IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS AND IN THE APPARATUS USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF COLOURED IMPRESSIONS ON PAPER, VELLUM, PARCHMENT, AND PASTE- BOARD BY SURFACE PRINTING
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
KNIGHT, of Ludgate Street, in the City of London, Bookseller and Publisher,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Seventh day of June, in the first year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles
Knight, Her especial licence, full power, solo privilege and authority, that I,
the said Charles Knight, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Charles Knight, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS AND IN THE APPARATUS USED IN THE
PRODUCTION OF COLOURED IMPRESSIONS ON PAPER, VELLUM, PARCHMENT, AND PASTE-
BOARD BY SURFACE PRINTING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso, that I, the said Charles Knight, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be inrolled in Her said, Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
FISH
MISE

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Knight, do hereby declare that my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be carried into effect, are set forth and explained in the
following description thereof, as elucidated by the Drawings hereunto annexed
reference being had to the figures and letters thereon marked in correspond
ence with the figures and letters herein contained, that is to say:-
My improvement in the process used in the production of colored impres-
sions by surface printing are applicable to the cheap multiplication of colored
copies of maps, prints, pictures, drawings, and other works of graphic art on
sheets of paper, vellum, parchment, and pasteboard, and my Invention as to
process consists,—
Firstly, in reversing tho usual order of proceeding, according to which order
the outlines of the subject are first printed, and the coloring or tinting after-
wards laid on over the outlines, whereby the sharpness and distinctness of
those outlines are frequently injured, which injurious effect I avoid in my new
process by first printing the coloring or tinting, and I finish by printing the
outlines upon the coloured or tinted ground, by which means I obtain clear-
ness and precision in the minutiae of the impression, and thus I ensure a
brilliant and harmonious effect, which I call illuminated printing, or illuminated
surface printing.
Secondly, in printing several colors at the same time upon as many different
sheets as there are colors to be printed upon each sheet, the position of the
printing surfaces and of the sheets with respect to each other being so changed
after every impression that cach printing surface shall successively be applied
to each sheet, until all the colors have been printed upon the corresponding
parts of all the sheets, and thus every sheet has become a fac-simile of each of
the other sheets. For convenience during the operation, one large sheet may
receive all the impression, and afterwards be cut up into as many small sheets
as there are colors.
Thirdly, in producing a compound tint, by printing one color over the other
in so short a time as not to allow the color first printed to become dry before
the second is added, thereby affording an opportunity for the two colors to mix
and form the new tint.
And, fourthly, in blending one color with another, so as to produce a
softening effect, in gradually varying from one color to the other.
And my improvements in the apparatus used in carrying my said process
into effect consist,-
Firstly, in certain additions to the common printing press, by which I
can print various tints, shadings, and outlines successively upon one sheet

page_text: without removing the sheet from its tympan, which additions are herein-after
described.
.
'Secondly, in certain other additions to the common printing press, also
herein-after described, by which I can print various colours or tints at one and
the same time upon as different sheets as there are colors employed, and by
which I can shift the position of the printing surfaces in respect of the sheets,
so as to print successively all the colors upon all the sheets..
Thirdly, in the manner of making and combining, as herein-after described.
several blocks, plates, or printing surfaces, so that the different colors printed
from them shall accurately meet one another on the sheet, or, in other words,
shall keep accurate register.
Fourthly, in the manner of making and combining, also herein-after
described, several blocks, plates, or printed surfaces, so that the color from
one plate may overlap the color from another plate, and produce either an
even tint, resulting from an assigned proportion of the two colors being con-
tinued over the whole of the overlapped surface, or producing a varying and
softening tint by gradually varying the proportion.
And, fifthly, in making a tympan with its frisket in a detached frame
capable of fitting accurately and acting in two or more presses, whereby a
sheet printed with various colors or tints, for example, four in one press, may
bo transferred to another press, and receive four additional tints, more or less,.
without being shifted from the tympan, and also may be removed to a third or
a fourth press if required, and thus any number of tints may be printed upon
ono sheet, the tints meeting and blending in the most beautiful manner,
because the most perfect register may be insured by the correct fitting of the
same tympan frame into all the presses employed.
.
These, the principles of my process and apparatus, admit of being carried
into effect according to a great variety of modifications,. of which those shewn
in the annexed Drawings, and herein-after described, may serve as samples,
and which modifications I by preference adopt for the respective purposes
herein indicated.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a plan of a press for printing four colors in succession;
Figure 2 elevation of the same, omitting the lower part of the supporting
frame, and all the apparatus for giving the pressure, as forming no part of my
Invention. The same letters of reference signify the same things in both
figures. a, the upper part of the supporting framework of the press; b, a
table, seen in part through an opening formed by representing a portion of the
framework in the elevation, as broken away, and seen in the plan all around

