IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BLOCK PRINTING
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BLOCK
PRINTING." A communication.
Sealed the 5th December 1854, and dated the 17th June 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th June 1854.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BLOCK
PRINTING" to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain means of facilitating the operation of
printing from blocks or flat surfaces. The different portions of each complete
figure or design for each color are arranged in different faces of a prism of
four sides, more or less, so that, by turning the said prism on its axis, the
several sections of the design can be brought round and printed in succession,
the intermittent motion of the cloth being regulated so as to correspond with
the impressions given by the blocks on the several faces of the prism as they
are successively brought round and operated up and down to take the color
and give the impressions, whether the movements be adapted to give but one

page_text: impression with each block, as in the case of thin fabrics, or two or more
impressions, as in the case of thick fabrics, which absorb large quantities of
color. Thus the work may be produced with great accuracy, because the
repetition of each impression must be precisely in the same place, and as the
prism rotates on its axis, the several faces will in succession be brought to
the same position, and therefore, by giving an exact movement to the cloth
between each impression, the several sections of the design will always
correspond, without the necessity of skill or attention on the part of the
operative. A series of these prisms is provided, one for each separate color
of which the design is composed, and like movement is given to all the prisms
in the series, that the several sections of the several colors of the design may
be printed simultaneously, and the several sections in succession, so that if
the movement of the cloth or fabric be accurate with reference to the several
sections of the first color, it must be accurate with reference to all the
sections of the other colors. The fabric to be printed is traversed under the
printing surfaces by means of an endless apron, which is held in tension, and
has a suitable intermittent motion imparted to it. For supplying the blocks
or prism with color, sliding troughs or trays are provided, which move forward
simultaneously under the blocks while they are elevated to impart color
thereto, and are simultaneously withdrawn to permit of the descent of the
blocks on to the fabric. To prevent the fabric from rising with the blocks,
holding-down bars, worked by toggle-jointed levers, are provided, for keeping
the fabric in contact with the table. The trays are severally supplied with
color from a stationary hopper, under which they slide.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that 1, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the

page_text: said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR BLOCK PRINTING," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates
to a mode of arranging on a prism of four sides, more or less, following or
continuous portions of so much of a complete figure or design as is to be
printed in one color, and combining together a sufficient number of such
prisms (each containing a different component part of the design) to admit of
the design being perfected in the required number of colors or shades of colors
at one operation. The prisms are mounted so as to be capable of receiving an
axial motion, and by turning them on their axes the several sections of the
design can be brought around and printed in succession, the intermittent
motion of the cloth being regulated so as to correspond with the impressions
given by the blocks on the several faces of the prisms as they are successively
brought round and operated up and down to take the color and give the
impressions, whether the movements be adapted to give but one impression with
each block, as in the case of thin fabrics, or two or more impressions, as in the
case of thick fabrics, which absorb large quantities of color.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a plan of the machine; Fig. 2 is a
side elevation, partly in section; Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section taken
in the line 1, 2, of Figures 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a partial cross section, shewing
one of the rotating prisms or platens on an enlarged scale; and Fig. 5
is an elevation of the cam for giving the required movements to the platen.
The same letters indicate like parts in all the Figures.
a represents the frame, which may be. varied at pleasure, and which is

