MACHINERY FOR PRINTING FABRICS."
Year: 1879

page_text: $5
LETTERS PATENT to James Nasmyth Wilson, of Flixton, in the County of
Lancaster, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of
MACHINERY FOR PRINTING FABRICS."
IMPROVEMENTS IN
Sealed the 27th December 1879, and dated the 5th July 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Nasmyth Wilson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th July 1879.
JAMES NASMYTH WILSON, of Flixton, in the County of Lancaster, Consulting
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRINTING FABRICS."
My Invention consists of an arrangement of machinery whereby the present
mode of block or hand printing in some classes of goods can be almost entirely
dispensed with. I attach to the machine a self acting motion acting upon the
printing rollers, so that any pattern can be impressed on the cloth during the pro-
gress of printing other patterns without having to stop the machine, and with a
measuring apparatus, also part of the machine, the distance between such patterns
can be varied at will.
The main drum round which the cloth passes may be any size, according to the
number of printing rollers, and is keyed or otherwise fastened on to a hollow shaft
or tube resting in the bearings of the main standards. Through this tube or
hollow shaft another shaft revolves, on which are placed adjustable or fixed cams
arranged for the purpose of throwing the rollers off the cloth when required, the
rollers being brought back by the weighted levers or otherwise and worked by the
measuring apparatus or a separate shaft as required.
The roller guides or nips in the main standards are open at the ends, and the
weight or pressure on the printing rollers is given by means of levers, at the end
of which is attached the weight required, rising and falling according to the motion
of the printing rollers. This weight consists of a box or boxes filled with water or
dead weight if required, and the whole is so arranged as to be out of the way of
the printer or assistants, and is designed so that the weight can be taken off the
printing rollers entirely or partially, and being worked by a self acting motion
requires no manual labour as in existing machines. The measuring notion of the
machine consists of change wheels and cams placed on shafts at either side of the
machine, driven from the machine or the main driving shaft, which cams work a
clutch motion on the main cam shaft revolving through the hollow shaft of the
main drum, the whole or a portion of which wheels and cams can be altered
according to the length of pattern required.

page_text: The machine when-not-required-for-printing blocking work or other patterns at
present put in by hand can be used as an ordinary printing-machine without the
removal of any part or parts,-and-by arranging the adjustable cams any length of
-pattern can be printed, even-if that length be less than the circumference of the
main drum, and by my arrangement of levers and open ended nips or guides the
rollers can be changed in a much shorter time, owing to the fact of having no screws
to turn back, as in existing machines.
Any number of the printing rollers can be used at the same time for any class-of
work, and without stopping the machine, the distance between the patterns can be
altered at will, and the whole of the machinery for doing this particular class of
work can be stopped instantly, when the other part of the machine will continue as
an ordinary printing machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Nasmyth Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd
January 1880.
JAMES NASMYTH WILSON, of Flixton, in the County of Lancaster, Consulting
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRINTING FABRICS."
My Invention consists of an arrangement of machinery whereby the present
mode of block or hand printing in some classes of goods, can be almost entirely
dispensed with. I attach to the machine a self acting motion acting upon the
printing rollers, so that any pattern can be impressed on the cloth during the pro-
cess of printing other patterns without having to stop the machine, and with a
measuring apparatus, also part of the machine, the distance between such patterns
can be varied at will. The main drum round which the cloth passes may be any
size, according to the number of printing rollers, and is keyed or otherwise fastened
on to a hollow shaft or tube resting on the bearings of the main standards. Through
this tube or hollow shaft another shaft revolves, on which are placed adjustable or
fixed cams arranged-for-the-purpose of throwing the rollers off the cloth when
required, the rollers being brought back by the weighted levers or otherwise, and
worked by the measuring apparatus or a separate shaft as required. The roller
guides or nips in the main standards are open at the ends, and the weight or
pressure on the printing rollers is given by means of levers, at the end of which is
attached the weight required, rising and falling according to the motion of the
printing rollers. This weight consists of a box or boxes filled with water or dead
weight if required, and the whole is so arranged as to be out of the way of the
printer or assistants, and is designed so that the weight can be taken off the
printing rollers entirely or partially, and being worked by a self-acting motion
requires no manual labor, as in existing machines. The measuring motion of the
machine consists of change wheels and cams placed on shafts at either side of the
machine, driven from the machine or the main driving shaft, which cams work a
clutch motion on the main cam shaft revolving through the hollow shaft of the
main drum, the whole or a portion of which wheels and cams can be altered
according to the length of pattern required. The machine when not required for
printing, blocking work or other patterns at present put in by hand can be used
as an ordinary printing machine without the removal of any part or parts, and by

page_text: arranging the adjustable cams any length of pattern can be printed, even if that
length be less than the circumference of the main drum, and by my arrangement of
levers and open ended nips or guides the rollers can be changed in a much shorter
time, owing to the fact of having no screws to turn back, as in existing machines.
