IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY FOR PRINTING FABRICS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Pierre Lehugeur, Mechanic, and Michel
Uttinger, Gentleman, both of St. Denis, near Paris, in the Empire of
France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY
FOR PRINTING FABRICS."
Sealed the 6th July 1855, and dated the 10th January 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Pierre Lehugeur
and Michel Uttinger at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 10th January 1855.
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 machinery for printing fabrics 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 work, and to print with greater regularity.
The color block or table is covered with a cloth of some air-tight and
waterproof material, and the required elasticity is imparted to it by means of

page_text: a collapsible vessel, made of india-rubber or other suitable material provided
with a counterbalance weight, which collapsible-vessel is filled with water or
other liquid, and will therefore by means of its counterbalance weight keep the
printing cloth at the required. tension. The color is placed in a trough or
reservoir at one end of the cloth, and this latter is supplied with color by means
of a horizontal brush or other suitable contrivance, which extends across the
table, and is worked backwards and forwards from the color trough over the
color cloth by means of a lever, so that at each stroke of the lever, fresh color
will be supplied from the trough or reservoir at the end, the apparatus being
so arranged that the cloth and the color which is contained in the reservoir or
basin at the end 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-trough.or. reservoir.moved forward by a single stroke
of the lever, so as to close the color reservoir, and thus prevent the color from
drying by, evaporation or exposure to the air, as is the case, 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.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Pierre Lehugeur and Michel Uttinger in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 10th July 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, LOUIS
PIERRE LEHUGEUR, Mechanic, and MICHEL. UTTINGER, Gentleman, both of
Saint Denis, near Paris, in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Louis Pierre Lehugeur and Michel Uttinger, Her special license
that we, , the said Louis Pierre Lehugeur and Michel Uttinger, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Louis Pierre
Lebugeur and Michel Uttinger, our 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 "IM-

page_text: PROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY FOR PRINTING FABRICS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Louis Pierre Lehugeur and Michel
Uttinger, by "an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or under
the band and seal of one of us, 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.
r
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Michel Uttinger (on behalf of: myself and
of the said Louis Pierre Lehugeur) do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
The object of these "Improvements applicable to Machinery for Printing
Fabrics" is, first, to obtain greater regularity and uniformity in the supply of
color than can be attained by the ordinary machinery; and, second, to obviate
the necessity of employing so many children as are usually employed to assist
in the operation of 'printing fabrics, by which means the printer is enabled
to effect a considerable economy in work, and to print with greater regularity.
The machine forming the subject of this Invention being separate from the
printing press, it will be seen that our improvements are applicable to any
machinery for block printing fabrics.
The color block or table is covered with a cloth of some air-tight and water-
proof material, and the required elasticity is imparted to it by means of a
collapsible vessel made of india-rubber or other suitable material provided with
a counterbalance weight, which collapsible vessel is filled with water or other
liquid, and will therefore by means of its counterbalance weight keep the
printing cloth at the required tension. The color is placed in a trough or
reservoir at one end of the cloth, and this latter is supplied with color by means
of a horizontal brush or other suitable contrivance, which extends across the
table, and is worked backwards and forwards from the color trough over the
color cloth by means of a lever, so that at each stroke of the lever fresh color
will be supplied from the trough or reservoir at the end, the apparatus being
so arranged that the cloth and the color which is contained in the reservoir or
basin at the end 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 trough or reservoir' moved forward by a single.

page_text: stroke of the lever, so as to close the color reservoir, and thus prevent the color
from drying by evaporation or exposure to the air, as is the case in the ordinary
method of working, in which the color is found to dry in the brushes on the
printing frame or sieve and in the vessels.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of
our improved machinery for printing fabrics, and Fig. 2 is a plan or bird's-eye
view of the same, as seen from above; a, a, is the color table, consisting of a
vessel formed of a metal plate or wooden bottom a*, and having at its sides
supporting ribs so as to leave an empty space inside it. This plate or table is
covered with a waterproof cloth c, by which it is hermetically closed, and at
its under part is a hole about five inches in diameter, to which is adapted a
wooden ring for the reception of a collapsible vessel or diaphragm A, A, of
india-rubber cloth or other impervious material. This collapsible vessel or
diaphragm is fitted water-tight to the aperture under the table, and is filled
with water by means of a pipe fitted at one of its corners or at any con-
venient part; the water passage is closed directly the collapsible vessel A is
full, and care should be taken to exclude the air from the inside of the table.
To the under side of the collapsible vessel A, A, is adapted a weighted lever a',
having its fulcrum and rocking upon a knife edge B. This weighted lever acts
in such a manner that when the printer presses the printing block upon the
table, in order to take up color therefrom, the cloth thereon will yield and drive
the water down into the collapsible vessel A, and the weighted lever will also
yield to the pressure. On the printer removing the block from the color cloth,
the weighted lever a¹ will again act upon the collapsible vessel A, and maintain
the color cloth at the required degree of tension. Any requisite amount of
tension may be obtained by shifting the weight along the lever a', towards or
from the fulcrum B; is the color trough, and c the cloth for receiving and
supplying the color as shewn by the red lines; it is fixed at one end to the color
trough, and at the other end to a metal rod d; the cloth is held at tension by
means of india-rubber springs e, attached by means of rings at one end to the
rod d, and at the other end to the framing; f, f, are side standards at each
side of the framing, upon which are mounted in bearings two double grooved
pullies g, g, and two single grooved pullies h, h, (see Fig. 2) which carry end-
less bands or cords. The cord or band in the groove i of the pullies 9, 9.
serves to move the scraper or color pad n, and it is united in the middle by a
coupling through which passes the lever (Fig. 1), which is screwed to the
framing below at k; l, m, are two other couplings on the two cords or bands
carried by the pulley 7 and the other groove h of the pulley g, and which

