colouring-matter, upon the surface, or in the interstices, of
the blocks, forms, plates, types, or originals aforesaid, by
causing the surface of a cylinder, smeared or wetted with the
colouring-matter, to roll over, or successively apply itself
to, the surfaces of the said blocks, forms, plates, types, or
originals, of whatever figure or construction such blocks, forms,
plates, types, or originals, may be. Or else I cause the said
blocks, forms, plates, types, or originals, successively to apply
themselves to the said cylinder. I call the said smeared or
wetted cylinder, the colouring-cylinder. Its surface is covered
with leather, or the dressed skins which printers call pelts,
or else it is covered with woollen, or linen, or cotton cloth.
When the colour to be used is thin, as in calico-printing, and in
almost every case, the covering is supported by a firm elastic
stuffing, consisting of hair, or wool, or woollen cloth wrapped
one or more folds round the cylinder. When the covering consists
of woollen cloth, the stuffing must be defended by leather, or
oilskin, to prevent its imbibing too much colour, and by that
means losing its elasticity. It is absolutely necessary that the
colouring-matter be evenly distributed over the surface of the
cylinder; for this purpose, when the colour is thick and stiff,
as in letter-press printing, I apply two, three, or more small
cylinders, called distributing-rollers, longitudinally against
the colouring-cylinders, so that they may be turned by the motion
of the latter; and the effect of this application is, that every
lump or mass of colour which may be redundant, or irregularly
placed upon the face of the colouring-cylinder, will be pressed,
spread, and partly taken up, and carried by the small rollers
to the other parts of the colouring-cylinder; so that this last
will very speedily acquire and preserve an even face of colour.
But if the colouring-matter be thinner, I do not apply more than
one or two of these distributing rollers; and, if it be very
thin, I apply an even blunt edge of metal, or wood, or other
material, or a straight brush, or both of these last, against
the colouring-cylinder, for the purpose of rendering its colour
uniform.
“VI. When I apply colour to an engraved plate, or cylinder,
or apply the colour through the interstices of a perforated
pattern, or cylinder, as in the manufacturing of some kinds
of paper-hangings and floor-cloths, I use a cylinder entirely
covered with hair or bristles, in the manner of a brush.
“VII. The whole of the manipulations or practices described in
the two preceding paragraphs (numbers V. and VI.) are parts of my
invention.
“VIII. In the third place, I perform all my impressions by the
action of a cylinder or cylindrical surface; that is to say,
I cause the paper, or cloth, or other material intended to be
printed upon, (and previously damped if necessary,) to pass
between two cylinders, or segments of cylinders, in equal motion;
one of which has the block, form, plate, assemblage of types, or
originals, attached to, or forming part of, its surface, and the
other is faced with cloth or leather, and serves to press the
paper, cloth, or other material, as aforesaid, so as to take off
an impression of the colour previously applied. Or otherwise, I
cause the block, form, plate, assemblage of types, or originals,
previously coloured, to pass in close and successive pressure
or contact with the paper, or cloth, or other material, wrapped
round a cylinder with woollen. Or otherwise, I cause the last
mentioned cylinder, with the paper, or cloth, or other material
wrapped round it, to roll along the face of the block, form,
plate, assemblage of types, or originals, previously coloured.
Or otherwise, I cause a cylinder having the block, form, plate,
assemblage of types, or originals, attached to, or forming
part of, its surface, to roll along the surface of the paper,
cloth, or other material intended to be printed, and previously
spread out upon an even plane covered with cloth or leather;
the said cylinder being supplied with colour by means of a
colouring-cylinder herein before described, and herein after more
particularly to be noticed.
“IX. The foregoing description shews the nature of my invention;
which may be applied to a great variety of uses, and constructed
or put together in a great variety of forms. Its uses consist in
the printing of books in general, the printing of paper-hangings,
floor-cloths, cottons, linens, woollens, silks, ribands, laces,
leather, skin, and every other flexible material whatever.
