Improvements in Printing Patterns by Blocks on Floor-cloth, Linoleum, and similar Materials, and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Jan., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 20th Oct., 1890-Accepted, 6th Dec., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Printing Patterns by Blocks on Floor-cloth,
Linoleum, and similar Materials, and in Apparatus therefor.
ALBERT EDWARD APSEY 6 Windsor Terrace, Totterdown, Bristol, Mechanic
THOMAS FARNHAM APSEY, 6 Windsor Terrace Totterdown Bristol Manufacturer's
Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
---
This invention relates to an automatic traveling printing machine devised for
printing patterns in various colors on large surfaces of floorcloth linoleum and
similar materials by means of comparatively small blocks.
The blocks ordinarily in use in hand-printing may be employed in this machine.
The material to be operated on is printed in sections upon a table.
The aforesaid table is placed between two rails over which the machine is caused
to travel on wheels in a direction transverse to the length of the material to be printed.
The whole of the printing blocks necessary to produce a complete design or
pattern are placed side by side and close together in a frame in the machine.
The machine is placed at one end of the table and the machine is caused
to travel intermittently certain regular distances across the material in a direction
transverse to the length of the material being printed.
An impression of the blocks is produced upon the material after each forward
movement of the machine, several similar successive movements being required to
cover the section of the material being operated on.
The material is shifted farther over the table when the first section is printed over
and completed and another section is operated on in a similar manner as before
described.
The several mechanical arrangements in the machine namely the arrangement for
propelling the machine forward intermittently, the arrangement for impressing the
blocks upon the material and also the arrangement for feeding the blocks with coloring
matter are each worked in harmony with the other and are each driven from the same
shaft in the machine.
DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a front elevation showing the frame containing the blocks c 1. c2 c 3.
c4. c5 c6c7. also the mechanism by which they are impressed upon the material.
Figure 2 is a rear elevation showing the color troughs for supplying the pad-table
with coloring matter f1. f2f3. f4f5f6.
Figure 3. is an end elevation showing the mechanism by which the machine is
propelled upon the rails namely; the ratchet motion and z the pinion with internal
thread acting on the fixed leading screw a.
Figure 4 is a plan.
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PARTS REFERRED TO IN DRAWINGS.
A. Long fixed leading screw for propelling the machine.
B. Screw by which the blocks are raised and lowered.
C1 C2 &c. Block frame showing position of blocks upon table.
D1 D1. Racks driving pinion with screw and block frame attached.
E. Table upon which material is printed.
f1f2 &c. Troughs for different coloring materials.
g1. 92. Cranks driving rack motion.
hh. Guides for steadying block frame.
i. Main shaft of the machine.
J. Ratchet motion.
K Chain driving motion of the nad-table

page_text: M. Pad-table for supplying coloring matter to the blocks.
N. Framework of machine.
O. Wheels upon which machine is mounted.
P. Rod connecting crank with pad-table.
Crank motion for pad-table.
K. Cam for opening valves of troughs.
S. Springs for shutting valves of troughs.
t. Brackets upon which leading screw A. is fixed.
U. Shaft driving machine.
V. Shifting pulley upon driving shaft.
W. Pulleys for reverse motion of the machine.
X. Driving belt for reverse motion of machine.
Y. Shoots through which coloring matter is supplied to the pad-table.
Z. Pinion with internal thread acting upon fixed leading screw of the machine.
Machines have been devised for the printing of floorcloth linoleum and similar
materials which have been mounted on wheels for the purpose of moving them from
place to place merely for purposes of convenience. The movement of these machines
from place to place being effected by an external application of power not being a
part of the mechanical forces of the machines.
In the machine which is the subject of our invention a traveling motion of the
machine bodily is absolutely indespensible to its operations as a floorcloth and linoleum
printing machine.
This bodily motion of the machine is effected by means of mechanism which is a
part of the machine.
This aforesaid mechanism acts in harmony with the other operations of the
machine.
The mode of operation in printing floorcloth linoleum and similar materials in
accordance with our invention is as follows.
The material to be printed is rolled upon a roller with a spindle at each end. It is
then placed upon suitable bearings fixed either upon or close to a strong table e.
This table being of sufficient length to take the width of the material to be printed
upon it and of sufficient width to take the length of an ordinary block used in floor-
cloth printing.
The aforesaid table is placed between two rails over which the machine is caused
to travel on wheels o in a direction transverse to the length of the material to be
printed.
The whole of the blocks necessary to the complete production of a design or
pattern are placed side by side and close together in a frame in the machine (see
Fig. 1) showing frame with blocks c 1. c 2. c3. c 4. c 5. c 6. c 7.
