IMPROVEMENTS IN LAPPING USED IN MACHINES FOR PRINTING TEXTILE FABRICS. PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE TO DRIVING BANDS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAPPING USED IN MACHINES
FOR PRINTING TEXTILE FABRICS. PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE
TO DRIVING BANDS."-A communication from abroad by Seth Baker, of
D
1
DL1 Taland Limited States of Imovies
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th June 1861.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LAPPING USED IN MACHINES
FOR PRINTING TEXTILE FABRICS, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE TO
DRIVING BANDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the substitution for the ordinary lapping used in
machines for printing textile fabrics of an endless web of woven material
having a tough, firm, and elastic texture. The length of the web will be in
proportion to the size of the printing cylinder, around which and a series of
rollers it is passed and held, so as to revolve with the cylinder. The web may
be formed of one thick woven fabric, or may consist of two or more thicknesses
united by rubber or other cement, or by a thin sheet of rubber or gutta percha.
Price 8d.1

page_text: One or both of its surfaces may be coated with india-rubber or gutta percha.
The ends of the band or web are united, so as to form a strong lap (without
any perceptible seams or joint), in the following manner:-If a woven fabric
is used composed of several tiers of filling threads interwoven with the warp
threads, cut a sufficient number of the warp threads to liberate the first tier of
filling threads on the parts at the opposite ends of the fabric which are to form
the lap orjoint; then, at any suitable distance (say, one inch) from the edge thus
formed on the fabric, then the whole surface of the lap, by the removal of the
second tier of filling threads, and in like manner continue to reduce the thick-
ness of the fabric until but one tier of filling threads interwoven with the warp
remains at the ends of the fabric. Two bevelled laps thus formed are put
together by means of cement, or in any other suitable manner, and form a lap
joint of great strength, and showing no perceptible seam. This mode of joining
endless bands is applicable also to driving bands.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at anytime agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all timesthereafterduring theterm thereinexpressed, shouldandlawfully 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-
PROVEMENTS IN LAPPING USED IN MACHINES FOR PRINTING TEXTILE FABRICS, PART
OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE TO DRIVING BANDS," being a communica-
tion from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, by an instrumentin writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in

page_text: 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
:―
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,con-
sists in a new form of lapping to be used in machines for the printing of textile
fabrics in lieu of that heretofore employed.
Previous to describing the Invention in detail I propose to explain some of
the peculiarities of calico and other printing in respect of the use of the ordi-
nary lapping, in order that the defects of the old system and the difficulties to
be overcome therein may be fully understood, and the merits of the present
Invention may
be appreciated.
The lapping heretofore used in machines for printing fabrics has been formed
by winding the cloth of which it is composed (usually linen and wool) about
the cylinder, making its thickness about one half an inch, the object being to
obtain a peculiarly soft, tough, and at the same time semi-elastic bearing for
the fabric to be printed. This lapping is kept in place simply by the revòlu-
tions in opposite directions of the engraved printing rolls and its own cylinder,
which receives its movement from the printing rolls.
This lapping has among others the following defects:-It requires frequent
renewals, as its outer surface is limited nearly to that of the cylinder upon
which it is wound, and these frequent changes occasion much trouble and
great loss of time, as the whole printing operation has to be suspended while a
new lapping is being applied to the machine. The inequality of surface at the
point where the lapping ends meet, often causes an unevenness in the print,
known among printers by the term "the lapping end shows." It is liable to
break and lead to the bad consequences known as "lapping broke." The most
essential defects, however, in the use of the ordinary lapping arise from the
necessarily great pressure to which it is subjected by the action of the printing
rolls. The necessity for the enormous pressure employed proceeds from the
fact that the lapping, which, as before stated,affords but a very limited extent
of surface or periphery, soon becomes hard by the constant action of the print-
ing rolls upon it; and as it is well known that much more pressure is requisite
to produce a good impression upon a fabric resting upon a hard and rigid bed
than upon one more yielding, it will be evident that in order to get a good