page_text: the inverted bed. This table, corresponding to an inverted plattin of the
ordinary press, is, like it, to be strengthened with ribs branching from the point
or points to which the force is applied. The tablo is placed with the plane side
uppermost below the bed; it may be raised up by any ordinary system of levers
or screws, and pressed against the inverted blocks, plates, or printing surfaces,
which are secured by screws, with the faces downwards, in the inverted bed.
c, the inverted bed, firmly fixed to a shaft; d, the shaft, turning in bearings at
each end; e, the bearings of the shaft, affixed against the corner posts of the
framework. The bed is lifted off from the table by being turned upon its
bearings as on a hinge, and is brought down to a horizontal position with the
printing surfaces upwards for the purpose of being inked, as shewn in plan
and elevation. f, ribs for strengthening the bed to resist the pressure from the
table; g, four bolts, the ends of which pass into recesses in the four corner
posts of the supporting frame; one of these posts is represented in Figure 1
as broken, in order to shew the end of the bolt. h, four guides attached
to the bed, through which the bolts slide; k, two arms connecting the
bed with the shaft d; l, two blocks affixed upon the bed, with screws for
regulating the parrallelism of the bed and shaft; m, two screws acting in
the nuts fixed to the shaft, for sliding the bed upon the shaft to produce
a lateral regulation of the bed. n, the central disc, with four ears,
by which it is screwed down over a set of four arms for moving the four
bolts
g; part of the disc is represented as broken away in order to shew
one of the arms and its connection with the bolts, and the rest of the arms
are represented by dotted lines. p, one of the four arms fixed on a spindle;
9, a vertical spindle, carrying the four arms p, and acting through the
middle of the disc n; r, a double lever or handle for turning the spindle q
to force the bolts into the recesses of the corner posts and to draw them out;
s, a prolongation of one of the ribs, forming a projection from the middle of
that edge of the bed which is opposite to the shaft. This projection is jointed
or hinged to a connecting rod arising perpendicularly up to and jointed with a
crank arm fixed on the end of a horizontal shaft lying on bearings directly
over and parallel to the shaft on which the bed turns, the upper or balance.
shaft being placed at such a height as to be out of the way of the workmen's
heads, At the other end of the upper shaft, projecting from the opposite side
from the cank arm, is fixed an arm loaded at the end with a weight proper for
balancing the united weights of the crank arm, the connecting rod, and the
reversible bed with its appurtenances, and this it will do in all positions of
the bed, provided that the upper shaft be parallel with and vertically over
the lower, that the connecting rod be perpendicular to the horizon, that a

page_text: plane passing through the axis of the upper shaft and of the two arms bo
parallel to the face of the bed. t, a portion of the connecting rod; u, threo
other beds, with their shafts turning in bearings at the other three sides of the
framework, and shewn in the positions proper for applying the color or ink to
the printing surfaces; two of these beds in the plan and one in the clevation
are represented as broken.
Figure 3 represents an end view of part of a press constructed of a rising
table or inverted plattin acting in succession under and against eight printing
surfaces affixed to the eight sides of an octagonal prism revolving upon a
horizontal axis; the number of sides may be more or less, according to the
number of colors and outlines may be required. a, an otagonal frame for
supporting eight beds; these frames may be as numerous and have as many
spokes as is needful for supporting the beds against the pressure, whatever
may be the dimensions of the beds; b, end view of eight beds affixed to the
octagonal frame a, to which beds the block plates or printing surfaces are to
be affixed by screws; c, an inverted plattin or table to be raised up against
the printing surfaces to give the requisite pressure by any ordinary combination
of levers or of screws and levers, the table carrying the tympan sheet and
frisket. The inking may be performed at the top of the prism by a man
elevated on a platform of the proper height. There can be no occasion for
my describing any means of supporting the prism, of causing it to revolve, or
of stopping it in the proper places, as various modes familiar to engineers and
printing press makers may be adopted. This octagonal or polygonal prism
may be used in combination with the Ruthven press, made deep enough to
receive the revolving prism, so that its upper surface shall be held in the
situation which the bed usually occupies.
Figure 4 represents the plan of the bed of a press for printing four colours
at the same time upon four different sheets of paper or other material, or upon
four places on one large sheet to be afterwards cut into four small sheets.
Figure 5, a vertical section from A to B of Figure 4, the section being on
double the scale of the plan or the full size of the corresponding parts of one
The same letters of
of my presses for printing a sheet of royal paper.
reference signify the same parts in Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7. a, the bed of a
common printing press, which I call the primary bed; b, a plate, which I
distinguish by the term secondary bed, revolving on a central stud c fixed in
the middle of the primary bed a; c, the central or main stud upon which the
apparatus revolves; d, a spring catch, attached to the primary bed to hold
the revolving or secondary bed b in four different positions in respect of the
primary bed; e, four notches in the edge of the secondary bed 6 for the catch d

