IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINES, MORE ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR PRODUCING COLOURED PATTERNS UPON TEXTILE FABRICS AND PAPER HANGINGS
Year: 1867

page_text: LE
ERS
ENT 10
Office." No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINES, MORE ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR PRODUCING
COLOURED PATTERNS UPON TEXTILE FABRICS AND PAPER HANGINGS."-A
communication from abroad by George Henry Babcock, Joseph Potter
Manton, and Jonathan Boyd. all of Providence. Rhode Island. United
States of America
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents. with his Petition. on the
11th November 1867.
I. WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Con-
sulting Engineer. do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINES, MORE ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR
PRODUCING COLOURED PATTERNS UPON TEXTILE FABRICS AND PAPER HANGINGS." a
communication, to be as follows:
Printing machines of the character to which this Invention is applicable
may be understood to consist of a series of metallic rollers whose surfaces are
[Prin 8.]

page_text: engraved with the portion of the pattern it is intended they shall respectively
aid in printing. The said rollers are arranged partially around the surface of
a large drum called an impression cylinder, so that the cloth or other material
to be printed in passing along as such drum revolves receives an impression
from each of the engraved rollers in succession. The surface of the said
drum is made elastic by being wrapped with lapping, and is protected by a
printer's blanket of rubber cloth. Each of the printing rollers is furnished
with a box containing appropriate colour of each roller. The several rollers
by suitable agencies are made to press against the cloth or other material
which is being carried along by the drum, and the aggregate of the imprints
produced by them make up the prescribed figures which compose the pattern.
These several engraved rollers must be adjusted with respect to each other
with the greatest nicety in order to make them print respectively in the right
places to form a perfect figure. The slightest want of harmony in their
operation will cause the different colours to be misplaced and the pattern to be
distorted. In practice a machine for printing a difficult pattern or one which
requires the colours to be laid with great exactness does not maintain itself in
adjustment for any considerable length of time. Slight disturbances sufficient
to throw out of proper relation to the others one or more of the rollers will
ensue from simply starting or stopping the machine, for the reason that there
is always in such a machine more or less "back lash" and dead weight,
especially as the rollers are driven by toothed wheels which are constantly
varying from the effect of the strain and wear to which they are exposed. To
maintain a proper adjustment between the rollers constant attention on the
part of the operator is required. He must watch the cloth as it passes over
the drum, and so soon as a defect in the manner in which any part of the
figure is printed indicates that the particular roller which prints that part is
out of "set" he must commence to move the roller forward or backward
as the case requires upon the mandrel which passes through its axis by
means of a worm wheel which connects such roller to its mandrel, as is well
understood.
The object of my present Invention is to provide a means whereby the teeth
of the wheels which are keyed to the mandrels of the respective rollers of the
series are locked fast against the teeth of their prime mover after the several
rollers have been properly adjusted, so that there shall be no possible
opportunity for the existence of any play between the teeth of such wheels.
For this purpose, instead of a single toothed wheel upon the end of each
mandrel, two toothed wheels are placed thereon side by side, and are

page_text: connected with such mandrels by the description of worm gear in common use
before referred to. The inner of these two wheels need not have so broad a
face as the outer one, for the reason that much less work is required of it than
of the other. This inner wheel is capable of being adjusted with reference to
its fellow by means of an inclined plane attached to the end of a shank, upon
the end of which shank a screw thread is formed to receive a nut. The said
inclined plane fits into an obliquely faced mortise cut through the side of the
inner wheel. The straight shank attached to such inclined plane passes
through the side of the outer wheel. It is evident that when the nut upon
the end of the shank is screwed up against the side of the outer wheel it will
tend to draw forward the inclined plane, and in so doing will cause the inner
wheel to be turned upon its axis, and its teeth will thereby be thrown out of
coincidence with the teeth of the outer wheel. Let it be supposed now that
a machine is to be made ready to print a piece of cloth, it will be understood
that the teeth of the outer and inner wheels above mentioned are in coincidence,
and that the teeth of both are engaged with the teeth of the gear wheel which
drives the mandrel of their roller. The operator will first proceed to adjust
the rollers, so that each will perform its proper duty and combine with the
others to print the figure perfectly; this having been done he should next
apply his turnkey to the nuts on the ends of the shanks above mentioned, and
throw the teeth of each inner wheel in succession out of coincidence with the
teeth of its fellow outer wheel till the under side of the teeth of such inner
wheel bears hard against the upper sides of the teeth of the driving toothed
wheel. The effect of this operation will obviously be the same as if the teeth
of the driven wheel were severally thickened just enough to fill snugly the
spaces between the teeth of the driver, and will prevent all play between the
teeth of the driver and the driven wheels. After all the rollers have been once
correctly adjusted they will by being thus locked preserve the same relation to
each other without the necessity of being from time to time re-adjusted as is
now required. The advantages which will result from these improvements
are manifold: the operator not being required to employ himself in re-adjusting
the rollers can devote his entire attention to keeping his colour boxes well
supplied, and to guarding against other imperfections in the printing process
than those I have mentioned. A machine with my improvements may also be
trusted to a less skilful attendant than would be required for other machines.
The most important advantage however, next to reducing the number of yards
of "misprints," is found in the improved quality of the work performed. This
superiority arises from the fact that operators of machines as heretofore