There is a practice by some of moving the blocks in carriers over the cloth or
material to be printed.
Our method is to move the whole machine bodily across the surface of the
material to be printed the blocks being carried by the machine as it travels.
A section of the material to be printed is placed upon the table.
The machine is placed at one end of the table and is set in motion and is caused to
travel a certain distance towards the opposite margin of the material a distance equal
to the width of one block.
An impression of one of the blocks is then caused upon the material by a down-
ward motion given to the frame containing the printing blocks.
The blocks are then raised from off the material and the machine is caused to
travel again in the same direction an equal distance as before.
Another downward motion of the frame containing the blocks is then caused and
the impression of two blocks is given to the material.
Another forward motion of the machine is then caused and another downward
motion of the frame containing the blocks produces an impression of three blocks
upon the material and so on. Each successive traveling motion of the machine

page_text: bringing one after the other the whole of the blocks over the surface of the material
until the last block in the machine has been impressed upon the opposite margin to
that upon which the machine began to operate.
The machine is then driven back to its former starting point.
The printed section of the material is pulled farther over the table and another
section is brought upon it. The foregoing operations being repeated as often as is
necessary according to the length of the material under operation.
The intermittent movements of the machine across the material are caused by
means of gearing acting upon a long, screw a placed parallel with the length of the
machine.
1
This said screw is fixed in brackets & fastened to the floor of the building.
This said screw is acted upon by means of pinion which has an internal thread of
the same pitch as the said screw.
The pinion is driven by gearing which is driven by a pawl and ratchet motion j
Fig. 3.
This mechanism causes the machine to move a certain regular distance and effects
an easy bodily propulsion of the machine.
The process of moving the frame containing the blocks upwards and downwards to
and from the material being operated on is caused by means of an ordinary motion of
the rack principle-thus two racks d 1. and d2. are driven by cranks g1 and 92
these cranks being driven by bevel wheels fixed upon the main shaft of the
machine.
b
Each of these racks drive at different intervals a pinion with an internal thread.
There is a screw & working in this internal thread and to this screw is attached the
frame containing the blocks.
The movements of this aforesaid pinion moves the screw together with the frame
containing the blocks up and down.
The two racks are required so that one rack gives the motion by which the blocks
are fed with the paint or coloring matter and the other rack gives the motion by
which the blocks are impressed upon the material.
The method by which the blocks are fed with paint or coloring matter is by means
of a pad-table m which is supplied with coloring matter from the troughs f1 f2 f3
f4f5f6 fixed at the back of the machine.
These troughs have valves in them opening into shoots, these valves are opened by
means of cam r. and shut by means of a spring s.
The pad-table is brought under the shoots of the troughs and is supplied from the
shoots with the different colors necessary to the pattern being printed.
The pad-table is then carried in under the blocks which are impressed upon it and
receive thereby the necessary supply of coloring material.
The motion by which the pad-table is carried inwards and outwards is caused by
means of a crank p driven by a chain k from the main shaft of the machine.
The whole machine is driven by a pulley v on a shaft working in bearings fixed in
the roof of the building.
This aforesaid shaft which is twice the length of the machine is provided with a
key-bed along the whole length of it.
The aforesaid pulley has a key fitted to it which works upon the said key-bed.
As the machine by its own motions is caused to travel along the rails the pulley
is moved along the shaft by the belt which drives the main shaft of the machine.
Each novelty in the machine before described is stated as follows.
1st. The machine is an automatic traveling printing machine traveling on wheels
upon rails.
2nd. The machine is propelled along the rails by means of a motion caused by its
own mechanism acting on a long fixed screw placed parallel to the machine.
3rd. All the blocks which are necessary to the production of a floorcloth design or
pattern are applied to the material together side by side in a frame.
4th. The blocks are impressed upon the material being printed by means of a

page_text: rack-motion moving a screw with the frame containing the blocks attached upwards
and downwards
ALBERT EDWARD APSEY.
THOMAS FARNHAM APSEY.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Printing Patterns by Blocks on Floor-cloth,
Linoleum, and similar Materials, and in Apparatus therefor.
ALBERT EDWARD APSEY 6 Windsor Terrace Totterdown Bristol Mechanic
THOMAS FARNHAM APSEY 6 Windsor Terrace Totterdown Bristol Manufacturer's
Clerk do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention relates to an automatic travelling printing machine devised for
printing patterns in various colors on large surfaces of floorcloth linoleum and similar
inaterials by means of comparatively small blocks.
The blocks ordinarily in use in hand printing may be employed in this machine.