page_text: to fall into and hold the bed firmly in the four positions. These notches are
thickened up and strengthened by pieces rivetted on to the plate on each side
of each notch, one pair of which is shewn at f; f, two of the pieces strengthen-
ing one of the notches. g, four discs, forming tertiary beds revolving on studs
fixed in the secondary bed; upon these tertiary beds the blocks, plates, or
printing surfaces are secured by means of wedges and screws; these discs are
distinguished by the letters C, D, E, F. h, picces screwed or rivetted upon
the tertiary beds to secure the blocks in their places; k, moveable pieces,
adjusted by screws acting through two of the fixed piéces in each tertiary bed;
1, the adjusting screws; m, toothed wheels, of which there are four, one under
each disc; their position is indicated in the plan at a part of the discs D and F
represented as broken away. n, four notches in the periphery of each disc
for a catch to fall into and hold the tertiary bed in four different positions in
respect of the secondary bed; p, four catches, turning on studs fixed in the
secondary bed, with springs to throw the catch into the notches of the tertiary
beds; q, the ring turning on the upper end of the central stud c of the primary
bed; this ring carries four arms, the ends of which arins are formed into
inclined curves to act against the tails of the catches p and draw the catches
out of the notches n. r, holes through two of the arms by which the ring and
four arms are turned by a key, shewn in Figures 6 and 7 of the full size;
8, a toothed wheel driving all the four wheels of the tertiary beds; the central
wheel being half the diameter of each of the surrounding four wheels which
it drives, makes half a revolution while the other wheels make each a quarter
of a revolution; the wheels is turned by the arms of the ring 9 pressing
against the raised or cranked parts of the arms of the wheel s. t, the arms
or spokes of the wheel s; these arms being raised or cranked upwards, for the
double purpose of passing over the stud u, and for the arms of the ring to press
against and drive the wheel s. u, a stud fixed in the secondary bed to stop the
wheels after having made half a resolution, one of the prongs of the key,
Figures 6 and 7, being made longer than the other in order that the short
prong may pass clear of the stud and the long prong stop against the stud.
Figure 6, elevation of the key, of its full size; Figure 7, view of the under
side of the same. v, the handle by which the key is turned; w, the shaft carry-
ing two arms with pins or prongs; x, a short prong, to pass just through one of
the holes of the arms of the ring 9 but not to reach as low as the stud u;
y, a long prong, to pass through one of the holes of the arms of the ring ?
and so far beyond the hole as to stop against the stud u after having made half
a revolution;, a projecting part of the shaft to pass down into an aperture
in the middle of the central stud c; 2', the aperture in the main stud to receive

