IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND PRINTING FLOORGLOTES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Wright, of Kirkcaldy, in the County of
Fife, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR
PREPARING AND PRINTING FLOORGLOTES"
Sealed the 15th April 1871, and dated the 19th October 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Wright at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th October 1870.
I, JOHN WRIGHT, of Kirkcaldy, in the County of Fife, North Britain,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND PRINTING FLOORCLOTHS," to be as follows, that
is to say:-
This Invention has for its object to reduce the cost and labor involved
in preparing and printing floorcloths by adapting improved machinery
to those operations.
One modification of the improved preparing machinery comprises a
framework with rollers and their driving gear and other details herein-.
after referred to which is placed above a drying chamber or stove, and

page_text: =
the floorcloth made endless by uniting its ends by sewing them together
or by connecting them by hooks is moved continuously from the frame-
work into the stove and back again. The floorcloth is hooked by its
edges to pitch chains which pass round a number of rollers and wheels
in the stove, rollers being at the top and the upper loops of a series of
vertical folds of the floorcloth resting with their unpainted sides on
them, whilst at the bottom there are wheels only for the side chains so
that the painted side of the floorcloth touches nothing. The paint for
preparing or grounding (or as it is sometimes termed trowelling) the
floorcloth is applied by a roller arranged in the framework, and a
scraper or doctor is also provided for removing surplus paint. One or
more rollers with suitable surface or with cutters are arranged to act
on the floorcloth as it issues from the stove so as to polish and prepare
the surface for the next coat of paint. The hooks of the endless pitch
chains are formed with lugs and antifriction rollers to run in fixed guide
grooves placed so as to stretch or breadthen the floorcloth.
In another modification of preparing machinery the stove is fitted
up with rollers arranged on three, four, or more radial frames and the
floorcloth is passed round in a succession of separate concentric con-
volutions and is drawn into the stove by ropes or bands which are
wound up on a winch placed in a central space. With this arrangement
the unpainted side only comes into contact with the rollers, but more
space is required than with the first modification.
One modification of the printing machinery comprises a cylinder or
drum of a size somewhat more than sufficient to take on at once a full
sized piece of floorcloth of, say, eight yards in width and of thirty yards
in length. At one side there is a bench formed with V guides to received
a sliding frame or carriage which can be moved along the bench by
screw or other gearing in a direction parallel to the cylinder's axis, and
this carriage is fitted with bearings and adjusting details for twelve or
whatever number of rollers may be required for performing the entire
printings of the floorcloth. The cylinder and the printing rollers are
geared together so that the latter may register perfectly. In one
modification of the gearing the printing rollers are driven through bevil
wheels from a series of horizontal shafts carried by the carriage, and
these shafts are driven through bevil wheels from a single vertical
shaft, which last is driven by a travelling bevil wheel on a stationary
horizontal shaft. Or the printing rollers are connected by intermediate

page_text: spur wheels and the driving power applied to one of them. Or again
the rollers may be driven by a pitch chain from a travelling wheel on
the stationary horizontal shaft. The printing rollers correspond in
length to a small portion of the width of the floorcloth, and after acting
on each portion, the carriage with them is shifted along the bench to
the next portion,, and so on until all is completed. Paint troughs and
feed rollers are of course fitted in connection with the several printing
rollers.
In a second modification of the printing machinery instead of one
large cylinder or drum two comparatively small cylinders are used and
are placed at such a distance apart that an entire piece of floorcloth
may be distended upon them in an endless form. The printing, roller
carriage is modified to suit, being arranged. for printing either on the
convex surface passing round one of the cylinders or on the flat surface
distended between them, their pressure being resisted in the latter case
by rollers applied against the inner side of the floorcloth..
The improved printing machinery may be advantageously used for
narrow floorcloths as well as wide ones, being of course proportioned
accordingly.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Wright in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th April 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WRIGHT, of Kirkcaldy, in the County of Fyfe, North Britain, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Wright, Her special licence
that I, the said John Wright, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Wright, 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.

