CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES AND APPARATUS FOR PRINTING CALICO, LANEN, SILE, WOOL, PAPER, OR OTHER SUBSTANCES CAPABLE OF RECEIVING PRINTED IMPRESSIONS
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
COWPER, of Kennington, in the County of Surrey, Mechanist, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent. under the Great Seal of His United Kingdom, bearing
date at Westminster, the Tenth day of June 1828, in the fourth year of
His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Edward Cowper, my exors,
admors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said Edward Cowper, my exors, admors, and assigns, during
the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES AND APPARATUS
FOR PRINTING CALICO, LANEN, SILE, WOOL, PAPER, OR OTHER SUBSTANCES CAPABLE
OF RECEIVING PRINTED IMPRESSIONS;" in which said Letters Patent there is con-
tained a proviso, that if I, the said Edward Cowper, shall not particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by any instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and
cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages
whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as
in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Cowper, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say):
:-
My first improvement.-I place moveable types, blocks, stereotype plates,
&c., on the flattened side of a cylinder (which from its form is generally
called a "D roller or cylinder"), around which cylinder by means of a series of
rollers the colour is distributed, the rollers also furnishing the colour to the
types, blocks, &c. as the D cylinder revolves. I wrap the calico or other sub-
stance to be printed round a cylinder covered with woollen cloth or other
suitable substance, as in the ordinary process of calico printing, and I give the
impression by causing the D cylinder to advance to the calico cylinder (i. e., the
cylinder round which the calico is wrapped,) and to roll the block, form of types,
&c. against the calico. I combine the above improvement with the essential
parts of the ordinary calico copperplate press in the manner shewn in the ele-
vation, Figure 1, and the plan, Fig. 2, and diagram, Fig. 8, of the annexed
Drawing. The essential parts of the ordinary calico copperplate press are, the
copper-plate A on its sliding frame B; the ordinary D roller C; the colour
trough E; the thin plate of steel for scraping off the colour, called the ductor, F;
the calico cylinder G, round which the calico II is wrapped. The spindle of G
and C are furnished with the apparatus called the drawback, but this is
omitted in the Drawing. A, B, C, E, F, are omitted in the plan, Figure 2.
Now my improvements and its combination is as follows:-N.B., the letters of
reference are the same in Figures 1, 2, and 3, except when parts of the machines
are omitted, to avoid confusion. I the block, which must be an exact aliquot
part of the circumference of the calico cylinder, or in other words, the exact
size of the copperplate; A, K, the D cylinder; L, L, elastic rollers for distri-
buting and furnishing the colour; these rollers have an end motion, i. e., a
motion in the direction of their length when they are off the block; this motion
is produced by causing the frames M, M, in which their spindles turn, to move
backwards and forward by means of a pair of inclined planes or wipers N, N,
on the spindle of the D cylinder; the frames M, M, are fixed by hinges to the
sliding carriage O, in which the spindle of the D cylinder turns. P, the colour
trough, having a roller Q of wood or metal revolving in the colour by means of
a rigger R and band from its spindle to a rigger S on the spindle of the D
cylinder; another wood or metal roller T, called the ductor roller, revolves in
contact with the colour roller Q, by the friction of their surfaces, or by a pair
of pinions on their spindles. U, a thin plate of steel, called the ductor, pressing

page_text: against the ductor roller T, to regulate the supply of colour; V, an elastic roller
which vibrates between the ductor roller T and the D cylinder K, and convey's
the colour from the former to the latter; it is thrown against the ductor roller
by the shapes or wipers W, W, acting against the cranked frame X, X. The
D cylinder with its colouring apparatus is fixed in the carriage o, which slides
on the frame Y of the machine. On each end of the spindle of the D cylinder
is fixed a D ring 1, 2, i. e., a ring with a flattened side; the flattened side is a
little below the level of the surface of the block, but the round part of the D
ring is about 1 inches more in diameter than the round part of the D cylinder,
one of the D rings has a toothed wheel 3 fixed to its sido, and the other D ring 2
has a rack 4 fixed to the side of its flattened part; the pitch line of the teeth of
the wheel and rack is level with the surfaces of the D. rings. On each D ring
is alsó fixed a pressure plate 5, 5, which, revolving against the friction rollers
