CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ART OF BLOCK PRINTING
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
BACKHOUSE, of Walmsley, in the Parish of Bury, Calico Printer, and JEREMIAH
GRIME, of Bury, both in the County of Lancaster, Engraver, send greeting.
WHEREAS His late most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Seventh day of March, in the seventh year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Henry Backhouse and Jeremiah Grime, His especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that we, the said Henry Backhouse, and Jeremiah
Grime, our executors, administrators; and assigns, and such others as we, the
said Henry Backhouse and Jeremiah Grime, our executors, administrators, and
assigns; should at any time agree with, and no other, 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, our Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
ART OF BLOCK PRINTING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that we, the said Henry Backhouse and Jeremiah Grime, should cause a
particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Henry Backhouse and Jeremiah Grime, do hereby declare that the nature of
the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to performed, is
particularly described and ascertained in the Drawings hereto annexed, and
by the following explanation thereof; that is to say :-
Our Improvements in the Art of Block Printing consist principally in the
peculiar and novel arrangement or construction of the table to be used by
printers of calicoes, muslins, or other woven fabrics or materials adapted to
receive impressions from the ordinary printing block, and also in the applica-
tion of a drying cylinder to the printing table for the purpose of immediately
drying the goods after they have received the impressions or color, and before
they are rolled upon a drum or winding-on roller attached to the table, and
thereby prevent the necessity of conducting the, printed goods over rollers or
across the workshop or printing room, which is obliged to be done in the
ordinary process of block printing, for the purpose of drying the goods, whereby
a considerable saving of time, room, and expence will be effected, and the
colours which have been imprinted upon the cloth will be much brighter in
effect and considerably improved..
Another feature of novelty and improvement is the application of a small
temporary table and blanket covered with a piece of waste calico, and placed
at the opposite side of the table to that where the workman stands, which
small table and waste calico is for the purpose of receiving from the printing
block what is usually termed in the trade the "tip," that is, any extra portion
of the block which may project over the width of the cloth, as is frequently
the case.
The width of calico, muslin, or other goods varying in breadth, will
render this side table sometimes necessary, for if a certain number of repeti-
tions of the block or pattern covers the breadth of the fabric accurately at a
certain ordinary width, in the event of the fabric being narrower than usual, a,
portion of the block at the last impression in the width will either be printed
every time upon the blanket, and thereby deface and spoil it, or if no blanket.
should be under it the color will remain upon that part of the block, and, after
receiving another dip in the sieve which the color is spread upon in the
swimming tub, the color will be too thickly supplied to that particular part
of the block, and thus, at the next crossing of the piece of goods, under opera-
tion, the first impression of the block will be uneven in its strength unless the

page_text: "tip" or superfluous quantity is taken off in the manner we have provided,
which will be more readily understood by reference to the Drawings attached
to these Presents, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of our improved
printing table (drawn to a scale of one inch and a half to the foot), by which
arrangement it will be seen that two men may work at one frame or table in
the same space as one man occupies with the tables ordinarily used, one
workman standing on each side and at opposite ends of the apparatus, which
we call a double table. Figure 2 is a horizontal view of the same, as seen from
above; Figure 3 is a vertical section taken longitudinally through the middle
of the apparatus; and Figure 4 is an end view of the same, similar letters of
reference pointing out corresponding parts in all these Figures. a, a, a, a, is
the framing of the apparatus, made of cast iron or other suitable material,
connected and strengthened by cross stretchers and rods b, b, b, b, and bolted
down to the flooring of the room through feet or flanges. This framework
supports two tables of stone or other appropriate material c, c; these tables,