page_text: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR PREPARING AND
PRINTING FLOORCLOTHS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Wright, 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 John Wright, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement in writing, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object to reduce the cost and labor
involved in preparing and printing floorcloths by adapting improved
machinery to those operations.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append two Sheets of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to and representing
various modifications of my improved machinery. In these Drawings
the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or like parts
wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1, of the Drawings is a vertical section showing
one modification of my improved preparing machinery, which comprises:
a framework 1 with rollers 2, 3, 4, and their driving gear and other
details herein-after referred to, such framework being placed above a
drying chamber or stove 5, and the floorcloth, which is shown by red
lines and is made endless by uniting its ends, is moved continuously from
the framework 1, into the stove 5, and back again. The floorcloth is
looked by its edges to pitch chains 6, of which portions are shown
enlarged in Figures 2, 3, and 4, and which pass round a number of
rollers 7, and wheels 8 in the stove; rollers 7 being at the top and the
upper loops of a series of vertical folds of the floorcloth resting with
their unpainted sides on them, whilst at the bottom there are wheels 8 3
only for the side chains 6, so that the painted side of the floorcloth
touches nothing, although turned inwards in the bottom loops of the
folds. The paint for preparing or grounding (or as it is sometimes

page_text: termed trowelling), the floorcloth is applied by a roller 9 arranged in
the framework 1, and a scraper or doctor 10 is also provided for removing
surplus paint. After the floorcloth is dried the roller 10 may be removed
and there may be substituted one or more rollers with suitable surface,
or with cutters to act on the floorcloth as it issues from the stove 5, so
as to polish and prepare the surface for the next coat of paint. I prefer
to make the endless pitch chains 6 in the manner shown in Figures 2,
3, 4, the links on which the hooks are formed being fitted with anti-
friction rollers 11, to run in grooved guides 12 which are fixed to battens
13 or frame bars in the stove 5, and are placed so as to exert a transverse
breadthening or stretching strain upon the floorcloth, and thereby prevent
it from shrinking and becoming uneven. The upper rollers 7 are driven
by means of spur wheels on their axles, and indicated by dotted circles,
these spur wheels being connected by intermediate spur wheels with each
other and with the spur wheels of the rollers 2, 3, 4, in the framework
1, driving power being communicated to any one of the series in any
convenient way. It may however be found unnecessary to drive all
the rollers 7, and these rollers may be covered with vulcanised rubber
or other suitable material that will prevent the floorcloth from slipping
upon them.
In another modification of my improved preparing machinery, and
which is shown in vertical section, in Figure 5, the stove 5 is fitted with
rollers 7 on three, four, or more radial frames 14, and the floorcloth is
passed round in a succession of separate concentric convolutions as shown
by red lines, and is drawn into the stove by means of ropes or bands
which are wound up on a winch 15, placed in a central space. With
this arrangement only the unpainted side comes into contact with the
rollers 7, but more space is required than with my first modification
herein-before described. When the floorcloth has been dried it is passed
through a calender 16 on being drawn out of the stove and is wound
up into a roll by means of a winch 17.
Figure 6, on Sheet 2 of the Drawings, is a plan, and Figure 7 an.
end elevation showing the principal parts of one modification of my
improved floorcloth printing machinery. This machinery comprises a
cylinder or drum 18 of a size somewhat more than sufficient to take on
at once a full-sized piece of floorcloth of say eight yards in width and
thirty yards in length. The printing operation is effected by the well-
known action of raised surface printing rollers 19 fitted with the usual