page_text: he lower part of the shaft ; ", four knots for handles to turn the secondary
ed and its appurtenances upon the primary bed.
In carrying into effect the third part of my said improvements in the
pparatus used in the production of coloured impressions I prefer the following
nanner of proceeding :-Suppose a wood engraving of large size requires to
e printed in three colors upon a white ground, or upon a ground having
eceived a fourth color or neutral tint by the sheet having been previously
tained or dyed in the making or otherwise, and the outlines to be printed ou
hose colours in black or colored lines, I first make an exact drawing of the
print, having particular reference to the position of the several colors of which
he print is composed, say red, blue, yellow, and dissecting these colors I pre-
pare separate drawings of each color as copies for the preparation of separate
plates, as next described. Secondly, I prepare three metal plates, compounded
in the usual manner of stereotype plates, with a somewhat larger proportion
than usual of bismuth to produce hardness, and I cut away by tool or by
etching all the parts of those plates except the parts which are to give the
color, leaving those parts standing above the general surface of the plate like
pieces of a dissecting map fastened on such surface; the raised surfaces of
those three plates having been polished, I cut away with the graver such parts
as are wanted to be removed to shew the original ground of the sheet, for
example, to give the bright lights in a print or the mountains in a map; and
on a fourth part I form the outlines, or use a stereotype cast from a common
block made for printing woodcuts, according to the common process in black
and white.
Thirdly, I make ready, so as to produce perfect register, the four plates
upon the four reversible beds of the plate, Figures 1 and 2, and print them in
succession upon the sheet laid between a tympan and frisket upon the table
or inverted plattin, taking the colors in any order, but printing from the outline
plate the last. If more colors should be required the tympan with its sheet
held down by the frisket may be removed to a second press of a similar con-
struction, in which case four of the colors should be printed on the first press
and the remainder on the second, where also. the outlines must be finally
printed. The accurate register will be insured in passing the sheet from one
press to the other by the frame of the tympan falling down between guides
fixed on the tables of Figures 1 and 2 at the four corners, various modes of
doing which are too obvious to need description.
In the case of maps, where letters are used for words, forming curves, or run-
ning diagonally, I fix those letters in the outline plate, by cutting holes through
Or if the
it and inserting common types with a portion of the body cut off.

page_text: outlines be formed on a block, I let common types for the words, forming
curves, or running diagonally into the block, in the required positions, and cast
a stereotypo plate from the block and types combined, which plate I fix in the
press for being printed from in the proper order of succession. The great body
of the words in a map, which generally run parallel to the top and bottom, I set
up in the ordinary way, and take a stereotype plate from them, which I placo in
the press, and print either before or after the outline plate. Sometimes instead
of employing two presses of four beds each for printing from eight plates, I
affix the plates to the side of an octogonal prism, as shewn in Figure 3; in
this case the shifting of the sheet is avoided. In printing sheets of moderate,
or of a small size, I make use of the press shewn in Figures 4 and 5. Supposo
the size of the sheet on which a print or map is to appear, is called quarto;
I fix securely on the tympan under a frisket four quarto, sheets, or a singlo
large sheet or broadside afterwards to be cut into quarto or two half sheets
afterwards also to be cut into quarto, and having inked each printing surface
I take an impression, the sheet or sheets still remaining on the tympan,
and I make the necessary revolutions of the machine, again inking the
printing surfaces and again take an impression, and this I do four times, till
all the colours have been successively applied to each quarto sheet or undivided
quarter of a sheet, and four complete impressions are produced. I use two
such presses as this if more than four colours are required; but if only five
colors should be required, then one such press and one common press may be
employed, the tympan, with its sheet or sheets held by the frisket in each
case, being made to fit correctly into both presses, a mode of doing which is
herein-after shewn at Figures 8 and 9. If extreme precision be not not
required when the sheet is transferred from one press to another, I employ the
common mode of registering by point holes.
In carrying into effect the fourth part of my said improvements in the
apparatus used in the production of coloured impressions, I pursue the same
methods as just described for printing colors meeting each other; but in in
the present case, I provide that the colouring plates shall overlap each other
as much as is requisite from the breadth of the new tint, compounded of
the two colors, so overlapping. But when the compound tint is required to
be such a blending of the two colours as to gradually lead one colour into the
other, I mark the overlapping portions of each plate upon the adjoining one,
and take away the surface of each plate, gradually descending from the lino
thus marked, until at the boundary of the plate the depression shall be such
as to receive and transmit the least possible quantity of colour.
In carrying into effect the fifth part of my said improvements in the

