CERTAIN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS APPLICABLE IN BLOCK PRINTING ON SILK, WOOLLEN, COTTON, AND OTHER FABRICS, AND ON PAPER
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HUDSON, of Gale, near Rochdale, in the County, of Lancaster, Calico Printer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date the Fourth day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-four, give and grant unto me, the said James Hudson,
my exors, admors, and assigns, His especial licence, that I, the said James
Hudson, my exors, admors, and assigns, should and lawfully might, during
the term of fourteen years therein mentioned, make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "CERTAIN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS APPLICABLE IN BLOCK PRINTING ON SILK,
WOOLLEN, COTTON, AND OTHER FABRICS, AND ON PAPER;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that if I, the said James Hudson, should not
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months then next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent now in recital, that then the said
Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages thereby granted should utterly
cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, may more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Hudson, do hereby declare that my said Invention is ascertained and
described in the manner herein-after expressed and appearing.
In the process of block printing, as now commonly practised by calico
printers, a circular sieve with a wooden hoop is used, which sieve rests upon
an oilcloth extended over and nailed to a wooden hoop, and which floats in a
cistern or tub containing a viscid fluid composition of considerable tenacity,
known among calico printers by the name of "swimming." By the resistance
of the swimming against the oil cloth, the latter is pressed against the sieve
bottom, which rests upon it, so that the latter forms an elastic table or bed,
over which the fluid colouring matter or mordant employed is spread and
diffused by means of a brush applied by the tear boy, whose duty it is from
time to time to supply the sieve with the colouring matter or mordant, and to
brush over and diffuse the same, so that a renewed and uniform surface of
such colouring matter or mordant may be presented to the face of the block
when applied to the sieve, so as to insure perfect impressions of the pattern in
process of printing. The object of my Invention is to effect the purpose
before mentioned of presenting a renewed and uniform surface of colouring
material or mordant, to which the block may be from time to time applied
without the intervention of the tear boy or assistant before mentioned, and in
a more certain and uniform manner than is effected by the method now com-
monly practised. The manner in which my said machinery and apparatus aro
to be constructed and used are set forth and ascertained in the description
following, illustrated by and having reference to the Figures or Drawings
contained in one sheet hereunto annexed, in which Figure (1) represents a
side elevation of my said machinery and apparatus; Figure (2) represents a
plan or bird's-eye view thereof; Figure (3) represents a front elevation
thereof; Figure (4) represents a longitudinal section thereof; Figures (5)
and (6) represent the separate parts constituting the two ends of the colour
box herein-after described; Figure (7) represents a plan of the doctor or
straight edge herein-after described; the several Figures are drawn to a scale
of one half their size as used by me, and I have employed throughout the
same letters or numbers of reference to denote the same parts in all tho
different Figures in which the same letters or numbers occur, and in order to
avoid in the following description the multiplied use of the same letter or
number of reference, when referring to several similar or corresponding parts
marked with the same letter or number in the Figure or Figures in which
they occur, I declare that by a reference to any single letter or number, I
intend to refer to and designate all the parts (if more than one) marked there-

page_text: with in any Figure or Figures in which the same occurs. (A) is a cast-iron
box or cistern, open at the top, and when in use is covered with oil case or
varnished cloth of the kind used by calico printers in the cases now commonly
employed by tearing or diffusing the colouring material or mordant. The
upper edges of this box on either side having a projecting flanch (a), over
which the edges of the oil case covering are lapped and nailed down tight to
a narrow wooden moulding (t), screwed under the flanches by screws passed
from the inside of the box through the small holes at (b) in the sides of the
box, as seen at Figures (1) and (4). The upper surface of the oil case
covering is represented at (W) in Figure (2), and the situation of the wooden
moulding under the returned edge or flange of the cistern is seen in Figures
(1), (3), and (4). In the side of the box, as seen in Figure (1), is an opening,
designated by the dotted lines (C) in Figure 1, communicating with an upright
iron pipe (d), open at the top, and attached to and proceeding from the outer
side of the box in an upward curve, and then assuming a perpendicular direc
tion. This upright pipe is cast distinct from the box A, and is fastened thereto
with screws and nuts, for which purpose the end of the chimney adjoining the
box is cast with a flanch, to admit of being tapped to receive the screws.
This flanch and the screw heads are seen in Figures (1) and (2). Between the
flanch and the sides of the box is introduced a piece of millboard or other
packing, to pack the whole tight and close; (e) are two arms or stays, which I
call the back pulley stays, proceeding from the lower part of the box A at one
end of it, each of which arms has an upright projection (f) at the end farthest
from the box, in which is a hole to admit a long screw (9), each end of which
is turned plain and smooth for about one-third of an inch, and the intermediate
length is cut in a screw or spiral. The plain end of each of the screw
pieces (g) nearest the box works in a socket sunk in the back of the
box, which is there thickened to admit of such socket. Each of the back
pulley stays (e) carries a loose brass nut (h), tapped to receive and fit on the
screws (9), each nut having on its upper side a small hole or gland to
admit oil for lubricating. The nuts (h) serve as steps or bearings to receive
the ends of the axle of a roller herein-after more particularly mentioned. The
near end of the cast-iron box has two descending arms (¹) and (), see
Figures (3) and (4,) which support the colour or mordant box (B), herein-after
described, and has also two small projections (x), one of which has a centre
and the other a step or slot to receive the ends of the axle of the roller (2);
(k) is a bracket projecting from the near end of the side of the box (A).
Two arms (6), (b), are screwed to and descend obliquely from the bracket (/),
to carry at their lower extremities the two bearings for the axle (m) of the

