IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PRINTING FELTS, FLOORCLOTHS, CARPETS, AND WOVEN FABRICS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Wilkinson, the younger, of St. Helen's Mills,
Hunslet, in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PRINTING FELTS, FLOORCLOTHS, CARPETS, AND
WOVEN FABRICS."
Sealed the 13th October 1865, and dated the 25th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Wilkinson,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th April 1865.
I, JOHN WILKINSON, the younger, of St. Helen's Mills, Hunslet, in the County
of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PRINTING FELTS, FLOORCLOTHS, CARPETS, AND WOVEN
FABRICS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has special reference to the printing of patterns on felted
goods, though equally applicable to floorcloths, carpets, and woven fabrics.
It is at present customary to print felted goods manually, the workman, by
means of wood blocks cut to any required pattern and dipped in colouring
matter, impressing the same upon the felts, thus giving the contour or outline of
the pattern, whilst the various colours requisite for the ground and interstices of
patterns are applied subsequently, also manually. It is is obvious that this method
involves several operations and consequently considerable labour, and in conse-

page_text: quence of some of the operations being performed by youths, and all the operations
manually, from the nature of the work imperfections of workmanship exist.
To obviate these imperfections is the object of my Invention, as well as to
economize the cost of the manufactured article. For these purposes upon a
suitable framework I mount at convenient distances a series of cylindrical
pattern rollers cut to the pattern it may be desired to impress upon the felts,
floorcloths, carpets, or woven fabrics. Underneath these rollers I place cylinders
free to revolve in bearings secured to the frame, and at such distance from the
pattern rollers as will allow the material to be printed to pass between them,
and at the same time to receive the impression of the pattern rollers, which
are supplied with colouring matters from feed rollers covered with suitable
material, such as woollen cloth, such feed rollers being each one of a series of
three similarly covered and in contact with each other, the last rollers of the
series revolving in troughs furnished with the requisite colouring matters.
Within the frames at either side, and extending from end to end of the same,
I place endless chains of the well-known construction furnished with tenter
pins, and on either side of the machine at the front end where the cloth is fed
I place a wood roller furnished with an india-rubber or elastic ring over the
line of traverse of the tenter pins.
The operation is as follows:-The felts, floorcloths, carpets, or woven goods
being fed to the front end of the machine, the edges or lists pass under the
wooden rollers and are pressed upon the tenter hooks, and thus keep a uniform
width whilst being operated upon. Arriving at the first of the series of print-
ing rollers, and passing between the same and the cylinder underneath, the
outline of the required pattern is printed passing on to the second of the
series, one of the required filling-in colours is imparted, the third of the series
imparting another colour, and so on, according to the number of colours re-
quired, the material under operation being delivered at the end of the machine
evenly printed and much more expeditiously. Ordinary mechanical appliances
are used to actuate the various rollers and endless chains.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Wilkinson, Her special licence that I, the said John Wilkinson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Wilkinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 "IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS
FOR PRINTING FELTS, FLOORCLOTHS, CARPETS, AND WOVEN FABRICS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Wilkinson, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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 John Wilkinson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
It
My Invention has special reference to the printing of patterns on felted
goods, though equally applicable to floorcloths, carpets, and woven fabrics.
is at present customary to print felted goods manually, the workman, by means
of wood blocks cut to any required pattern and dipped in colouring matter,
impressing the same upon the felts, thus giving the contour or outline of the
pattern, whilst the various colours requisite for the ground and interstices of the
patterns are applied subsequently, also manually. It is obvious that this
method involves several operations and consequently considerable labour, and
in consequence of some of the operations being performed by youths, and all
the operations manually, from the nature of the work imperfections of work-
manship exist. To obviate these imperfections is the object of my Invention,
as well as to economize the cost of the manufactured article. For these pur-
poses upon a suitable framework I mount at convenient distances a series of
cylindrical pattern rollers cut to the pattern it may be desired to impress (each
pattern being filled with woollen cloth or other suitable absorbent) upon the
felts, floorcloths, carpets, or woven fabrics. Underneath these rollers I place
cylinders free to revolve in bearings secured to the frame, and at such distance

