CERTAIN IN- PROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF COLOURING MATTER TO LINENS, COTTONS, SILKS, WOOLLENS, AND OTHER FABRICS, AND TO LINEN, COTTON, SILK, WOOLLEN, AND OTHER WEFT, AND ALSO IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THESE PURPOSES
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXIS
DELEMER, of Radcliffe, in the County of Lancaster, Civil Engineer and
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most-Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Sixth day of May, in the fourteenth year of Her reign, and in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Alexis Delemer,
my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that 1, the said Alexis Delemer, my exors, admors, and as-
signs, and such others as I, the said Alexis Delemer, my exors, adñiors, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times hereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of Her
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
Her Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in
Her Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IN-
PROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF COLOURING MATTER TO LINENS, COTTONS, SILKS,
WOOLLENS, AND OTHER FABRICS, AND TO LINEN, COTTON, SILK, WOOLLEN, AND OTHER
WEFT, AND ALSO IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THESE PURPOSES;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Alexis Delemer,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chan-
cery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said in part recited Letters Patent, as, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alexis Delemer, do hereby declare that the nature and particulars of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed and carried
into practical effect, are particularly set forth, described, and ascertained in
and by the following description or Specification, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of a mode or method of printing, staining, or orna-
menting woven fabrics and yarns in such a manner that the colours are softened
down by a gradual decrease of shade from the centre of the pattern to the edges
thereof, so that the darkest shade or tint being in the centre of the pattern
shall decrease gradually by progressive tints to the extremity of the pattern
where the colour or shade shall be lightest or palest, which I accomplish, first,
by damping the goods to be printed by the ordinary padding machine with
water, or, if a coloured ground is required, with a coloured liquid proper for
the purpose;
then by printing the required pattern on the fabric or yarn by
means of my machine of a peculiar construction, as herein-after described,
and also by taking up or winding on the said fabrics or yarns after being
printed, and whilst in a damp state, on a roller or cylinder, in such an even
and exact manner that every repeat of the pattern or repeat of part of
the pattern shall come over or upon its corresponding part or portion of
the pattern last wound on or taken up by the cylinder, and so continue at
every repeat of the pattern during the process of taking up or winding on
the fabric or yarn as it is printed, thus preventing-the-colours.from.marking
the white. Then by a second machine or apparatus I add pressure to the said
printed fabrics or yarns, whilst they are in a damp state and on the said
cylinder, so as to cause the colours to spread gradually from the centre of the
pattern to the edges or extremities thereof, and thus, produce the shaded effect
already expressed. After the goods being so printed and so pressed, I submit
them to a drying process as herein-after described, but do not confine myself to
the said process, as they may be dried in the usual manner by the ordinary
stove or other convenient methods; and when they are so dried, they may be
submitted to the ordinary process of steaming or dyeing. For the more clearly
understanding these my said improvements I will now proceed to explain the
construction and arrangements of my machinery-or-apparatus,-w which I will
describe seriatem, as number 1 machine, number 2 machine, and number 3

page_text: machine, and refer to the annexed two Sheets of Drawings, in which the same
letters of reference are used to refer to the same parts where different views or
diagrams are shewn. In number 1 Sheet, Figure 1 is a side elevation, Figure
2 an end elevation, and Figure 3 a plan of my number 1 machine; and
Figures 4, 5, and 6, views of the blocks and racks used in the said machine,
shewn in detail on an enlarged scale. In number 2 Sheet, Figure 1 is an end
view, and Figure 2 a front elevation of my number 2 machine, and Figures 3
and 4 are views of my apparatus for drying the goods after being printed. In
number 1 machine there is a bowl or cylinder at one end, and a hollow
cylinder at the other. On the cylinder or bowl marked number 1 is wound
the cloth or yarn to be printed, which may be made of wood, tin, or any
suitable metal or material, either solid or tubular; but the cylinder number 2
is hollow to contain steam when required, and therefore must be made steam-
tight, and of some metal suitable for the purpose; they are both loose on their
bearings for the purpose of being removed when necessary, and the shafts or
axes of number 2 cylinder are tubular to admit the steam. a represents a
cord and weight to keep the fabric or yarn properly extended during the
operation; c, pipes which fit conically into the tubular shaft or axes b, onc to
supply the cylinder with steam and the other to allow its exit; d, screws to
keep the said pipes tight in their places; e, steps or bearings on which the
said cylinder revolves, and which can be loosened or tightened by the screws f.
