MENTS IN DRIVING OR ACTUATING MACHINERY
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Garnett, of Windermere, in the County of
Westmorland, Printer and Stationer, for the Invention of
MENTS IN DRIVING OR ACTUATING MACHINERY."
Sealed the 24th April 1866, and dated the 27th October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Garnett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
October 1865.
I, JOHN GARNETT, of Windermere, in the County of Westmorland,
Printer and Stationer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DRIVING OR ACTUATING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of driving or actuating
machinery, and consists in the employment for that purpose of a tipping
platform in connection with the machine to be driven. This platform con-
stitutes the base or surface upon which the operator or workman in charge of
or using the machine stands. By simply transferring the weight of his body
from one part of the platform to another it will be caused to tip or vibrate on
its centre or axis, and this motion may, by means of a lever or other well-
known device, be transmitted to the machine itself. As one example of

page_text: machine that may be driven in this way I may mention an ink table and
rollers intended to be used by letter-press printers when inking the " formes
for hand presses.
The weight of the operator upon the tipping or oscillating
platform, by being transferred from one side to the other of the said platform,
will give motion to two rollers in connection with the ink table. One of these
rollers is by the motion of the tipping platform actuating a pall and ratchet
or other equivalent mechanical device, caused to revolve intermittently on its
axis, receiving at the same time a regulated supply of ink from an ink trough.
The other roller acts as a distributing roller, and is caused by the movement
of the platform to come in contact with the revolving roller and travel to and
fro along the surface of the table, thereby depositing and distributing the
required quantity of ink thereon, in readiness to be taken up by the hand
inking roller of the printer, and thence transferred to the "forme" or printing
surface. It will thus be seen that the inking table mechanism is self-acting,
being worked solely by the transfer of the weight of the operator from one
part of the tipping platform to the other, and consequently a proper supply of
ink is always deposited upon the table in readiness for the printer. It is obvious
that other machines may be worked by a tipping platform, but the example
given above will be sufficient to explain the application of this Invention..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Garnett in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GARNETT, of Windermere, in the County of Westmorland, Printer and
Stationer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the 27th day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the 29th year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Garnett, Her special licence that I, the said John Garnett, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such 'others as 1, the said John
Garnett, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRIVING OR
ACTUATING MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said.

page_text: John Garnett, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Garnett, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
"
This Invention relates to an improved mode of driving or actuating
machinery, and consists in the employment for that purpose of a tipping
platform in connection with the machine to be driven.. This platform con-
stitutes the base or surface upon which the operator or workman in charge of
or using the machine stands. By simply transferring the weight of his body
from one part of the platform to another it will be caused to tip or vibrate
on its centre or axis, and this motion may, by means of a lever or other well-
known device, be transmitted to the machine itself. As one example of
machine that may be driven in this way I may mention an ink table and
rollers intended to be used by letterpress printers when inking the "formes'
for hand presses. The weight of the operator upon the tipping or oscillating
platform by being transferred from one side to the other of the said platform
will give motion to two rollers in connection with the ink table. One of these
rollers is by the motion of the tipping platform actuating a pall and ratchet,
or other equivalent mechanical device, caused to revolve intermittantly on its
axis, receiving at the same time a regulated supply of ink from an ink
trough. The other roller acts as a distributing roller, and is caused by the
movement of the platform to travel to and fro along the surface of the table,
thereby depositing and distributing the required quantity of ink thereon in
readiness to be taken up by the hand inking roller of the printer, and thence
transferred for the "forme" or printing surface. It will thus be seen that
the inking table mechanism is self-acting, being worked solely by the transfer
of the weight of the operator from one part of the tipping platform to the
other, and consequently a proper supply of ink is always deposited upon the
table in readiness for the printer.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.

