CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PRINTING CALICO AND OTHER SURFACES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Kay, of Castleton Print Works, Blue Pits,
in the County of Lancaster, Calico Printer, for the Invention of " CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PRINTING CALICO AND OTHER SURFACES,
AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Kay at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
March 1862.
I, ROBERT KAY, of Castleton Print Works, Blue Pits, in the County of
Lancaster, Calico Printer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PRINTING CALICO AND OTHER
SURFACES, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:―
The Invention relates to that description of calico or other surface printing
wherein rollers known as " surface rollers" are employed, and in which the
design to be imprinted is raised "in relievo" from the cylinder, such raised
portion being generally composed of wood or covered with felt, both of which
possess defective qualities.
My Invention consists in the employment and use of "surface rollers'
constructed as follows:-The bed or internal portion of the roller or cylinder

page_text: is composed of metal and fitting on to the ordinary maundril, such internal
cylinder is to be covered or coated with gutta percha, wood, papier maché,
india-rubber, vulcanite, plaster of Paris, glue, hide, or other convenient sub-
stance not subject to contraction and expansion, and which will give sufficient
support to the delineating wire used to define the edges of the pattern.
When the design is outlined with the wire, and the exterior cut away as
usual, the portion within the wire is also to be removed and the excavation
or intervals filled with india-rubber or gutta percha in place of felt as some-
times similarly employed, the surface of the india-rubber being previously
grooved parallel to the length of the roller to retain the coloring matter. By
this means the method of printing on surfaces is improved inasmuch as
the grooved india-rubber yields its coloring matter more freely than wood
or felt, and from its own elasticity yields to the pressure without elastic
bearings being required to the cylinders and clearer and more perfect im-
pressions are obtained. This Invention is also applicable to flat blocks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Kay in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
KAY, of Castleton Print Works, Blue Pits, in the County of Lancaster,
Calico Printer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of "Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Kay, Her special license that I, the said Robert Kay, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Kay, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE METHOD OF PRINTING CALICO AND OTHER SURFACES, AND IN APPA-.
RATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the
said Robert Kay, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,

page_text: 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 Robert Kay, 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
and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
The Invention relates to that description of calico or other surface printing
wherein rollers known as "surface rollers" are employed, and in which the
design to be imprinted is raised "in relievo" from the cylinder, such raised
portion, together with the body of the rollers, being generally composed of
wood or metal combined or separate, and filled with felt, both of which possess
defective qualities.
"
My Invention consists in the employment and use of "surface rollers
constructed as follows:-The bed or internal portion of the roller or cylinder.
is composed of metal and fitting on to the ordinary maundril; such internal
cylinder is to be covered or coated with gutta percha, paper, papier maché,
india-rubber, vulcanite, plaster of Paris, glue, hide, or other convenient sub-
stance not subject to injurious contraction and expansion, and which will
give sufficient support to the delineating wire or type metal casting used
to define the edges of the pattern. This gutta percha shell is surmounted
with a circular layer of gutta percha or other materials previously named,
which is removed when the design is outlined for the india-rubber surface
to be inlaid. When the design is outlined with the wire or type, and
the exterior cut away as usual, the portion within the wire is also to be
removed and the excavation or intervals filled with india-rubber or gutta
percha in place of felt, (as sometimes similarly employed,) the surface of the
india-rubber being previously grooved parallel to the length of the roller to
retain the coloring matter. By this means the method of printing surfaces
is improved, inasmuch as the grooved india-rubber yields its coloring matter
more freely than wood or felt and from its own elasticity yields to the pressure
without forcing the color too deeply into the cloth and clearer and more
perfect impressions are obtained.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in
detail, I have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings illustrative of the same,
and having letters of reference marked upon corresponding parts.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved roller; and Fig. 2 is a horizontal

page_text: sectional view shewing the internal construction of the roller. Figs. 3, 4,
and 5, represent the india-rubber surfaces employed in place of felt to fill the
interstices within the delineating wires. Fig. 3 being grooved at an obtuse
angle parallel to the axis of the roller, which grooves are again subdivided
at right angles. Fig. 4 being square in form, the sides converging to a point
at the bottom, and the tops of the walls or sides being. grooved or channelled
to allow of the expansion of the rubber and free delivery of the color when
under pressure. Fig. 5 is an extension of this form, having similar indenta-
tions upon the obverse corresponding with the elevations on the reverse, and
the points or lines terminating or bounding each square may be pierced so as
to allow of the coloring matter passing through to the back to be discharged
therefrom by the pressure in printing, in which instance it must be secured.
upon a foundation of india-rubber or other suitable material. This surface
of india-rubber used as an absorbent or substitute for felt (whatever the
superficial form) must be finely granulated to enable the color to adhere
thereto, the application of such principle being one chief feature of the
Invention.
In Fig. 1 a, a, is the inner metallic cylinder to receive the maundril; b, b,
the bed or foundation of gutta percha or other suitable material placed or built
thereupon in cylindrical form; c, c, being a second thin layer of gutta percha
enveloping 6, perfect attachment being prevented at the red line d, the whole
being protected and limited by the flanges e, e. When the blank roller is
thus prepared the design is to be "outlined" with wire as is usual, or to have
type metal casts inserted in its circumference, and the gutta percha or other
material outside the wire or cast is to be cut away and the thin upper layer
which is easily detached is to be removed from within the design; and the
interstice to be filled with the surface of india-rubber instead of felt, in some
instances slightly projecting above the wire or cast, so that when the fabric
passes between it and the bed roller, the pressure will flatten the elevations
of the reticulated surface and so cause the discharge of the color from the
indentations; in other instances it is to be inserted level with the wire or
cast according to the texture of the fabric to be printed.
'
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I claim,―
First, forming or constructing rollers in cylindrical layers of gutta percha
. or other suitable material not subject to injurious contraction and expansion.
And secondly, I claim the employment and use of a surface of india-rubber

page_text: to fill the interstices of the pattern or parts of it "in relievo" as a substitute
for felt, such surface being so formed as to enable it to retain the coloring
matter and to permit of the discharge of the color upon the application of
pressure as herein-before described, set forth, and fully illustrated in the
Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Kay, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
ROBERT KAY. (LS.)