And its form or construction, being no essential part of the
invention, may without difficulty be obtained and carried
into effect, by any workman possessed of common skill and
ability. Nevertheless, as there may be some artists of such a
moderate capacity as to find the foregoing instructions not
sufficient to enable them to construct my machines, I shall
proceed to exhibit drawings, and describe several methods of
constructing them. But, at the same time, I think it pertinent
to take notice, that as the following constructions cannot be
exclusively claimed by me by virtue of his Majesty’s letters
patent granted unto me, excepting so far as the same include or
contain my new improvements and inventions, so, on the other
hand, I do not exhibit the same as the only practical methods of
carrying my invention into effect, but I claim the general and
universal application of the principles discovered and brought
into practice by me, as before described; and do here proceed
to exhibit and describe certain specific applications of those
principles, chiefly from a conviction that it is my duty to
render this present specification clear and intelligible by
every means in my power. And moreover, since in the following
applications or particular methods there are, and may be found,
several contrivances resulting from a considerable degree of
deliberation, labour, and expence, and tending to facilitate the
practice of my said inventions, I do not by any means hereby
exclude the following descriptions and drawings from my present
specification; for I do not consider them as being merely
illustrative of the general principles herein before described
and explained, but do hereby assert and maintain, that all and
every parts and part of the machines herein after described,
which have not hitherto been used as parts of some other machine,
or in combination directed to the accomplishment of the like
purpose of printing, are stated and claimed by me as parts of my
said invention; for the exclusive enjoyment of which, as well
as of every other part of the said invention hereby specified
by me, I claim all protection and every advantage which, by his
Majesty’s letters patent, I may lawfully be entitled to.
“EXPLANATION OR THE ANNEXED DRAWINGS.
“Fig. 1. represents a printing-press, more especially applicable
to the printing of sheets of paper, or books. A. and E. represent
two cylinders running or turning in a strong frame of wood, of
metal, or both. The cylinder A. is faced with woollen cloth, and
is capable of being pressed with more or less force upon HI, by
means of the lever M. HI is a long table, which is capable of
moving endways, backwards and forwards, upon the rollers E and
K. The roller A acts upon this table by means of a cog-wheel,
or by straps, so as to draw it backwards and forwards by the
motion of its handle L. The table is kept in the same line by
grooves on its sides, which contain the cylinder A. D is a chase,
containing letter set up and imposed. B is a box, containing
a colouring-roller, with its distributing-rollers CC; it is
supported by the arm N. O is a cylinder faced with leather, and
lying across an ink-block; this cylinder is fixed by the middle
to a bended lever movable on the joint Q.
[Illustration: _Fig. 1._]
“_The action._ When D, or the letter, is drawn beneath the
cylinder B, it receives ink; and when it has passed into the
position R, a workman places or turns down a tympan with paper
upon it; (this tympan differs in no respect from the usual one,
except that its hinge opens sideways;) it then proceeds to pass
under the cylinder A, which presses it successively through its
whole surface. On the other side, at S, the workman takes off the
paper, and leaves the tympan up. This motion causes the cylinder
B to revolve continually, and consequently renders its inked
surface very uniform, by the action of its distributing-rollers
CC; and, when the table has passed to its extreme distance in
the direction now spoken of, the arm G touches the lever P, and
raises the cylinder O off the ink-block, by which means it dabs
against one of the distributing-rollers, and gives it a small
quantity of ink. The returning motion of the table carries the
letter again under the roller B, which again inks it, and the
process of printing another sheet goes on as before. N.B. The
table in this drawing is not quite long enough in its dimensions,
compared with the inking-roller.
[Illustration: _Fig. 2._]
“Fig. 2. is another printing-press: in this, B is the
inking-roller; A is a cylinder, having the letter imposed
upon its surface; and E is a cylinder, having its uniform
surface covered with woollen cloth: these three cylinders are
connected, either by cogs or straps at the edges of each. The
machine is uniformly turned in one direction by the handle L.
The workman applies a sheet of paper to the surface of E, where
it is retained, either by points in the usual manner, or by
the apparatus to be described in treating of Fig. 4. The paper
passes between E and A, and receives an impression; after which
the workman takes it off, and applies another sheet; and in the
mean time the letter on the surface of A passes round against
the surface of B, and receives ink during the rotation of B.
