against a support adjoining and arranged at an elevation higher than said surface.

6. In the art of printing, the method of producing the hereindescribed graded incisions in the surface to be treated Which consists in forcing the acting faces of an assembly of yielding gravers connected as a unit against and into said surface and at the same time against a support adjoining and arranged at an elevation higher than said surface.

In testimony whereof I aihx my signature.

PERCIVAL J. WOOD.

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