IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS AND IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF FOR THE PRINTING OF FABRICS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS AND IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF
FOR THE PRINTING OF FABRICS."-A communication from abroad by Jean
Baptiste Domnec, Lithographic Printer, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin,
Paris.
Sealed the 29th November 1864, and dated the 7th June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at t
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th June 1864.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS AND IN THE APPLICATION.
THEREOF FOR THE PRINTING OF FABRICS," to be as follows:-
Up to the present time printing fabrics in reserve has been limited to some
designs or patterns only. In this kind of printing engraved copper or wood
plates are used, which are first immersed in a bath of mastic and then applied
on the fabric to be printed in reserve. This method is defective, inasmuch as
it only permits of plain designs being printed from the impossibility of
obtaining an equal layer of the mastic to be deposited.
According to this Invention, by means of a modified arrangement of typo-

page_text: graphic press or machine, I am enabled to take impressions of portraits, views,
flowers, and generally of all kinds of engravings, the mastic being deposited in
equal layers by means of printing rollers. The Invention thus consists in an
improved method of printing in reserve by means of a typographic press or
machine.
The annexed Drawing represents one example only of a machine having
such improvements as to render it adaptable for printing fabrics with reserves,
it being understood that any kind of typographic press or machine may be
employed for the purpose.
a, framing of the press furnished with suitable uprights and brackets for
carrying the various parts; b, driving shaft of the press, supposing it to be
driven by motive power, in which case it is furnished with fast-and-loose
pullies and tooth wheel c; d, driving shaft serving to work the press by hand,
having a fly wheel e, to which is fixed a crank and toothed wheel f; g, toothed
wheel keyed on shaft h, and gearing with wheels c and f, from which it
receives motion; i, crank keyed on one end of shaft h, and actuating a rod j;
k, carriage running on iron rails fitted between frames a; 1, toothed wheel
fixed or cast on one of the wheels of said carriage k, gearing in a rack m
carried on the framing; n, slab carrying the engraved type, sliding in a dove-
tailed groove, or travelling on rails, being furnished at its under part with a
rack o gearing with wheel l. From this arrangement it will be understood
that the rack m being fixed, by setting the carriage k in motion the slab will
have a course equal to four times the length of crank i. p, racks fixed or cast
on the top of the slab; 9, pressing roller turning in uprights r, r, on the
frame, having two toothed wheels s, s, on its ends gearing with racks p, p,
from which they receive a rotary motion transmitted to cylinder q; t, reservoir
of matter to be deposited on the engraved plates fixed at the front part of the
machine, and in which turns a roller u kept constantly in contact with the
matter; v, roller which is raised at each to-and-fro movement in order to effect
contact for an instant with the roller in the reservoir, and so receive a very
thin coating of ink which is spread on the table as it falls; x, movable combs
or rollers serving to uniformly distribute a thin coating of matter on the
surface; y, frame oscillating on the slab and receiving the fabric after it leaves
rollers ; the fabric is fixed tight in this frame by the aid of a bar and nut, or
in any other manner by means of this frame; the color may be applied as s
many times as is necessary, the first impression registering exactly with the
position of those to be subsequently applied. A roller 2¹ at the back of the
frame serves to receive the fabric after it has been printed.
From the foregoing description it will thus be seen that the fabric held in

page_text: the frames receives two successives pressures by means of roller q on the
reserves, one as the carriage is travelling in the one direction, and the other
in its return movement.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thonsand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Clark, 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 Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS AND IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF FOR THE PRINTING OF
FABRICS," a communication to me from abroad by Jean Baptiste Domnec,
Lithographic Printer, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Clark, my executors or adminis
trators, 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 Clark, 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 fol-
lowing statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
Up to the present time printing fabrics with reserves has been limited to
some designs or patterns only. In this kind of printing engraved copper or

