CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE OPERATION OF TIERING, USED IN PRINTING COTTON, LITEN, AND WOOLLEN CLOTHS,SILKS, PAPERS, AND OTHER ARTICLES AND SUBSTANCES TO WHICH BLOCK PRINTING IS OR CAN BS APPLIED
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MATLEY, of the City of Paris, in the Kingdom of France, and of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal Letters
Patent undor the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of November,
in the first year of the reign of Her present Majesty, did, for Herself, Her
heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Matley, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
James Matley, my exors, admors, and assigns, and every of them, by myself
and themselves, or by or their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or
such others as I, the said James Matley, my exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter, during the term of fourteen years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, in that part of the United
Kingdom called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE OPERATION OF
TIERING, USED IN PRINTING COTTON, LITEN, AND WOOLLEN CLOTHS, SILKS, PAPERS,
AND OTHER ARTICLES AND SUBSTANCES TO WHICH BLOCK PRINTING IS OR CAN BS
APPLIED;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a certain clause or
proviso that if I, the said James Matley, shall not particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is

page_text: to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and
cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent, then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages
which were thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void,
as, by reference to the said Letters Patent, will moro fully and at large
appear.
NOW THEREFORE KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said
proviso, I, the said James Matley, do hereby declare the nature of my In-
vention to consist in the construction and arrangement of certain machinery
for the purpose of uniformly spreading or distributing the colouring matter
or mordant when used in tho ordinary method of block printing, which
operation is well known by calico printers by the term "tiering." In the
ordinary process of block printing by hand as at present practised, a sieve or
box is used, having the bottom made of oiled silk, or other waterproof fabric;
this sieve or box contains another sieve, somewhat smaller in its dimensions,
the bottom being also formed of cloth or similar fabric. The two sieves or
boxes thus situated are caused to float in a suitable vessel containing a
solution of gum or size, well known by the term of "swimming" or "swim-
mings." The colouring matter or mordant to be used for the purpose of
charging the block is applied to the inner surface or bottom of the smaller
sieve or box mentioned above by a boy or girl, called the "tierer," who by
means of a brush distributes on the surface the colour or mordant to be used,
so that an even and uniform surface of the mordant or colour may be presented
to the printer each time that he dips the pattern block on the surface of the
sieve, for the purpose of charging it, as before mentioned. The object of this
Invention is to perform this distribution of the colour or mordant by mechanical
means, so that the operation may be effected by any known power, as steam or
water power, or at will by manual labour. The Drawings annexed shew several
views of the machinery in detail, and though I have shown the form or the
arrangement of the various parts I prefer, I do not confine myself to this
particular construction of the machine. The same letters refer to the same
parts in all the views of the machinery. A, Figure T, is a box or trough
containing the solution of gum or swimmings. It is formed of wood
or metal, as may be most eligible. A plan of the box is also shown at A,
Figure III., and an end view at I, Figure II. Within this box, which I
call the swimmings box, floats the sieve O, O, Figure III., having the bottom
formed of oiled silk or waterproof fabric. The form I prefer is shown at
Figure IV., in which it will be seen that attached to the bottom and at one

page_text: end of it is a sunken recess to receive the box L, which holds the mordant or
colour. Within this sieve O is placed the smaller sieve or box P, P, Figure
III. This sieve has the bottom formed of cloth, or other suitable material, on
which the colour is distributed. D, D, Figures I. and III., is a shaft by which
motion is given to the machine, which I shall presently describe. B, B, a
wiper or cam fixed on the shaft. Q. the hanger or carriage in which it turns.
This is also shown at Figure X. N, Figure VIII., is a brush made of similar
materials to those now used; it is fixed to a reciprocating frame. M, Figure
VII., is a plan of the frame, with the brush in it. This frame carries also
two smaller friction rollers II, H. L, Figure VI., is a view of the colour or
mordant trough. It also has two small friction rollers G, G, running on
the axles R, R. At F, F, Figures I. and III., are two guide rods, either
metal or wood. They are fixed to the sides of the box A, as will be easily
seen by the Drawing. They carry the brush and frame during its reci-
procating motion, as I shall describe hereafter. Figure XI. is one of these
guide rods. J, Figures IX. and III., is a reservoir of colour or mordant.
There will be seen a small sluice, which regulates the flow of colour or mordant
at pleasure into the trough L. K is the slide or support, by which it is held
in its proper position. This reservoir J is omitted. in Figure. I. to, avoid
confusion. E, E, Figures I. and III., are two small fixings or brackets
carrying pullies, over which run the cords shown in the Drawing. One end
of these cords is fastened to the two extremities of the brush frame. The
other has a weight which I call the drawback weight suspended to it. There
are two weights and two cords. The whole of the swimmings box or trough.
with its appendages, is mounted on a frame, so as to be of a convenient height
for the workman. The action of the machine is as follows:-Rotatory
motion being given to the main shaft D in the direction of the arrow, the
wipers B, B, bring the cams or eccentrics marked C, C, in contact with the
rollers G, G, thus slightly elevating the trough L, which is supposed to be
filled with the colour or mordant. This rising of the colour trough furnishes
the brush N with colour, the brush being at that moment in a state of rest.
The wipers or cams, still continuing their revolution, come in contact with
a similar friction roller on each side of the brush frame shown at H, H;
and, pressing against it, propel it over the sieve or box' P, P. The brush
being thus brought in contact with the bottom of the cloth sieve, distributes
the colour or mordant, and a further distribution takes place by the returning
stroke of the brush effected the drawback weights and lines running over
the pullies E, E. The machine is then ready for another stroke or recipro-
cating movement,-and- so on,-the tiering brush thus getting a fresh-supply-of

page_text: colour or mordant at each revolution of the shaft D, D. It will be found
convenient to vary the speed of this shaft, so as to suit it to the quality of the
work required to be printed, and this may be done by any of the well known
methods.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of carrying
it into effect or performing it, I hereby declare that I do not claim as my
Invention any well known part or parts, either separate or connected; but I do
claim as my Invention the rising and falling colour trough or box, or trough
containing the mordant, and the above means of giving the mechanical
reciprocating motion to the brush, for the purpose herein-before set forth,
videlicit, the distribution of the colour or mordant by mechanical means, so
that the operation may be effected by any known power, as steam or water
power, or at will by manual labour.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Matley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-seven.