The distributing-rollers CC do their office as in the machine
Fig. 1.; and once in every revolution the tail F, affixed to B,
raises the inking-piece G, so as to cause it to touch one of
the distributing-rollers, and supply it with ink. In this way
therefore the repeated printing of sheet after sheet goes on.
“Fig. 3. is a printing-press, more particularly adapted to print
cottons, silks, paper-hangings, or other articles which run of a
considerable length.
“Fig. 4. is a printing-press, chiefly of use for books and
papers. 1 2 3 4 represents a long table, with ledges on each
side; so that the two cylinders A and B can run backwards and
forwards without any side shake. In one of these ledges is
placed a strip or plate of metal cut into teeth which lock into
correspondent teeth in each cylinder; by which means the two
cylinders roll along, without the possibility of changing the
relative positions of their surfaces at any determinate part of
the table. This may also be effected by straps, and may indeed
be accomplished, with tolerable accuracy, by the mere rolling of
the cylinders on the smooth or flat ledges without any provision.
A is the printing-cylinder, covered with woollen cloth, and B is
the inking-cylinder, with its distributing-rollers. The table
may be divided into four compartments, marked with a thicker
bounding-line than the rest, and numbered 1 2 3 4. At 1 is
placed a sheet of paper; at 2 is the form or chase, containing
letter set and imposed; at 3 is an apparatus for receiving the
printed sheet; and 4 is employed in no other use than as a place
of standing for the carriage E, after it has passed through one
operation, and when it takes ink at F. Its action is as follows:
the carriage is thrust forward by the workman, and as the roller
A passes over the space numbered 1, it takes up the sheet of
paper previously laid there, while the roller B runs over the
form and inks the letter. The sheet of paper, being wrapped round
the cylinder A, is pressed against the form as that cylinder
proceeds, and consequently it receives an impression. When A
arrives at the space numbered 3, it lets go the sheet of paper,
while the prominent part of the carriage, G, strikes the lever P,
and raises the inking-piece, which applies itself against one of
the distributing-rollers. In this manner therefore the cylinder A
returns empty, and the cylinder B inked, and in the mean time the
workman places another sheet of paper ready in the space numbered
1. Thus it is that the operation proceeds in the printing of one
sheet after another.
[Illustration: _Fig. 4._]
“The preceding description is not incumbered with an account
of the apparatus by which the paper is taken up and laid down.
This may be done in several ways: Figs. 9 and 10 represent one
of the methods. D E is a lever, moving on the centre pin C, and
having its end D pressed upwards by the action of the spring G.
The shoulder which contains the pin C is fixed in another piece
F, which is inserted in a groove in the surface of the cylinder
A; (Fig. 4;) so that it is capable of moving in and out, in a
direction parallel to the axis of that cylinder. As that cylinder
proceeds, it meets a pin in the table; which, (letter P, Fig.
9,) acting on the inclined plane at the other end of the lever,
throws the whole inwards, in the position represented in Fig. 10;
in which case the extremity D shoots inwards, and applies itself
against the side of the cylinder.
[Illustration: _Fig. 9._ _Fig. 10._]
“In Fig. 11 is a representation of part of the table; the dotted
square represents a sheet of paper, and the four small shaded
squares denote holes in the board, with pins standing beside
them. When the lever DE (Fig. 10) shoots forward, it is situated
in one of these holes, and advances under the edge of the paper,
which consequently it presses and retains against the cylinder
with its extremity D. Nothing more remains to be said respecting
the taking up, but that the cylinder is provided with two pair
of these clasps or levers, which are so fixed as to correspond
with the four holes represented in Fig. 11. It will be easy to
understand how the paper is deposited in the compartment No.
3. (Fig. 4.) A pin P, (Fig. 10,) rising out of the platform or
table, acts against a pin E, projecting sideways out of the
lever, and must of course draw the slider and its lever to the
original position; the paper consequently will be let go, and
its disengagement is rendered certain by an apparatus fixed in
the compartment numbered 3, (Fig. 4,) of exactly the same kind
as that upon the cylinder, and which by the action of a pin duly
placed in the surface of the cylinder A, takes the paper from the
cylinder in precisely the same manner as that cylinder originally
took it up in the compartment numbered 1. (Fig. 4.)
