IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CYLINDERS FOR CONTAINING AND DISTRIBUTING COLOUR, INX, OR FLUID, IN THE COMBINATION OF THE SAME WITH A COMPOSITION ROLLER OR ROLLERS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREWITH
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gough, of Kirby Street, Hatton Garden, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF CYLINDERS FOR CONTAINING AND DISTRIBUTING COLOUR,
INX, OR FLUID, IN THE COMBINATION OF THE SAME WITH A COMPOSITION ROLLER
OR ROLLERS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREWITH."
Scaled the 20th August 1869, and dated the 4th March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gough at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th March 1869.
I, JOHN GOUGH, of Kirby Street, Hatton Garden, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CYLINDERS FOR CONTAINING AND DIS-
TRIBUTING COLOUR, INK, OR FLUID, IN THE COMBINATION OF THE SAME WITH A
COMPOSITION ROLLER OR ROLLERS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
The main feature of my Invention is the construction and employment

page_text: for printing from, with the intervention of a composition roller or
rollers.
The cylinder is constructed as follows:-I cast or otherwise form a
drum or cylinder of metal or other material perforated and smooth on
the inside, or with a series of longitudinal ribs or fillets on the inside, or
their equivalents. The outside of the cylinder is composed of a series
of V or other shaped rings or circular projections, or a spiral thread of
corresponding shape. One end of the cylinder is preferably made in a
piece with it, the other end being formed of a plug or cap, or both ends
may be open, and both fitted with plugs or caps. Over the V-shaped
rings I fit a tube or tubes of wire gauze, or a perforated tube which
touches each. of the rings or thread, as the case may be, so that they
form bearings at intervals for the wire gauze. This tube may be knitted
or otherwise manufactured on a circular frame, or two edges of a sheet
of woven gauze can be united in any suitable manner. The ends of the
tube may be soldered on to the cylinder, or a spring or elastic band ring
placed on them, and pinched up by a tightening screw or otherwise. Or
the cylinders may be constructed in sections or parts so as to be slipped
into the tube of wire gauze without destroying its shape or contour; a
slightly tapered end is then screwed in the open end or ends of the
cylinder in order to expand the same and hold the tube thereon. The
colour, ink, or fluid to be distributed is placed inside the cylinder
previous to inserting the end plug or cap. Journals are formed on the
cylinder ends by which it is supported in bearings in the machine or
apparatus in which it may be placed. When the cylinder is employed
in presses or machines as ordinarily employed for printing from type,
plates, blocks, or stones, I mount it above or at the side of a composition
or other roller or rollers of a flexible nature. When the machine is at
work the rotation of the composition or other roller imparts a rotating
motion to the cylinder containing the colour, ink, or fluid; the pressure
of the flexible roller against the surface of the cylinder sucks or draws
the colour or ink through the meshes of the wire gauze from the inside
in sufficient quantities to ink or colour the surface of the material, type,

page_text: or other printing medium. The cylinder may be divided into compart-
ments, so that various colours may be employed and distributed at the
same time. The flow of the colour, ink, or fluid is regulated by the
degree of pressure exerted upon the cylinder. My ink, colour, or fluid
cylinder and roller may be placed in any position above or below the
surface or other printing medium to be operated upon, whereby great
economy of the space is effected. When the cylinder is employed
without the intervention of a composition roller I cover it with a porous
or saturable material. In the case of ordinary printing machines the
usual inking table, ink or colour trough, ductor and distributing rollers
are dispensed with. By this arrangement the machine can be made
much shorter in length, and, as above mentioned, of fewer parts.
From the foregoing description it is evident that no special construction
of machine or apparatus can be described, as it would vary according to
the position occupied by the cylinder or cylinders.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Gough in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GOUGH, of Kirby Street, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said John Gough, Her special
licence that I, the said John Gough, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Gough, 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 CYLINDERS FOR CONTAINING AND DISTRIBUTING COLOUR, INK,
OR FLUID, IN THE COMBINATION OF THE SAME WITH A COMPOSITION ROLLER OR

page_text: ROLLERS, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREWITH," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Gough, my exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their bands and seals, 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
Scal 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 Gough, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The main feature of my Invention is the construction and employment
of a cylinder or cylinders in combination with a composition or other
roller or rollers, whereby a uniform distribution of colour, ink, or fluid
is maintained, and in the construction of the machinery or apparatus in
which the cylinder is mounted. The cylinders can be employed for
spreading or distributing colour, ink, or fluid direct on the surface of
paper, fabrics, and other materials, or on types, stones, blocks, or plates
for printing from, with the intervention of a composition roller or
rollers.
The cylinder is constructed as follows:-I cast or otherwise form a
drum or cylinder of metal or other material perforated and smooth on
the inside, or with a series of longitudinal ribs or fillets on the inside, or
their equivalents. The outside of the cylinder is composed of a series
of V or other shaped rings or circular projections, or a spiral thread of
corresponding shape. One end of the cylinder is preferably made in a
piece with it, the other end being formed of a plug or cap, or both ends
may be open, and both fitted with plugs or caps. Over the V-shaped
rings I fit a tube or tubes of wire gauze, or a perforated tube which
touches each of the rings or thread, as the case may be, so that they
form bearings at intervals for the wire gauze or tube. This tube may bo
knitted or otherwise manufactured on a circular frame, or two edges of
a sheet of woven gauze can be united in any suitable manner. The ends
of the tube may be soldered on to the cylinder, or a spring or clastic
band ring placed on them, and pinched up by a tightening screw or
otherwise. Or the cylinders may be constructed in sections or parts so

