US1391859A - Process and device for producing guilloches and the like - Google Patents

Description

A. SCHULZE.

PROCESS AND`DEVlCE FOR PRODUCING GUILLOGHES AND THE LIKE. APPucATloN msn SEPT. 21, 1919.

l 1,391,859.v rawmdsepf, 27,1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR scHULzE, or BERLIN, GERMANY.

PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR PROD'UGING GUILLUCHES AND THE LIKE.

l specification ofLetters Patent. Patented Sept. 27, 1921.v

Application filed September 2f?, 1919. Serial No. 327,012.`

The known process for producing guil-` loches or rose-engine patterns upon printing plates, especially for the printing of paper currency and the like, consists n guiding a diamond-along the sinuous intertwining line which forms the guilloche pattern and in removing the acid proof film` along this line preparatory to the etching of the plate. The lines thus drawn with diamonds are extremely lfine and hence it is necessary to broaden themflf' a printing plate is to be made with the aid of this process for eX- ample the design drawn in the film -is etched deeply in to the plate and by this means a broadening of thelines to a larger or smaller extentmay be effected,l although the scope thus affordedf is confined to very narrow limits. The machinesemployed for producing guilloches or rose-engine patternsy are very expensive, they are slow in operation and have a number of other draw-backs. The total number of lines required to properly cover a fairly large surface with lines as fine as those 'resulting in this process is extraordinarily large. As a rule a single diamond only is employed. Machines opt erating with a plurality of diamonds, two or three for example, have been proposed and tried, but theyhave .not proven a success. Therefore it is necessary to lift the diamond and readjust it for every new line made in tracing the pattern. Evenv if the radjustment of the diamond and rearrangement of the machine are effected automatically, and if the work is continued without interruption dayy and night, the ornamentation of a fairly large surface with guilloches takes several days and even several weeks if the design is composed of dense lines.. I-f, for examp le,'a large new pattern, say a. large rosette, is to be drawn, the totaly impression which the pattern will produce as a whole,cannot be v foretold with certainty. It will be necessary veither to krest satised with a finished unor to repeat the laborisatisfactory pattern ous process several times until a patternfhas been obtained. At present the fine lines which result in such a process enable delicate patterns to be produced that will admit of their employment for paper currency, but they are not without disadsatisfactory vantages. In the iirst place all the lines are of the same small breadth. A broader line, whether its breadth is to be equal throughout its length, or to become alter,- natelybroader and thinner, can only be produced by drawing a number of line lines so near to'each other that they become one duringthe lsucceeding etching process. Thus, variety in the breadth of the lines forming the pattern can only be obtained in a roundabout way with considerable loss of time. The fact that the delicacy of the drawn lines permits of the drawings being immediately made in ythe required or original size is an v apparent advantage only. In making printdrawings in any other manner, it is preferable tvo make the original drawings on an ping plates for drawings, `or in reproducing enlarged scale because the inexactitudes and v errors inthe same are diminished when reproduced on a reduced scale (in engraving work also large stencil-plates are preferably employed from which the patterns are trans-v ferred to the actual reduced'engraving by means of a pantograph), but for several reasons this plan cannot be adoptedat the presf ent time in producing guilloches.. The necessity` of making l,the drawingsV straight laway in theirusual size is coupled'with the disadvantage that the motions which the diamond must describe are all on the same small scale, and consequently inexactitudes and errors in the drawing are unavoidable, no matter how well made and expensive the roseengine or guilloching machine may be. An indirect consequence of these circumstances is that in the production of paper currency the photo-mechanical processes do not play so important a part and are not used to such an extent as they could be, and that, merely in `consequence of these minor circumstances, the photo-mechanical process is not regarded to be ofthe same value as the other processes in the production lof paper currencyand is only used `for work of minor importance.

only be drawn singlyand that for this rea-, son the drawing could not be made accu-- rately enough, especially at pointswhcre the interhnear space was very small, so that errors or irregularities cropped up in the` drawings which were very perceptible to the eye. On the other hand the employment of bunches of lines that approach each other so as to leave very little space and which are drawn with perfect accuracy is particularly desirable vin order to render imitation more diiiicult. Another point worthy of notice is that, in the case of complicated guilloches at least, only solid or unbroken lines, but no dotted or dash-and-dot lines, which assist greatly in enlivening the drawing and maklng it more difficult to counterfeit, can be executed with the old process.