The material to be operated on is printed in sections upon a table. The aforesaid
table is placed between two rails over which the machine is caused to travel on wheels
in a direction transverse to the length of the material to be printed.
The whole of the blocks necessary to produce a complete design or pattern are
placed side by side and close together or (when required certain regular distances
apart) in a frame in the machine.
The machine is placed at one end of the table and the machine is caused to travel
intermittently certain regular distances across the material in a direction transverse to
the length of the material.
An impression of the blocks is produced upon the material after each forward
movement of the machine along the rails, several similar successive movements
being required to cover the section of the material being operated on.
When one section is printed it is then shifted forward and another section is printed
in a similar manner.
The several mechanical arrangements in the machine namely, the arrangement for
propelling the machine along the rails-the arrangement for impressing the printing
blocks upon the material-and also the arrangement for feeding the said blocks with
coloring matter are each worked in harmony with the other and are each driven from
the same shaft in the machine.
Machines have been devised for the printing of floorcloth linoleum and similar
materials which have been mounted on wheels for the purpose of moving them from
place to place merely for purposes of convenience. The movement of these machines
from place to place being effected by an external application of power not being a
part of the mechanical forces of the machines.
In the machine which is the subject of our invention a travelling motion of the
machine bodily is absolutely indispensible to its operations as a floorcloth and linoleum
printing machine.
This bodily motion of the machine is effected by means of mechanism which is a
part of the machine and acts in harmony with the other operations of the machine.
The mode of operation in printing floorcloth linoleum and similar materials in
accordance with our invention is as follows.
The material to be printed is as is customary rolled upon a roller with a spindle at
each end. It is then placed upon suitable bearings fixed either upon or close to a
strong table E. This table being of sufficient length to take the width of the material
to be printed upon it and of sufficient width to take the length of an ordinary printing
block such as is used in floorcloth printing by hand.
The aforesaid table is placed between two rails over which the machine is caused to

page_text: Gravel on wheels in a direction transversely to the length of the material to be
printed.
The whole of the printing blocks necessary to the complete production of a design
or pattern are placed side by side and close together or when required certain regular
5 distances apart in a frame in the machine see Fig. 1 showing frame with printing
blocks c 1 c2 etc.
There is a practice by some of moving the printing blocks in carriers over the cloth
or material to be printed.
Our method is to move the whole machine bodily across the surface of the material
to be printed the blocks being carried by the machine as it travels.
A section of the material to be printed is placed upon the table.
The machine is placed at one end of the table and is set in motion and is caused to
travel a certain distance towards the opposite margin of the material-a distance equal
to the width of one block.
An impression of one of the blocks is then caused upon the material by a downward
motion given to the frame containing the printing blocks.
The blocks are then raised and the machine is caused to travel again in the same
direction an equal distance as before. Another downward movement of the frame
containing the printing blocks is then caused and the impression of two blocks is this
time given to the material.
Another forward motion of the machine is then caused and another downward
motion of the frame containing the printing blocks produces an impression this time
of three blocks and so on. Each successive travelling motion of the machine bringing
one after the other the whole of the blocks in the frame over the surface of the
material until the last block in the set has impressed itself upon each space of the
material previously covered by the blocks in front of it and a complete pattern has
been produced and reproduced over the whole of the section of the material under
operation.
The machine is then driven back to its former starting point.
The printed section of the material is pulled farther over the table and another
section is brought upon it. The foregoing operations being repeated as often as is
necessary according to the length of the material to be printed.
The intermittent movements of the machine across the material are caused by
gearing acting on a long screw a placed parallel with the length of the machine.
The screw a works in brackets t fastened to the floor of the building and it is also
attached to the machine by a connection formed by passing it through two
nuts a 1 a 2 of the same pitch as the screw these nuts being fixed on the machine.
The screw a has a key-bed cut in it and it is acted upon by a pinion which has a
ey fitted to it and works in the aforesaid key-bed.
uitable worm gearing which is driven by a pawl and ratchet motion from the main
The pinion is driven by
haft of the machine.
=
By these means a certain number of revolutions are given to the screw at intervals
which causes the machine to travel a certain regular distance intermittently.
When preferred the machine may be propelled intermittently along the rails
dependently of the before mentioned gearing namely by revolving the screw a by a
ever arrangement manually.
The process of moving the frame containing the printing blocks upwards and down-
ards may be effected by a rack motion acting on a pinion with an internal thread
ith a screw working in it to which the block frame is attached but we prefer a
mpler method as shown in Figure 1 namely the following arrangement.
The block frame is suspended from a cross-bar B by rods H spiral springs d3 d4
e placed on these rods and under the cross-bar B.