page_text: divided into as many sections 6 as there are prisms to be used in the machine.
In each section of the frame a bed c is provided, to take the pressure of the
descending printing block, and in the spaces between the several beds a roller
d is mounted, for the purpose of supporting an endless apron e, which is, by
preference, made of vulcanized india-rubber, but which may be made of any
other suitable substance. This endless apron passes over all the beds c and
the rollers d, and around two four-sided prisms f,f*, situate at opposite ends
of the frame.
The faces of these two prisms should correspond in breadth with the faces
of the printing prisms to be presently described. The lower part of the endless
apron also passes over a tension roller g, adjustable in slides to adjust the
tension of the endless apron. The cloth or other fabric to be printed is rolled
up on a beam, provided with the means of giving it out at an uniform tension,
in manner well known to manufacturers; and one end of the cloth is secured
to the endless apron, by which it is drawn regularly from the bean, and
carried over the succession of beds c and rollers d, by an intermittent motion
imparted to both of the prisms f, f, through the agency of bevil gearing, as
shewn in Fig. 1, simultaneously. This intermittent motion is thus derived :-
On the end of the prism f there are four pins h, one at each angle, and at the
side there is a lever i, hung on a fulcrum pin at j. The upper end of this
lever is forked, to embrace an excentrick on a horizontal shaft 7, receiving its
motion by suitable gearing from the main shaft m, and the lower arm of the
said lever carries a spring catch, which, as the lever is moved in one direction
by the excentric, catches one of the pins h, and turns the prism one quarter of
a revolution, thus carrying forward the endless apron e with the fabric to be
printed the distance equal to the breadth of one face of the prism. This
motion of the endless apron is by it imparted to the series of rollers d, which
support it, and to ensure an equal motion in all the rollers, they are connected
by belts n, passing from the first to the second, from the second to the third,
and so on, throughout the series.
To prevent all tendency to lift the fabric and the apron as the printing
blocks are lifted up, a series of bars o is employed, one over each of the rollers
d, which bars are provided with points p along their lower edge, that bear on
tho fabric without injury to the design, and the ends of these bars are adapted
to slide in slots in the side frames of the machine, and project through the slots,
and are attached to toggle-joint levers 9 at the sides of the frame. The whole
series of toggle-joint levers on each side of the machine are connected together
by rods r, (see Fig. 2,) and the first of the series is connected with a sliding
bar s, provided with two stops t, t, so located, that when the lever i is vibrated

page_text: by its excentric to catch one of the pins on the prism of the endless apron, it
strikes one of the stops, which operates the series of toggle joints, causing
them to lift the series of pressing bars o, and liberate the fabric, that it may be
free to move forward. At the end of its return motion the lever strikes the
other stop, which depresses all the bars, causing them to hold down the fabric
during the next impress of the printing blocks.
Immediately over each bed c there is a four-sided printing prism u, the faces
of which are provided with dove-tailed flanges v, v, (see Figs. 4,) extending
along the whole length of the prism, for the purpose of receiving plates of brass
or other metal (which may be slidden in or out at pleasure), to which are
secured in any suitable manner the printing blocks w. In this way-there will
be one printing block for each face of the prism:"
1
$
The shaft of each prism is provided with journals at each end, fitted to slides
and adapted to slide vertically in suitable ways in the sides of the frame; and
the two slides, one on each side, are connected together by a gallows frame y,
which in the middle of its length is provided with an antifriction roller, which
rests on the periphery of a cam a' on the main shaft, there being one such
cam, called the impression cam, for each přism. As this cam rotates in the
direction of the arrow, in passing from the point 1 to 2, (see Fig. 5,) the prism
is let down to give one impression; from 2 to 3, the prism is lifted to the:full
range of its motion; from 3 to 4, the prism' is let down, to enable the block to
take the color from the color sieve; from 4 to 5, it is lifted up a short distance;
from 5 to 6, it is let down again, to take the color again; and from 6 to 1; the
prism is again lifted up to its original position.
:
For printing thin fabrics, or such as require the color to be applied but
once for each impression; the feeding forward of the fabric must take place at
the end of one rotation of this cam a¹, and then also the prism must be turned
to present another face or block for the next impression; but for such fabrics
as require the color to be applied twice, the cam must make two rotations
before the prism is turned and the fabric! moved. At the second rotation the
same operations of the prism are given as before described, but with this
modification: the first impression must be given with the whole weight and
range of motion of the prism and the parts attached thereto to cause the color
to penetrate, but the second impression must be more gentle, simply to leave
the color on the surface, for reasons well known to block printers. To effect
this, on each side of the main shaft there are two other shafts b', b', parallel
therewith, which inake but one rotation to two of the main shaft, and these
shafts are provided with excentrics c', c, so that at one half of the rotation the
small radius of the excentrics will be presented, and at the other half the long

