Improvements in Machinery for Printing Floorcloths or similar Materials.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Jan., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Nov., 1889-Accepted, 28th Dec., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Printing Floorcloths or similar
Materials.
We, EDWARD OSTLERE, of Forth Works Kirkcaldy, in the County of Fife, North
Britain, Floorcloth Manufacturer and ALEXANDER MORTON STRATHERN, of Balgray
Bank House, Springburn, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows that is to say :-
Our said Invention has for its object the printing of floorcloths or similar materials
with blocks by means of improved machinery.
In carrying out our Invention according to one modification we employ for each
color a block, which may consist of several pieces combined to act as one block, and
which extends the full width of the floorcloth. Each block is fixed to a transverse
beam working vertically with it ends in guides in frame standards, and connected by
rods to cranks on a rocking shaft. At each movement for depressing a block the
rocking shaft carries the cranks past the bottom centres and back again so that the
block is raised a little after the first contact and then pressed down again before
returning to its highest position. The floorcloth or material is moved intermittently
or between each impression in the direction of its length by means of rollers, or as
we prefer by means of endless chains constructed to take hold of the edges by points
or by clips, the clips when used being by preference constructed with the jaws
transverse instead of being longitudinal like those of ordinary clip chains.
Whilst a printing block is in its raised position it is supplied with color by
means of a trough passed under it on guides. The trough has in it a middle
large roller with a small doctor roller on each side. Pinions on the journals of
the middle roller engage with fixed racks when the trough passes under the block,
the roller being thereby made to turn. The journals of the middle roller are
movable to a small extent in slots, and the roller is pressed against one doctor
roller when moving in one direction and against the other when returning.
The rocking shaft for depressing the block, the rollers or endless chains for
moving the floorcloth and the color trough, are moved by rotating cams acting
through lovers and connecting rods; and when two or more colors are to be printed
in one machine the necessary parts are repeated and are connected so as to be all
actuated by the same cams; and the floorcloth in moving intermittently onwards
receives each color in succession as each part passes under each successive block.
In cases in which it is not convenient to employ a single long block or combination
of blocks to operate at once on the entire width of the floorcloth, we fit to the
transverse bean a slide, to which a small block can be fixed, to move intermittently
along the block-carrying beam: and for moving the slide we provide the beam with
two screw shafts which rotate continuously and operate when required in consequence
of half nuts engaging with them. These half nuts are on levers jointed to the slide
and their action is controlled by barrels having longitudinal ribs upon them. The
ribs are as long as the distance the slide has to move between one impression and
the next, and they are disposed in helical order. A rib by bearing on a nut lever
keeps it in gear with the screw shaft until the length of the rib has been traversed:
the lever then escapes off the end of the rib and becomes disengaged from the screw
shaft. When an impression has been made the barrel is made to turn so as to bring
the next rib into action: and the movements are repeated from one end of the beau
to the other and back again in a similar way.
Dated this Twenty-third day of January 1889.
EDMUND HUNT,
Applicants' Agent.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Printing Floorcloths or similar
Materials.
We, EDWARD OSTLERE, of Forth Works Kirkcaldy, in the County of Fife North
Britain Floorcloth Manufacturer, and ALEXANDER MORTON STRATHERN, of Balgray
Bank House Springburn in the County of Lanark North. Britain, Engineer, 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:
Our said Invention has for its object the printing of floorcloths or similar materials
with blocks by means of improved machinery.
In carrying out our Invention according to one modification, we employ for each
color a block which may consist of several pieces combined to act as one block, and
which extends the full width of the floorcloth. Each block is fixed to a transverse
beam working vertically with its ends in guides in frame standards and connected by
rods to cranks on a rocking shaft. At each movement for depressing a block the
rocking shaft carries the cranks past the bottom centres and back again so that the
block is raised a little after the first contact and then pressed down again before
returning to its highest position. The floorcloth or material is moved intermittently
between each impression in the direction of its length, by means of rollers, or as we
prefer by means of endless chains constructed to take hold of the edges by points or
by clips, the clips when used being by preference constructed with the jaws transverse
instead of being longitudinal like those of ordinary clip chains used in stentering or
finishing machines.
Whilst a printing block is in its raised position it is supplied with color by means
of a trough passed under it on guides. When two or more colors are to be printed
in one machine the necessary parts are repeated and are connected so as to be all
actuated simultaneously, and the floorcloth in moving intermittently onwards receives
each color in succession as each part passes under each successive block.
In cases in which it is not convenient to employ a single long block or combination
of blocks to operate at once on the entire width of the floorcloth we fit to the
transverse beam a slide to which a small block can be fixed, to move inter-
mittently along the block-carrying beam; and for moving the slide we provide the
beam with two screw shafts which rotate continuously and operate when required
by means of half nuts which are actuated by mechanisın hereinafter particularly
described.
