CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PRINTING CALICOES AND OTHER SURFACES
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
COATES, of Seedley, in the County of Lancaster, Calico Printer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her. present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Third day of April, in the eleventh year of Her reign, and in
the year of our: Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Coates, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said John Coates, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Coates, my executors, administrators, 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 and Wales and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PRINTING CALICOES AND OTHER SURFACES;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John
Coates, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what, manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her
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
John Coates, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof (that is to say) :-
=
My Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Printing Calicoes and
other Surfaces, apply.. to that particular class..or style of printing termed
"block printing," and consist in a certain novel arrangement or construction
of mechanism to be wrought either by manual labor or mechanical power, to
perform the said operation in a more perfect, even, and expeditious manner
than has hitherto been accomplished by hand labor alone without the aid of
such machinery. The peculiar arrangement or construction of mechanism
constituting my Invention, and the method of carrying the same into practicable
operation, will be readily understood by referring to the Drawing accom-
panying these Presents, which is made to a scale of about one inch and a
half to a foot, and is marked with the figures and letters of reference corre-
sponding with those in the following description thereof.
Fig. 1 is a plan or horizontal view of the machinery as seen from. above,
arranged for printing two or more colors 'by manual labor:
Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig. 3 a vertical section; taken longitudinally
through about the middle of the apparatus. a, d, is the main framing of the
machine supporting the rails c, c, by means of uprights 6, b, which. are fur-
nished with grooves in which the slides d; d, move. To the slides d; d, the
vibrating frame e, e, is attached by means of the rod, upon which the. 'framio
vibrates' as a centre. The printing blocks g, g, extend the entire width of the
surface to be printed, and are suspended from the vibrating frame e, e, by
links h, h, and are furnished with vertical slidės i, i, which work in the
grooves j, j, formed in the uprights 6,6! The printing table k; k, (which is
covered as usual with a printing blanket ör felt) is supported by the centré
portion of the frame a, a. The printing blanket-is kept clean.by.means.of.a
piece of unbleached calico or other cloth (represented by the blue line".in. the
Drawing) passing over the surface of the same, being wound-from one of the
rollers 1,1, on to the other by hand as required. The color boxes m; m³: are
supported' by 'the frame a, a, the surface of the 'sieve or cloth: n,-n, being
covered with vulcanized india-rubber or other suitable material.: The color.
is distributed over the surface of the sieves by the tiering brusheslo, o, being.
drawn across them by the cords p, p,attached to the slidės did. The
brush o'at the left-hand end of the machine is caused to travel across.the-sieve
in an undulating or zigzag direction by means of the guides q, q, which are
turned over out of the way of the brush when returning by one of the vertical
slides i, coming in contact with the end of the lever, the guides being

page_text: replaced in the position shewn in the Drawing when one of the slides. "comes
into contact with the other end r of the said lever. The cloth under operation:
(represented by the red line in the Drawing) is advanced through the machine'
by the belts's, s, passing over pulleys t, t. The belts ; s, are furnished with!
small-blocks of wood u, u, (having pins or points thereon, which take hold of
the' selväge of the cloth), and at suitable intervals with rails v, v, extending
across from one belt to the other. Each belt is also furnished with 'a'spring w,
having a pin which takes into holes made for that purpose in the belts 8,'s.
The distance of the belts apart, so as to suit different-widths of cloth; may be
regulated by means of a right and left hand screw-y, which passes through
the hollow. axis of two of the pulleys t, t, being turned when required by means
of a handle. The cloth also passes over two rollers z, &', furnished with rows
of, pins, which take.hold of the back of the cloth without projecting through it,
the roller 2¹ being. caused to revolve by. the strap.1. The machine is wrought
by two men, two children being also employed, one for placing the cloth or
surface to be printed evenly upon the pins, and another for winding the cloth
through the machine...The operation of the machine is as follows:-Supposing.
the apparatus to be in the position shewn in the Drawing, the printer or work-
man must first place the frame e, e, in an horizontal position by the hand rails
2, 2, thus raising the printing block g' from the sieve n', which has furnished
it with color....The.frame.e.must-then be moved horizontally in the direction
of the arrow, until the block g is over the sieve n, and the block g' over the
printing table, drawing the brushes 0, 0, at the same time across the sieves
n, n', by means of the cords pp. The right-hand end of the frame is then
depressed, bringing the block 9 down upon the printing table k, and thus
giving the impression of one color; the block being guided in its descent
by the slides i, i, working in the grooves of the uprights b, b. The block g'
is then raised, and the block 9 depressed until it comes in contact with the
sieve n, n, which furnishes it with color. The frame e is then placed in an
horizontal position, and pushed in the reverse direction, thus drawing the
brushes o, o, back again across the sieves in their original position, and bring-
ing the block g over the printing table. The block 9 is then depressed, thus
giving the impression of the second color; when the block 9 is raised one
of the children presses back the opening w, and the other turns the handle 3
until the next hole in the belt s comes opposite to the pin x, which will be
forced into it, and thus hold the cloth presenting a fresh surface to the printing
action of the blocks g and g'. The operation then proceeds as before.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention, together
with the method of carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark,

page_text: in conclusion, that I claim as my Invention the novel and peculiar arrange-
ment of mechanism for printing calicoes and other surfaces, as above described_
and exhibited in the Drawings, by which one, two, or more colors may be
printed by blocks or printing surfaces, extending the entire width of the goods
to, be printed, and so arranged that, in the event of one or more than one
color being required, each separate color shall either be printed successively
or alternately, throughout the continuous length of the piece, as required.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Coates, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-eight.