page_text: imprint of the patterns, the pressure must be increased in proportion as the
lapping grows hard. Moreover, as the folds or windings of the lapping are
only kept in their places, upon the cylinder by the revolution of the printing
rolls in an opposite direction, they become stretched and slip upon each other,
and thus spoil the print; this defect frequently not being discovered until the
whole piece to be printed has passed through the machine. The winding and
drawing of the folds of the lapping together by the printing rolls, and the con-
sequent straining and stretching of their texture, tends still farther to destroy
the peculiar bearing surface which it should possess, rendering it hard, uneven,
and inelastic. These difficulties arising from the hardening of the lapping are
fully known among practical printers, and are so difficult to be overcome that
from many patterns which contain fine and delicate lines and objects, onlyan
approximately good impression can be obtained, and that with the use of great
pressure, which soon stops the work by increasing the very source of trouble,
viz., the hardening and straining of the lapping.
Another imperfection known as "seam showing" is occasioned by the
hardening of the lapping, which causes the impression of the seams of the
grey cloths used for "backers" to shew upon the print. Finally, the great
pressure of the engraved printing rolls necessary from the hardening of the
lapping forces the mordants used in surplus quantities into the fibres of
the cloth.
In the course of experiments it became evident that to produce a perfect
lapping it should possess the following requisites:-First, it should afford a
much longer surface than the old lapping without increasing the size of the
lapping cylinder; this would prevent the wearing of the printing rolls con-
stantly upon nearly the same portion of the cloth of which the lapping is
composed. Secondly, it should have a perfectly even surface at the point
where the lapping ends meet, so that no impression should be imparted to the
print from the lapping end. Thirdly, it should not be made up from loose
folds or layers, but should be formed in one compact body, or in sheets of
thick woven fabrics permanently united to each other, so as to avoid the
slipping and shifting of the folds upon each other. By the present Invention
all the requisites herein above alluded to as essential for a good lapping will
be found combined.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a front view of a machine such as
is used for printing calico; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is
a perspective view of a printing blanket; Fig. 4 is a section shewing the new
lapping; and Fig. 5 is also a section shewing the manner of forming the
lapping to be used in printing textile fabrics.

page_text: A (Figures 1 and 2) is an endless web of woven material of such texture
and thickness as will afford the peculiar bearing surface required, viz., one
that is firm, tough, and elastic. This peculiar web may be from five to seven
yards in length, or in proportion to the size of the printing cylinder, around
which and a series of rolls it is so passed and held as to revolve with the
cylinder. The mode in which it is preferred to make the thick web con-
stituting the lapping is that described in the Schedule annexed to the Letters
Patent of the United States granted to John Geyer, bearing date May
Eighteenth, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, and numbered
20,267. The web may be formed of one thick fabric thus woven, or may
consist of two or more thicknesses of woven fabric united by india-rubber or
other elastic cement, or by a thin sheet of india-rubber or gutta percha. One
or both of its surfaces may be coated with india-rubber or gutta percha, as
good results have been obtained both with and without such surfaces. The
ends of the band or web are united, so as to form a strong lap without any
perceptible seam or joint, so as to prevent any unevenness of surface at the
united ends. This portion of the Invention, I would here remark, is well
adapted to the formation of belts or bands for driving machinery.
The following is the manner of effecting the junction of the ends of the
lapping Take the requisite length of woven fabric, composed of several tiers
of filling threads interwoven with the warp threads, and cut a sufficient
number of the warp threads to liberate the first tier of filling threads on the
parts at the opposite ends of the fabric, which are to form the lap joint; then
at any suitable distance, say one inch from the edge a (Fig. 4), thus formed
on the fabric, thin the whole surface of the lap by the removal of the second
tier of filling threads, which forms a second edge b (Fig. 4). The lap surface
is then further reduced in a similar manner by taking out the third tier of
filling threads, and this may be continued at pleasure until the fabric is
reduced so as to leave an edge composed of but one tier of filling threads
interwoven with the warp. The two bevilled or thinned surfaces thus obtained
are put together by means of india-rubber or other cement, or in other
suitable manner, and a lap joint c (Figures 4 and 5) will be formed of great
strength, and showing no perceptible seam.
any
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in
Lapping used in Machines for Printing Textile Fabrics, Part of which Im-
provements is applicable to Driving Bands,and having explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that, under the
above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim,-
First, the use in printing machines of a lapping made in the form of an

page_text: endless band or belt, and composed of one or more layers or thicknesses of
woven material (either with or withouta surface or coating of india-rubber or
gutta percha) substantially as described.
And, secondly, uniting the ends of woven driving bands (whereby an even
lap or junction will be produced) in the manner above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. N.
(L.S.)