IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING LINOLEUM, KAMPTULICON, OIL CLOTH FOR COVERING FLOORS, AND OTHER SIMILAR FABRICS."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Allin, of Edgware Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Draper, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING
LINOLEUM, KAMPTULICON, OIL CLOTH FOR COVERING FLOORS, AND OTHER
SIMILAR FABRICS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Allin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th September 1881.
JOHN HENRY ALLIN, of Edgware Road, in the County of Middlesex, Draper.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING LINOLEUM, KAMPTULICON, OIL CLOTH FOR
COVERING FLOORS, AND OTHER SIMILAR FABRICS."
Linoleum, kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering floors, and other similar fabrics are
ordinarily ornamented by printing or painting their surfaces with colour or paint,
which when the said fabrics are in use soon becomes worn away in parts, the said
fabrics being thereby rendered unsightly before the body or substance thereof has
received any considerable amount of wear.
The object of my Invention is so to effect the ornamentation of the said fabrics
as to insure the duration of the ornament until the said fabrics are nearly or quite
worn out, and my said Invention consists in forming cavities in the said fabrics
and filling the said cavities with paint or other suitable coloured composition.
In carrying out my Invention I punch out or otherwise remove portions of the
fabric to be ornamented, the cavities so produced having the form and relative
positions of the different patches of colour constituting the pattern or design with
which the said fabric is to be ornamented. I then cement to the back of the said
fabric a sheet or sheets of paper or other suitable material, and I fill the said cavities
with paint or other suitable fluid, semi-fluid, or plastic composition of the required
colour.
When a pattern consisting of patches of different colours is to be produced, I
place over a portion of the fabric in which the required cavities have been made a
plate or sheet of suitable material having in it perforations or apertures corre-
sponding with those of the cavities in the fabric which are to be filled with paint
or composition of one colour, the perforated sheet or plate being so placed as to

page_text: leave the required cavities exposed. I then fill the exposed cavities with the paint
or composition, and after filling them I remove the said perforated plate or sheet,
and place on the fabric another plate or sheet having in it perforations or apertures
corresponding with those of the cavities in the fabric which it is required to fill
with paint or composition of another colour, and so on until the whole of the
cavities are filled with paint or composition of the required colours. I then allow
the paint or composition to dry or harden, and remove any surplus and clean the
surface of the fabric; the manufacture is then complete. Instead of forming the
whole of the cavities in the fabric before beginning to fill any of them with paint,
and covering those which are not to be filled with paint of one colour, those of the
cavities which are to be filled with one paint may be first formed and filled, and
afterwards those which are to be filled with another paint, the series of cavities for
each paint being separately formed and filled until the required pattern or design is
produced by this means the use of the perforated plates is dispensed with.
In manufacturing linoleum, kamptulicon, and other similar fabrics to be orna-
mented according to my Invention, I prefer to spread the linoleum or kamptulicon
composition on paper or other suitable slight fabric or material instead of on canvas
as usual, and to cement canvas over the paper after the cavities have been formed
and before filling them with paint or composition.
The cavities in the fabric may be formed by means of punches worked by hand
or by means of a suitable machine; or, in the case of linoleum and kamptulicon, the
said cavities may be formed by impressing the said fabrics with suitable dies or
stamps during their manufacture and while the linoleum or kamptulicon compo-
sition is in a plastic state. The filling of the cavities with paint or composition,
and the removal of the surplus and the cleaning of the surface of the ornamental
fabric, may be effected either by hand or by means of a suitable machine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Henry Allin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th March
1882.
JOHN HENRY ALLIN, of Edgware Road, in the County of Middlesex, Draper.
IMPROVEMENTS IN ORNAMENTING LINOLEUM, KAMPTULICON, OIL CLOTH FOR
COVERING FLOORS, AND OTHER, SIMILAR FABRICS."
This Invention has for its object improvements in ornamenting linoleum, kamp-
tulicon, oil cloth for covering floors, and other similar fabrics.
Linoleum, kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering floors, and other similar fabrics are
ordinarily ornamented by printing or stamping their surfaces (after they have been
prepared) with colours or paints, so as to produce an ornamental device or pattern,
which device or pattern being printed or stamped on the surface of the prepared
linoleum, kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering floors, and other similar fabrics, produces
a raised pattern, which on wearing out leaves the said linoleum, kamptulicon, oil
cloth, or other fabric in its natural or ground colour.
In order to retain a pattern until the greater part of the prepared linoleum,
kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering floors, or other similar fabric is worn out, I pass
the same, either in its soft or dry state, through a punching press having cutters or
punches arranged in any desired number so as to produce a device or pattern. The
material or fabric is then, by means of cams, levers, or other suitable means, caused
to pass through dies of a like device or pattern, so that as the linoleum, kamptúlicon,
oil cloth for covering floors, or other fabric is passed onwards between them, the top
die block descends, and a device or pattern is punched or cut completely through
the linoleum, kamptulicon, or fabric.