page_text: apparatus used in the production of coloured impressions, I provide that
the tympan frame when laid in a table be made to drop in between corner
blocks fixed to the table, so as to be quite secure from lateral motion, and yet
be free enough to be easily laid down between the blocks and lifted out again
to be transferred to a corresponding situation in another press; but when tho
tympan turns over, as in the ordinary press, it may be made to turn on pivots
instead of centers, and these pivots laid in vertical slots in which they fit
without liability to lateral motion.
Figure 8 represents a plan of a portion of a tympan frame and bed:
Figure 9, elevation of the same. The same letters signify the same things in
Figures 8 and 9. a, part of a bed of a press; b, two bearings attached to the
bed, having each a vertical slot at the upper part to receive the pivots of the
frisket; c, the slots; d, part of a tympan frame, having two pivots projecting
towards each other at the lower end; e, the pivots resting on the bottoms of the
slots c, so well fitted as to allow of rotary motion of the pivots but no lateral
motion. It may be remarked, that in putting my above-described presses into
operation, no difficulty can occur to a competent printer in working the four-
leafed press, described under Figures 1 and 2, nor in the polygonal press, shewn
at Figure 3, except as to the manner of securing the blocks or stereotypo plates
to the reversible beds, which must in both cases be performed by screws passing
through the plates into the beds, because wedges and tightening screws,
pressing against the edges of the blocks or plates, would not afford the requisite
security when the bed is reversed. But as there is so much of novelty in my
press, shewn at Figures 4 and 5, it will be necessary to give a particular
5 description of the manner of working it, and I proceed as follows:-Suppose
the secondary and tertiary beds to be held by their respective catches in the
position shewn in the Drawings, and that C, D, E, F, designate the places of
the heads or upper parts of the four blocks, or stereotype plates, secured in
the four tertiary beds, by means obviously shewn in the Drawings; and suppose
0 that four inking rollers are provided, each for laying on a different colour, say
red, blue, yellow, green, and that four quarto sheets of paper, marked 1, 2, 3,
and 4, in the common order of reading when seen on the tympan, are placed
on the tympan in the proper situations for receiving impressions from the four
plates thus prepared; I ink the plate C, say, with red, the plate D with blue
35 the plate E with yellow, and the plate F with green, if such be the required
colours, and I take an impression from them on the four sheets; then will (
print a red patch on sheet 1, D a blue patch on sheet 2, E a yellow patch
on sheet 3, and F a green patch on sheet 4; I then withdraw the catch c
from the notch in the secondary bed b, and with one of the knobs o

page_text: handles Z turn this bed upon the primary bed one quarter of a revolution,
in a direction contrary to the apparent motion of the sun, at which point the
catch will fall into the next notch and hold the secondary bed stationary in
respect of the primary bed. .It will here be seen that the four tertiary beds
have also made a quarter of a revolution in the same direction, and that the
heads of the plates point towards the sides of the primary bed, but it is
necessary that they be turned back again so that their heads point to the
same end of the primary bed as when the first impression was taken; for
this purpose I insert the projecting part of the key, Figures 6 and 7,
into the aperture of the central or main stud c, Figures 4 and 5, placing
the short prong a into that one of the holes r which stands near the
stud w, the long prong y will then necessarily pass through the other hole r,
and reach below the arm of the ring 9. In this condition I turn the key
against the sun, and drive the inclined curves of the four arms of the ring q
against the tails of the four catches p, and thereby withdraw the catches out
of the notches of the tertiary beds; I continue the motion of the key, and
cause the arms of the ring g to press against the raised part of the arms of the
wheels, and drive that wheel until the long prong stops against the stud u,
which will take place when the wheel has made half a revolution, and con-
quently the tertiary beds have returned back a quarter of a revolution in
the direction of the sun's apparent path; I then turn back the key until the
inclined curves of the arms of the ring q leave the tails of the catches, and the
catches fall into the second set of notches in the tertiary beds, and hold them
in this new position, with the heads of the plates again pointing towards the
same end of the primary bed, as before; I now ink the plates with the same
colours respectively as before, and give a second impression, which will print a
second patch upon each of the sheets of a different colour from that first
printed; a second similar movement of the apparatus will bring the four plates
to a third position, and will give a third patch of colour to each of the four
sheets different from the two colours previously laid on, and a third similar
movement will print a fourth patch of colour upon each of the four sheets, also
different from the three colours previously laid on, and thus there will be four
colours on each of the four sheets, and if the adjustment has been correct, the
sheets will be fac-similies of each other. If this should prove not to be the
case, the adjustment must be repeated until the register is found perfect.
And I do further declare that I do not claim the framework or the rising
table of Figures 1 and 2, nor the table of Fig. 3; nor do I claim the shafts,
arms, and connecting rods for balancing the weights of the reversible beds; nor
do I claim any combination of plates generally for printing various colours upon

page_text: one sheet; nor do I claim the composition, form, or mode of engraving or
preparing the plates for printing, as herein-before described. But I do claim
the four kinds of improvement in the process of surface printing in colours,
and the five kinds of improvements in the apparatus for such printing, which
nine kinds of improvements are enumerated in the early part of this my
Specification, and more particuarly described in the body hereof, the improve-
ments in the process being described. incidentally to the description of the
improved apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Knight, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
CHARLES
(L.S) KNIGHT.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of December, in
the year of our Lord 1838, the foresaid Charles Knight came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.