page_text: serve to operate the scraper or pad n, which serves to draw the color from the
color trough, so that by moving the lever k to the right or left, the scraper n
will be drawn from one end of the color cloth to the other as far as the stop o
on one side, and a similar stop p on the other; o is a small iron band fixed
upon the side standard f, provided at its extremity with an adjusting screw,
for the purpose of regulating the depth to which the scraper or supply pad n
is to be immersed in the color trough b; p, p, are stops adapted to the side
framing; 7 are small tappets mounted at the side, so that when the scraper
or pad n leaves the color trough and pushes before it a mass of color, it may
pass over the tappet or doctor, and leave the supply of color on the cloth, and
be arrested after passing over the doctor by the stop p. The scrapers or pad n
on returning will cause the tappet to rock, and will carry back the supply of
color to the color trough b; r is a small wedge inserted between the color
trough and the framing 1, and this wedge on being driven in will raise the
color trough, and allow of the color being used to the last; s is a small
wooden rod adapted to the color cloth for the purpose of retaining the color
when the scraper or pad n passes over the tappet q to the stop p. The scraper
or color pad n is made of wood, and covered with waxed cloth or oil cloths,
which will allow of its being employed for different colors. It may, however,
be made of metal, and varies in breadth according to the quantity of color it is
required to supply, as the narrower it is, the less color it will carry on to the
cloth. We usually construct three of them of different thicknesses, and load.
them with lead inside in order to give them greater weight. The color cloths
may be made of any dimensions, according to the nature of the work for
which they are intended to be employed.
Our improved printing apparatus as above described possesses several advan-
tages over the ordinary machinery, viz, it allows of the printing operation
being performed with much greater regularity, and does away with the necessity
for employing the child who is usually required to assist the printer in supply-
ing the color. Hitherto in an establishment employing fifty printers, fifty
children were required, whereas according to our improved plan the same
work is performed by five or six young people of fifteen years of age, who can
attend to several machines, thus obviating the necessity of employing children
of tender years for this purpose.
Another advantage attending the employment of our improved apparatus is,
that it considerably economizes color, as according to the ordinary method of
working there is usually a loss of about ten per cent. of color on the color
cloths, in the brushes, and in the color troughs. By our improved apparatus

page_text: this loss is obviated, as the color vessels and brushes are done away with,
which alone causes considerable economy. Thus, in an establishment employ-
ing fifty printers, each printer requires five or six different colors, according to
the complexity of his design, which necessitates from 'two hundred to two
hundred and fifty vessels and as many brushes, whereas according to our
improved plan only five or six vessels are requisite for the fifty workmen, which
economizes the color that would be daily wasted by drying in two hundred
and fifty vessels and as many brushes. This cannot, occur in our improved
arrangement; as the color is enclosed in a trough attached to the color cloth, so
that the heat and air cannot act thereon, and the color is always kept fresh
and moist.
An economy of one hundred per cent. in prime cost is moreover effected by
the employment of our improved printing cloths, which we make of cotton
instead of woollen cloth as usual, by which means a much neater impression
is obtained. Woollen cloths may, however, be employed for certain descrip-
tions of colors. Our improved color cloths are prepared in such a manner that
the color cannot pass 'through them, as is the case with the ordinary blankets,
in which all the color that passes through them is wasted, as they are laid
upon an oil cloth which is never sufficiently clean to allow of its being used.
By our improved arrangement the false color vessel is also done away with;
which is employed by the 'printer for setting his color cloth, and is attended
with' trouble and expense from the necessity of employing oil cloths, and which
require to be frequently renewed in consequence of their being often torn and
injured by the children constantly washing them. According to our improved
plan, as the colors cannot pass through the color cloths, the surface of the
table is always clean and requires no attention.
In conclusion we would observe, that the advantages of our improvements
consist in doing away in many cases with the employment of children; in the
suppression of the brushes and color vessels and the false color; in preventing
the waste of color and in obtaining greater regularity and cleanliness in the
operation of printing
Having now described our Invention of Improvements applicable' to
Machinery for Printing Fabrics, and the means of carrying the same into
effect, what we claim as the Invention secured to us by Letters Patent as
aforesaid is,
Firstly, the 'general' arrangement, combination, and construction of parts
herein shewn and described, or any mere modification thereof whereby the
same results may be obtained, and particularly we claim the use of the color.

page_text: table, consisting of the vessel a, the colour trough b, and the waterproof colour
cloth c, and spring e. and the combination of these parts with the other parts
of the machine; we also claim the application to the vessel a of the collapsible
vessel A, or its equivalent, for the purposes herein set forth.
Secondly, we claim the use and application of the scraper or pad n, for
supplying colour from the colour trough, and also the means of operating the
same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michel Uttinger, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.