IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR TRACING DESIGNS FROM AN ENGRAVED ROLLER, OR FROM AN ENGRAVER'S SKETCH, UPON STEEL OR OTHER METALLIC SURFACES USED AS DIES BY ENGRAVERS TO CALICO PRINTERS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Whittam, of Accrington, in the County of
Lancaster, Engraver to Calico Printers, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR TRACING DESIGNS FROM AN ENGRAVED
ROLLER, OR FROM AN ENGRAVER'S SKETCH, UPON STEEL OR OTHER METALLIC
SURFACES USED AS DIES BY ENGRAVERS TO CALICO PRINTERS."
Sealed the 10th June 1859, and dated the 18th December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Whittam at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
December 1858.
I, ROBERT WHITTAM, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, Engraver
to Calico Printers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR TRACING DESIGNS PROM AN
ENGRAVED ROLLER, OR FROM AN ENGRAVER'S SKETCH, UPON STEEL OR OTHER
METALLIC SURFACES USED AS DIES BY ENGRAVERS TO CALICO PRINTERS," to be
as follows:-
I trace designs from an engraved roller or from an engraver's sketch upon
steel, or other metallic surfaces used as dies, by working two motions together,
one in the direction of its length, and the other in its circumference. I place
the engraved roller or the engraver's sketch upon a maundril or other suitable
support, from which I intend to trace the design.. I have a cranked rail, on
which I place sliding carriages, each crank being connected to the carriage by

page_text: a band, rod, or other suitable contrivance: I place one of the said cranks on
two centres lineable with the centre of the engraved roller, the other crank
with the sliding carriage and tracer upon it being suspended over the aforesaid
ingraved roller, which is adjusted at one end of the crank. On the aforesaid
two centres I fix a large toothed wheel or pully, and apply a weight under
the crank, to counterbalance the rail carriage and tracer, which are suspended
over the aforesaid roller or sketch. I place the steel or other metallic surfaces
used as dies in two centres, one revolving and the other stationary, in front of
the crank and carriage, which are supported on the two centres. I then place
upon the revolving centres a toothed wheel or pully, and gear it to the large
wheel or pully in any suitable manner. I then place between the intended
die and the aforesaid crank and its carriage in the two centers a rail, which
supports the tracer which traces the designs upon the die, the said rail being
connected with the aforesaids crank runs upon friction bowls.
I also employ
the ordinary foot treddle to support the tracers when not in action on
the dies.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Whittam in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th June 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WHITTAN, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, Engraver to Calico
Printers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Robert Whittam, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Whittam, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Robert Whittam, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR TRACING DESIGNS FROM AN ENGRAVED ROLLER, OR
FROM AN ENGRAVER'S SKETCH, UPON STEEL OR OTHER METALLIC SURFACES USED AS
DIES BY ENGRAVERS TO CALICO PRINTERS," upon the condition (amongst others)

page_text: that I, the said Robert Whittam, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 Whittam, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following,
statement (that is to say):-
My Invention consists in the arrangement of certain machinery or apparatus
intended to trace upon metallic surfaces used as dies by engravers to calico
printers; the same design as on an engraved roller, or from an original or
enlarged engraver's sketch.
The manner in which my Invention is to be performed will be clearly.
understood by referring to the figures and letters on the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a machine for transferring
designs from an engraved roller to a metallic-surface; Figs. 2 and 3 are
transverse elevations of the same, and Figs. 4 and 5 are views of detached
parts; Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a machine for transferring designs from an
enlarged engraver's sketch; Figs. 7 and 8 are transverse views of the same;
and Fig. 9, a view of a detached part. The required designs are obtained
upon the metallic surfaces by working two motions, one in the direction of
the length, and the other the circumference.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the engraved roller from which I intend to trace or
transfer the design is shewn at a, placed upon the maundril 6, the ends of
which are fixed in the steps or headstocks c and d, which are bolted to the
bed or table e of the machine, which bed is placed at any required height on.
the standards or frames f. At one end of the maundril, and in line with it, I
place a triangular rail g working upon two centres, one fixed to the head-
stock c, and the other to an additional headstock, h. To the rail g I fix a
vertical lever i, and connect it by another triangular rail with a similar
vertical lever 1, which works upon centres in the headstock d and small
frame m, all the centres being perfectly in line with each other. The levers i
and are furnished with weights n, to counterbalance the rail k and parts
connected with it. The rail k is mounted with a carriage o running on friction
bowls p, and is allowed to slide the entire length of the engraved roller, the
rail g being furnished with a similar carriage q. The die upon which the
design is to be transferred or traced is shewn at r, fixed at one end in the
chuck s, and resting at the other on the centre t the said chuck is fixed to