page_text: from the pattern rollers as will allow the material to be printed to pass between
them, and at the same time to receive the impression of the pattern rollers, which
are supplied with colouring matters from feed rollers covered with suitable
material, such as woollen cloth, such feed rollers being each one of a series of
three similarly covered and in contact with each other, the last rollers of the
series revolving in troughs furnished with the requisite colouring matters.
Within the frames at either side, and extending from end to end of the same,
I place endless chains of the well-known construction furnished with tenter
pins, and on either side of the machine at the front end where the cloth is fed
and also at the back end I place a wood roller furnished with an india-rubber
or elastic ring over the line of traverse of the tenter pins.
But in order that my Invention may be the better understood reference is
made to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon, similar letters representing similar parts in the various

page_text: Figure 7 represents a full size side view of what I have just termed the
"adjustable pinion " L, and consists of an inner bush x keyed on to the end
of the printing shaft, and having a lug a¹ upon it with a hole tapped, through
which the screw passes, each end of the same bearing upon the lugs and ²
which form a part of the pinion itself, and is loose upon the bush. Should
any one printing roller therefore become disarranged relatively to its preceeding
or succeeding printing roller by applying a set key to the square formed at one
end of the screw f the error is rectified.
The letters M represent the endless chains and tenter pins; these are of
ordinary construction (see detailed Figures 5 and 6) used in machines for
drying felts, and are actuated by intermediate gearing from a driving wheel
on the cylinder shaft of the first and fourth standards, as will be seen on
reference to Figure 1 and Figure 3. m', Figures 1 and 3, represent enclosed
boxes in which the links of the endless chain run. The remaining mountings
of the chains are of ordinary construction. Letters n and n¹ at either end of
the apparatus denote the small rollers placed over the line of traverse, and
covered in that part with india-rubber or other suitable substance for the
purpose of pressing the felt or other material under operation upon the pins.
Figure 2 represents the arrangement by which my apparatus is fed, and
presents no special feature of novelty; N being the material to be operated
upon, it is unwound and passed at commencement manually through guide
rollers o, o, under guides p, p, up to the feed board and the pressing rollers N¹.
In so doing the brush q actuated by mitre wheels from driving shaft removes
any dirt or other loose material. The material having been fixed upon the
tenter pins in order to preserve uniform width, and the machine being set in
motion, it passes between the first printing roller and the cylinder underneath,
receiving such portion of the pattern as that roller may supply, the colour
roller having imparted the requisite colour, passing on to the next roller to
the end of the series, dependant upon the pattern and number of colours
desired, until it reaches the pressing rollers n¹, which are there placed to
prevent the balk roller n" over which the printed material passes) from
releasing it too soon from the tenter hooks, and thus damaging the impression
of the last printing roller. I have shewn four sets, deeming that a useful
number.
Having now fully disclosed the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed; I would have it understood that what I
claim is the principle of printing felted and other materials named in my
title at one operation, either by the machinery shewn and described, or by any

page_text: other mechanical equivalent, the words "carpets and woven fabrics" in the
said title applying solely to felted carpets and woven druggets.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wilkinson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
PHILIP H. SHARP,
Leeds Patent Office.
JOHN WILKINSON, JUN. (L.S.)

