Machine for Printing on both Sides of Stockings, Handkerchiefs, and similar Articles."
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Jan., 1897- Accepted, 4th Dec., 1897
DE BUTTALION.
"Machine for Printing on both Sides of Stockings, Handkerchiefs, and
similar Articles."
I, CARL HORN of 22A, Zwickauerstrasse Kappel near Chemnitz, Stocking dyer
and printer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same
to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
This invention relates to a machine for printing on both sides of stockings in
such a manner as to leave the border or edge and the point or toe of the stocking
free. This machine may also be employed for printing handkerchiefs, kerchiefs
and the like goods and is distinguished by the fact that the printing is not striper
or clouded at the commencement and at the end of the stocking but is completely
faultless. The machine serving for this purpose is illustrated in the accompany-
ing drawings in which:
is a plan,
Figure 1 is an elevation, Figure 2 is a side elevation, Figure
Figure 4 shows a modified construction of the machine in side elevation.
Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 are detail views.
In the frame a there are mounted in bearings, so as to be capable of rotation,
two rollers b, 61, the distance between the centres of which is capable of being
adjusted for greater or less thickness of the goods to be printed by means of
screw spindles or of intermediate pieces planed to exact measurement. These
rollers are adapted to be rotated by means of wheels c c¹ by a crank handled in
such a manner that the design provided on the rollers bb¹ is, by the rotation of the
rollers, transferred on to the upper and under sides of the stocking which is
passed through and between them whereby the stocking is printed. The design
on the rollers b b¹ is provided with the necessary colour by means of the rollers e, f
and 9 which are all driven by means of wheel gearing from the main driving
wheels c, c', and of which the roller g serves to take the requisite colour for print-
ing the stockings from a vessel h and to transfer it to the rollers f, e and b
and 61 respectively, the arrangement being such that scrapers or doctors e¹ remove
the colour in excess and other unevennesses from the roller e. In order to enable
the printing rollers b, 61 to be readily cleaned, the slide i upon which the trans-
ferring rollers e and f are mounted, is adapted to be pushed out forwards entirely
away from the printing rollers b, b¹ when the pressure sorew-holders k (which
are for this purpose arranged to move vertically in slots) are moved down com-
pletely. In order to produce a faultlessly clear and sharp design without stripes
upon the stocking to be printed, it is absolutely necessary, as has been found by
experience that the stocking should be passed through the printing rollers with
exactly the same velocity with which the design of the printing rollers bb¹ rolls
over the stocking.

page_text: To produce this result the machine is provided with a special and automatically
operating feeding apparatus which is constructed as follows:-
A ring of teeth z rigidly connected to the lower printing roller b' acts when the
roller is rotated to move a toothed rack m which is guided in the frame a
and which carries at one end the stocking carrier k°. Upon the latter the stock-
ing to be printed and which is drawn on a piece of paste board is placed with
one end of the paste board and is held by means of a spring lever or other
clamping device. The stocking carrier is pivotted or hinged to the tooth rack m
and is kept in the horizontal carrying position by being supported, by means of
a roller provided on its rear side, against the guiding fillet o provided on the
frame a.
When the whole length of the stocking has passed through the print-
ing rollers b b the clamp and also a second clamp the object and operation
of which will be described hereinafter, and which holds the stocking by the toe
that passes last through the rollers, are disengaged and the tooth rack m is pushed
back into the initial position.
The essential characteristic of this automatic feeding apparatus consists first
in that the toothed rim z is arranged on the printing roller 6 in such a manner
that four to five teeth of the toothed rim roll upon the teeth rack m before that
part (bearing the design) of the rollers b' comes into operation, that is to say,
comes into contact with the stocking to be printed, and further, in that the
diameter of the pitch circle of the toothed wheel z is an exact tangent to the
horizontal central plane of the stocking to be printed, so that the stocking to he
printed meets the design (coated with colour) of the rollers b b with exactly the
same velocity as that with which the said design rolls over the two sides of the
stocking, so that by this means there is produced a perfectly sharp or clear
impression perfectly free, from stripes. If the stocking, whilst the printing
rollers bb are commencing to print, should stop, or should be fed with a smaller
or with a greater velocity to the rollers, the colour upon the design of the rollers bb
would become prematurely rubbed off and would cause a blurred impression. As
the whole periphery of the design on the rollers 6 6 rolls over the stocking to
be printed, there is provided a device (not specially shown on the drawing) for
the purpose of enabling the periphery of the design which is mounted on the
rollers 6 61 to be lengthened or shortened to suit the length of the stockings to
be printed by means of insertion pieces fixed in any suitable manner on the
periphery of the rollers b, b¹.
A slide u, guided in the frame a and provided with the hinged parts y, and y
(see Figure 3) holds the stocking firmly at the toe by means of the aforementioned
spring lever p. The slide u sliding loosely in the frame a is being constantly
drawn backward by means of a weight s.
In order that the stocking held in the toe holder shall not be stretched by the
weights before the printing rollers come in contact with the stocking, and so as
to prevent the stocking from becoming shifted in consequence of any yielding
of the spring lever 1 of the feeding apparatus, which would at once cause
the design to appear blurred on the stocking, the weights is kept out of operation
by means of the support t until the printing roller b, b¹, have gripped the stocking.
This device is still capable of improvement for certain purposes because it does
not allow of a continuous working, and because the apparatus for feeding the
goods consisting substantially of the tooth rack m, and the clamping device 7,
must be returned into the position of rest each time at the termination of one
printing operation. Figures 4 to 8 illustrate an apparatus which serves to illus-
trate the further development of the main idea carried out in the first form of
construction into a continuous and purely mechanical operation.
The feeding
apparatus which forms a fixed part of the machine in the first arrangement, is
in this case replaced by a suitably removable part which is shown on the frame A
illustrated in Figure 8. As a mechanical equivalent for the tooth rack m there
is employed in this case an endless chain B upon which are pins E. The chain

