IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR ROUNDING THE BACKS OF BOOKS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to August Brehmer, of Cowcross Street, in the City of
London, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR ROUNDING
THE BACKS OF BOOKS"
Sealed the 1st June 1880, and dated the 18th December 1879.
Sealed the 1st June 1880, and dated the 18th December 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said August Brehmer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th December 1879.
AUGUST BREHMER, of Cowcross Street, in the City of London. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINES FOR ROUNDING THE BACKS OF BOOKS.”
The object of my Invention is to provide machines for rounding the backs of
books after the book-sections have been connected or sewn together by means of
wire or thread to tapes or strings.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide a strong table upon which
the book is held firmly against the surface of a straight beam. This beam has
two cylindrically shaped ends which rest in bearings. The centre line of these
bearings is located so as to entirely or nearly fall together with a line which could
be drawn upon the middle of the book in its longitudinal direction. The said
beam receives a swinging motion from suitably applied levers and connecting rods,
and is allowed to partly revolve in the said bearings, by which motion the shape of
one half of the back of the book is transformed from a straight surface to a shape
closely resembling that of one-quarter of the circumference of a cylinder. After
having effected this transformation the said beam swings back to its former position
and the book is then turned upside down, after which the other half of its back is
also transformed to a shape resembling the said portion of a cylinder by a repeated
motion of the said swinging beam.
The table upon which the book rests is constructed so as to recede while the
pressure of the beam is brought to bear upon the back of the book, and is made
so as to allow of adjustment for books of different thicknesses.
The top of the table and the said beam at those places where they come into
contact with the book have their surfaces made rough to prevent the book from
slipping while being rounded.

page_text: driving shaft b, and gearing with the toothed periphery of the crank-wheel 1, as
shewn. The said driving shaft is provided with a crank wheel, as shewn at o̟, to
be worked by hand, or may be provided with a fly-wheel and with fast and loose
pulleys to adapt the same to be operated by steam or other power.
To regulate the amount of resistance of the table c to the pressure exerted upon
the book on the said table by the beam d, the weights h, h, are fitted with a
capability of adjustment on their levers h³, h¹. Those portions of the beam d and
table c which come in contact with the book have their surfaces roughened to
prevent the slipping of the book during the operation of rounding the same.
The operation of the said machine is as follows, that is to say:-When it is
desired to round the back of a book the table c and beam d are so adjusted that
the axis of the trunnions of the said beam is in line or nearly so with the centre of
the thickness or height of the book, as shewn in Figure 6, and the back of the
book is placed against the working surface d' of the said beam as shown. Motion
is then given to the driving shaft and a swinging movement is imparted to the said
beam, whose working surface then rolls upon the back of the book and passes into
the position shewn in Figure 7, and finally into the position shewn in Figure 8,
thereby rounding one half of the back of the book or transforming its straight into
a curved surface. During this swinging motion the table c and its slide i are
forced down by the pressure of the beam upon the book and against the action of
the weights h, h, which return the said tablo to its normal position when the beam
is swung back, the part j' serving as a stop to such upward movement as above
described. The book is then reversed or turned upside down and the operations
above described are repeated, thereby completing the rounding and imparting the
necessary curvature to the back and front edge of the book, as shown in Figure 9.
Having thus fully described my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The beam supported and swinging or oscillating in suitable bearings and
provided with mechanism for adjusting it to suit books of different thickness, as
above set forth and for the purposes specified.
Second. The table constructed and arranged in such a manner that it will recede
or be depressed under the action of the beam upon the book to be rounded, and
provided with mechanism for adjusting the said table to suit books of different
thickness, as above set forth and for the purpose specified.
Third. The combination of the oscillating beam and the table adapted to operate
in conjunction therewith, as above set forth and for the purpose specified.
Fourth. A machine for rounding the backs of books consisting of the parts
constructed, combined, and operating substantially as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said August Brehmer, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
ΑΠΟ ΒΡΕΕΓΑ ΓΕΡ