page_text: details for adjusting them and for supplying them with color or paint.
To one side of the cylinder 18 there is a bench 20 formed with V guide
surfaces to receive a sliding frame or carriage 21 which can be moved
along the bench parallel to the axis of the cylinder by means of a screw
shaft 22 or of other suitable gearing; and this carriage is fitted with
bearings and adjusting details for whatever number of the printing
rollers 19 it may be desired to use for performing the entire printing of
the floorcloth. It is not essential however to perform all the printings
at once, but in some cases it may, on the contrary, be better to apply
some one or more of the printings separately from the others; or in
some cases it may be desirable to repeat one or more of the printings
that have been at first applied altogether. The cylinder 18 and the
printing rollers 19 are geared together so that the latter may register
perfectly. In the modification shown in Figures 6 and 7 the printing
rollers 19 are driven through bevil wheels 23 from a series of horizontal
shafts 24 carried by the carriage 21, and these shafts 24 are driven
through bevil wheels 25 from a single vertical shaft 26, which last is
driven by a travelling bevil wheel 27 on a stationary horizontal shaft 28.
This shaft 28 is itself driven by means of bevil wheels and shafts 29, 30,
from a toothed ring fixed on the end of the cylinder 18 and indicated by
the red arc 31. According to another modification the printing rollers 19
are connected by intermediate spur wheels 32 as indicated by red circles
in Figure 8, such spur wheels being set on studs on the framing of the
carriage 21 and the driving power is applied to one of them by means of
a grooved shaft lying parallel to the cylinder. When driven by spur
gearing as indicated in Figure 8 I prefer to connect the roller spindles
with their spur wheels in the manner shown in Figures 9 and 10, which
are an enlarged section and an elevation as at right angles to each other.
In a frame plate 33 separate from that 34 containing the screens for
adjusting each roller spindle 35 to or from the cylinder 18 there is fixed
a tubular stud 36 through which the spindle 35 passes, and on this stud
there are placed the registering worm wheel 37 and the spur wheel 38,
the latter being in gear with the intermediate spur wheels 32. The
registering wheel 37 has on it two pins between which there lies an
arm 39 fixed on the roller spindle 35, and with this arrangement the
roller will be turned with sufficient accuracy notwithstanding that its
adjustment to or from the cylinder 18 may place it slightly out of the
centre of the tubular stud 36. The printing rollers can also according
to another modification be driven by means of an endless pitch chain

page_text: acting on spur wheels on their spindles and driven by a travelling wheel
on the stationary horizontal shaft 28. The printing rollers 19 correspond
in length to a small portion of the width of the floorcloth, and after
acting on each portion the carriage 21 with them is shifted along the
bench 20 to the next portion, and so on until all is completed.
It is of great importance in carrying out my Invention for the floor-
cloth to be well and evenly stretched upon the surface of the large
cylinder 18, and to ensure this I employ the arrangements shown in the
diagram Figure 11, which comprises a small portion of the circumference
of the cylinder and appliances for putting the floorcloth on. it. A.
recess 40 is formed in the cylinder, and in it are two small rollers 41, 42,
with ratchet wheels on their ends and provided for tightening the floor-
cloth, the ends of which are fixed to these rollers. The floorcloth is
drawn off a roll 43 and passed round a roller 44 which can be pressed
by screws against the cylinder so as to be laid with a compressing rolling
action upon the cylinder surface. The cylinder 18 may be turned a
number of times when the floorcloth is upon it so that any slackness
may be rolled out of it by the action of the pressing roller 44 and be taken
up by the ratchet rollers 41, 42. Instead of one large cylinder or drum 18
being used two comparatively small cylinders may be employed, being
placed at such a distance apart as that an entire piece of floorcloth may
be distended upon them in an endless form. The printing roller
carriage 21 will be modified to suit being arranged for printing either on
the convex surface passing round one of the cylinders or on the flat
surface distended between them, their pressure being resisted in the
latter case by rollers applied against the inner side of the floorcloth.
My improved printing machinery may be advantageously used for
narrow floorcloths as well as for wide ones, being of course proportioned
accordingly.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated; but
that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. The arranging of machinery for preparing floorcloths so that by
combinations of rollers substantially such as are herein-before described
the floorcloths may be passed into and out of drying stoves in an endless
course and without the painted side being touched.

page_text: 2. The applying of endless hooked chains constructed and worked
in connection with guides in the improved manner substantially as
herein described and delineated for conveying floorcloths whilst being
prepared.
3. The printing of floorcloths by means of printing rollers and a
cylinder or cylinders combined and arranged in the improved manner,
substantially as herein-before described.
4. The stretching of an entire piece of floorcloth on one or two
suitably sized cylinders substantially in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wright, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
TATT