page_text: grooved pulley (m²). The axle (m) projects beyond the arm (6) towards
the colour box B, herein-after described, and on this projecting part is a
longitudinal rib or key fitting into a key bed in the central hole of the sliding
cross or clutch (o¹), the arms of which, when it is pushed home towards the
colour box, catch the projecting legs of the clutch (02), which is fixed on the
adjoining end of the axle of the roller (1), see Figures (2) and (3).
B is a colour box, the front bottom and back of which I usually make of
one entire piece of sheet copper or other suitable metal, or of wood, bent in the
form of a trough, having a vent pipe or plug hole (y) at the bottom, to allow
the drawing off of the colouring fluid, when necessary. The material of which
the colour or mordant box must be composed will vary with the colouring
matter or mordant to be used; but as the action of acids is familiar to calico
printers, every competent workman will be quite aware of the effects which
the use of different metals in the structure of the colour box will produce on the
colours he employs. The ends of the colour box may be most conveniently made
in the forms represented in Figures (5) and (6); Figure (5) representing the
parts of the end nearest the driving pulley (m²), and Figure (6) the parts of the
other end; each end is made in two pieces, an upper and a lower ('); and
(), Figures (5) and (6) are the lower pieces, and (1) and (2), the upper
pieces of the respective ends. A portion of the lower piece (9') is recessed
inwardly, and a portion of (42) is recessed outwardly, to receive the ends of the
descending arms (i) and (2) from the near end of the box or cistern A. The
lower piece of each end is made with an outward flanch all round, and to these
flanches the corresponding arms of the trough are rivetted. The piece (7) has
a hole (5), by which it is suspended on a pin projecting from the inner side of
the descending arm (¹), nearest the driving pulley (m²), and the lower piece
9) is attached to the other descending arm (i), by a screw (n), which passes
through the hole (6), and screws into the adjoining end of the descending arm
(), which is tapped to receive it. In order to attach together the upper and
lower pieces of the ends of the colour box, the flanch at the upper edge of
each of the lower end pieces (7') and (92) is spread out into a semicircular
projection at the nearer end; and the flanch at the lower edge of each of the
upper end pieces (1) and (2) is in like manner spread out into a corresponding
projection, and each corresponding pair of these projections, namely, one upper
and one lower, are united by means of a screw (m³), which, passing through a
hole in the upper projection, is screwed into the lower projection, which is
tapped to receive it. The upper piece (1) is made with a notch or fork at its
back part, which clasps the descending arm (2). This fork is seen in the
elevation at (3), Figure (5), and serves to keep in its place the colour box and

page_text: its adjuncts. On the superior margin of each of the upper pieces (t), (1º),
are two boxes or projecting pieces (9) and (10), which carry the extremities of
a screw (11), having a pivot and neck turned plain to turn in holes in the boxes
as bearings. On each screw (11) is a nut or moveable piece (12), tapped to
receive the screw, and which, by turning the screw (11) by its fly or thumb
plate, may be made to travel forward or backward to the extent of the distance
between the bosses (9), (10). The upper end of cach nut or shifting piece (12)
terminates in a fork bended horizontally inwards towards each other, so as to
form bearers for the end of the doctor or straight edge (S), best seen in Figures
(3) and (7). The back of the doctor is flanged or turned up, for the purpose
of strengthening it, except at the two ends which are cut down to admit of
their being received into the forks, in which they are kept firm by pins
passed through eyes in the upper and lower prong of each fork, and through
corresponding holes drilled in the ends of the doctor. 1, 2, 3, (best seen in
Figure 4,) are a series of wooden rollers, of which I call, 1 the lower front
roller, 2 the upper front roller, and 3 the back roller; 4 is also a wooden roller,
which may be covered with flannel or similar material, or not covered, accord-
ing to the dgree of tenacity of the colouring matter or mordaunt employed to
take up the colouring material or mordant in the box, and which I therefore
call the furnishing roller. Each of the four rollers runs on axles supported
by the bearings I am about to describe. The axles of the furnishing
roller (4) rest in steps which move freely in perpendicular grooves or
guides formed in the inside of the ends of the colour box, as seen by dotted
lines in (7) and (), Figures (5) and (6). These steps are adjusted or moved
in a perpendicular direction by means of the screws (=), which pass through
the under side of the colour box for that purpose, so that the amount of
pressure between the rollers (1) and (4) can be regulated with the greatest
exactness. The axles of the lower front roller (1) rest on the upper edges
of the lower pieces (7) and (72) of the ends of the colour box, and are
retained in their places by caps or openings cast in the corresponding upper
pieces (), (). The axles of the upper front roller (2) run in the centre and
slot or step formed in the projections (a) of the box A, as before described,
and the axles of the back roller (3) rest in the steps (h), also before described.
On the end of the roller (1), farthest from the driving pulley (m²), is fixed the
small spur wheel (13), which gears with another spur wheel fixed immediately
beneath it, on the corresponding end of the furnishing roller (4). The spur
wheels being of such relative sizes that the face of the roller (4) may work
with a slight rubbing action against the endless web herein-after described.