The object of the present invention is to provide a means for producing guilloches which is not encumbered with the disadvantages and imperfections of the old process and .which permits of the execution, with much simpler and cheaper machines and in a fraction of the time hitherto required, of work which is not only of the same excellence as that performed with the older appliances, vbut which is distinguished from the older patterns by greater variety, better artistic effects and by its being more diicult to counterfeit. This object is accomplished by a small luminous surface or spot, or any number of such spots, being caused to execute motions, in a dark room opposite to a photographic apparatus and relative to its lens of the kind required for marking out the guilloche. These motions will generally be composed of a number of simple motions. Each luminous image will then describe lines on the sensitive plate similarto those which the diamond executed on the acid-proof film in the old process. The small luminous surfaces may be given the shape 'of circular disks. Lines will then be produced which are of equal breadth throughout their lengths. If a plurality of small luminous circular surfaces are employed, their diameters may differ so that a number of adjacent lines of various breadths will be obtained. rllhe distances between -the neighboring surfaces may be equal or various. If the luminous surfaces measure more in one direction than in another, if for example they take the form of a dash or stripe, lines of continuously varying breadth may be produced. same pattern maybe made inl various sizes simply by changing the position of the `)hotographic apparatus without at all altering the illuminating machine or the mechanism which brings about the movements of Thel the luminous spots. Since any number of luminous spots may act in unison and hence a corresponding number of lines may be simultaneously drawn, a dense pattern composed of a large number of lines may be produced. in avery short time, e. g. in a few minutes. The movements which the luminous spots and the sensitive plate execute relative to each other may be brought about by moving the luminous spots only, or by only moving the sensitive plate or the lens, or by a combination of these three movements. If the motion is executed only by the luminous spots themselves, the lines or drawing which they themselves actually describe will be as much larger than the scale of the drawing produced on the sensitive plate, as the distance between the plane in which the luminous spots are situated and the lens is larger than the distance between the sensitive plate and the lens. It is therefore possible to have the actual motions executed on an enlarged .scale and hence to produce exact drawings or patterns with a machine that is cruder and cheaper than it could be in using the old process. The possibility of producing patterns on any desired scale may be turned to account by first carrying out a guillochc or pattern on the scale on which it is to be employed so as to obtain a proper idea of the impression it will make, and by then producing the same guilloche on a much `larger scale so as to be able to insert it in another drawing that has been made on the same larger scale and which, in addition to a guilloche on the larger scale, Vcomprises a number of other designs such as hand-drawn ornaments, letters or figures, or other ground ornaments, which vlatter may also be produced by the new process. Composite drawings of this kind, enlarged to the extent of three to five times their ordinary size for example, are executed for the purpose of making the printing plate on a 'reduced scale with the aid of photo-mechanical means'. In making such plates with the old guilloche-producing process the guilloches `lirst had to be enlarged with the aid of photographic apparatus, because the production of original guilloches on an enlarged scale was not possible. The possibility of producing the original guilloches on theV desired enlarged scale is a great benefit for the improvement of the quality of the drawings. The disadvantage in the old process in this respect was the vchief reason for dispensing altogether with the photo-mechanical process in work of greater Vimportance when producing paper currency.A

The extraordinary speed with which even complicated and very dense guilloches can be executed with the aid of the new process as compared with the old one, renders it possible to make a number of different trial patterns very quickly by altering the rela- -of the luminous spots or groups of them may fects) is also impressed tive motions of the parts of the device, and the number and'distance apart of the luminous points, etc., so as to enable the most suitable pattern to be selected for the particiilarpurpose in mind. The trial patterns may be changed much more methodicallv 1f, for example, it turns out thatin a iinished pattern the space between two neigh-` boring groups of lines isrtoo large, the two corresponding groups of luminous spots may be shifted closertogether, or new spots may be inserted, orV the elegance of the'pattern may be improved by shifting the eccentric of the machine. The making of a whole series of such patterns requires less time than the production of a single guilloche by the old process. yBesides, by causing a number of luminous spots Vto operate together, graphic effects Amay be produced` which either cannot be achieved at all withthe old i process or which, at best, can only be obtained in a very roundabout way with a great loss of time and with much less precision.

.New effects will result if the luminous spots are arranged in a crooked line instead of avk straight one, or in several straight or crooked lines. New peculiar effects result if separate and distinct motions are imparted to each Single group of luminous spots. All

be obscured or extinguishedat short regular intervals. being produced.l The breaks inthe lines of the groups, if arranged' in `some suitable order, will produce radiating effects.-

The new process also renders it possible to achieve stereoscopic effects which cannot be obtained in any other way and which, under certain conditions, constitute an almost perfect guard against counterfeits.y For example` a stereoscope effect be obtained in the following manner: 1f the orbitsof the luminous spots are photographed withtwo lenses placed at a certain distance apart, instead of with one lens only, and if the plane in which the, luminous spots are located is periodically moved toward and from the plate, (during which operation the sensitive plate must, of course, also be moved so as to keep the image distinct), the orbits described by tlie points will be curves lthat extend in three directions. On the images thus produced with the two lenses being observed together in a stereoscopic apparatus, they will give a plastic representation of the said curves. If these two images are`printed with a block in different, suitably chosen colors, e. g. in rainbow-style, and if a pattern of crossed lines of a suitable color and designed to baffle counterfeiters (which pattern may also be made to have plastic efupon the print, then counterfeiting, either by drawn copies or by photo-mechanical means, will be impossible.