page_text: wood plates are used, which are first immersed in a bath of mastic or other
suitable matter, and then applied on the fabric to be printed in reserve. This
method is defective, inasmuch as it only permits of plain designs being printed
from the impossibility of obtaining an equal layer of the matter to be
deposited.
According to this Invention, by means of a modified arrangement of typo-
graphic press or machine, I am enabled to take impressions of portraits, views,
flowers, and generally of all kinds of engravings, the mastic being deposited in
equal layers by means of printing rollers. The Invention thus consists in an
improved method of printing in reserves by means of a typographic press or
machine.
Fig. 1 of the annexed Drawings represents one example only of a machine
having such improvements as to render it adaptable for printing fabrics with
reserves, it being understood that any kind of typographic press or machine
may be employed for the purpose; Figs. 2 and 3 show details in plan and
elevation of a frame for stretching the fabric to be applied. The same letters
of reference indicate like parts in the several Figures.
, framing of the press furnished with suitable uprights and brackets for
carrying the various parts; b, driving shaft of the press, supposing it to be
driven by motive power, in which case the shaft is furnished with fast-and-
loose pullies and pinion c; d, driving shaft serving to work the press by hand,
having a fly wheel e, to which is fixed a crank and pinion f; g, toothed wheel
keyed on shaft h, and gearing with pinions c and f, from which it receives
motion; i, crank keyed on the end of shaft h and actuating a rod j; k, carriage
running on iron rails fitted between frames a, and receiving a to-and-fro
motion from rod j; 1, toothed wheel fixed or cast in one of the wheels of said
'carriage k, gearing in a rack m carried on the framing; n, slab carrying the
engraved type, sliding in a dovetailed groove on the frame or travelling on
rails; this slab is furnished at its under part with a rack o gearing with
wheel Z. From this arrangement it will be understood that the rack m being
fixed, and rack o movable with the slab, when the carriage is set in motion
the slab will have a course equal to four times the length of the crank i.
p, p, racks fixed or cast on the top and on each side of the slab; 9, pressing
roller turning in uprights r, r, on the frame, having two toothed wheels s, s,
on its ends gearing with racks p, p, from which they receive a rotary motion
transmitted to cylinder 7; t, frame oscillating on the slab, represented in detail
at Figs. 2 and 3; it is made of the same width as the drum or cylinder q, and
in length equal to that of the course of the slab, that is to say, four times the
length of crank i. The fabric is wound on and off this frame after it has

page_text: become impregnated with the mastic, for which purpose the frame is furnished
with parts enabling the exact length of fabric required to be printed to be
fixed thereto with great regularity, which is then perfectly stretched in
order to present a firm surface capable of withstanding the pressure exerted
by the roller q for printing that part of the fabric engraved; type coated with
mastic or other material will answer the same purpose. u, v, cross ties uniting
the two plates t, t, forming the frame properly so called; x, roller carrying
that portion of the fabric which is to be printed in reserve; its journals y
turn in forks on the ends of frame t; 1, ratchet keyed on the end of one of
the journals y, and furnished with a pawl 2; 3, roller for receiving the fabric
as it is printed length by length; this roller is carried by shaft 4 at the other
end of frame t. This shaft is furnished with a ratchet 5 and pawl 6, and is
further pivotted in the slab of the press, and thus forms the centre of oscillation
of the frame; 7, ratchet also keyed on shaft 4, on which acts the catch lever 8
in the manner herein-after described. The whole being arranged as described,
the following is the method of operation:-The fabric to be printed which is
wound on the roller is wound off this on to roller 3 after passing across
the frame in the direction of the blue line, Fig. 3. Supposing the fabric to
have been already printed a certain length, and in order to print another
length corresponding thereto, lever 8 has a continuous rocking motion
imparted to it, which, by the action of its pawl on ratchet 7 causes shaft 4 to
turn, and with it roller 3, which winds off the fabric from roller a. After the
fabric has been wound off the roller a to a sufficient extent, the pawl 2 is
allowed to fall into gear with ratchet 1, by which the roller is prevented
from turning, and the length of fabric to be printed thus determined. The
oscillating motion of lever 8 is then continued, and roller 3 also continuing its
turn stretches the fabric on the frame, for which purpose the ratchet wheel 5
is furnished with teeth in close proximity to each other, in order to prevent
the fabric from becoming unwound, and also to produce the requisite degree
of tension in that part of the fabric covering the frame. The engraved type
applied on slab n are previously coated with mastic, or such like matter, by the
aid of ordinary printing rollers. The frame is then lowered on the slab, and
that portion of the fabric stretched on the frame. By thus imparting rotary
motion to one of the two driving shafts bor d, the shaft h will receive motion
through gearing c or fand g, the crank i will also impart to-and-fro motion to
carriage and slab n, while the types and frame t connected therewith pass
under the roller q, and exert pressure on the fabric, which is thus held between
the surface of the roller and the types with the coating applied. From the
foregoing it will thus be seen that the fabric is subjected to two successive

page_text: pressures from drum q on the types or reserves, the one in the backward and
the other in the forward movement of the carriage. The fabric being per-
fectly stretched by the aid of the frame before described may be applied as
many times as necessary, as the first impression registers exactly with those
subsequently applied.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim simply the
arrangement of press herein described and represented in the Drawings, it
being given as an example only, but that what 1 claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, printing
fabrics with reserves or blank spaces by means of typographic presses
generally, having the necessary improvements applied, and more particularly
the arrangement of stretching frame, all as before described.
I also claim the method of depositing the matters on the engraved plates or
reserves either by hand rollers as in ordinary presses, or by means of rollers
worked by the press or otherwise.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
JAMES DAISH,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)