And in order that our said Invention and the manner of performing the same may
be properly understood we hereunto append three sheets of explanatory drawings
to be hereinafter referred to and representing block printing machinery as made
with our improvements.
Figure, 1, on sheet, 1, of the accompanying drawings is a side elevation of a
machine for printing floorcloths by means of long blocks or combinations of blocks
extending completely across the floorcloth. Figure, 2, on sheet, 2, is an end elevation
corresponding to figure, 1. Figure, 3, on sheet, 3, is a side elevation of a modifica-
tion of the mechanism for lowering the transverse beam for carrying the block.
Figures, 4, and 5 are an end elevation and an inner-side elevation of a special form
of chain clip for taking hold of and moving the floorcloth through the machine.
Figure, 6, is a detailed sectional view of mechanism for moving a small block step
by step along the transverse beam, and figure, 7, is a side elevation of a part of that
mechanism. In these drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the
same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
In the machine shown in figures, 1, and 2, the parts are mainly carried by
lateral vertical frames, 11, connected by tie rods and otherwise; and the moving
parts are actuated by a transverse horizontal shaft, 12, shown in section in figure,
and being in both figures shown without the usual fast-and-loose pulleys or equivalent

page_text: gear by means of which it is driven from any suitable prime mover.
The shaft 12,
has on it cams, 13, 14, 15, which will be best understood from the supplementary
figures, A, B, C, on sheet, 1, and of which two, 13, 14, act in opposite directions on
a lever, 16, shown separately in the supplementary figure, B, and hereinafter referred
to as the slotted lever. This slotted lever, 16, is centered at its lower end and is fitted
with antifriction rollers for the cams to act on, one cam, 13, moving it towards the
right hand (as seen in figure 1) and the other. 14, moving it towards the left hand.
The slotted lever, 16, is connected by a rod, 17, to a crank, 18, loose on a rocking
shaft, 19; and this crank, 18, is connected by a return rod, 20, to a crank, 21, loose
on another rocking shaft, 22. The cranks, 18, 21, are, when required, made to act on
the rocking shafts, 19, 22, by clutches, 23. In the machine shown there is provision
for printing with two blocks using different colors; but the machine may be con-
structed for printing with more blocks and colors by simply lengthening the machine
and repeating some of the parts, amongst which will be the rocking shafts, 19, 22,
of which there is one for each block and color, but the same cams, 13, 14, will
actuate all the rocking shafts so that a perfectly simultaneous action of all the
printing blocks will be obtained. On each end of each rocking shaft, 19, 22, there is
a disk, 24, fitted with a crank pin, 25; and connecting rods, 26, extend up from the
crank pins on each side of the machine, each pair to a transverse beam, 27, to the
under side of which the printing block, 28, is attached. The ends of the transverse
beams, 27, are guided vertically in slots in upwardly extended parts of the side
frames, 11. The rods, 26, are not connected rigidly to the transverse beams, 27, but
to blocks fitted in recesses in the ends of the beams, and springs are applied between
the blocks and the bottoms of the recesses, the action of the springs being regulated
by screws, 29, which depress the blocks in the recesses. The arrangement of the
parts as delineated is such that the crank pins, 25, are moved a little past the bottom
centres so as to slightly raise the blocks, 28, and then depress them again on the
return stroke, thereby ensuring a good impression being given. The return strokes
are assisted by weighted levers, 55, applied to the rocking shafts 19, 22.
When the printing blocks, 28, are in their raised position color is supplied to
each by means of a transverse trough, 30, moving on guides, 31, fixed to the
inner sides of the side frames, 11, and moved by links, 32, connected to levers, 33,
on a rocking shaft, 34, which has on it a lever, 35, connected by a link, 36, to a
curved lever, 37, at the lower part of the machine. This curved lever, 37, is acted
on by a cam, 38, on a shaft, 39, driven from the main shaft, 12, by spur wheels, 40,
but at half speed, the color troughs, 30, being moved in one direction during one
elevation of the printing blocks and oppositely during the next. The several color
troughs, 30, are all connected to the same levers, 33, so as to be all moved simul-
taneously. In each color trough, 30, a middle roller, 41, supplies the color to the
block, 28, and has on each side of it a smaller regulating or "doctor" roller, 42, the
middle roller having its end journals in short slots so that it moves into contact with
one small roller when travelling in one direction and into contact with the other
when travelling oppositely. The middle roller, 41, is made to turn in a manner to
apply the color properly by a spurwheel on each end journal gearing with a spur
wheel, 43, on a stud on the end of the trough, and the latter gearing with a rack
fixed or formed on the guide 31.
The cloth to be printed is drawn off a roller, 44, at one end of the machine and
is guided upwards by a roller 45, made with small flanges, and carried by bearing
blocks fitted in inclined guides at the end of the machine. The journals of the
roller, 44, off which the cloth is drawn rest on pulleys. 46, so that the roller can
move easily on end and allow the cloth to pass off freely to the guide roller, 45,
even if somewhat unevenly wound on its roller, 44. The cloth passes up to a
roller, 47, at the entering end of the machine thence horizontally over plates or
tables, under the printing blocks, 28, to a roller, 48, at the other end of the machine.