page_text: a spindle passing through the small headstock u, and is mounted with a
pulley of any required diameter, connected by a strap with a larger pulley w
fixed to the rail g, so that when the latter is moved on its centres in either
direction, the large pulley w moves with it, and transmits motion to the
smaller pulley and metallic surface r, according to their diameters. Between
the rail g and the intended die I place another rail x, running on friction
bowls; the said rail carries the lever y, which holds the diamond point z for
tracing the design upon the metallic surface. I attach to the rail & a bracket a¹;
which clips a plate 6, fixed to the sliding carriage q, so that when the latter
is moved, the rail x, lever y, and diamond point 2, move simultaneously with
it. The two carriages o and q are connected together by the rod c', so that
the movement of the one is transmitted to the other. To the carriage o, I
connect a lever d₁ with a small handle and point e¹, which is traced over the
design on the engraved roller, and transfers an exact copy of the design upon
the metallic surface. Instead of the pulleys v and w, I may employ toothed
wheels or other suitable gearing, and also instead of the engraved roller, I
may attach an original sized engraver's sketch upon a plain roller, and by
tracing the point e¹ over it, transfer the design to the metallic surface. When
required to trace with extreme accuracy a design upon a metallic surface, I
employ an enlarged engraver's sketch, which is secured to the segment of a
roller of large diameter. In Figs. 6, 7, and 8, the enlarged engraver's sketch
is shewn at fattached to the half roller g', which is fixed by the arms h¹ to
the standards ¹, bolted to the bed of the machine. The metallic surface upon
which the design is to be traced or transferred is placed in a similar position,
and circular motion given to it in the same manner as that described in Figs.
1, 2, 3, and 4. I also employ similar triangular bars and sliding carriages,
but the upper bar shewn at A is raised to the required height above the surface
of the engraver's sketch, so that the pointer can be conveniently traced upon it.
In order to give motion sideways to the carriage m¹ on the lower triangular
bar n', I connect a band o¹ to the end p¹ of the carriage, and pass it over a
pulley q' working in a bearing attached to the rail or other suitable part; the
band then passes under the guide pulley r¹, and over another guide pulley s¹,
to a drum or pulley t¹, to which the band is made fast, and then carried
onwards to a guide pulley u', and passes under a guide pulley v', and con-
nected to the other end w¹ of the carriage m¹. The pulley t¹ is fixed to the
same shaft as the larger pulley ¹, the said shaft working in bearings in the
standard or frame y¹ fixed to the triangular bar 1. To one end of the
carriage a² on the upper triangular bar, I attach a band 62, which passes over
the guide pulley, and onwards to the pulley a¹, which it encircles, and then.

page_text: passes in the direction of the arrow to the guide pulley d², from whence it
passes to the other end of the carriage a², so that when the carriage is
moved to and fro according to the design on the engraver's sketch, the band
causes the pulleys a¹ and t¹ to revolve, and moves the carriage m' exactly in
proportion to the difference of the diameters of the pulleys at and t¹, which
difference corresponds with the difference of proportion between the original
and enlarged size of the engraver's sketch. The diamond point is raised
from the surface of the die when required by means of the treddle f².
The aforesaid system of tracing designs from an engraved roller, or from an
engraver's sketch upon steel or other metallic surfaces used as dies, dispenses
with the usual tedious and expensive mode of cutting or engraving the said
designs upon the said metallic surfaces by hand, as hitherto practised.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set forth,
as such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle
thereof; but I claim as my Invention, and which to the best of my knowledge
and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm, the construction and
arrangement of machinery or apparatus for tracing designs from an engraved
roller, or from an engraver's sketch, of any pattern or design, to the surface
of steel or other metallic surfaces used as dies by engravers to calico and other
printers, as herein. described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Whittam, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
within-named Robert Whittam,
in the presence of
ROBERT WHITTAM. (L.S.)
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.