Improvements in or relating to Machine Printing of Designs upon Earthenware and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in or relating to Machine Printing of Designs upon
Earthenware and the like.
A communication from PAUL ARTHUR JOSEPH GASSE, Proprietor, of 32, Rue
de la Revolution, Colombes (Seine) in the Republic of France.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to the printing by machinery of designs upon earthen-
ware and the like, the object being to overcome difficulties which have existed in
previous attempts. The improvements relate particularly to three points which
have been found defective in earlier machines:
First, the driving, secondly, the unreeling of the paper, and third, the "doctor"
or knife for removing the surplus colour from the printing roller.
The Driving. With anything approaching delicate works and colour great
difficulty has been experienced on account of the jarring of the machinery which
had the effect of blurring or "squashing" the colours and thus losing the delicate
tones and half-tones. This was largely due to the employment of spur and other
gearing for driving the rollers and the movable parts of the machine.
After many experiments and trying various forms of driving I have at last
succeeded in obtaining satisfactory results by driving direct without the inter-
position of gearing. I have obtained the best results with a plain belt driving
onto a pulley preferably a cone pulley on account of the different speeds required,
but suitable rope or the like might be employed so long as no mechanical gearing
such as spur or even worm gearing is interposed.
Removal of Creases. It will be appreciated that if creases exist in the paper
the print will necessarily be spoilt and I have tried many different ways of getting
rid of these which has proved a very serious trouble. The following means have
given satisfactory results.
21
Instead of drawing the paper direct from the reel to the roller I interpose a
friction device or rubber over which the paper is drawn under sufficient tension
to remove creases etc. The most convenient form of this rubber that I have so
far used is to employ a belt of flannel, linen or other suitable material stretched
over a frame with rollers if necessary so journalled or pivotted that it will adapt
itself to the paper and provide a broad even surface over which the paper is

page_text: dragged. The friction or rubbing thus obtained I find sufficient to produce the
desired result.
The Doctor. Hitherto the "doctor" or scraper employed for removing the
superfluous colour from the printing roller has been in the form of a knife with
a relatively thick blade thinned down to a sufficiently fine edge which as it wore
required to be sharpened. This form of doctor" had the effect of withdrawing
too much of the colour from the depressions in the printing roller thus tending
to produce a bad print and also wore down the roller much faster than was
"doctor" of
necessary. These difficulties are overcome by making the knife or
a thin strip of metal preferably steel which may be supported in any suitable
manner or stretched so as to keep it sufficiently tight and made so thin that it
does not require to be sharpened, but as it wears is nevertheless always sharp
enough. This may be applied to the roller or pressed upon it in any convenient
manner preferably by means of balance of equivalent weights.
1
1
1
1807
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in or relating to Machine Printing of Designs upon
Earthenware and the like,
A communication from PAUL ARTHUR JOSEPH GASSE, Proprietor, of 32, Rue
de la Revolution, Colombes (Seine) in the Republic of France.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to the printing by machinery of designs upon earthen-
ware and the like, the object being to overcome difficulties which have existed in
previous attempts. The improvements relate particularly to three points which
have been found defective in earlier machines:-
First, the driving, secondly, the unreeling of the paper, and third, the "doctor"
or knife for removing the surplus colour from the printing roller.
The Driving. With anything approaching delicate works and colour great
difficulty has been experienced on account of the jarring of the machinery which
had the effect of blurring or "squashing" the colours and thus losing the delicate
tones and half-tones. This was largely due to the employment of spur and other
gearing for driving the rollers and the movable parts of the machine.
After many experiments and trying various forms of driving my correspondent
has at last succeeded in obtaining satisfactory results by driving direct without
the interposition of gearing. My correspondent has obtained the best results
with a plain belt driving onto a pulley preferably a cone pulley on account of
the different speeds required, but suitable rope or the like might be employed
so long as no mechanical gearing such as spur or even worm gearing is interposed.
Removal of Creases. It will be appreciated that if creases exist in the paper
the print will necessarily be spoilt and my correspondent has tried many different
ways of getting rid of these which has proved a very serious trouble. The follow-
ing means have given satisfactory results.
Instead of drawing the paper direct from the reel to the roller a friction device