Endless chains, 49, are stretched between the rollers 47, 48, and round their ends ;
and these endless chains are fitted with points or pins which take hold of the cloth
and carry it through the machine. The cloth is moved intermittently between each

page_text: •
depression of the blocks to an extent equal to the width of each block, by means of
a ratchet wheel, 50, on the shaft of the roller, 48, this ratchet wheel being acted on
by a bellcrank pawl lever, 51, adjustably connected by a link, 52, to a lever, 53,
acted on by a cam, 15, on the main shaft, 12, and shown separately in figure, C.
From the roller, 48, the cloth descends to a drying chamber below. The shafts of
the two rollers, 47, 48, are connected by pairs of hevil wheels, 56, 57 and a
longitudinal shaft, 58, so as to move accurately together.
In figure, 3, on sheet, 2, of the drawings there is shown a substitute for the
connecting rods, 26, by means of which, in the modification herein before described,
the transverse beams, 27, carrying the printing blocks, 28, are moved up and down.
Each crank pin, 25, has on it a block working in a horizontal slot in a piece, 59,
forming the lower end of a frame comprising also vertical side rods, 60, and an upper
end piece, 61, in which last the end of the transverse beam, 27, is held. The side
rods, 60, work through guide eyes, 62, formed or fixed on the side frames, 11.
With this arrangement very steady movements will be obtained and upward
extensions of the side frames are dispensed with.
Figures, 4, and 5, are an end elevation and an inner side elevation of a link for
the endless chains (49) as made with an improved arrangement of self-holding clip
instead of being armed with pins or points. The link is made with an under jaw
piece, 63, projecting from its inner side and the edge of the cloth is gripped down
on this under jaw piece by an upper movable jaw, 64, which is centered on a
transverse pin, 65, and is acted on by a spring, 66. The link moves in the direction
of the arrow and the strain of the cloth tends to close the upper jaw, 64, and make
it grip more tightly.
When a small block is to be moved step by step along a transverse beam, 27, I
employ the apparatus shown in figures, 6, and 7, for effecting and regulating such
movements. The transverse beam, 27, which is shown in cross section in figure, 6,
has a slide, 67, to which the printing block, 28, is fixed. fitted to move along its
bottom web; and the movements in opposite directions are effected by two con-
tinuously rotating screw shafts, 68. The screw shafts 68, act, one at a time, when
required, on half nuts, 69, formed or fixed on levers, 70, centered on and moving with
the slide, 67; and their actions are controlled by barrels, 71, one of which is shown
in side view in figure, 7. Each barrel, 71, has on it ribs, 72, arranged in helical
order; and a rib, 72, by bearing up the outer weighted end of a nut lever, 70, makes
it keep its nut, 69, in gear with the screw shaft, 68, until the length of the rib has
been traversed by the movement of the slide, 67, due to the screw shaft. The
lever, 70, then escapes off the end of the rib and the nut becomes disengaged from
the screw shaft and the movement of the slide arrested. When an impression has
been made the barrel, 71, is made to turn so as to bring the next rib, 72, into action,
by means of ratchet teeth on one end of the barrel and of a pawl lever, 73, centrod on
the journal of the barrel and acted on by a pin (indicated by dotted lines) on a part
which does not move up and down with the transverse beam, 27. One screw
shaft, 68, with its barrel, 71, and accessories serves for the movements of the
slide, 67, in one direction and the other for the opposite movements.
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 improved combination of machinery for printing floorcloths or similar
materials substantially as herein before described with reference to figures, 1, and 2,
of the accompanying drawings.
2. The arrangement of machinery by which the movements of two or more printing
blocks and parts carrying them are effected by means of the same cams substantially
as herein before described.
3. The arrangement of machinery by which the movements of the color troughs
for two or more printing blocks are effected by means of the same cam substantially
as herein before described.

page_text: 4. In machinery for printing floorcloths or similar materials with small blocks
moved step by step across the cloth, carrying each block on a slide and moving the
slide along a transverse beam by means of one or two screw shafts acting on half-
nut levers each controlled by ribs helically disposed on a barrel turned intermittently
substantially as hereinbefore described.
5. The device for depressing each printing block twice for each stroke and con-
sisting in the arrangement of the crank pins (25) in relation to the movements of the
rocking shafts whereby the said crank pins are carried past the bottom centres und
back again substantially as hereinbefore described.
6. The employment of endless chains for moving the floorcloth through the
machine substantially as hereinbefore described.
7. The improved construction of clip hereinbefore described with reference to
figures, 4, and 5 on sheet, 3, of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Twenty-first day of November 1889.
EDMUND HUNT,
Applicants' Agent.