Stencil duplicatorIn 1876, Thomas A. Edison received a U.S. patent for a stencil duplicator, titled “Improvement in Autographic Printing” (No. 180,857). Previously, patterns for embroidery or fresco painting used paper, perforated with numerous holes in the lines to be transferred, effected by dusting over the pattern with a fine colored powder rubbed through the holes. Edison invented a portable perforating stylus for writing or drawing, whereby a vertical perforating needle with a battery-operated reciprocating mechanism could be used to draw on a pattern paper. Further, he provided the pattern transfer using a permanent semi-fluid ink pressed through the pattern with a roller. The paper could be mounted in a hinged frame closing on a bed with a sheet of paper to receive a copy. This could then make multiple copies.« |