The fabric or yarn to be printed passes from the bowl or cylinder number 1
to the cylinder number 2, as shewn by the line 3, and in its progress receives the
impression or pattern from the printing blocks, which blocks, by the motion of
the machinery, as hercin-after explained, descends into the colour box, receives
the colouring matter, rises to the cloth or yarn, and then a plane surface, which
I call the furnisher, pressing the cloth or yarn on the blocks, gives the im-
pression or coloured pattern; then by the regularity of the taking-up motion
the fabric or yarn so printed is wound on the number 2 cylinder, and the
blocks and furnisher come again in contact with the next plain part in its
proper place and repeats the pattern. I may remark here, that in order to
keep the pattern perfect I attach several yards of plain cloth at each end of the
goods to be printed before commencing operations, and which, of course, is
taken up by the cylinders first and last. The shaft 5 conveys the first motion
or motive power to the machinery, on the end of which is fixed a handle or
winch, if it is to be turned by hand; but if by power, a pulley calculated to
make sixty revolutions per minute. On the other end of this shaft is fixed the
pinion 4, with sixteen teeth, which gears into the wheel 6, of sixty teeth, fixed
on the shaft 7, revolving on the steps or bearings g; h, a crank pin by which

page_text: the connecting rod i is attached to the wheel 6 and adjusted by the screws k.
The lever is jointed to the connecting rod at one end and revolves on the pin m;
n is a catch attached to the lever 1, which slides on the ratchet wheel 8,
and by means of the ratchets o, which are placed at equal distances, and the
series of change wheels, regulate the taking-up motion to correspond exactly
with the motion of the blocks and furnisher. The ratchet wheel 8 also turns
loose on the pin m, and to which is attached the wheel 9, with one hundred
and ninety-two teeth gearing into the wheel 10, of forty-eight teeth, being just
one fourth; 2 is a radial arm turning on the pin m, which bears the shaft p,
on which is fixed the wheel 10 at one end and the wheel 12 at the other. The
size of wheel 12 must be regulated by the size of the blocks, but must always
consist of such a number of teeth as will divide into the wheel 11 without a
remainder. t is an arm which is attached to the frame at w by a pin, and has
an adjusting screw 16 which keeps the radial arm in its place, but by loosening
the nut sufficient play will be obtained for the change of the wheels.
Number two cylinder is raised or lowered to the height or position required
by the screws and the worm wheel y, the said worm wheel receiving its
motion from the worm y¹ and the wheel handle y². The levers work on a
bar at one end fixed across the frame at r, the other end resting on the
eccentrics a', which are keyed on the shaft, so that by their revolutions they
raise and lower the guide bars to which the printing blocks are attached by
means of the double joints 6 and the pistons c' guided by the cases or boxes d¹.