[Illustration: _Fig. 11._]
“Figs. 5, 6, and 7, represent a simpler apparatus for
accomplishing the same purpose. If A_a_ B_b_ (Fig. 7) be supposed
to represent a thick plate of metal of a circular form, with two
pins A and B proceeding sideways or perpendicularly out of its
plane, and diametrically opposite to each other, and G another
pin proceeding in the direction of that plane, then it is obvious
that any force applied to the pin A, so as to press it into the
position _a_, (by turning the plate on its axis or centre X,)
will at the same time cause the pin G to acquire the position
_g_; and, on the other hand, when B is at _b_, or the dotted
representation of the side-pin, if any pressure be applied to
restore its original position at B, the pin _g_ will return back
to G. Now the figures 5 and 6 exhibit an apparatus of this kind,
applied to the cylinder A; and that cylinder, by rolling over
the pins P and _p_, properly fixed in the table to re-act upon
the apparatus, will cause its prominent part G, either to apply
to the cylinder and clasp the paper, or to rise up and let it
go. The compartment numbered 3 (Fig. 4) must of course have an
apparatus of the same kind, to be acted upon by pins from A, in
order that it may take the paper from that cylinder.
[Illustration: _Fig. 5._ _Fig. 6._ _Fig. 7._]
“There is one other circumstance belonging to this machine which
remains to be explained. When the carriage E (Fig. 4) goes out
in the direction of the numbers 1 2 3 4, both rollers, A and
B, press the form of letter in their passage; but in their
return back again the roller A, having no paper upon it, would
itself become soiled, by taking a faint impression from the
letter, if it were not prevented from touching it: the manner
of effecting this may be understood from Fig. 12. The apparatus
there represented is fixed upon the outside of the carriage E,
near the lower corner, in the vicinity of the roller A; the whole
of this projects sideways beyond the ledge of the table, except
the small truck or wheel B. The irregularly triangular piece,
which is shaded by the stroke of the pen, carries this wheel,
and also a catch movable on the axis or pin E. The whole piece
is movable on the pin A, which connects it to the carriage. C
D, or the part which is shaded by dotting, is a detent which
serves to hold the piece down in a certain position. It may be
observed, that both the detent and the triangular piece are
furnished each with a claw, which holds in one direction, but
trips or yields in the other, like the jacks of a harpsicord, or
resembling certain pieces used in clock and watch making, as is
clearly represented in the drawing. These claws over-hang the
side of the table, and their effect is as follows. There is a
pin C (Fig. 4) between the compartments of the table numbered 2
and 3, but which is marked F in Fig. 12, where G H represents
the table. In the outward run of the carriage these claws strike
that pin, but with no other effect than that they yield for an
instant, and as instantly resume their original position by
the action of their respective slender back-springs. When the
carriage returns, the claw of the detent indeed strikes the pin,
but with as little effect as before, because its derangement is
instantly removed by the action of the back-spring of the detent
itself; but, when the claw of the triangular piece takes the pin,
the whole piece is made to revolve on its axis or pin A, the
wheel B is forced down, so as to lift that end of the carriage,
and the detent, catching on the piece at C, prevents the former
position from being recovered. The consequence of this is, that
the carriage runs upon the truck B, (and its correspondent truck
on the opposite side,) instead of the cylinder A, which is too
much raised to take the letter, and soil itself; but, as soon as
the end of the carriage has passed clear of the letter, another
pin R (Fig. 4) takes the claw of the detent, and draws it off the
triangular piece; at which instant the cylinder A subsides to its
usual place, and performs its functions as before. This last pin
R does not affect the claw of the triangular piece, because it is
placed too low; and the claw of the detent is made the longest,
on purpose that it may strike this pin.
[Illustration: _Fig. 12._]
“Fig. 8 represents an instrument for printing floor-cloths,
paper-hangings, and the like, with stiff paint and a brush.”
