AN IMPROVEMENT IN PRINTING AND CALENDERING;
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
FERGUSON and JOHN CLARK, both of the City of Glasgow, in the County of
of Lanark, send greeting.
WHEREAS we did by petition represent to Her most Excellent Majesty
Queen Victoria, that we had, after considerable application and expense,
invented "AN IMPROVEMENT IN PRINTING AND CALENDERING;" and Her said
Majesty, being willing to encourage all useful inventions, did issue Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing
date at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-four, in the eighth year of Her reign, whereby Her
Majesty did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Robert Ferguson and John Clark, our exors, admors, and assigns,
Her special permission, license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
we, the said Robert Ferguson and John Clark, our exors, adiñors, and assigns,
and such others as we, the said Robert Ferguson and John Clark, our exors,
adiñors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend the said Invention
within that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, the Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed;
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging us, the said
Robert Ferguson and John Clark, by an instrument in writing under our

page_text: hands and seals, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
months next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
otherwise the said Letters Patent should become void, as by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Robert Ferguson and John Clark, do hereby declare that the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is
to say:-
Our Invention relates, first, to machinery used in printing calicoes and other
fabrics by means of rollers and flat plates.
Secondly, our Invention relates to the apparatus used when printing calicoes
and other fabrics by means of blocks.
Thirdly, our Invention relates to machinery and other apparatus used in
letter-press printing by means of types.
And, fourthly, our Invention relates to machinery for calendering.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, we will proceed to describe the means pursued by us.
In printing calicoes and other fabrics by means of rollers engraved or cut
in relief, it is well known that in cylinder or other machine printing, a cylinder
is used commonly called a bowl, and such cylinder or bowl is usually covered
by means of a fabric called lapping; and with such cylinder or bowl, an
endless blanket of wool, cotton, or other material, against which the fabric to be
printed is pressed by the roller or rollers of the machine (grey calicoes are now
frequently used betwixt the blanket or felt and the fabric to be printed). Now,
the object of the first part of our Invention is to apply to such cylinder or bowl
a better surface, by means of which the ordinary covering of lapping is rendered
unnecessary, and the employment of an endless blanket will not be required, as
the surface applied according to our Invention will be in itself sufficiently
smooth and elastic for obtaining the impression from the roller or rollers,
whether engraved or cut in relief. In place of applying the ordinary lapping to
the surface of a cylinder or bowl of a printing machine, and in place of the
blanketing, we coat or cover the cylinder or bowl in the following manner :-
The cylinder or bowl being well cleaned, we rub it over with gum senegal liquor
(that is, gum senegal dissolved in water at the rate of about eight pounds weight
of gum to one gallon of water); having now a plain copper roller in the machine,
then take cotton cloth coated on the one side only with india-rubber cement
we

page_text: (that is, india-rubber dissolved), put the uncoated side next the bowl, and
having a blanket betwixt the said cloth and the copper roller, we put a slight
pressure on the machine and roll on one round of the said cloth, cutting it so
as to make a good join; we then take what is now known as Clark's patent
india-rubber cloth (for which Letters Patent were granted to James Clark in
the
year One thousand eight hundred and forty-three), cotton cloth, mouseline
de laine, thin flannel, or fine woollen cloth, whichever of these is used, being
coated on one or on both sides with india-rubber cement, or the composition
called Jeffrey's patent marine glue, being an elastic waterproof composition (for
which Letters Patent were granted to Alfred Jeffrey in the year One thousand
eight hundred and forty-two), cut the end of this straight, lay it on the bowl
and put a slight pressure on the machine, as before, but without having the
blanket; of this we roll on from twenty to thirty rounds, according to the kind
of cloth used and as may be required for the style of work to be printed,
taking care to cut the end correctly opposite the previous end, avoiding over-
lapping, so as to make a good join; and in the course of rolling on the twenty
or thirty rounds, although only a slight pressure is used at first, we increase
the pressure a little every five rounds, ending with a pressure similar to what
is used in printing; we let the machine run with the pressure for half an hour,
taking care to keep the copper roller clean by rubbing it with cloth slightly
damped with water having a little soap in it, to prevent the india-rubber or
marine glue sticking to the roller; we then coat the surface of the cylinder
with india-rubber cement, well mixed with lamp black, about one-sixteenth
part of an inch thick, put on with a guage or roller, the coating will then dry;
or we take Clarke's patent cloth, as before described, well coated with the
india-rubber mixed with lamp black, and put one round of it, making a good
join, and by means of a chisel on a rest (the cylinder revolving as in a lathe),
we cut the sides of the elastic surface thus applied to the cylinder, neatly and
to the width required, we then continue to revolve the cylinder or bowl for
about an hour, using the pressure roller and keeping it clean as before
directed; the coating to the cylinder or bowl being thus rendered smooth, it is
to be what is called cured, by rubbing it over with sulphuric or muriatic acid,
the former may be used full strength, and the latter diluted with water to sixty
degrees of the Tweeddale hydrometer; we let this remain for about fifteen
minutes, turning the bowl all the time, and then wash it off with clean water,
and the cylinder is fit for work in the machine, and is worked in the ordinary
way, except that we do not use the endless blanket as before; and we attach
to the machine a roller covered with sponge or cloth kept moist, which we
cause to revolve, pressing slightly against the bowl for the purpose of cleaning

