IMPROVEMENTS IN COPYING PRESSES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO MANGLES OR LINEN PRESSES
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Arnaud at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th February
1866.
I, CHARLES ARNAUD, at present residing at Morley's Hotel, Trafalgar
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COPYING PRESSES, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO MANGLES OR LINEN PRESSES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
apparatus for copying letters or documents, or for pressing or mangling linen
and other like articles, whereby greater economy and simplicity are obtained
with great power and efficiency. In carrying out this Invention as applied
for example to a letter copying press, I propose to employ two flat boards or
tablets of wood or metal connected together indirectly by the intervention of
a small standard at each side which may be pivotted to a metal cheek let
flush into the edges of the lower tablet near the centre thereof. At the upper
end of these standards or uprights there is formed an aperture into which is
fitted a moveable plug which may be held in its place by a spring or other
simple contrivance. On the inner face of these plugs there is formed an
eccentric pin or pivot which engages into a corresponding hole in each limb
of a double or forked lever, and forms the working fulcrum thereof; this

page_text: double or forked lever is connected with the upper tablet by a pivot which
enters a corresponding hole in a metal cheek piece let into each side of such
tablet, so that on raising or lowering the lever the upper tablet will be raised
or lowered with it, the power defending on the distance between the two
pivots and its relation to the length of the lever. Supposing the pivot in
the cheek pieces in the upper tablet to be in the centre transverse line of
such tablet the adjustable pivot or fulcrum in the uprights or standards
before referred to should be by preference about 1 inch in the rear of such
other pivot. The pivot holes in the upper tablet should be situate nearer to
one face than the other, so that by reversing the said tablet it may be brought
nearer to or further from the lower one, and the press be thus made to
accommodate books or articles of different bulk. In some cases several of
such holes disposed one above the other may be employed, thereby giving a
greater range to the thickness to which the press may be adapted; this
adaptation of the press to various thicknesses of articles is further ensured
by the adjustable fulcrum which on being placed at its highest or lowest
position will enable a thicker or thinner article to be operated upon. The
lever handle may be held down when depressed by coupling it by a chain to
the lower tablet, and if desired a padlock may be added to the chain with a
view to locking the lever down and keeping the contents of the press safe.
The uprights or standards may be made to pivot at their lower ends in the
cheek pieces of the lower tablet, so as to admit of the upper tablet being
brought down in contact with the lower one, and thereby ensuring compactness
and portability. If preferred adjustable centres may be placed at the lower
ends of the standards in lieu of or in addition to the adjustable centre or
fulcrum at the upper ends. In order to prevent any tendency of the press to
tilt over when pressure is applied to the lever handle, I propose to carry the
lower tablet forward beyond the end of the upper tablet to a sufficient extent,
and with a view to maintaining the article or articles to be pressed in their
proper position whilst in the press; I propose to form guiding ledges or strips
on each side or edge of the lower tablet.