AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF PREPARING, CUTTING, AND ENGRAVING ROLLERS TO BE USED FOR PRINTING WOVEN AND OTHER FABRICS, AND IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR PRINTING AND WASHING THE SAME FABRICS
Year: 1852

page_text: LEESE'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
LEESE, the younger, of Manchester, in the County Palatine of Lancaster,
Calico Printer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of
May, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the fifteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Leese, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Joseph Leese, my exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Leese, my exors,
adiñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM
OF PREPARING, CUTTING, AND ENGRAVING ROLLERS TO BE USED FOR PRINTING WOVEN
AND OTHER FABRICS, AND IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR PRINTING AND WASHING THE
SAME FABRICS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Joseph Leese, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Leese, the younger, do hereby declare that the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists,
First, of an improved system of preparing, cutting, and engraving rollers to
be used for printing woven and other fabrics. Heretofore, in printing woven
fabrics, paper hangings, and other surfaces, it has been usual, amongst other
means, to employ rollers with raised surfaces, called surface roller printing, in
which cases the rollers have been commonly of wood, with or without parts of
the surface or pattern produced by affixing metal cast to the form of the parts
of the design which are to be printed thereby. Now, the object of the first
part of my Invention is, to produce rollers of metal suitable for surface
printing, and in inlaying felt or other suitable flexible material in those parts
of the surface which are to be printed from, by which means more exact
register of the different colors of a pattern is obtained, and generally more
complete work is produced. In carrying out this part of my Invention, I
prefer to employ copper rollers, and having sketched or transferred a design
on to the surface of such a roller, I proceed to remove the intermediate metal
by any suitable cutting instrument, so that the parts of the surface which are
to be printed from are left in sufficient relief; or, in place of cutting away the
metal, the same may be removed by acid, taking care to cover the parts to be
kept in relief with matter which will not be acted on by the acid, as is well
understood. I, however, prefer to cut away the metal, which in many patterns
may be roughly done by mounting the roller in a lathe, and causing it to turn
slowly, so that the workman may withdraw the cutting tool when a part which
is desired to be left raised or in relief comes near thereto; and after having
thus roughly cut the roller, the cutting near the pattern may be done by the
workman by hand. By this or such like means a metal roller will be
obtained, leaving the design to be printed from in relief; but as the smooth
metal surfaces would not be suitable for receiving the color and imprinting it
on to a fabric, I cause the surface in relief to be properly prepared to receive
and apply color; and I do this by hollowing out all the parts to be printed
from, leaving marginal walls all round the edges of the pattern or design, and
into these hollows I introduce felt or other suitable porous matter. And the
best mode I am acquainted with for accomplishing this object is to spread
gutta percha over one side of a piece of felt, and then to warm the roller, and
to press pieces of the coated felt, of the form of the cavities or hollows, into
them, the warmth of the rollers causing the gutta percha to adhere thereto;