page_text: .
chain wheels C arranged at the front and rear ends of the machine,
and by means of the pins E carries the frame A along with exactly the same
speed as that with which the periphery of the printing rollers b, b', rolls over
the goods, that is to say, feeds them with this speed to the rollers, through the
5 rollers, and away from the rollers. The movement of the feed chain B is effected
by means of two rings of teeth D arranged on both sides of the lower or upper
printing rollers b, b.
With the object of rendering the machine as efficient as possible, it is built
of sufficient length to allow of a
() in them to be placed at one time upon the feed chain B in front of the printing
large number of frames having stockings fixed
rollers 6, 61, and the pins E upon the said chain are arranged in such a manner
that the printing rollers commence to print each stocking at one and the same
place.
The frame A (see Figures 6 and 8) is built in a compact and light manner of
iron and is provided with two holders F, F1 (see Figures 5, 6 and 8) which are
capable of being adjusted at a distance apart depending on the length of the
stockings to be printed; these holders have covers or lids J pivotted in hinges H
which can be turned up for the purpose of readily inserting the stockings to be
printed and which when turned down are kept closed by means of a bolt L that
is always pressed forwards by a spring K, so that the said bolt takes behind a
nose M fixed to F as shown in Figures 5 and 6. For the purpose of exactly
registering the printing, there is provided on each holder F, FI an outwardly
movable stop G (see Figures 5 and 6) against which the stocking is firmly laid
when it is clamped in the apparatus. Further the one holder Fi is adapted to
be readily movable in a forked slot S situated in the centre of the frame so that
the said holder can be readily adjusted by means of thumb screws T for different
lengths of stockings, whilst the other holder F can be adjusted by means of
screw's N and thumb nuts U in the lateral part of the frame.
If, as shown in Figure 7 of the drawings, a number of stockings clamped side
by side are to be printed simultaneously by means of a number of pairs of
rollers b, 6 arranged side by side, the frame A is made correspondingly wide and
is provided with a number of stops G for getting the register. The stockings
when clamped in are held either by means of a common cover J (see Figure 5)
or by means of a separate cover J for each stocking. Figure 4 shows in dotted
ines the arrangement of a second pair of rollers behind the first pair of rollers,
his being employed in case it is desired to print in several colours with the new
achine. This is of particular importance for printing handkerchiefs.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
on and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
aim is:-
:-
(1) A machine for printing on both sides of stockings, handkerchiefs and
milar goods, the arrangement being such that two printing rollers are arranged
revolve in a constrained or positive manner in relation to a feeding device so
at the article to be printed when fed by means of the feeding device is carried
ong before entering the rollers, during its passage through the rollers, and after
aving the rollers, at a speed which is equal to the peripheral velocity of the
inting rollers substantially as set forth.
(2) A form of construction of a machine specified in claim 1, such that one
the printing rollers b, b', which is formed with an interruption of the design is
ovided with a toothed rim z which engages with the tooth rack m (that serves
feed the article to be printed) earlier, than the commencement of the printing
1 releases it later than the end of the printing, substantially as set forth.
3) A form of construction of the machine specified in Claim 1, for continuous
king, such that endless chains B are employed to feed or guide the article to
printed which is held in frames A, the said chains being arranged if desired

page_text: side by side in a number of compartments or sets for the purpose of printing
several articles simultaneously, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 23rd day of January 1897.
ROBERT E. PHILLIPS Assoc. M. Inst. C.E., M. I. Mech. E.
Consulting Engineer & Patent Agent
70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C. Associate Agent.