Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Lithographic Printing.
Year: 1889

page_text: Cate of Application, 6th Nov., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 6th Sept., 1890-Accepted, 11th Oct., 1890
TRIONAL DE MOITIATIV
Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Lithographic
Printing.
We, HUGH MACPHAIL, 62 Harrietta Street, Hightown, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Block Cutter, and THOMAS AUGUSTINE CAHILL, 171, Church Street,
Pendleton, in the County of Lancaster, Block Cutter, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
.
The object of this invention is primarily to provide for the printing of wall papers,
ceiling papers, textile fabrics, and the like, which are in lengths or rolls, by the
lithographic process, though it may also be applied to the printing of other articles
which are at present printed by lithography from flat stones.
Hitherto papers and fabrics in lengths have usually been printed from copper or
wooden rollers with the pattern or design embossed, engraved, or otherwise set out
thereon, most processes of producing which are more or less costly.
The invention consists essentially in the employment of printing cylinders or
cylindrical printing surfaces made from lithographic stones or composition. The
cylinders may be either solid or hollow. The pattern or design will be transferred
to the cylinder and printed direct therefrom as in the case of ordinary lithographic
printing.
Such cylinders may be used in the machines at present applied to the printing of
calico, wall papers and the like these cylinders taking the place of the metal or wooden
ones; or a machine. may be specially adapted or designed therefor according to the
particular form of article to be printed.
The colour will be applied to the cylinders by means of inking or distributing
rollers and the cylinder will be kept moistened by a drip or spray of water playing
upon it, or by a moistened brush or roller, to prevent the ink or colour being deposited
when not required for the pattern.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
6, Bank Street, Manchester, Patent Agents.
Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for Lithographic]
Printing.
We HUGE MACPHAIL of 19 Silver Street Minshull Street Manchester in the County
of Lancaster Stamp Maker and THOMAS AUGUSTINE CAHILL of 29 Fitzwarren Street
Pendleton near Manchester aforesaid Block Cutter do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying
drawings:-
Our invention relates principally to the printing of repetitions of patterns or designs
upon continuous or long lengths of paper woven fabric or material. Previously to
our invention wall papers woven fabrics and similar materials have been printed by
the use of metal or wooden rollers upon which the patterns have been engraved or
produced in relief engraved copper rollers being generally employed in the machine
printing of woven fabrics. Such rollers are costly to produce and the entire changing
of the pattern upon a roller can only be affected by turning off the old pattern and
037

page_text: re-engraving the roller. According to our invention we print the paper or material
by the lithographic process employing rollers made of lithograph stone or of a suitable
composition or faced with a suitable composition. For the purposes of our invention
we prefer to use rollers or cylinders of lithograph stone. Such rollers or cylinders
may be applied to the machines ordinarily used in the printing of the said materials
in substitution for the ordinary rollers the necessary additions being made to such
machines to suit the change or machines may be specially constructed to suit the
particular work which is to be done. In order that the manner in which our invention
may be carried into effect may be clearly understood we have attached hereunto a
drawing to which we will refer in this place.
The said drawing is a diagram representing the combination of parts which we
consider to be suitable for printing designs in one colour. In the said diagram a is
the printing roller consisting of a hollow cylinder of lithograph stone fixed upon a
metal shaft which is mounted to revolve in bearings which are adjustable as in the
case of the rollers in ordinary printing machines. The roller is supplied with printing
medium or so called colour by. means of the furnishing rollers cand apron d which
Above the roller bis
convey the colour from the colour box e to the printing roller.
a colour spreading roller f. This arrangement of colours supplying rollers is an
ordinary one for the purpose and may be varied according to circumstances or as may
be considered to be advisable.
A
The roller a is adjusted with relation to a main cylinder g as in ordinary printing
machines. The paper or material to be printed is represented by hand is drawn
forward to receive the impression from the printing roller by the revolution of the
main cylinder g. As so far described the arrangement does not differ much from that
of some types of ordinary printing machines with the exception of the use of the
lithographic roller in place of an ordinary printing roller. As is well understood it is
necessary to damp the lithographic roller. For this purpose. we apply a spray pipe i
which discharges a spray of water or liquid to moisten the surface of the roller a.
roller which we will term the damping roller distributes the liquid over the surface
of the roller a removes excess of liquid and prepares the roller to receive the colour.
The surface of the said damping roller may be composed of flannel felt sponge or
other suitable material. The spray from the pipe i may be discharged directly to the
roller a or on to the damping roller k as found to be most advantageous. It may be
considered desirable to employ two or more rollers acting in succession upon the
roller a to distribute the liquid and reinove excess preparatory to the reception of
colour. At is a roller which we will term a drying roller which is adapted to still
further remove moisture from the roller preparatory to the impression upon the paper
or inaterial h. The said drying roller would have an absorbent surface composed of
sponge cotton or other suitable substance or material. More than one drying roller
may be applied and in some cases a drying roller or drying rollers might be applied
to work in contact with the roller l. It must be understood that although only one
printing roller with its attendant damping and colour feeding rollers appears in the
drawings there would be several sets applied partly around the main cylinder in the
ca es of machines constructed to print in two or more colours. The dotted circles a
indicate additional lithographing rollers.
A machine furnished with a single lithographic roller or with two or more such
rollers may be used in the printing of circulars or pictures or of so called letter press
matter usually printed in an ordinary lithographic press the impression being received
either upon separate sheets of paper or upon a continuous length which would be
subsequently cut up into the required sheets.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The use in the printing of paper and other material of continuously revolving
rollers outwardly composed of lithograph stone or composition as set forth.

page_text: 2. The use in the printing of wall papers long rolls of paper and woven materials of
printing rollers adapted to transfer designs or matter to such materials by lithographic
process substantially as set forth.
3. In a printing machine the combination of parts of the nature and arrangement.
substantially as set forth and indicated.
Dated this 5th day of September 1890.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.