page_text: constructed, in order to keep the rollers in set," have been accustomed to
apply a degree of pressure to keep each roller up to the impression cylinder
several tons greater than is required to make the impression. In consequence
the colour is driven through the cloth instead of being laid upon the surface,
and a dull and dead effect is thereby imparted to the print.
Other means besides those described for spreading the teeth of either the
driver or the driven wheels, so as to fill completely the spaces between the
teeth of the wheel with which it is engaged, may be employed. A modification
in the application of these improvements will be found in an arrangement
consisting in placing toothed wheels upon both ends of the mandrels which
carry the rollers; these wheels are combined with driving wheels appropriate
to each side, and the driven wheels are adjusted upon one end of the mandrels
in the same manner as the outer wheels in the first described arrangement.
Upon the other end of the mandrels the adjustment is so made that the driven
wheel will bear upon the driver as the inner wheel in the arrangement first
described bears upon its driver; thus the same result, but in a less convenient
manner, will be accomplished.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th May 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer.
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign. did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Robert Lake. Her special licence that I, the said William
Robert Lake. my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Robert Lake, 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

page_text: Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINES, MORE ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR
PRODUCING COLOURED PATTERNS UPON TEXTILE FABRICS AND PAPER HANGINGS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I. the said William Robert Lake,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands 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 Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 accompanying Sheet. of
Drawings forming a part of this Specification:-
Machines of the character to which the said Invention is applicable may
be understood to consist of a series of metallic rollers whose surfaces are
engraved with the portion of the pattern it is intended that they shall print
respectively arranged partially around the surface of a large drum called the
hole or impression cylinder. The cloth or other material to be printed in
passing along the surface of such impression cylinder, which is made elastic by
a jacket of lapping and is also covered by a rubber printer's blanket. receives
Each of
an impression from each of the engraved cylinders in succession.
the printing rollers is furnished with a box containing appropriate colour for
each roller, and the aggregate of the imprints made by the several rollers
make up the prescribed figures which compose the printed pattern.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure is a side view of a portion of a printing machine exhibiting the
main bole sometimes called the impression cylinder, and the printing rollers
combined therewith; Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line r. r. Figure 3:
Figure 3 is a view upon a larger scale of the wheels herein-after to be described
connected with each of the 1.rinting rollers, in the application of which to the
printing machine the Invention is exhibited: Figures 4 and 5 are views in
section of the two wheels shown in Figure 3 with the device by which they are
connected.
A is the bole or impression cylinder, and B, B. B. indicate the positions of
Motion is given
three of the many printing rollers which may be employed.

page_text: to any one of the rollers by the belt C passing around a pulley C¹ keyed to
the mandrel on which such roller is placed. A toothed wheel upon the other
end of the mandrel engages with the teeth of the intermediate wheel D. whose
axle is the stud d projecting from the side of the frame and gives movement
to such toothed wheel, which in turn communicates motion to all the other
printing rollers of the series, as is well understood. The piece of cloth to be
printed is fed in from the back side, and passes between the surface of the
impression cylinder and the surfaces of the rollers, resting upon and carried
along by an endless blanket (not shown), which passes around such impression
cylinder and a roller overhead, motion being given to such blanket and to
the bole A by the friction of the surfaces of the revolving printing rollers.
The several engraved printing rollers must be adjusted with respect to each
other with great nicety in order to make them print respectively at the exact
spots required to form a perfect figure. The slightest want of harmony in
their operation will cause the different colours to be misplaced and the pattern
to be distorted. In practice a machine printing a complicated pattern of many
colours does not maintain itself in adjustment for any considerable length of time.
Slight disturbances sufficient to throw out of proper relation to the others one
or more of the rollers will ensue from simply starting or stopping the machine,
for the reason that there is always more or less back lash in a printing machine
of the usual size, and weight of parts, especially as the rollers are required to
be driven by toothed wheels. To maintain the proper adjustment between
the rollers constant attention on the part of the operator is required to be
given to the machine. He must watch the cloth as it passes over the bole A,
and so soon as a defect in the manner in which any part of the figure is
printed indicates that the particular roller which prints that part is "out of
fit," he must commence to move the roller forward or backward as the case
requires by means of the worm and wheel a, b, Figures 2 and 3, connecting
such roller with its mandrel. as is familiar to all calico printers.
The present Invention proposes to provide a means for preserving a fixed
relation between the several printing rollers of the series after such rollers
have once been properly adjusted to print the pattern correctly, so that all
shall move in unison and without any back lash between the toothed wheels
from which the rotation of the printing rollers is derived. To accomplish this
object I employ upon each roller, in addition to a single toothed wheel E with
its worm wheel attachment a, b, as heretofore, a second toothed wheel F placed
side by side with the first upon the mandrel, which second toothed wheel is
connected with the outer one E, and is capable of being adjusted upon the