Any number of the printing rollers can be used at the same time for any class of
work, and without stopping the machine, the distance between the patterns.
can be altered at will, and the whole of the machinery for doing this par-
ticular class of work can be stopped instantly, when the other part of
the machine will continue as an ordinary printing machine. And in order
that my Invention may be fully understood I will describe the accompanying three
Sheets of Drawings, reference being had to the Figures and letters marked thereon,
On Sheet 1 Fig. 1 is an elevation of a printing machine to which my improve-
ments are applied. On Sheet 2, Fig. 2, is a plan of the same partly in section;
and on Sheet 3 Fig. 3 is an end elevation. a is the main bowl round which the
fabric to be printed upon passes, which bowl is keyed or otherwise fastened upon a
hollow shaft on tube A¹, resting in bearings carried by the main frames B of the
machine. Through the hollow shaft A' there passes a solid shaft C, on which are
fixed the cams C¹ and C, which throw off the printing rollers D and F when required,
as will be hereafter described. When in use as an ordinary printing machine it
is driven through an ordinary crown wheel E acting upon the box wheels F¹, which
are fixed upon the roller mandrills F, which carry the copper printing rollers F,
these latter driving the bowl A by friction in the usual manner. On the side of
the machine opposite to the crown wheel E is the other crown wheel G, which
revolves loose upon the shaft C, and is driven from the main crown wheel E by the
shaft H, or otherwise from the wheel A2, which is fixed upon the bowl A or upon
the hollow shaft A¹. When in use for doing work at present done by manual labor
the printing rollers having on them the pattern which is to be printed intermit-
tently or otherwise receive their motion froin the crown wheel G acting upon the
box wheels D', which are fixed upon the mandrills D³, supported in the sliding
blocks D³ (Sheet 3). When it is required to print a continuous and our intermit-
tent pattern at the same time the machine is driven through the crown wheel E
acting upon the box wheels F', and the mandrills F carrying the printing rollers F.
The crown wheel G is driven through the shaft H, and in turn drives the shaft G¹,
through the pinion G² (Sheet 1), the shaft G¹ being carried in bearings on the
standard G and the bracket B'. The pinion G³, on the shaft G', drives the wheel G³,.
which is fixed upon a hollow shaft G6, running in a bearing on the standard G
and loose upon the cam shaft C, the said tube G6 forming a bearing for the end of
the cam shaft C. On the other end of the hollow shaft Go is fixed the change
wheel G7, which drives the change wheel G through the intermediate wheel G³.