page_text: and I remove any portion of the felt which may protrude out beyond the true
circumference of the roller by means of a sharp knife. The roller will then
be in a condition suitable for use.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention, which consists of the
employment of small metal rings or short cylinders, see Nos. 2 & 3, instead of
one complete cylinder, as is now commonly practised. The several rings or
cylinders are placed on to a spindle or mandril running through them, and are
fixed thereon by keys or screws, or otherwise; and intermediate rings or
washers are used to keep the parts of a roller at the required distances apart,
see Figure 1, or, in place of complete rings or short cylinders; pieces of
copper, cast in such parts of a circle as will include so much of the pattern as
may be required, can be used. These would also be keyed, screwed, or other-
wise fixed on the mandril or spindle, or kept apart by washers, as described.
Figure 1 shows a roller composed, a being the mandril or axis; b, b, the
engraved rings; c, c, the washers; and d shews a casting when only part of a
cylinder or ring is used.
The other end of
by which a quick,
This tremulous or
I will now describe the third part of my Invention, which consists of a new
form of printing machine, wherein a rapid tremulous motion is given to the
roller itself, or to the apparatus which furnishes it with color, or to the bed
against which the roller presses when printing. See Figures 2 and 3. 1 and 2
are two cylinders. 4 is an endless band or blanket. 10, 10, are two rollers,
intended to keep the blanket straight with the printing roller. 11 is the
engraved surface roller. 3, 3, are guide pullies or rollers, to cause the blanket
or endless band to run true. 8 is a rod, having attached to its end, near tho
blanket or endless band, a piece of iron or a small roller.
the rod 8 is attached to and driven by an excentric 7,
tremulous, or vibratory motion is given to the rod 8.
vibratory motion may be obtained by other means than that of the eccentric, but
the eccentric is preferred. 14 is an ordinary endless sieve to supply the surfaco
of the engraved roller 11 with color. 12, 12, 12, 12, are rollers which carry the
color sieve. 18, 13, are guide pullies or rollers to cause the endless color sieve
18 and 19 are the color box and rollers to supply color to the
endless sieve. 16 is a rod of iron, having attached to its end near the color
sieve a piece of iron or a small roller. The other end of the rod 16 is attached
to and driven by an eccentric 15, by which a quick tremulous or vibratory
motion is given to the rod 16, but this tremulous or vibratory motion may be
obtained by other means. This machine is driven in like manner to that in
which surface machines are now worked. In the Drawings the apparatus for
one color only is shewn; but if the machine be required to print more than
one color, like apparatus as above described is to be repeated. In working the
to run true.

page_text: machine the piece 6 to be printed is brought over the roller 5 on to the blanket
or endless band 4 under the cylinder 2; and it is thus brought into contact with
the engraved surface roller 11, and becomes, in the working of the machine,
subjected to the action of the rod 8, having the tremulous or vibratory motion
as before described, and thus the piece is printed. After being printed the
piece is conducted over the cylinder 1 to be dried in the ordinary way. The
color is supplied to the color sieve 14, as is now commonly done, and the sieve
is made to communicate its color to the engraved surface roller by being
pressed against it by means of the vibratory or tremulous motion of the rod 16.
The piece 6 and the blanket are pressed against the engraved surface roller 11
by means of the vibratory or tremulous motion given to the rod 8. This part
of my Invention also consists of the application of small rollers or pullies 3, 3,
to guide the blanket straight over the cylinders 1, 2; also of the application of
small rollers or pullies 13, 13, to guide the color sieve 14, 14, over the
rollers 12, 12.
I will now describe the fourth part of my Invention, which has for its object
the transferring of a pattern drawn or produced on paper or other flexible
surface on to a roller. This is accomplished as follows:-I paint on paper or
other suitable surface with a pencil brush the pattern or design to be transferred
to the roller to be engraved, with a varnish capable of resisting the action of nitric
acid; the varnish commonly used by engravers I have found to answer the pur-
pose. Then take the paper, or other suitable surface so painted, and place it on
the roller, pressing and rubbing it on the surface of the roller so as that the
varnish shall thus be communicated to it. The varnish being thus transferred
from the paper or other suitable surface to the roller, the roller is to be immersed
in nitric acid, and thus engraved. Or I take an impression on paper, or other
suitable surface, with varnish, as before described, from any suitable printing
surface having thereon the desired pattern, and I transfer the varnish of the
impression from the said paper, or other suitable surface, to the roller to be
engraved, as before described; or I cover the surface of the paper or other
flexible material used with a thin film of varnish, and then paint on it the
pattern to be engraved with a pencil brush, or produce it by taking an impres-
sion from an engraved or other printing surface with a composition which will
act as a cover to such parts of the varnish as it falls upon, and thus prevent
the varnish in such covered parts from adhering to the roller when pressed upon
it. The composition used for this purpose may be made of many kinds of
materials; but I have found that a mixture of ground chalk and gum senegal
is very suitable. Or take a paper or other surface, produce upon it in the
same methods as before described the pattern to be engraved, but in this
case I use the composition of ground chalk and gum, or other materials; then