page_text: or rubber is interposed over which the paper is drawn under sufficient tension to
remove creases etc. The most convenient form of this rubber that my corre-
spondent has so far used is to employ a belt of flannel, linen or other suitable
material stretched over a frame with rollers if necessary so journalled or pivotted
that it will adapt itself to the paper and provide a broad even surface over which
the paper is dragged. The friction or rubbing thus obtained is found sufficient
to produce the desired result.
The Doctor. Hitherto the doctor" or scraper employed for removing the
superfluous colour from the printing roller has been in the form of a knife with .
a relatively thick blade thinned down to a sufficiently fine edge which as it wore
required to be sharpened. This form of "doctor" had the effect of withdrawing
too much of the colour from the depressions in the printing roller thus tending
to produce a bad print and also wore down the roller much faster than was
"doctor" of
necessary. These difficulties are overcome by making the knife or
a thin strip of metal preferably steel which may be supported in any suitable
manner or stretched so as to keep it sufficiently tight and made so thin that it
does not require to be sharpened, but as it wears is nevertheless always sharp
enough. This may be applied to the roller or pressed upon it in any convenient
manner preferably by means of balance or equivalent weights.
The accompanying drawings illustrate one construction of machine according
to this invention,
Figure 1 being a side elevation,
Figure 2 an end elevation partly in section of the machine and
Figure 3 a perspective view of the "doctor" in its frame.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
With reference to Figures 1 and 2, supported upon a frame work A are shown
a printing roller B and pressure roller C, the latter being preferably formed of
india-rubber. The spindle C¹ of the latter is carried in adjustable bearings C2,
the height of which may be varied by means of the hand wheels and screws D) I¹
in order to allow rollers B of different sizes to be employed and to allow of the
pressure exerted on the paper between the two rollers to be varied. Keyed or
otherwise secured to the spindle B¹ of the roller B is a stepped pulley B² intended
to receive the belt by which the machine is driven. The paper E is carried in a
roll upon a spindle E' which may be readily removed in order to allow a fresh
roller to take its place. The device, in the example illustrated, for the removal
of creases is formed by a flannel band F which is secured at one end to a rod Fl
carried by the frame just above the paper roll. A band passes round the paper
roll on the outside of which it presses and up over a second rod I which is
preferably rotatably supported in the frame from which the free end of the
flannel band depends. This free end may conveniently be weighted as
by a
weight G hooked into a split rod G¹ which grips the free end of the flannel. The
rod F is so placed in the frame that the paper in passing from the roll to the
printing roller is forced thereby to change its line of motion. The flannel band F
serves both as a rubber to remove creases from the paper and as a brake to act
upon the paper roll and so give rise to tension in the paper as it is drawn on to
the printing roller.
"
Supported above the printing or engraved roller B is a scraper or doctor" H.
This scraper consists of a thin strip of metal and is clamped between two
plates HH2, the latter of which is provided with angle ends H³ and supporting
pivots H. The plate H¹ is secured to the plate H2 by screws I which cause the
strip H to be clamped between the two said plates. From the back of the plate H¹
project two arms J which support balance weights K. The pivots H about which
the doctor frame rotates are carried in one or the other of a pair of hooks lettered L
L' respectively, the hooks being carried by a block M which slides in supports M¹
upon the upper portion of the machine. The blocks M are caused to slide in their
supports and are adjusted by means of screws 0 and are clamped in position by
means of clamping nuts P.

page_text: The operation of the machine is as follows:-
:-
The pressure roller C having been lowered to a sufficient extent, an engraved
roller is inserted in the machine and a roll of paper placed in position upon
the spindle E. The end of the paper is then drawn out and placed between the
rollers B and C and the latter adjusted so as to grip the paper sufficiently against
the under surface of the engraved roller B. The flannel band having been secured
to the rod is then placed in position by slipping the rod into the notches A¹
intended for its reception. The band is passed round and under the roll of
paper and over the rod F3 a weight G of suitable mass is suspended from the
split rod G. The "doctor" frame is then placed in position with its pivots H*
resting in one or other of the two pairs of hooks L L₁, as is most convenient, and
the position of the hooks is then more finely adjusted, if necessary by means of
the screw O and finally clamped in position by the nut P and the weights K are
adjusted to secure the necessary pressure of the doctor" H upon the roller B.
A belt is then placed upon the pulley B2 and a liquid colour having been
supplied to the roller, the machine may be started. The rotation of the engraved
roller B causes the paper to be dragged from the roll E under the tension produced
by the braking action of the band F upon the roll. The paper also rubs upon
the broad stretched even surface of the flannel from the point where the flannel F
first touches the roll until the paper reaches the roller F2 where the direction of
motion of the paper is changed and it thus experiences at that point an increased
smoothing action.
"
4
Whereas the band F has been described as accommodating itself to the paper,
my correspondent may, without departing from the spirit of this invention so
construct it that it shall not so do, that is to say the brake or tension effect may
be produced by a separate device and the rubber to remove creases be constituted
simply by that portion of the band F which is stretched over the rod F. In
this case, both ends of the band may be loaded and the band simply suspended
from the rod.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said
invention as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:
-
1. In a machine for producing upon paper designs to be transferred to earthen-
ware or the like driving the printing roller by direct application of belt or rope
power and the exclusion of any other form of driving for the purpose described.
2. A machine for producing upon paper designs to be transferred to earthen-
ware or the like in which the motion is received by a stepped belt pulley fixed
upon the spindle of the engraved roller.
3. A machine for producing upon paper designs to be transferred to earthen-
ware or the like in which the paper is drawn under tension on to the printing
roller over a friction device or rubber for the purpose of removing creases there-
from.
4. In a machine for producing upon paper designs to be transferred to earthen-
ware or the like the combination with the paper of a rubber therefor formed of a
belt such as F of flexible material which may or may not automatically adapt
itself to the paper substantially as described.
5. In a machine for producing upon paper designs to be transferred to earthen-
ware or the like a rubber for the paper which also forms a tension device therefor.
6. In a machine for producing upon paper designs to be transferred to earthen-
ware or the like the combination with a paper roll of a band or rubber such as F
in contact with the paper secured at one end and loaded at the other substantially
as and for the purpose described and illustrated in the a companying drawings.
7. A machine for producing upon paper designs to be transferred to earthen-
ware or the like having a "doctor" such as H formed of a thin strip of metal
whose edge does not require to be sharpened.
.
8. In a machine for producing upon paper designs to be transferred to earthen-

page_text: ware or the like a "doctor" comprising a plate such as H clamped with
or without stiffening plates between two frame plates such as H¹ H2 pivotally
connected to the frame of which the one adjacent to the roller is provided with
angle ends such as H³ substantially as and for the purpose described.
9. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the complete
machine for the purpose described substantially as described and illustrated in
the accompanying drawings.
D1
104L
1000