IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF BOWLS OR CYLINDERS EMPLOYED IN PRINTING AND OTHER PROCESSES, AND WHICH IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE ADAPTED TO OTHER MECHANICAL APPLIANCES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Dalton, of Hollingworth, in the County of
Chester, Calico Printer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF BOWLS OR CYLINDERS EMPLOYED IN PRINTING AND OTHER PROCESSES,
AND WHICH IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE ADAPTED TO OTHER MECHANICAL
APPLIANCES."
Sealed the 14th July 1854; and dated the 9th February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Dalton at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th February
1854.
I, JOHN DALTON, of Hollingworth, in the County of Chester, Calico Printer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF BOWLS OR CYLINDERS EMPLOYED IN PRINTING AND OTHER PROCESSES,
AND WHICH IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE ADAPTED TO OTHER MECHANICAL APPLIANCES,"
to be as follows, that is to say:
My improvements relate to the construction of bowls or cylinders of wood
upon a new principle. This principle is based upon the physical law of the
contraction or expansion of wood according to the hygrometric state of the
medium to which it is exposed. It is well known that this contraction or expan-
sion takes place only in breadth or across the grain, affecting only the relation
of the several concentric layers of woody fibre to each other, and that no such
variation takes place longitudinally or with the grain of the wood. The wooden
bowls now used are constructed out of a solid log of timber, through the centre
of which a hole is bored and an iron shaft inserted and fastened and the surface
turned smooth and even in a lathe. In such bowls the fibres or grain of the
wood lie parallel or horizontal in relation to the centre; hence, the surface is

page_text: subject to a continual variation from the contraction or expansion of the wood
from atmospheric influence. These and other disadvantages I propose to
obviate by the construction of bowls upon the following plan:-Pieces of wood
are first cut from a solid block into equal segments of a circle of the required
size; these several segments are then united together so as to form a solid
cylindrical body, each segment being so cut and placed that the fibres or grain
of the wood may stand vertically or perpendicularly to the centre. An iron
shaft is then fitted to the bowl and the surface turned true in a lathe. I do
not confine myself strictly to the above details, but may vary the construc-
tion in such manner as may appear on trial to produce the most satisfactory
results, having regard to the principle set forth of constructing the bowls of
segments of wood haying the fibres or grain thereof vertical to the centre of
the bowl. Bowls constructed upon the said principle will be found more
efficient than the ordinary wooden, cotton, paper, or iron bowls in the several
manufacturing processes of bleaching, dyeing, finishing, &c.; but I particularly
claim the introduction of such bowls as printing cylinders, for which purpose
the ordinary wooden bowls are unfit.
The same principle of construction may also be applied with equal advantage
to the construction of other mechanical appliances of a cylindrical form, as for
instance, pullies, rollers, &c.
Cylinders or rollers constructed upon the said principle are particularly
suitable for surface printing, & the design or pattern can be more economically
fixed thereon. After the surface of the roller has been turned perfectly true
and smooth, it is varnished & then coated with a layer or veneer of soap or
other suitable material to the thickness of relief required for printing; this
coating is then smoothed and receives the design by the usual mode of transfer.
Pieces of copper or other metallic wire or shapes are then driven through this
external coating or veneer into the improved roller to form the pattern, from
which, when finished, by filling and levelling in the usual way, the veneer
of soap is cleared away & washed, leaving the roller with the pattern in
relief
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Dalton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd
August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN 3
DALTON, of Hollingworth, in the County of Chester, Calico Printer, send
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Dalton, Her special license that I, the said John Dalton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Dalton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend;
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
BOWLS OR CYLINDERS EMPLOYED IN PRINTING AND OTHER PROCESSES, AND WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS MAY ALSO BE ADAPTED TO OTHER MECHANICAL APPLIANCES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Dalton, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Dalton, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
(that is to say)-
My improvements relate to the construction of bowls or cylinders of wood
upon a new principle. This principle is based upon the physical law of the
contraction or expansion of wood according to the hygrometric state of the
medium to which it is exposed. It is well known that this contraction or
expansion of wood takes place in breadth or across the grain, affecting only
the relation of the several concentric layers of woody fibre to each other,
and that no variation occurs in the fibres longitudinally or with the grain of
the wood. The wooden bowls now used are made from a solid log of timber,
through the centre of which a hole is bored, and an iron shaft passed, and the
surface is then turned smooth and even in a lathe. In these bowls the fibres or
grain of the wood lie parallel or horizontal in relation to the centre, and hence
the surface is subject to a continual variation, on account of the contraction or
expansion of the wood from atmospheric influence. There exists also another
serious disadvantage from the liability of the external fibres to split off with the.
grain on being subjected to pressure, whereby the surface is soon rendered
uneven. These disadvantages I propose to obviate by the construction of bowls,