page_text: In the Matter of Letters Patent granted to JOHN WILKINSON, the
younger, of Saint Helen's Mills, Hunslet, .in the County of York,
for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PRINTING
In the Matter of Letters Patent granted to JOHN WILKINSON, the
younger, of Saint Helen's Mills, Hunslet, .in the County of York,
for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PRINTING
FELTS, FLOORCLOTHS, CARPETS, AND WOVEN FABRICS," bearing date the
Twenty-fifth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five,
-No. 1155.
DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION proposed to be
entered by the said JOHN WILKINSON, the younger, to the Title and
Specification of the said Patent pursuant to to an Act passed in the fifth
and sixth yeary of His late Majesty's reign, intituled An Act to amend
the Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions.
WHEREAS since the filing of the Specification of the said Patent I have
been advised that the claim appended thereto is too general: And whereas
the improved arrangement of printing apparatus therein described is not deemed
applicable to printing floorcloths properly so called, which term is used in the
title of the Patent: And whereas some slight inaccuracies of expression or
clerical errors have crept into the said Specification, I am desirous of amending
the title and the Specification of the said Patent.
I therefore disclaim in the title of the said Patent the word floorcloths, when
the title will stand "Improved Means or Apparatus for Printing Felts, Carpets,
"and Woven Fabrics."
And in order to make the Specification conform to such amendment and to
meet the other objections above indicated I strike out from line 24, page 3,
of the printed Specification the words "though equally applicable to floor-
cloths, carpets, and woven fabrics," and at line 38 of the same page I strike

page_text: out the word "floorcloths"; at line 22, page 5, I alter the reference letter N¹
to n to make it conform to the Drawing. The paragraph commencing in the
middle of line 24 of the same page, in order to render more clear, I alter as
follows: At line 26 I strike out the word "it," and insert in lieu thereof
"the material"; at line 27 after the word "receiving "I insert "therefrom";
at line 28 after the word "imparted" I insert "thereto "; in the same line
1 strike out the word "passing," and insert the words "the material now passes,"
and after the word "roller" in the same line I insert the words "and so on."
At line 29 between the word "series" and "dependant" I commence a paren-
thesis inserting for that purpose the words "(the number of cylinders being," and
the word "dependant" I change to "dependent," and I close the parenthesis at
the word "desired" in line 30. In the claiming clause at line 37 I strike
out the words "the principle of " also the word "either" in the following line,
and I further strike out the words "or by any other mechanical equivalent "
contained in line 38, and the first line on the following page, after which altera-
tions the Specification will stand as follows:-
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WILKINSON, the younger, of St. Helen's Mills, Hunslet, in the County of York,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Wilkinson, Her special license that I, the said John Wilkinson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Wilkinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 "IMPROVED MEANS OR
APPARATUS FOR PRINTING FELTS, CARPETS, AND WOVEN FABRICS," upon the con-.
dition (amongst others) that. I, the said John Wilkinson, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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 John Wilkinson, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof (that is to say):-
My Invention has special reference to the printing of patterns on felted
goods..
It is at present customary to print felted goods manually, the workman by,
means of wood blocks cut to any required pattern and dipped in coloring.
matter impressing the same upon the felts, thus giving the contour or outline
of the pattern, whilst the various colors requisite for the ground, and
interstices of the patterns are applied subsequently also manually. It is
obvious that this method involves several operations and consequently con-
siderable labor, and in consequence of some of the operations being performed.
by youths, and all the operations manually from the nature of the work,
imperfections of workmanship exist. To obviate these imperfections is the
object of my Invention as well as to economize the cost of the manufactured
article. For these purposes upon a suitable framework I mount at convenient
distances a series of cylindrical pattern rollers cut to the pattern it may be
desired to impress (each pattern being filled with woollen cloth or other
suitable absorbent) upon the felts, carpets, or woven fabrics. Underneath
these rollers I place cylinders free to revolve in bearings secured to the frame
and at such distance from the pattern rollers as will allow the material to be
printed to pass between them and at the same time to receive the impression
of the pattern rollers which are supplied with coloring matters from feed
rollers covered with suitable material such as woollen cloth, such feed rollers
being each one of a series of three similarly covered, and in contact with cach
other, the last rollers of the series revolving in troughs furnished with the
requisite coloring matters. Within the frames at either side and extending
from end to end of the same I place endless chains of the well-known con-
struction furnished with tenter pins, and on either side of the machine at the
front end where the cloth is fed and also at the back end I place a wood roller
furnished with an india-rubber or elastic ring over the line of traverse of the
tenter pins.
But in order that my Invention may be better understood reference is made
to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, similar letters representing similar parts in the various Figures (that
is to say) :-