The change wheel G is fixed upon the shaft Go, which is carried in bearings on
the standards G and G. On the shaft G10 are fixed the cams G12, which can be
varied according to the length of pattern to be printed by means of the screw and
wheel G¹³ On the standard G are fixed the brackets G for supporting the
upright rod G¹³, which is raised and lowered by the cams G¹, and is jointed at its
upper end to the horizontal arm of the right angled lever G16, which moves the
clutch G7 in or out of gear with the clutch G18, the latter being attached to or
forming part of the wheel G³. It will be seen that by this means, when the
clutch G is in gear with the clutch G18, the cam shaft C, on which are fixed the
cams C¹ and C² revolves at the same speed as the main bowl A. The cams C¹ and C²
may be either fixed or adjustable according to the requirements of the pattern to
be printed by the machine. On the main frames B are fixed the brackets B°
(Sheets 2 and 3) acting as guides for the adjustable, connecting rods B³, which can be
lengthened or shortened by the screws B to admit the use of various sizes of
printing rollers. When the raised portions of the cams C and C2 come round they
act upon the connecting rods B³, which force away the mandrills D and F, on which
are the copper printing rollers D and F, thus raising them from the cloth, and
thereby stopping the printing, and also raising the weights I by the rods L, which

page_text: -are-hooked on to the levers J, the latter acting by means of the catches K upon
the sectors K¹, fastened upon the shafts-K(Sheet_2 and 3), the pressure thus
passing to the mandrills D2 and F2, through the rods K, jointed to the levers-K³
which are fixed upon the shafts K2 When-the-raised portions of the cams C¹ and C³
have passed, the connecting rods B³ follow the reduced portions of the cams C¹
and C³, but do not bear upon them, and so allow the printing rollers D and F to
return to the cloth, against which they are pressed by means of the systein of levers
and weights described above. It will be seen that the Drawings represent each
-pair of cams C and C² as acting for the opposite sides of the inachine, i.e., the
cams C¹ for the rollers F, and the cams C2 for the rollers D; but by the adjustment
of the brackets B2 on the main frames, any or all of the connecting rods B³ can be.
made to receive their motion from either of the cams C₁ or C2, according to the
number of rollers it is desired to lift off the cloth. Should it not be necessary to
lift the rollers D or F off the cloth, more than once, in a length of the cloth corre-
sponding to the circumference of the bowl A, the cams G12 and their apparatus will
not require to be brought into action, and by raising the rod G15 and securing it in
its raised position, the cam shaft C and cams C and C2 will be revolved at the
same rate as the main bowl A; but if the length of the pattern to be printed should
be greater than the circumference of the bowl A, then, at the end of one revolution
of the bowl A and cams C¹ and C and G12, the reduced portion of the cams G¹³
comes around and allows the balance weight G₁, which is fixed upon the lever G
to draw the clutch G17 out of gear with the clutch G18, and the cams C1 and C2 then
immediately stop revolving until the raised portion of the cam G12 comes round and
raises the rod G¹³, thus throwing the clutches G17 and G18 again into gear when the
cam shaft C and cams C and C² again revolve at the same rate as the bowl A.
The number of revolutions made by the cams G₁ is regulated according to the
requirements by the change wheels G7 and G. The required pressure on the
printing rollers D and F is obtained by means of the weights I hung by the rods L
on the ends of the levers J; these weights may be made in any convenient manner,
by preference that shewn on the Drawings, in which they are represented as boxes
holding water, thus affording a convenient method of varying the weight to meet
different requirements. The weight boxes I are arranged so that they can be lifted,
and the rollers thus partially or wholly relieved as desired by means of the system
of levers, shafts, and rods shewn on the Drawings, the lifting of the weights being
effected by power derived from the shaft which drives the machine. Having thus
stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner of performing the
same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the details given, as
they may be varied according to the particular construction of the machine to
which they may be applied, and I claim,-First. The general arrangement of the
parts forming a-machine_for_printing fabrics, as shewn and described. Secondly,
The fixing on the main bowl upon a hollow-shaft. Thirdly. A shaft passing
through the hollow shaft, and having the lifting cams upon it. Fourthly. The
arrangement of the nips with open ends, allowing the rollers to be easily removed.
Fifthly. The arrangement of levers and weights for obtaining the requisite pres-
sure on the printing rollers. Sixthly. The combination of change wheel gearing
and cams for determining the length of pattern printed.
་
In witness whereof, I, the said James Nasmyth Wilson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and eighty.
J. NASMYTH WILSON. (L.S.)