This will result in broken lines' trol of an escapement (not shown) it is caused to revolve with its casing 4 around the axis 1 of the spring that is fixed in the base plate 2. During the turning of` the casing 4 a spur-wheel 9 fixed to a shaft 8 rolls around upon a toothed wheel 3 that is xed to the rigid spring axis 1. At the upper end of the shaft 8 a crank 13 is fixed whose stud 12 engages with slot in the carriage 11, which slot extends perpendicularly to the plane of the drawing. l The carriage 11 is arranged to be shifted on guide members or rails 10 arranged on the casing 4. The carriage 11 carries a box 14 in the interior of which an illuminating agent (not shown) e. g. a mercury vapor lamp is arranged and thetop of which is Vclosed vby a plane of frosted glass 15. Above the glass an opaque screen 16 is placed into which are drilled several groups of different sized holes 17. These holes act as small luminous surfaces or spots. Abovethe clockwork a photographic apparatus A is arranged whose sen-v sitive surface is adjusted with respect to the screen 16. The whole device is rigged up .in a dark room. On the clockwork being.

up of the rotarymotion of the clockwork casing 4 and of the linear motion of the carriage 11. By changing the wheel of the crank shaft, by altering the ratio of the speed of the shaft 8 and the casing 4 and by changing the ynumber of luminous points or the number of plates, by changingthe size and shapeof the luminous points, by changing the distance of the luminous points from. each other or the distances between groups of points the greatest possible variety of resultant motions and drawings may be obtained.. The resultant motions may also be made up of-a larger number of simple mo tions and of different kinds of motions than those executed with the illustrated device. The sensitive plate and the lens may also be made to execute their ownmotions. The arrangement may also be such that the individual groups of luminous points execute their own special motions. The luminous spots may also be caused to move in the direction vertical to the plane of their movement and their orbits may be drawn upon a sensitive plate by two lenses instead of one. All l of the luminous points or groups of them may be obscured or extinguished at periodic intervals. Instead of producing luminous spots by means of a frosted plate anda screen, small luminous bodies such as minute incandescent lamps may be used.

Aspecial advantage of the new process, especially if it is arranged to be carried out with the aid of the stereoscopic appliances, is not only that the production of counterfeits is rendered very diflicult and practically impossible, but also that attempted counterfeits can be quickly and surely detected by any unskilled person.

I claim:

l. A device for producing guilloches comprising means for causing a luminous spot to describe a symmetrical closed orbit coi'- responding to a desired guilloche, and photographic means for photographing the successive positions of said spot in said orbit.

2. A device for producing guilloches, comprising means to cause a luminous spot to describe a symmetrical sinuous closed orbit corresponding to a desired engineturning, photographic means distanced from said orbit and including a lens for photographing successive positions of the spot in its orbit.

8. A device for producing guilloches,

comprising means for producing a luminous spot, mechanism for causing said means to describe a closed geometrical path, devices to reciprocate said means during its passage over said path, and photographic means to photograph successive positions of said spot iii its orbit.

4;. A device for .producing guilloches,

comprising means for producing a luminous spot, mechanism for causing said means to move in a circular path, devices to reciprocate saidineans during its passage over said path, and means including a lens to photograph successive positions of said spot in its orbit.

5. A device for producing guilloches, comprising means for causing a number of luminousl spots to describe orbit-s corresponding to a desired guilloche and means for photographing the luminous spots in the said orbits.

6. A device for producing guilloches, comprising means for causing one or more luminous spots differing in shape from a circle to describe orbits varying in breadth and corresponding to a desired guilloclie, and means for photographing the luminous spots in the said orbits.

7. A device for producing guilloches, comprising means for producing a number -of luminous spots, a sensitive plate, a lens producing images of said spots upon the` sensitive surface and means for moving the said images upon the surface along orbits corresponding to the lines of the desired guilloclie.

8. A device for producing guilloches comprising a lens, a sensitive surface, means for producing a number of luminous spots Whose light impinges upon the sensitive surface, and means for causinga relative motion between the lens, the sensitive surface and the luminous spots, whereby the images of the luminous spots are moved on the sensitive surface along orbits corresponding to the lines of the desired guilloclies.

9.2A device for producing guilloclies comprising a lens, a sensitive surface, means for producing a number ofluminous spots whose light impinges upon the sensitive surface, and means formoving the spots along orbits corresponding to the lines of the desired guilloclies.

10. Device for producing guilloches comprising, a lens, a sensitive plate, means for producing a number of luminous spots Whose light impinges upon the sensitive plate, ,and means for moving the spots along orbits corresponding to the lines of the desired guilloches.

lin testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR SGHULZE.

Vitnesses:

LUDWIG Soiiirr, ADoLF Gnovii'rz.

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