page_text: transfer this to the roller to be engraved in the same manner as has been before
described, and then immerse the roller in the varnish which is commonly used
by engravers to resist the action of nitric acid; then remove the composition
which had been transferred to the roller and submit it to the. acid- to be
engraved. In thus transferring designs from paper or other surface on to
metal rollers, I cause the rollers to be warm in order to melt the composition
employed, and thus to facilitate the transfer. Heretofore it has been usual,
when one or more colors are to be printed, to produce a pattern, to sketch the
pattern on one roller, and to etch or engrave the whole pattern thereon, and to
take off as many impressions as there are rollers required for the several colours.
I prefer to avoid the etching or engraving the whole pattern; in place thereof
I draw or obtain the outline pattern on to lithographic stone or zinc, and take
as many impressions as there are rollers, and use them as these heretofore when
they have been obtained by etching or engraving one of the rollers. Also,
when, from the nature of the pattern or design to be transferred, the varnish
used as before described adheres too closely to the paper or other suitable
surface used in the transfer, in such cases I prepare the said paper or other
suitable surface with a fine coating or film of soap or gum, or other material
which will permit the varnish more readily to detach itself when pressed
against the surface to be engraved.
The fifth part of my Invention consists of employing a mandril of less
diameter than the interior of the hollow rollers which is to be used in a
printing machine, and fixing such roller to the mandril in such manner that it
shall be perfectly true to its centre. A form of mandril by which this can be
done is shewn in the Drawing Figure 4. (1) is the mandril, being a circular
bar of iron. (2) (2) are rings of iron, having a slit in them. (3) (3) (3) (3)
are screws which screw into the rings of iron. When the roller is to be
mounted upon this mandril, the screws (3) (3) (3) (3) are unscrewed so as
to come in contact with the interior of the roller until they hold it firmly, and
the roller is set true to the mandril by raising or lowering the screws as may be
required. I am aware that a mandril similar to the one here described is used
by engravers, but has never before been used to mount rollers upon when the
rollers are used in the printing machine. I would remark that in place of
using these screws wedges may be forced in between the interior of the roller
and the mandril or axis, either by screws or otherwise, the wedges being parts
of a cone as have heretofore been used by engravers of rollers.
The sixth part of my Invention consists of a washing machine formed of a
series of rollers and cisterns arranged as in Figure 5. (3) (3) (3) are cisterns.
(9) (2) (2) are rollers. (1) (1) (1) are pipes to convey water and are.per-

page_text: forated with a series of apertures through which the water escapes in jets.
(4) (4) (4) are pipes to convey the water out of the cisterns to pumps which
lift the water to such elevation as may be required, and convey it to the pipes
(1) (1) (1). As there is a pump provided for each cistern the water is con-
stantly taken from and returned to the same cistern. The object of this is,
that as the water supplied to the washing machines enters at one end, and is
intended to pass through the cisterns and escape at the other, the water in the
separate cistern may not be mixed. When the machine is used for washing,
the piece (5) enters at the end of the machine at which the water overflows, it
passes through the series of cisterns over the rollers, and leaves the machine
at the end where the clean water is made to enter in its passage through the
cisterns; the jets of water from the pipes (1) (1) (1) play upon it. The
machine is driven by a shaft and pairs of bevil wheels, as in Drawing.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the details herein shewn and described, so long as the peculiar character of
any part of my Invention be retained. But what I claim is,
First, the construction and application of metal rollers for surface printing,
herein described,
Secondly, I claim the construction and application of rings or parts of
rollers for printing, as herein explained.
Thirdly, I claim the improvements in printing machinery, herein described.
Fourthly, I claim the means of obtaining patterns on metal rollers used for
printing by transferring, as herein explained.
Fifthly, I claim the application of the means of fixing printing rollers on to
their axes or mandrils when used in printing machines; and,
Sixthly, I claim the combination of parts in constructing a machine for
washing, as herein explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Leese, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
JOSEPH (L.s.) LEESE, Junior.
within-.
Signed and sealed by the
named Joseph Leese, the younger,
in the presence of

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-seventh day of November,
in the year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Joseph Leese, the younger, came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that
purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.