6, 6, cause the D. cylinder to advance and press the block against the calico;
the bar.7, which supports the friction roller, is linked to the spindle of the
calico cylinder. On one end of the spindle of the calico cylinder there is a
loose ring 8 and a loose toothed wheel 9, and at the other end of the spindle is
a loose ring 10 and a fixed toothed wheel 11. The pitch line of the teeth and
the surfaces of the rings; and of the calico cylinder are all level; these rings
act against the D ring and keeps the teeth from bottoming, and the pressure
plates 5, 5, and two stops 12, 12, in the sliding carriage O keep the teeth in
gear. The D wheel 8, and the wheel 13 of the copperplate D roller C, have
the same number of teeth. 14 is a connecting wheel, which communicates the
the motion from the driving pinion 15; the driving pinion takes into the
loose wheel 9, and thus gives motion to the D wheel S and D cylinder without
turning the calico cylinder G. The D cylinder is prevented from soiling the
calico by the greater diameter of the D rings. As the D cylinder revolves the
colour is distributed and furnished to the block; the pressure plates 5, 5, then
coine into action against the friction rollers 6, 6, and drive the D cylinder for-
ward; the rack 4 on the D ring 2 then takes into the fixed wheel 11 of the
enlico cylinder, and the block gives its impression at the same time the copper-
plate is giving its impression, having previously been furnished with colour in
in the ordinary way. To facilitate the starting of the calico cylinder, the fixed
wheel 11 is provided with projecting arms, against which a small whiper on the
rack, 4 acts just before the teeth enter; but this is not shown in the Drawing.
To print with two blocks, two D rollers with their colouring apparatus are
placed in contact with the calico cylinder. The best method of obtaining the
curve of the
pressure plate 5, Figs. 1 and 2, is to fix a thick piece of pasteboard
on the D wheel, and large enough to pass the side of the friction roller 6, then

page_text: to turn the wheel by short intervals and trace the outline of the friction roller
on the pasteboard.
My second improvement.-I fix two or more blocks on the surface of a prism,
the patterns of such blocks having a relation to each other, for the purposes of
printing two or more colours. The calico or other substance to be printed is
stretched over a table, and the prism revolves at a short distance from it, and
when the impression is to be given; the prism advances towards the table;
while this is going forward, the block which is uppermost is furnished with its
.appropriate colour by a hand roller or any other convenient method. Figure 4
will explain the above improvements. The blocks A, A, A, A, for printing the
different colours are fixed on the prism B, which is placed on the carriage C,
which slides backward and forward in the frame D of the machine. On the
spindle of the prism is placed a loose wheel E, which takes into the fixed rack
Fabove it; the wheel has a pall which falls into a ratchet wheel fixed on the
spindle of the prism (see Figure 5), so that when the prism advances towards the
calico, it does not revolve; but a short time after it has begun to recede from the
calico the pall acts against the ratchet wheel and turns another side of the prism
towards the calico. The reciprocating motion of the prism is produced by the
crank G and connecting rod H. A similar crank and rod is placed on the other
side of the machine. The pinion I on the crank spindle takes into a wheel K
as many times larger than itself as there are sides to the prism; this wheel has
on its sido a toothed sector and wiper L; the sector is as long as the blocks are
wide. The tablo M is placed across the machine, and behind the table are
three rollers N, O, P, having wheels in their spindles working into each other.
The circumference of the roller O is three or more times the width of the blocks,
and the wheel on its spindle is furnished with 3 or more projecting arms. The
calico is passed in any convenient mode round these rollers and across the
table M; when the crank spindle has revolved as many times as there are
sides to the prism the blocks will have given their impression to the calico, the
wiper and sector L will then act against one of the arms of the wheel O and
put the rollers N, O, P, in motion, and thus shift the calico or other substance
to be printed forward to receive another set of impressions. The elastic rollers
may be made of the composition of treacle and glue, used by letterpress
printers, or other suitable substance.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Cowper, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-three.
:
EDWARD (L.s.) COWPER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of December, in
the year of our Lord 1828, the aforesaid Edward Cowper came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified in form above
5 written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and twenty-three.