Improvements in Polychromatic Printing.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Oct., 1896
Complete Specification Left 12th lune 1807 Accepted
17th July 1807
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Polychromatic Printing.
I, FERNAND BOYER, of 71, Rue Richelieu, Paris, in the Republic of France,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the process, known as polychromatic printing, in which
engraved plates and rollers are replaced by blocks of dried colours cut by saws to
form a kind of mosaic, a copy of a design painted on paper, and exactly representing
the design which is to be printed.
The very careful work which this process demands would seem to be easily
carried out. However, its application presents considerable difficulties and necessi-
tates considerable outlay when it is a qustion of reproducing complicated designs
with a large variety of shades and colours.
The process consists in cutting in a horizontal direction blocks of colours which
are placed and fixed upon a cylinder of a size corresponding to the dimensions of
the design. The cylinder is suspended by its movable axis, arranged horizontally,
so that it can be rotated in one direction or in the other.
The raw fabric, which is to be printed, is first plunged in an acid bath and is
then passed under the cylinder by means of an arrangement of rollers which causes
it to adhere to the colours whilst drawing it in the opposite direction.
In some cases instead of cutting the colours in order to place them upon a roller
the block of colours representing the design to be printed is left upon the table
and the material, impregnated with its mordant, is placed upon it and is then by
means of rollers which are applied to the back of the fabric pressed more or less
until the colours have well penetrated the fibres of the fabric.
I will now describe the improvements which I have made in polychromatic
printing and which improvements form the object of the present invention.
I have said that the process as practised hitherto, presents several disadvantages.
In the first place the process cannot be carried out cheaply. It is doubtless
true that the printing is not dear on account of the large quantity of colours
which compose the design and the costs of engraving which are avoided, but it is
not possible to carry it out below a certain price in spite of its rapidity and it
must also be borne in mind that once the blocks of colours have been used up the
work must be wholly done again.
In the second place it has been hitherto impossible to produce fine lines, shading,
or contour sufficient to outline or enclose flowers.
All these difficulties are avoided by my invention which consists in combining
the old method of printing with the new.
In carrying out my invention. I employ blocks of colours for printing the parts
of my design which are most coloured, such as flowers, figures, etc., and I leave
spaces untouched (which is easy) for the most simple parts, such as stems, leaves,
tc., that is to say, all parts which require little colour.
I then by means of plates print in these spaces the colours which are required
to finish the design. For cheap designs one or two colours are sufficient the more
B. that the fine parts and the outlines can be made not only to finish the design

page_text: but also to enable (if necessary) colour to be printed upon the work already done
by the blocks. Moreover, if a flower is deficient in contour or is not sufficiently
curved to form shades I remedy this by shade lines and by very fine lines whilst
the colour contributes a finish to the design.
What has been said above for two colours will be more readily understood in
connection with the employment of a number of larger plates.
As a modification and to print more rapidly on the parts left clear one or more
rollers engraved on metal can be employed according to the number of colours
which it is desired to print, the said rollers being passed over the fabric already
printed by the block and which has been stretched upon the table.
This method can be also employed for forming a ground for embellishing
crdinary designs.
The last method which I will describe has a great analogy with that described
in my l'atent No. 12037 of the 20th June 1894 for figured fabrics except that
instead of weaving fabrics it is a question of printing.
In this case it will suffice to employ mechanical rollers to make the most simple
parts of the design, such as leaves, etc., and to employ the block to finish the design
of the parts having the most colour, such as flowers, figures, etc., that is to say, all
those parts which the old method (which however had its advantages) could only
effect at a price which became higher as the number of colours increased.
In other words I finish a design by a method which instead of giving me a
single colour can give me at a single operation an unlimited number for the price
of a single colour.
Dated this 26th day of October 1896
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4 South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Polychromatic Printing.
I, FERNAND BOYER, of 71, Rue Richelieu, Paris, in the Republic of France,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:--
My invention relates to the process, known as polychromatic printing, in which
engraved plates and rollers are replaced by blocks of dried colours cut by saws to
form a kind of mosaic, a copy of a design painted on paper, and exactly representing
the design which is to be printed. The process is described in Letters Patent
No. 1750 of 1886 and No. 2063 of 1888.
To enable this method of printing to be clearly understood I will take as an
example a design in two colours only, for instance a simple stripe upon a ground
of any colour. The part which is to receive the design is cut away with a saw
and from a block of a colour different from that of the ground the design is cut
and inserted into the recess formed in the ground.
What has just been described for two colours is also applicable to designs of
several hundreds of shades; there is practically no limit to the length and breadth
of the designs and most varied and variegated effects can be obtained.
The very careful work which this process demands would seem to be easily
carried out, but in practice its application presents considerable difficulties and
necessitates considerable outlay when it is a question of reproducing complicated
designs with a large variety of shades and colours.