page_text: Fig. 4 an end elevation of the printing apparatus; Figures 5, 6, and 7 are
details.
Letters A indicate the framework supporting the bearings a, in which the
cylinders B revolve; these cylinders receive their motion from worms c' on the
driving shaft C, Fig. 3, geared into worm wheels c" on their own axes. Fast
and loose pullies D on the shaft C receive motion from belting or gearing
in the ordinary manner, dependent upon the requirements of the motive
power. Letters E indicate standards bolted to the frames A; these standards
carry the printing rollers F, the pressure upon the bearings of the same being
adjusted by the screws G, passing through the head of the standards. The
colour rollers H are carried by angular standards J, having a fulcrum without
the color troughs K. The right arms of each of the standards J rest upon
small angular pieces, carrying adjusting screws, which rest upon iron hoops
fixed upon each end of the printing rollers F, and thus produce pressure,
which by means of the small cogs 6 working in quadrants c and actuated by
handles d may be entirely removed, the cogs 6 being connected to the
standards J. Letters e indicate the screws by which the color rollers are
adjusted. The printing rollers F are actuated by adjustable pinion wheels L,
placed on the extremities of their axes, and geared into toothed wheels on the
axes of the cylinders beneath them.
b
Fig. 7 represents a full size side view of what I bave just termed the
' adjustable pinion" L, and consists of an inner bush a keyed on to the end
of the printing shaft, and having a lug a' upon it with a hole tapped through
which the screw ƒ passes, each end of the same bearing upon the lugs l
and, which form a part of the pinion itself, and is loose upon the bush;
should any one printing roller, therefore, become disarranged relatively to its
preceding or succeeding printing roller, by applying a set key to the square
formed at one end of the screw the error is rectified. The letters M repre-
sent the endless chains and tenter pins; these are of ordinary construction
(see detailed Figures 5 and 6) used in machines for drying felts, and are
actuated by intermediate gearing from a driving wheel on the cylinder shaft
of the first and fourth standards, as will be seen on reference to Fig. 1 and
Fig. 3; m, Figures 1 and 3, represent enclosed boxes, in which the links of
the endless chain run. The remaining mountings of the chains are of ordinary
construction; letters n and n¹ at either end of the apparatus denote the
small rollers placed over the line of traverse, and covered in that part with
india-rubber or other suitable substance for the purpose of pressing the felt or
other material under operation upon the pins.
Fig. 2 represents the arrangement by which my apparatus is fed, and presents

page_text: no special feature of novelty; N being the material to be operated upon, it is
unwound and passed at commencement manually through guide rollers o, o,
under guides p, p, up to the feed board and the pressing rollers n; in so
doing the brush 9 actuated by mitre wheels from driving shaft removes any
dirt or other loose material. The material having been fixed upon the tenter
pins in order to preserve uniform width, and the machine being set in motion,
the material passes between the first printing roller and the cylinder under-
neath, receiving therefrom such portion of the pattern as that roller may
supply, the colour roller having imparted thereto the requisite colour. The
material now passes on to the next roller and so on to the end of the series
(the number of cylinders being dependent upon the pattern and number of
colors desired) until it reaches the pressing rollers n', which are there placed
to prevent the balk roller n¹¹ (over which the printed material passes) from
releasing it too soon from the tenter hooks, and thus damaging the impression of
the last printing roller. I have shewn four sets, deeming that a useful number.
Having now fully discelosed the nature of my Invention; and in what
manner the same may be performed, I would have it understood that what I
claim is, printing felted and other materials named in my title at one operation
by the machinery shewn and described, the words "carpets and woven fabrics"
in the said title applying solely to felted carpets and woven druggets.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wilkinson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
I hereby grant my fiat, giving leave to the above-named John Wilkinson,
junior, to file in the Great Seal Patent Office, with the Specification to which
the same relates, the above-written Disclaimer and Memorandum of
Alteration.
Dated the Twenty-second day
sixty-seven.
BTAT
DUR DAL
an
eight humore
JOHN ROLT,
Attorney General.