The guide bars e¹ are supported by the piston c', and the boxes f slide in the
guide bars and are adjusted by the four set screws g', each of which regulates
the corresponding box; h¹ is a worm, and a rack to which the blocks aro
fastened by a screw and nut, and by which the blocks are raised or lowered
as required; is a worm turning the worm wheel ', fixed to the rack A, to
adjust the block to a perfect level; g₁ are screws which guide the boxes and
slide bars, as aforesaid, so as to move the blocks backwards and forwards. The
worm m' acting on the rack e' moves the blocks from side to side. n' are rods
which support the furnisher o³, and are moved up and down by beams, shown by
the dotted lines p'. These beams receive their motion from the lever, being
connected with it by a pivot at ¹, and transfer motion to the piston n' giving a
reverse motion to the pistons c', thus pressing the furnisher down upon the cloth
to obtain the pattern or impression from the blocks, as aforesaid. The furnisher
is a plane surface made of wood or other suitable material, and covered with
woollen cloth, with an outer covering of varnished cloth. The blocks may be
made of wood or some suitable material perforated so as to allow the surplus
colouring matter to escape from the surface and return to the colour box, only

page_text: leaving the necessary quantity, on the block to impart the pattern to the fabric
or yarn.
I form the pattern by driving slips of copper the necessary form
into the blocks, or by making the required form of cast metal with a base
attached to it to nail to the blocks. The metal pattern should form a relief
or projection from the surface about one inch. Number two machine,
which I use as a second process to assist in producing the graduated
shades or tints by pressure on the fabric or yarn whilst in a damp state, as
before stated, is shown in number two Sheet of Drawings. The cylinder
number two, with the printed fabric or yarn wound on it in the exact manner
by the previous process, and with the additional caution of a quantity of plain
cloth encasing it tightly, so as to keep it in its exact position, and protect it
from accident, is taken from number one machine and placed in number two
machine on the bearings b, as shewn in the plan. I then place the cast-iron
roller No. 3, of about one hundred and fifty pounds weight, in its place over
and in contact with the fabric or yarn on the cylinder, to give the necessary
pressure; but if it is found by experience to be insufficient, an additional
weight may be attached to the end of the lever c, which bears on the roller 3.
The wheel number 1 is a common cog wheel, of any number of teeth, which
gears into the wheel 4; motion may then be given to these rollers, either by hand
or power, and by the heavy or weighted roller at the top being in contact with
the fabric or yarn on the cylinder, the necessary pressure is given. The roller
number 3 may be placed in the frame at a when not in use. The time
requisite for this pressure must be regulated by experience, according to the
strenth of the cloth. In printing and staining yarns by the aforesaid pro-
cesses I only extend and regulate the threads by a weaver's common reed, and
then submit the yarn or thread to the aforesaid processes in the same manner
as cloth. Then the fabrics or yarns so printed and pressed may be dried by
the usual method of stoves, but I prefer the following:-Place steam pipes
longitudinally along the floor of the drying room, as in Figure 4, and a number
of frames, about four feet high, with four rollers, each placed across the said
pipes, and about six feet asunder, taking care to cover the said rollers with
woollen cloth to prevent them taking the colour and marking the white; I
then take the cylinder number 2, with the cloth or yarn upon it, place it in a
stand to turn on its bearings at one end of the drying room, attach a long tape
to the end of the fabric or yarn, thread the tape through the small rollers on
the frame, and attach it to another roller on bearings at the other end of the
room, when, by a man turning the last-mentioned roller with the tape attached,
he will draw the printed fabric or yarn through the small rollers over the

page_text: steam pipes, which, by their heat, will dry the goods as required. After this
process the goods may be steamed or dyed as usual.
Having fully described the nature and operation of my said improvements
and the arrangements for carrying the same into practical effect, I desire it
to be distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details
herein mentioned, as such may be varied without departing from the peculiar
character of my Invention; but I claim,―
Firstly, the construction and arrangement of a machine or apparatus, as
herein described, for printing on damp cloth or yarns, and taking up the said
cloth or yarn when printed on a roller or cylinder in such an exact manner
that every repeat of the pattern, or repeat of part of the pattern, shall come
exactly over or upon its corresponding part or portion of the pattern last wound
on or taken up by the cylinder, to prevent the colours marking the white.
Secondly, a machine or apparatus to give pressure to the goods so printed,
and whilst in a damp state to give the shading effect as herein described.
And, thirdly, the blocks used in this process, and made or manufactured
as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexis Delemer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-one.