page_text: the elastic surface of the bowl; and we also attach a lint or dry doctor, so
called, to take up the superfluous matter left by the immediately before-
mentioned roller. In printing with the use of grey cloth, however, the roller
and dry doctor are not necessary; they are so when printing without the
grey cloth.
Another of the means pursued by us in applying to the cylinder or bowl of
a printing machine a smooth and elastic surface is as follows:-We take
flannel or other suitable material coated with india-rubber cement on both
sides, and cut it into long narrow bands or fillets about three inches broad;
we coat the edges of these with india-rubber cement. After coating the
cylinder with gum senegal liquor (as before described), and putting on one
round of cotton cloth or other material coated on the outer side with india-
rubber cement, as before described, we commence at the end of the cylinder
.on its surface to lay on the band or fillet, by rolling it on tightly round the
cylinder by the use of a copper roller pressing against it, until the band or
fillet reaches the other end of the cylinder; we then coat this wrapping on
the bowl or cylinder with india-rubber cement well mixed with lamp black,
and allow it to dry, cut it at the sides, and cure it with acid, all as before
.described. The elastic cylinder or bowl is now ready for printing in the usual
manner.
Another method by which we apply a smooth and elastic surface to cylinders
for printing calicoes or other fabrics is as follows, viz. :-By taking a quantity
of the elastic waterproof composition known as Jeffrey's patent marine glue
before mentioned, and No. 4 or No. 5 of that composition; we put it into a
suitable vessel, and apply a heat from 200° to 300° Fahrenheit, which brings it
to a liquid; we cover the cylinder or bowl with a few rounds of lapping in the
ordinary way, and then put on with a guage or roller a quantity of the fore-
said glue melted as above, turning the bowl and continuing to apply the glue
till a quantity is on sufficient to give the elasticity required. The bowl or
cylinder is then fit for use. Farther we obtain a smooth elastic surface for
printing by putting together from twenty to thirty plics of Clark's patent water-
proof cloth, or other lamina, coated with india-rubber or Jeffrey's patent marine
glue, in the manner before described, of which we make a strap or belt of the
width required for the bowl, and having set a roller immediately above the
bowl with flanges attached so as to keep the strap or belt from shifting, we
enclose the roller and the bowl with the strap or belt, and thus get a smooth
elastic surface without the lapping and blanketing as at present used. In this
last-described method it will be observed the elastic substance is not made to
adhere to the bowl as before, but revolves round it and the said roller. We

page_text: are aware that a blanket or apron of india-rubber material has been used for
printing, but in the same manner as the common endless blanketing, which is
different from ours now described.
We have been thus particular in describing the different means pursued by
us, because we found the means so described to answer well; at the same time
we do not confine ourselves to these details, our object.being to apply to the
cylinder or bowl of a printing machine a smooth and elastic surface, so as to
produce a proper and more useful surface in printing.
The second part of our Invention consists of applying a smooth, elastic, and
level surface, composed in manner before described in reference to cylinder
printing, to printing tables for receiving and having spread thereon calico or
other fabric to be printed by means of blocks. Having given such minute
particulars as are herein described for making a surface to a cylinder or bowl,
a workman will readily apply a surface composed as before .described, on a
proper table for block printing, taking care to keep the same smooth and
level..
The third part of our Invention consists in applying to the cylinder, bowl,.or
roller used in. letter-press printing a smooth and elastic surface, which. we do
precisely in the same manner as we have described in regard to the coating or
wrapping for a cylinder printing machine for calico or other fabric, and we do
not require to repeat the description.. Wo also apply the before-stated water-
proof elastic composition known as Jeffrey's patent marine glue to letter-press
printing in manner to be mentioned, viz., we dissolve the glue, as before
described, and in its liquid state we mould, cast, and make it by the usual
process of moulding and casting into elastic rollers to be used in letter-press
printing.
The fourth part of our Invention consists in making rollers for calendering
machines by coating them over in like manner to that first above described,
and these rollers are to be used in calendering machines in place of the ordi-
nary paper, pasteboard, or wooden rollers.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we would have it understood that we make no claim
to the applying india-rubber or Jeffrey's patent marine glue to the surfaces of
fabrics or materials, that process being well understood and commonly em-
ployed for various purposes; and we would have it understood that what we
do claim is,
The application to cylinders or bowls for printing machines of a smooth and
elastic surface in manner herein described, including the belt or strap revolving
Found

page_text: Second, the applying an elastic bed or surface for block printing, as herein
explained.
Third, the application of a smooth and elastic surface to rollers and
cylinders, and the casting from Jeffrey's marine glue of rollers and cylinders
for letter-press printing, as before described.
And, fourth, the application of a smooth and elastic surface to rollers or
bowls for calendering, as above described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Robert Ferguson and John Clark,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eighth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.