page_text: The rollers (1), (2), and (3), carry an endless web (Z), made of the cloth or
fabric commonly used amongst block printers for forming the bottom of the
common sieve herein-before mentioned, or of any other fabric, for taking up
the colouring matter or mordant, and which web, when the roller (1) is made
to revolve, is carried in the direction of the arrow in Figures (1), (2), (3),
and (4), over and in contact with the case or covering (W) of the box (A).
The web in its revolution passes between two small brackets (14), fitted to
and sliding on the doctor (S), and best seen in Figure 7, at a distance from
each other equal to the width of the web, and connected by a wire (15), in the
space between which and the doctor the web passes to put the machine in
working order. The box A is fixed to a wooden frame, as shewn in Figures (1),
and (3), the legs of which are represented in the Figures as broken off, and
are of the height most convenient to the workman. The box being filled with
the swimming before mentioned, the covering is stretched over the top and
projecting edges or flanches of the box A, and nailed down tightly to the
wooden moulding, so as effectually to prevent the escape of the swimming;
a further quantity of swimming is then poured into the pipe (d), so as to raise
the level of the swimming in it somewhat above the edges of the box, and
thereby to produce an upward pressure of the liquid in the box against the oil
case or covering, the pressure being proportionable to the height of the liquor
in the upright pipe. By this means the case or covering forms a firm clastic
table. The endless sieve or web (Z) is then extended over the elastic table
thus formed over the rollers (2) and (3), and under the roller (1), as best
shewn in Figure (4). The tension of the endless web may be regulated by
varying the position of the back roller (3), which, by means of the adjusting
screws (9) acting on the moveable steps (h), may be made to approach to or
recede from the back of the box, as occasion may require. In like manner,
the degree of force with which the doctor or straight edge (S) shall bear on
the endless web may be regulated by means of the adjusting screws (11). The
machine being thus adjusted, the vent hole (y) of the colour box is closed up,
and the fluid colouring material or mordant intended to be used is poured into
the colour box (B), to such a height that a sufficient quantity may be taken up
by the roller (4) in its revolution. The grooved pulley (m²) being turned by a
strap or cord from a revolving shaft worked by steam or other power, or by
hand, the clutch sliding coupling (o¹) is pushed to the end of the pulley
axle (m), so as to gear with the clutch (o²), as represented in Figure 3. The
roller (1), on the axle of which the clutch is fixed, is thus caused to revolve,
and by means of the spur wheel (13) and the one gearing with it as before

page_text: described, drives the furnishing roller, which, as it revolves, takes up the
colouring fluid or mordant from the colour box, and imparts it to the endless
sieve or web (Z) in its passage under the roller (1). As the endless web
traverses from the roller (1) to the roller (2), it bears against the doctor (S),
by which the superfluous colour is scraped off and falls into the colour box, to
facilitate which, the axes of the rollers (1), (2), are not placed in the same
perpendicular, but in an oblique line, the roller (2) being a little more forward
than the roller (1). The small brackets (14) on the doctor further scrape off
the superfluous colour from the edges of the endless web. As the endless web
progresses over the elastic table formed by the extended case or covering, the
printer applies his block to it as to the common sieve, the raised pattern on the
face of the block thereby receiving the colour or mordant which is to be
transferred to the fabric in process of being printed. And I declare that the
size and proportions of my said machinery and apparatus, and of the different
parts thereof, as well as the materials of which the same may be composed,
require to be varied according to the size of the block and the nature of the
colouring matter or mordant used or employed, and all such variations may be
made by any competent mechanic and printer without departing from the
object and principle of my Invention.
And I declare, that although an apparatus or machine made on the plan
whhic I have above described for practising my said Invention, namely, by
means of an endless web passing over and kept in motion by a series of
revolving rollers is that which I use, and consider the best, as being simple and
effective; yet, inasmuch as the same object may be accomplished by various
other mechanical means than those which I have herein described, I declare
that I claim as of my Invention the contrivance of presenting, for the purpose
herein-before set forth, a renewed and uniform layer of colouring material or
mordant, by means of an extended web of appropriate fabric moving upon or
over an elastic or other suitable supporting surface, and carrying such self-
renewing supply of colouring material or mordant as aforesaid, by whatever
modifications of mechanical means such contrivance may be effected.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Hudson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-five.
JAMES (L.s.) HUDSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-eighth day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1835, the aforesaid James Hudson came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, 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 Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-five.