I may sometimes use hollow or cutting punches instead of solid punches, in which
case the bottom die block can be dispensed with, and wood or other soft material
may be used under the linoleum or fabric to prevent the cutting edges of the punch
from becoming blunt after passing through the same.
The linoleum, kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering floors, or other similar fabric is
then passed between a pair of pressing rollers, and at the same time a sheet or sheets
of paper or fabric is also passed between the rollers, the face side of the linoleum,
kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering floors, or other suitable fabric being towards the
said paper or fabric. Previous to the paper or fabric being fed through the rollers,
the face of the linoleum, kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering floors, or other similar
fabric is pasted or gummed to the said paper or fabric by means of a brush or
doctor," so that after passing through the rollers, which may be heated, the said
paper or fabric is caused to adhere firmly to the face side (or that side which is
opposite to the filling in side) of the linoleum, kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering
floors, or other similar fabric.
One or more rollers may be used, and may be heated by steam or other con-
venient means, or the material may be passed through a drying room.
In order to
fill the cavities made by the punches or cutters I provide two suitable standards or
side frames. Between these standards or side frames I place a hot plate, the face
of which is quite flat and smooth, and can be moved up or down by means of
hydraulic power, cams, cranks, or other suitable means. Above the hot plate and
secured to the side frames I place a box of any suitable size, as may be required
for the device or pattern, the bottom of which box has on it the same device or
pattern as the punches and die block used in the first punching or cutting machine.
The box is filled with colouring matter or other fluid or semi fluid, and is forced in
by means of a pump secured to any convenient part of the framework of the
machine. The stamped or punched linoleum, kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering
floors, or other similar fabric is then fed or placed between the upper box and the
hot plate (with its face downwards), and having the paper or fabric next to the hot
plate; the hot plate then rises and securely compresses the linoleum, kamptulicon,
oil cloth for covering floors, or other fabric between the hot plate and the upper

page_text: box, the device or pattern on the linoleum, kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering floors,
or other fabric coinciding with the device or pattern of the upper box. The fluid
or semi fluid is forced into the cavities and against the paper or fabric, which being
secured around the edges by means of the paste, gum, or other adhesive substance,
prevents the paint or colouring matter from spreading. The bottom box is then
allowed to descend, and the linoleum, kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering floors, or
other suitable fabric is fed forward by tenter chains or other convenient means, and
the process is repeated as required.
A suitable machine for the purpose is represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
Fig. 1 represents the front elevation of the filling machine. A is a pump actuated
by the lever B from the crank C. The bottom box E is made to rise and fall by
the revolution of the cams D, D, keyed to the revolving shaft F, and which shaft
may be driven by any convenient means. G is the top or pattern plate corresponding
with the punched pattern on the linoleum or fabric; H, H, are side frames, top and
bed plates.
+
Fig. 2 is a transverse section shewing the top reservoir A containing the paint,
fluid or semi fluid, or plastic composition; B is a hot air or steam chamber;
C, C; revolving cams; D, D, rollers which draw forward the linoleum or fabric
either by tenter chains passed around them or by the draught between them, as
shewn in the Drawings; F is a ratchet and lever worked by a handle, as shown,
or which may be actuated by any convenient means from the working part of the
machine.
Fig. 3 is a plan of Figures 1 and 2.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged section of part of Fig. 1 showing the pump, which can be
fed either by a hopper or by valves of such construction that they will press the
paint, fluid, or semi fluid into the cavities of the pattern shewn on Fig. 5, which
can be made to any desired pattern or device.
The above described machine or apparatus is adapted for the purpose of filling
the cavities made by the punches referred to, but my Invention is not confined
thereto.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not claim the machine
or apparatus represented and described otherwise than as illustrating a mode of
carrying the Invention into effect in the manner described;
But what I claim as of my Invention is, the ornamentation of linoleum, kamp-
tulicon, oil cloth for covering floors, and other similar fabrics by punching out
portions thereof or otherwise forming cavities therein, applying a covering or
stopping of paper or fabric to one side of the punched material, and filling such
cavities with paint or coloured composition, whereby the required pattern will be
embedded in the substance of the linoleum, kamptulicon, oil cloth for covering
floors, or other similar fabric, instead of being merely applied to the surface thereof
as usual.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Allin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Seventh day of March in the year of our Lord One
Witness,
JOSEPH LANGTON,
37, Queen Victoria Street,
E.C.,
Solicitor.
JOHN H; ALLIN. (L.S.)