Two sets of canis G3, G4, G5, G6, of different lengths of stroke are fixed upon
e main shaft of the machine and these two sets of cams press down the cross-bar
ernately the one set pressing down the printing blocks upon the material and the
her set pressing down the printing blocks upon the pad-table m.

page_text: The printing blocks are raised to their original position by the springs d 3. d4,
pressing the cross-bar B. B. upwards after each motion of the cams G.
The method by which the blocks are fed with paint or coloring matter is as
follows.
The pad-table m is supplied with coloring matter from troughs fixed at the back of
the machine f1, ƒ 2, ƒ 3, ƒ 4, ƒ 5, ƒ6, ƒ7.
The troughs have valves in them opening into shoots which are opened by means
of a cam . and shut by means of a spring s.
The pad-table is brought under the troughs and is supplied from the shoots with
the different colors necessary to the pattern being printed.
The pad-table is then carried in under the printing blocks which are impressed
upon it as before stated by the cams G and receive thereby the necessary supply of
coloring material.
The motion by which the pad-table is carried inwards and outwards is by means of
a crank p driven by a chain K from the main shaft of the machine or other suitable
motion.
The whole machine is driven by a pulley v on a shaft working in bearings fixed in
the roof of the building.
The aforesaid shaft is required to be twice the length of the machine and is provided
with a key-bed along it the whole length.
The aforesaid pulley v has a key fitted to it which works upon the said key-bed, and
as the machine by its own motions is caused to travel along the rails the pulley is
moved along the shaft by the belt L which drives the main shaft of the machine.
Figure 1 is a front elevation showing the frame containing the printing blocks c1
c3, c4, c 5, c6, c7, also the mechanism by which the blocks are impressed upon t
material.
Figure 2 is a rear clevation showing the color troughs f1f2f3f4 ƒ 5 ƒ 6 ƒ 7.
Figura 3 is an end elevation showing the mechanism by which the machine
propelled along the rails.
Figure 4 is a plan..
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PARTS OF MACHINE.
A. Long leading screw of the machine.
A1 A 2. Nuts by which the leading screw A is attached to the machine.
B. Cross-bar from which block frame is suspended.
C1 C2 etc. Block frame showing position of blocks upon table E.
d3. d4. Springs by which the upward motion is given to the block frame.
E. Table upon which the material is printed.
f1f2 etc. Troughs for different colors for feeding printing blocks.
G3. G 4. G 5. G 6. Two sets of cams for pressing down printing block frame.
H. Rods attached to printing block frame and cross-bar B B.
i. Main shaft of the machine.
J. Ratchet motion.
K. Chain driving of pad-table.
L. Belt driving the main shaft of the machine.
M. Pad-table.
N. Frame of machine.
0. Wheels upon which machine is mounted.
P. Rod connecting crank with pad-table.
R. Cam for opening valves of troughs.
S. Springs for shutting valves of troughs.
T. Brackets upon which leading screw a works.

page_text: pancy upon driving shaft.
W. Pulleys for reverse motion of machine.
X. Driving belt for reverse motion of machine.
Y. Shoots through which coloring matter is supplied to pad table.
Z. Pinion acting on the leading screw of the machine.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
1. The general design and construction of a block printing machine as sub-
stantially before described devised for printing floorcloth linoleum and similar
materials.
This machine consists of mechanical arrangements for feeding the printing blocks
with ink or coloring matter and for impressing the printing blocks upon the material
to be printed. The aforesaid mechanical arrangements being worked in conjunction
with mechanism for causing an intermittent bodily motion of the machine over the
material being operated on.
This mechanism for causing the intermittent bodily motion consists of a long
screw attached to the framework of the machine to which screw a certain number of
revolutions are given at regular intervals.
2. A travelling block printing machine.
3. An improved method of printing floorcloth linoleum and similar materials in
sections by means of a block printing machine devised to travel bodily over the material
to be printed.
A section of the material to be printed is placed upon a table. The machine is
placed at one end of the table and is caused to impress the printing blocks upon the
material at intervals.
The machine is caused to advance bodily in a direction transversly to the length of
the material after each impression of the printing blocks a distance equal to the width
of one printing block. Thus one printing block after the other is caused to print
he surface of the material previously impressed by the block or blocks in advance
of it.
The intermittent advances of the machine across the material being continued until
ach printing block in the set has been impressed upon the material a sufficient
umber of times to produce and reproduce a complete design or pattern upon the
whole section of the material being operated on.
ALBERT EDWARD APSEY.
THOMAS FARNHAM APSEY.