page_text: "
as to be slipped into the tube of wire gauze without destroying its shape
or contour; a slightly tapered end is then screwed in the open end or
ends of the cylinder in order to expand the same and hold the tube
thereon. The colour, ink, or fluid to be distributed is placed inside the
cylinder previous to inserting the end plug or cap. Journals are formed
on the cylinder ends by which it is supported in bearings in the machine
or apparatus in which it may be placed. When the cylinder is employed
in presses or machines as ordinarily employed for printing from type,
plates, blocks, or stones, I mount it above or at the side of a composition
or other roller or rollers of a flexible nature. When the machine is at
work the rotation of the composition or other roller imparts a rotating
motion to the cylinder containing the colour, ink, or fluid; the pressure
of the flexible roller against the surface of the cylinder sucks or draws
the colour or ink through the meshes of the wire gauze from the inside
in sufficient quantities to ink or colour the surface of the material, type,
or other printing medium. The cylinder may be divided into compart-
ments, so that various colours may be employed and distributed at the
same time. The flow of the colour, ink, or fluid is regulated by the
degree of pressure exerted upon the cylinder. My ink, colour, or fluid
cylinder and roller may be placed in any position above or below the
surface or other printing medium to be operated upon, whereby great
economy of the space is effected. When the cylinder is employed with-
out the intervention of a composition roller I cover it with a porous or
saturable material.
From the foregoing description it is evident that no special construction
of machine or apparatus can be described, as it would vary according to
the position occupied by the cylinder or cylinders.
The Invention will be fully understood by referring to the accom-
panying Drawings, of which Figure 1 is a part sectional view of a
cylinder for containing ink or fluid constructed according to the above
description.
a, a, is the series of ribs or fillets on the inside of the cylinder, which
hold in place the V-shaped rings or circular projections b, b, and which
are preferably made in a piece with it. The rings are in, such close
connection as to touch the outer covering of wire gauze c, c, and keep it
in a true cylindrical form without any chance of bellying or bulging,
and at the same time admit of the ink or fluid passing between them

page_text: in order to spread itself over the entire inner surface of the gauze
covering.
I prefer that there should be four ribs or fillets a, a, in the cylinder, as
shown in the transverse view in Figure 2, but it may be made with any
number of these ribs as found most advisable. The ends of the cylinder
are closed by screw plugs or end pieces d, d, made in a piece with the
journals e, e, upon which the cylinder is supported in bearings in the
machine or press. In some cases instead of making the projections
of a ring shape I make them of a spiral running from one end of the
cylinder to the other. The end plugs may be threaded and screwed into
or on to the ends of the cylinder, or they may be pierced with holes for
screws, or other modes of fastening may be adopted. In lieu of the wire
gauze I may employ a finely perforated tube, or a sheet of perforated
metal or wire gauze may be wound round the rings or the spiral, and
soldered or otherwise secured thereon. I also in some cases make the
cylinder of a tube containing perforations or holes for the ink or fluid to
pass through to the outer covering from the inside, as shown in the part
sectional view, Figure 3. The outer edges of the holes may be drilled or
otherwise formed to a fine edge, or left as seen in the Figure.
I do not confine myself to making a cylinder in-one piece, as herein-
before referred to, as the cylinder. may be composed of two, three, or
more longitudinal lengths, bound together into a cylindrical shape by
means of rings, plugs, or other contrivances, to cause the pieces to be
expanded and hold the outer covering firmly thereon. Or the portions
of the cylinder may be hinged and fastened, or the rings or the spiral
thread may be attached on a perforated tube or a frame in any suitable
manner.
In order to employ my ink-supplying cylinder in machines or presses
for printing from type, plates, blocks, stones, or other articles I use it in
connection with a composition roller or rollers of the ordinary construc-
tion in either of the modes shown in Figures 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, or in any
other mode as may be desired; or if it is advisable the gauze covering
may. .be enveloped in a porous material, and used direct upon
the
printing surface, without the intervention of a composition roller or
rollers, or in connection therewith if required. The passage of the ink
through the meshes of the wire gauze or finely perforated metal is
regulated by the degree of pressure with which the composition roller or
rollers are caused to bear. The greater the pressure the less will be the

page_text: suction produced by the rollers, and therefore a smaller supply of ink
will pass through the meshes. This pressure can be so adjusted that a
supply can be maintained for any style of printing; and when the
machine or press has stopped working the supply of ink ceases, thus
there is no waste of ink. In the case of ordinary printing machines the
usual inking table, ink or colour trough, ductor, and distributing rollers
are dispensed with. By this arrangement the machine can be made
much shorter in length and of fewer parts.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
Firstly. The construction of cylinders for containing and supplying
ink, fluid, or colour, in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The employment of ink or colour cylinders in combination
with one or more composition rollers for spreading ink, fluid, or colour
upon printing or other surfaces, in the several modes herein-before
described and represented in the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gough, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
JOHN GOUGH. (L.8.)