page_text: The disadvantages attendant on the process will be hereinafter referred to when
describing how to avoid them and also how to effect a considerable economy and
larger output and after having explained how to print on any fabric from the
block of colours.
This process of printing consists in cutting in a horizontal direction blocks of
colours to form strips which are placed and fixed upon a cylinder of a size
corresponding to the dimensions of the design. The cylinder is suspended upon
a horizontally arranged axle so that it can be rotated in either direction.
The raw fabric, which is to be printed, is first plunged into an acid bath and is
then passed under the cylinder by means of an arrangement of rollers which cause
it to adhere to the colours whilst drawing it in the opposite direction.
The fabric should adhere to the block to such an extent that the latter is caused
to rotate in the direction of the pull on the fabric so that the colour is printed on
tie fabric as the latter is fed forward and until the whole length has passed through
the apparatus.
In some cases instead of cutting the colours in order to place them upon a roller
the block of colours representing the design to he printed is left upon the table
and the material, impregnated with its mordant, is placed upon it and is then by
means of rollers which are applied to the back of the fabric pressed more or less
until the colours have well penetrated the fibres of the fabric.
I will now describe the improvements which I have made in polychromatic
printing and which improvements form the object of the present invention.
I have said that the process as practised hitherto, presents several disadvantages.
In the first place the process cannot be carried out cheaply. It is doubtless
true that the printing is not expensive having regard to the large quantity of colours
which compose the design and to the costs of engraving which are avoided, but it is
not possible to carry it out below a certain price in spite of its rapidity and it
must also be borne in mind that once the blocks of colours have been used up the
work must be wholly done again.
In the second place it has been hitherto impossible to produce fine lines, shading,
or contours suitable for outlining or enclosing flowers.
All these difficulties are avoided by my invention which consists in combining
the old method of printing with the new.
In carrying out my invention I employ blocks of colours for printing the parts
of my design which are most coloured, such as flowers, figures, etc., and I leave
spaces untouched (which is easy) for the most simple parts, such as stems, leaves,
etc., that is to say, all parts which require little colour.
I then by means of plates print in these spaces the colours which are required
t. finish the design. For cheap designs one or two colours are sufficient the more
so that the fine parts and the outlines can be made not only to finish the design
but also to enable (if necessary) colour to le printed upon the work already done
by the blocks. Moreover, if a flower is deficient in contour or is not sufficiently
curved to form shades I remedy this by shade lines and by very fine lines whilst
the colour contributes a finish to the design.
What has been said above for two colours will be more readily understood in
connection with the employment of a number of larger plates.
As a modification and to print more rapidly on the parts left clear one or more
rollers engraved on metal can be employed according to the number of colours
which it is desired to print, the said rollers being passed over the fabric already
printed by the block and which has been stretched upon the table.
This method can be also employed for forming a ground for embellishing
ordinary designs.
The last method which I will describe has a great analogy with that described
in my Patent No. 12037 of the 20th June 1894 for figured fabrics except that
instead of weaving fabrics it is a question of printing.
In this case I employ mechanical rollers to make the most simple parts of the
design, such as leaves, etc., and I employ the block to finish the design of the parts

page_text: having the most colour, such as flowers, figures, etc., that is to say, all those parts
which the old method (which had its advantages) could only effect at a price
which became higher as the number of colours increased.
In other words I finish a design by a method which instead of giving me a
single colour can give me at a single operation an unlimited number for the price
of a single colour.
It cannot be objected that the four or five colours employed for the details,
stems, leaves, etc., will not be in harmony with respect to richness with the
quantity of colours used for example for a flower in a design for this is shown
not to be the case with embroidered fabrics in which sometimes only three colours
are used in the Jacquard and fifty for making the flowers.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
The described improvements in polychromatic printing, such improvements
consisting in combining the process of printing from blocks of colour with the
process of printing from plates, substantially as, and for the purpose, hereinbefore
described.
1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4 South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.