with the ordinary blanket, form the bed for the cloth or goods under the opera-
tion of printing. The sieve cloth d, d, upon which the printing color is spread,
is placed in the swimming tub e, e, as usual, the tub being supported by the
framework of the machine in the centre between the two beds or tables c, c;
so that by this arrangement (one man standing at each side of the machine)
one swimming tub and sieve, and consequently one tier boy, is sufficient for
the supply of color to two printers at the same time. At each end of the
printing table a drying cylinder f, f, heated by hot air or steam, or in any other
convenient manner, is placed. This cylinder is constructed of tin or other
suitable metal, and provided with a pipe g, g, and stopcock, in order to admit
the steam (or hot air, if preferred) into the cylinder, the workman regulating
the heat by turning the cock. A corresponding pipe h, h, at the other end, is
also adapted to discharge the water produced by condensation from the interior
of the cylinder. The buckets i, i, receive this water, and conduct it through
the hollow axis of the cylinder in the same manner as in the ordinary
drying machines. These drying cylinders, being constructed of metal, must not
have their exterior surfaces exposed to the goods under operation, but must
be covered with calico or some other similar fabric, in order to prevent the
immediate contact of the newly-printed cloth with the metal, which (by
oxydation or otherwise) would materially injure the appearance of many
colors. We would here remark, that whenever it is desirable to use a grey
piece of calico under the piece intended to be printed upon, as is commonly
done by the printer in heavy blotching, or with color that is liable to mark oft

page_text: and discharge any part of the printed or dyed color that was in the piece
previous to the operation, we would recommend that the piece intended to be
operated upon and the grey piece should be wound upon the roller together,
and then laid in the trough or scray, the covering of the lieated cylinder in this
case not being necessary.
Having pointed out the particular features of our improvements, we proceed
to describe the operation of each respective part of the apparatus
A piece of
calico or other fabric A, A, intended to be printed, is first either wound upon
the roller' j, which is provided with a ratchet wheel; click; and weighted 'cord,
in order to keep the cloth in "easy tension, or it is placed in a trough or
scray k under the central part of the apparatus.. It's end is.then to be passed
over the guide or tension roller l, l; and stitched or otherwise attached to a
piece of waste calico of sufficient length to reach from the said róller j'nearly
round the drying cylinder and on the table. It is then conducted, being
fastened to 'the above piece of waste cloth, nearly round the drying cylinder
and over the tension roller m, 'm, 'on to the work roller 'n, n, to which the
other end of the waste or conducting cloth has been previously fastened. It
will be seen that the piece of calico, muslin, or other fabric' intended to receive
the print being now placed upon the table and blanket'c, c, and in a proper
position to receive the print or colour from the block, the printers, who stand
upon the spots marked (see Figure 2), now cross' the pieces with their
blocks, beginning at the selvage next their persons and working from them-
selves. When they have arrived at the opposite selvages of the pieces of cloth,
if their width shall be more than so many exact breadths of the block, then
the small tables o, o, at the opposite sides of the machine, with their blankets
and pieces of waste cloth, receive the tip" from their several blocks instead
of defacing the blankets or leaving that portion of the blocks still charged
with colour. It may be as well to mention here, that some printers have
preferred to print the cloth froni end to end and leave the "tip" to be printed
afterwards, in which case the pieces of cloth must be wound from the work
roller back again to the roller j. "The small tables:o, o, for receiving the "tip"
may be made of wood or other suitable material, and have two small cast-iron
brackets fixed at each end, and which brackets form supports for the extra
table o at the side and bearings for the axis of two small rollers adapted to
each table, from one of which the piece of waste cloth intended to receive the
tip" of the block is drawn over the extra table and wound' to the other
roller as often as may be required, that is, when the cloth becomes much.
soiled or defaced by the repetition of the tip. After the piece of cloth
66
"

page_text: under operation has received as many impressions of the block as the dimen-
sions of the beds or tables c, c, will allow, the printed cloth is removed from
the table by the workman pressing with his left foot upon the tread wheel p. p.