page_text: mandrel with reference to its fellow by means of any mechanical device which
will enable it to be turned on its axis so as to throw its teeth out of coincidence
with the teeth of the wheel E. as shown in dotted lines at Figure 3. In the
present instance it will be seen (Figures 4 and 5) that the two toothed wheels E
and F, attached to the mandrel of each roller (both of which it will be under-
stood engage with the teeth of the intermediate wheel D), are connected by
means of the key G, a portion of which is bent at an angle with the residue
which is straight. In that portion which is straight is a hole tapped with a
thread, into which is fitted a screw plug c. The head of this plug is squared
and projects outside of a face plate upon the side of the toothed wheel E.
which face plate fills the space between two collars e and upon the plug.
The portion of the key G which is bent fits into an oblique hole or mortise of
corresponding shape in the side of the toothed wheel F. It is evident that
when the screw plug c is turned it will, according to the direction in which it
is turned, thrust forward or draw backward the key G, and that in so doing
its effect will be, as it is located at one side of the common centre of the toothed
wheels E and F, to cause the toothed wheel F to be turned slightly upon its
axis, and thus change the relation of the teeth of the two wheels to each
other.
The means described and shown in the Drawings is only one of several
devices which may be employed: as, for example. a cylindrical plug with a
feather wound spiraly about its axis would be an obvious modification of
structure to effect the same result.
Let it be supposed now that the machine is to be made ready to print a
picce of cloth. It will be understood that the teeth of E and F are in coin-
cidence, and that both are in engagement with their driver. The operator
will first proceed to adjust the printing rollers so that each will perform its
proper duty and all combine to print the figure perfectly in the manner that
has heretofore been customary. This having been done he should next apply
a turnkey to the square of the screw plug c, and throw the teeth of each
wheel F appertaining to the several printing rollers in succession out of coin-
cidence with the teeth of its fellow wheel E, and so far that the under sides
of the teeth of such wheel F will bear hard against the upper sides of the
teeth of their driving wheels. The effect of this will obviously be the same
as if the teeth of the driven wheel were severally thickened just enough
to fill snugly the spaces between the teeth of the driver, and will prevent
all play between the teeth of the driving and the driven wheels respectively.
After all the rollers have been once correctly adjusted they will by being

page_text: thus held preserve the same relation with each other and work in perfect
unison without the necessity of being from time to time re-adjusted, as is now
Tequired.
The advantages which will result from this improvement are manifold. The
operator not being required to employ himself in re-adjusting the rollers can
devote his entire attention to keeping his color boxes well supplied and to
guarding against other imperfections in the printing process than those which
this improvement obviates. Again, a machine so improved will admit of a lower
grade of skill to attend it. But the most important advantage next to reducing
the number of yards of misprints" is found in the increased capacity of the
machine to turn out work and its improved quality. The improvement in the
quality results from the fact that operators of machines as heretofore con-
structed in order to keep their rollers in fit" have been accustomed to apply a
degree of pressure to keep such rollers up to the impression cylinder several
tons greater than is required to make the print, and in consequence the
mordant is driven through the cloth instead of being laid upon the surface,
which gives to the print when finished, notwithstanding that an extra
amount of madder is used to bring up the colour, a dead and lustreless
effect.
The particular manner described of applying my Invention is not the only
one which can be employed. Any means for spreading the teeth of either
the driving or the driven wheels, so as to fill completely the spaces between
the teeth of the wheel with which it is engaged, will embody the substantial
principle of the Invention. A modification will for example be found in an
arrangement which may consist in placing toothed wheels upon both ends of
the mandrels which carry the rollers and combining them with driving wheels
appropriate to each side. The driven wheels are adjusted upon one side in
the same manner as the outer toothed wheels E in the first-described arrange-
ment are adjusted, and upon the other side the adjustment is so made that
the teeth of the driven wheels will bear upon the teeth of the driver as the
inner toothed wheel F in the arrangement first described bears upon the
driver, and the same result, but in a less convenient way, will be accom-
plished.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents, and shown how the same may be conveniently and
advantageously carried into practice, I claim in a cylinder printing machine
the combination of the several printing rollers B with their common intermediate
toothed wheel D by means of the double-toothed wheels E and F, or the

page_text: In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)
Witness,
THO. N. PALMER,
Clerk to Messrs. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings, W.C.