IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY FOR PRINTING FABRICS
Year: 1854

page_text: application for Letters Patent was not given within the time prescribed
by the Act.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Louis Pierre Lehugeur and Michel
Uttinger at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 30th August 1854.
We, LOUIS PIERRE LEHUGEUR, Mechanic, and MICHEL UTTINGER, Gentle-
man, both of St. Denis, near Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY
FOR PRINTING FABRICS" to be as follows:-
The object of these improvements in printing machinery is, first, to obtain
greater uniformity and regularity in the supply of color than can be attained
by the ordinary machinery.
Second, to obviate the necessity of employing so many children as are
usually employed to assist in the operation of printing, by which means the
printer is enabled to effect a considerable economy in working, and to print
with greater regularity. The color block or table is made clastic, by means of
springs, and is covered with a cloth, so that at each stroke of the printing block
fresh color will be supplied, the apparatus being so arranged that the cloth
and the color which is contained in a reservoir or basin shall be kept together;
and when the printing operation is finished and the color is required to be
changed, the color cloth can be scraped, and the cover of the color reservoir
moved forward by a single stroke, and the color reservoir closed, so that the
color cannot dry by evaporation or exposure to the air, as in the ordinary
method of working, in which the color is found to dry in the brushes on the
printing frame and in the vessels. A considerably economy will be effected by

page_text: so arranging the parts, as according to the old plan a considerable quantity of
color is lost, dropped, or wasted by the boy who supplies the color. It will be
understood that the serious loss of color which arises from these various causes
is obviated by the improved system. We have also done away with the false
color vessel, which is dirty, expensive, and requires much care and attention,
as the oil cloths must be frequently renewed and supplied with false color.
In carrying out the object of our Invention we employ an elastic bed for
supporting the printing cloth; this elastic bed does not require any attention,
and possesses the advantage of being always clean. The printing cloths are
prepared in such a manner that the color cannot pass through them, by which
a further economy of color is effected, and cleanliness is ensured. Our printing
apparatus is so arranged that the printer can dispense with the assistance of
boys without fatiguing himself or losing time, that is to say, that in an esta-
blishment where fifty printers are at work four or five boys would be sufficient
to attend on the working men, whereas one boy to each man is usually
required; and for changing the colors, as when a printer has finished printing
with one color and desires to take another, a few moments will suffice for the
attendants to draw the one that has been finished, and place another ready for
working.
The following are the advantages of our improved apparatus:-
1st, greater uniformity and regularity in the supply of color than by the
ordinary operation, and consequently better work is produced.
2nd, economy of color and cleanliness in working.
3rd, economy in brushes, frames, and oil cloths, as the false color reservoir is
dispensed with.
4th, obviating the necessity of employing so many boys, as is now the case.
5th, by the elasticity of the cushion a considerable degree of uniformity and
regularity in the printing operation is ensured.
It will be found that, when once printers liave become accustomed to the
apparatus, they will produce more work and of better quality than by the
machinery heretofore employed.