which being provided with a rim of small spur teeth in gear with the pinion q
upon the shaft of the work roller n, the cloth is by that means wound upon
the roller, having in its passage from the printing table 'passed nearly round
the drying cylinder f, and have become perfectly dry and fit to be removed
and wound up. The workman continues to tread upon the leaves of the
wheel p until he has drawn as much of the printed portion of the goods from
the table c as he finds necessary, and that being succeeded by a fresh portion
of the cloth the operation is continued as before, and so on until the whole of
the piece has been similarly operated upon. By reference to Figure 2 one
piece of goods will be seen under operation, namely, receiving that portion of
the process of printing called " blotching" the " print" or outline of the
pattern, and the "pegging" or filling up of the figure having first been per-
formed. It will be seen that the cloth, as represented in this Figure, is just
ready to receive the print of the last block in its breadth, which will leave the
"tip" or impression of that portion of the block which extends over the
selvage of the goods upon the small side table o, as the "print" and "peg"
block's have already done. It may be found necessary during the operation of
printing to have a slight temporary screen or covering of blanket or other
material r, r, suspended over or next to the drying cylinder ff, in order to
defend the face of the workman from the steam and heat which may arise from
the drying of tlie cloth as it passes over the heated surface of the cylinder.
We have shewn in Figure 3 two pieces of goods in their relative situations
in the apparatus during the process of printing, one piece laid in the trough
or scray, and by way of modification the other is shewn upon the roller j.
·
It is known by practical block printers that after a piece of calico
or other woven cloth or fabric has received one set of impression's either
from a block or cylinder (for instance," the "print" or first outline of the
pattern intended to be represented,) that the cloth will sometinies vary a
slight portion in its length, and consequently that upon the application of the
next block (say the "pegging" block to fill up the outline), several portions of
the pattern will not "register," that is, the print from the second bleck will
not fall upon the spot which has been prepared for it by the first set of
impressions, and thus the pattern is frequently rendered imperfect. Another
part of our improvement, therefore, is to obviate this defect, and the means
or apparatus for accomplishing it is shewn in front and side elevation

page_text: at Figures 5 and 6. In these Figures are represented a pair of fluted
rollers which we call crimping rollers; the top one is regulated as to its pres-
sure by weighted levers or otherwise. The cloth to be crimped or slightly
contracted in its length (supposing it has become elongated) is first wound
upon the roller a, and having been passed between the rollers b and c, and
become slightly corrugated or crimped, is then taken carefully to the printing
table and laid in the scray k, and is then fit for the second or third block, as
may be required. Contrary wise, if the cloth shall have become at all shrunken
by the drying in the first or second process, and is required to be slightly
stretched for the purpose of accommodating the first part of the pattern to the
subsequent blocks, it must be held tightly by the hands of the workman,
and passed under the bar or stretcher e, over the fluted roller b, and wound
upon the roller d, as shewn by the red line in Figure 6, or wound from roller
to roller, as shewn by the dotted lines.
Having now described every particular feature of novelty in our apparatus,
and pointed out the means of carrying the same into practical effect, we desire
it to be understood that we do not intend to confine ourselves to the particular
forms, positions, or dimensions of any of the parts of the apparatus, as shewn
in the Drawings, nor to any of the materials of which they may be composed,
neither do we intend to confine ourselves to the use of two printing tables
upon one frame, as one table only or more than two tables may occasionally
(or under some circumstances) be found convenient, or in printing wider
cloths, for by a slight modification of the parts, and the workman standing at
the end of the table, it might be made to suit the particular purpose in view;
but we do claim as our Invention, the construction and arrangement of the
printing. tables, with their respective drying cylinders, whatever variation
in form, size, or number they may receive, and the extra small table
provided at the sides of each table to take the "tip" from the block as
described, together with the application of the crimping rollers, to vary the
length of calicoes, muslins, or. other piece goods intended to be printed; all
of which improvements are exhibited in the Drawings attached and above
described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Henry Backhouse and Jeremiah Grime,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Fifth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
HENKY (L.S.) BACKHOUSE.
JEREMIAH (L.s.) GRIME.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of September, in
the first year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said Henry
Backhouse aud Jeremiah Grime came before our said Lady the Queen in
Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every
thing therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the
Instrument aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made
in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the
Third
Inrolled the Seventh day of September, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-seven.