“Lastly, I must take notice, that in these and every other of my
machines, as well as in every machine whatever, the power may be
wind, water, steam, animal strength, or any other natural change
capable of producing motion; and that the mechanism by which
such powers may be applied to produce a regular unceasing, or an
intermitting, motion, as circumstances may require, may be used
with these machines, though I have held it totally unnecessary
either to specify or annex those methods. The materials, the
adjustments, the fittings, and that degree of accuracy necessary
to the perfection of every machine, have likewise made no part
of my specification, because every workman must know that no
mechanism can be completed without a due attention to these
well-known particulars. In witness whereof, &c.”--_Repertory of
Arts, &c. vol._ v. 1796.
_“Observations on the Art of Printing Books and Piece Goods by
the Action of Cylinders._”----Experto credite.
“We may conceive three ways of delineating figures, or writing.
The first and most ancient consists in making the traces
successively by a brush, a pen, or other instrument. This is
design, painting, or writing. In the latter methods, either the
whole or the greater part of the figures are made by the action
or pressure of an original pattern against the material intended
to be written or painted upon. It is the art of printing. The
colouring is either deposited from the face of prominent parts
of the original form, which is usually called a block or type;
or else it is pressed from cavities cut in the face of the
original, which in this case is called an engraved plate. Most
books are printed from original patterns, in relief; and most of
the imitations of paintings are performed by means of engravings.
These arts are most frequently distinguished by the names of
letter-press and copper-plate printing.
“It can scarcely be matter of new information to those who
are but moderately acquainted with the state of the Arts, to
be told that letter-press or book-printing is performed by an
assemblage of single metallic letters, called types, made of
lead hardened by an addition of antimony in the metallic state;
that these letters are composed in the form of book pages, and
wedged together in iron frames called chases; that the ink is
a composition of linseed oil and lamp black, of so singular a
nature, that it will adhere to a ball covered with a pelt or
sheep’s skin soaked in water, and kneaded to extreme softness
under the feet, but quits this skin with great readiness to apply
to the face of the letter when dabbed with the ball; and still
more, that it almost totally quits the letter to adhere to paper
rendered semitransparent by soaking in water; or lastly, that the
paper is applied and pressed against the form of composed letter
by means of a flat piece of wood urged downwards by a screw.
These and numerous early discovered principles of this most
useful art are generally known, and require no more than mere
recapitulation in this place.
“The genius of the Chinese language not permitting that people
to analyse its sounds into an alphabet, as has been done by most
other nations, has induced them to retain those signs of things,
and of their correspondent words, which probably constituted the
first picture or hieroglyphic writings of every rude society.
Changed and complicated as these may have become by the rapidity
of transcription, the corruption of ignorance, or whatever other
causes may have operated through a long succession of ages, they
still for the most part use words that properly denote things,
and not sounds. Such words cannot, therefore, be subdivided;
and it has accordingly been found most convenient, by these
first possessors of the art, to print from entire blocks, as was
also done by the first printers in Europe. But our artists soon
discovered that a few of the simplest characters, namely, the
letters of the alphabet, would be in many respects more useful,
as the elements for composing blocks for printers, than a number
of blocks originally cut for every page of every individual book.
“Book-printing, therefore, though in fact of the same nature as
block-printing, has been carried into effect by very different
machinery from that made use of in the arts which still retain
the latter method. In book-printing, the heavy metallic form lies
on a kind of table, and the colour and the paper are successively
applied to its face: but in block-printing, the block is carried
and applied to the colour, and afterwards to the work intended to
be printed. Thus, for example, in the printing of paper-hangings,
the colour is spread with a brush upon a woollen cloth stretched
over a surface of parchment or skin evenly supported by a
half fluid mass of water and mashed paper. To this the block
is carefully applied by a slight perpendicular stroke or two;
after which it is applied to the dry paper on a table, and
pressed against it either by one or more blows with a mallet,
or by the regular action of a lever. The mechanical part of
callico-printing is effected nearly in the same manner; but with
smaller blocks, because of the greater difficulty of making the
successive fittings on so flexible a material. And in both these
arts, as well as in book-printing, in red and black, the variety
of colours are produced by repeated applications of forms or
blocks, of which the prominent parts are made to fit each other
according to the nature of the design.