page_text: upon the following principle:-Pieces of wood are first cut from the solid
block into segments of a circle of the required size, and these several segments
are afterwards arranged and united together with gutta percha, shellac, or
other substance, so as to form a solid cylindrical body, each segment being so
cut and placed that the fibre or grain of the wood may stand vertically in
relation to the centre. An iron shaft is fixed through the centre, and the
surface of the bowl turned true and even in a lathe.
From the above the principle on which my Invention is based will appear,
but slight modifications in detail will be requisite in the construction of the
bowls according to the different processes or apparatus for which they are
intended. As for instance, squeezing bowls are exposed to considerable
pressure, and hence require equal strength and solidity to resist it. In
constructing a bowl of the ordinary size for this purpose, I first cut the wood
(which I prefer close-grained, as beech, sycamore, &c., and which should be
well seasoned) into planks of four inches in thickness and fourteen inches in
width, and again cross-cut such planks into lengths of six inches. These are
then sawn and shaped into radial segments of a circle, dovetailed, and fitted
into a hollow cast-iron drum, having sixteen longitudinal perforated slots of one
inch in breadth, and supported on a strong wrought-iron centre or shaft. A
layer of hot gutta percha is applied between the several segments as they are
successively pressed in, and these segments are rendered perfectly secure and
compact by wedges fixed between the ends projecting inside the iron drum, and
a hoop of wrought iron is fixed to each end of the bowl by screws. The surface
of the bowl is then turned true in a lathe.
A reference to the Drawings annexed will illustrate simply the above
description. Fig. 1 is a view of the front, and Fig. 2 of the end of a bowl
constructed on the plan last mentioned. A, A, A, are the several segments of
wood united together with gutta percha; B, B, B, is the cast-iron drum,
through the slots of which the segments are passed and fixed; C, the shaft or
wrought-iron centre; D, D, D, wooden wedges driven between the projecting
ends of the segments; E, E, the wrought-iron hoop to secure the wood and
drum.
For printing pressure bowls or mangle bowls I adopt the same details of
construction, with the exception that for these purposes the wood must be
perfectly dry, the several segments very closely fitted and joined together, and
after being turned true in the lathe the pores of the wood should be allowed to
absorb a prepared varnish to enable it to resist all hygrometric influence.
Bowls constructed upon the above plans will be found much more durable
and effective than the ordinary wooden, cotton, and paper bowls used in

page_text: apparatus for bleaching, dyeing, washing, finishing, &c., on account of their
power of resisting great pressure, and their unvarying uniformity of surface,
and I particularly claim the introduction of such bowls as printing pressure
bowls, instead of the present iron cylinder.
The same principles of construction may also be applied with advantage to
pullies, rollers, and other similar mechanical appliances of cylindrical form,
where regularity and evenness of surface are desired in conjunction with power
of resisting considerable pressure.
My improvements also extend to rollers or cylinders for surface printing
usually designated as surface rollers. The principle of construction is the same
as for printing pressure cylinders, varying, however, in this particular, that I do
not require the cast-iron drum or frame for the fixing of the wooden radial
segments, but in lieu thereof I use disks or plates of iron at each end and at
the junction of the segments, with iron rods traversing the several radial
segments from end to end, and there firmly secured in the iron disks. These
rollers require only slight shafts about one and a half inch in diameter, which
are passed through the centre and secured in the ordinary mode. Fig. 3 is a
section of a surface roller illustrating the construction, and Fig. 4 an end view
of the same. A, A, are the radial segments of wood; B, B, shaft; C, C, iron
rods; D, D, disks or plates of iron. After the roller has been turned true and
smooth and varnished, the surface is coated with an even layer or veneer of
soap, gutta percha, wood, or other suitable material, about a quarter of an inch
in thickness. This coating, if of soap, which I prefer, is applied in a hot and
soft or semi-fluid state, and when cold and hard is to be made level by the
lathe. The design is transferred on it in the usual way, and pieces of copper
or other metallic wire, shapes, or figures, or stereotyped designs are then
driven through the soft coating into the wood beneath, according to the
pattern required. The surface is made level by filing, and the parts not con-
stituting the pattern in relief removed by washing with water, &c.
The advantages of the last-mentioned application of my improvements
consist in the facility with which the design is executed on the rollers, the
correctness with which they can be made to fit in with other rollers, and the
undeviating regularity of surface. They can be applied to the printing of two
or more colours with correct register, a result which, after repeated trials with
the ordinary wooden bowls, I have hitherto failed to achieve, as no dependence
could be placed on their fitting in correctly, on account of their variations from
the causes before explained. Another important advantage can be attained by
their use, namely, that of obtaining an impression on both sides of the fabric in
correct register.

page_text: The mode in which this is attained may be shortly explained as follows:-
A roller being prepared with its proper pattern is brought into contact with
another roller of the same dimensions coated with the soap or other substance,
and a reverse of the first impression thereby obtained. The second roller is
then completed as to the pattern in the manner before described.
The two rollers are then placed in the machine in juxtaposition to each
other, and made to meet in exact register, and pressed together with levers,
the surface being charged with the mordant or colour from a revolving web
or drum in the usual way, and the fabric passing between the two surfaces
receives a deposit of the colouring matter on both sides. If two or more
colours are required to be printed in like manner, one or more pairs of surface
rollers are to be placed after the first, with a gutta percha roller interposed to
carry the cloth uniformly to the next point of impression and secure an exact
fitting of design.
In the foregoing statement I have endeavoured to describe the modes which
seem to me the best calculated to carry out the principle of my said Invention,
and to illustrate its application to some of the manufacturing processes; but I
hereby declare that I do not limit or confine myself to the precise details of
construction and adaptation herein-before set forth, so long as the principle of
my said Invention, namely, the construction of bowls, cylinders, or other
cylindrical mechanical appliances of segments of wood having the fibres
or grain of the several segments placed vertically to the centre, be fairly
adhered to.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Dalton, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this First day of August, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the before-
named John Dalton in the presence of
JOHN DALTON, Jr,
JOHN DALTON. (L.S.)
Sol',
Salford.