page_text: radius will be presented. The gallows frame is provided with two adjusting
screws d', d', one over each excentric; and the excentrics are so adjusted
relatively to the other movements, that when the second impression takes place
the long radius of the excentrics will be presented to the adjusting screws on
the gallows frame, and hence the prism at the second impression will not be
permitted to descend so low as at the first impression, when the short radius of
the excentrics are presented.
In this way, by the set of the adjusting screws the range of downward
motion can be regulated at pleasure to make the second impression as light
as desirable. When but one impression of the colors is to be given, the
adjusting screws are withdrawn, so as not to touch the excentrics.
At the end of each complete impression, whether single or double, the
prisms u, which carry the printing blocks, must be turned one quarter of a
rotation, which is effected as follows:-On the end of the arbor of each prism
there are four arms e', at right angles to each other, each carrying a pin ƒ.
Along the side of the frame there is a sliding bar g', which is operated
longitudinally by the lover i, in the same manner as the toggle joints, before
described; and this bar is provided with one projecting face h' for each prism,
so that, as the bar is forced in one direction, the stops h¹ will be brought into
such position, that as the prisms rise, one of the pins f of each prism will
come into contact with its stop h', and thus, when the bar g' is moved back by
the return motion of the lever i, a quarter turn will be imparted to the prisms,
and another face will be presented to the work.
The prisms will then be free to move vertically, as above described, without
turning on their axes. A spring stop or holder u, (shewn at Fig. 2,) is
provided, for retaining the prisms in position when not under the action of
the bar g'.
The sieves for the colors are mounted on frames j, adapted to slide
transversely in parallel grooves in the frame, and they are moved by a pair of
levers, (one at each end of the machine,) hung on a fulcrum rod I, which
extends across the frame. These levers are each provided at their lower end
with a slot m', and into these slots project the ends of a rod n', which connect
the several frames together. To the levers k', connecting rods o' are respec-
tively jointed. These rods are slotted at their opposite end to embrace the main
shaft, which becomes their guide, and they are each provided with an anti-
friction roller p', which is embraced by a grooved cam g', on the main shaft.
The groove of this cam is of such form, that as it rotates in the direction of
the arrow from the point 1, (corresponding with the moment of the beginning
of the upward motion of the printing prism;) it will move the sieves under the

page_text: printing blocks; from 2 to 3 the cam is concentric, and it will therefore hold
the sieves stationary whilst the blocks are brought down to take the color;
from 3 to 4 its radius slightly diminishes, for the purpose of shifting the
position of the sieves slightly; and from 4 to 5 it is concentric, to permit the
blocks to descend a second time to take the color; from 5 to 6 its radius
again increases, to withdraw the sieves from under the blocks; and from
6 to 1 it is concentric at its largest radius, to hold out the sieves during the
imprinting operations.
The sieves receive their supplies of color by passing under feed rollers,
mounted in suitable troughs 1, as shewn at Fig. 3.
It will be obvious from the foregoing, that the number of prisms with
printing blocks can be increased or decreased at pleasure, to correspond to the
number of colors or shades of color desired to be imparted to the fabric; and
that whatever may be the number adopted in the construction of the machine,
the operation of any portion of them can be suspended at pleasure to suit the
number of colors of which any given design may be composed. So with the
number of faces of the prisms. I have specified four because that is the most
convenient number, but it will be obvious that the number may be increased
or decreased at pleasure, by making corresponding changes in the connecting
mechanism, and in the relative motions of the moving parts.
It will also be obvious that by this arrangement the work may be produced
with great accuracy, because the repetition of each impression must bo
precisely in the same place; and as the prism rotates on its axis the several
faces will in succession be brought to the same position, and therefore, by
giving an exact movement to the cloth between each impression, the several
sections of the design will always correspond, without the necessity of skill or
attention on the part of the operative.
I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the special construction
and arrangement of the mechanism, so long as the saine results are obtained
by the mere substitution of equivalent means; nor do I wish to limit myself
to the use of all the parts of the Invention in connexion, as they may
be used separately to a considerable advantage; for instance, instead of
arranging the printing blocks on the several faces of the prisms, with the
view to divide so much of a design as is to be printed in one color into
sections, each block representing one section of such portion of a design,
and all the blocks of one prism the lines to print one color of the entire
design, the use of prisms may be dispensed with, by having blocks of sufficient
size to contain so much of the design as is to be reproduced in one color, the
series of blocks being employed in this case to print simultaneously all the

page_text: colors, but at different parts of the length of the fabric, and all acting in
unison and on the same plan.
Having now described the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in
Machinery for Block Printing," as communicated to me by my foreign cor-
respondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim,-
First, the mode of arranging on flat surfaces consecutive portions of so
much of a design as is intended to be reproduced in one and the same color,
and giving rotary motion thereto, as above set forth.
Secondly, arranging in one and the same machine a series of blocks or flat
printing surfaces containing component parts of the same design, (whether
carried by rotating prisms or otherwise,) and imparting simultaneously to
the fabric under operation an impression in the several colors contained in
the design.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.B.)