page_text: Fig. 1 of my Drawings represents a perspective view of a self-acting inking
table driven or actuated from a tipping platform according to my Invention;
and Fig. 2 is a similar view of the inking table, but showing the platform,
and consequently the distributing roller in a different position to that shown
in Fig. 1.
A is the distributing surface of the inking table, which may be of the
ordinary construction; it is provided with the ordinary "duct" roller B and
ink trough, the latter not being seen in my Drawings; C is the distributing
roller, and D is the hand inking roller, by which the ink is applied to the
"forme" or printing surface E of any convenient hand printing press.
In my Drawings I have illustrated as an example that form of press known
as the Albion printing press. F is the tipping platform which is made to
oscillate upon the fulcrum or fixed centre G, and is provided with adjusting
screws a, a, for regulating the amount of throw of the tipping platform. The
axis or centre G of this platform may work in lugs b, b, bolted either direct
to the floor or to a separate frame underneath the platform, in which latter
case the entire inking table with its platform may be readily removed from
place to place, and will always be in working order, whereas in the former
case it would be a fixture for the time being. In one edge of the platform
there is secured a rigid bar H, the extremity of which is pin-jointed to the
lower end of a rod I, which rod is jointed at its upper end to the end of a
ratchet lever c working loosely upon the axis or spindle of the "duct"
roller B, and carrying a pall d which engages into the teeth of the ratchet
wheel e, fast on the axis of the "duct" roller. K, K', are two upright lever
arms vibrating respectively on opposite sides of the inking table upon the
centre or fulcrum L at their lower extremities. The boss of one of these
lever arms carries a short laterally projecting arm (shown in dotted lines),
forming with the upright arm K a species of bell-crank lever; the end of
the short arm of this lever carries a pin which enters a slot f made, longi-
tudinally in the bar H, and the upper ends of both the long arms K and K',
are connected by the links M, M', with the opposite ends respectively of the
spindle or axis of the distributing roller C; N is an adjustable stop pin
fitted into each side of the standards of the inking. table in order to arrest or
check the momentum of the lever arms K, K¹, which at the termination of
the forward traverse come in contact with the stop pins above referred to.
The action of the self-acting ink table is as follows:-The operator when
turning from the ink table to the press for the purpose of inking the "forme"
transfers his weight to that end of the tipping platform nearest the press and
causes the opposite end with the bar H.attached thereto to be elevated

page_text: platform, or that
The effect of this
slightly. This raising or lifting of the bar H causes the levers K, K¹, to
move forward and traverse the distributing roller C along the surface of the
table from the "duct" roller B to the front edge of the table, as shown in
Fig. 1, thereby distributing the ink which the roller C obtained from the
"duct" roller by contact therewith evenly over the surface of the table.
Simultaneously with this movement the ratchet lever c is lifted by means of
the rod I, so as to cause the pall d to move along the surface of the ratchet
wheel e in readiness for partially turning the "duct" roller B in its ink
trough at the next or reverse movement of the platform. When the operator
after having. inked the "forme" returns to the front of the ink table, he
transfers his weight in so doing to the opposite end of the
furthest from the press, and thereby depresses the bar H.
is to cause the distributing roller C to return along the surface of the table
back to the "duct" roller with which it is brought in contact, and consequently
receives a certain amount of ink therefrom. The "duct" roller B is at the
same time caused to revolve slightly on its axis by the downward motion of
the ratchet lever c, the pall d of which engages with one of the teeth of the
ratchet wheel and turns it partially round. In the meantime the surface of
the ink table is left free for the taking up of a fresh supply of ink by the hand
inking roller, as shewn in Figure 2 of my Drawings. It is obvious that
other mechanical contrivances than those I have illustrated in my Drawings
may be adopted for transmitting the oscillating motion of the tipping platform
to the parts to be operated upon, for example, in lieu of using the two lever
arms K, K', they might be replaced by lever arms on the axis of the "duct"
roller vibrating in concert with the ratchet lever, such lever arms being
connected by links or jointed connecting rods with the two ends of the
distributing roller.
Although I have only described and illustrated my Invention as applied to
the actuating or working of the "duct" and distributing rollers of printers'
ink tables, I do not confine myself to such application, as various other
machines may be obviously set in motion by the aid of a tipping platform
operated in the manner I have herein-before described, and various well-known
mechanical combinations, which will readily suggest themselves to the practical
mian, may be adopted according to circumstances for transmitting the oscillating
motion of the tipping platform to the parts to be operated, and for converting
such reciprocating or vibrating motion into the particular motion required.
For example a tipping platform may be applied to the blowing of organ
bellows, by causing one end of the platform to engage with a short lever arm
on a horizontal rocking shaft, which carries a larger arm coupled by a con-

page_text: necting rod to the lever of the bellows, the blower setting the bellows in
motion by standing upon the platform and transferring his weight from one
side to the other of the centre of oscillation. Or the platform may be
applied to the propelling of a boat by connecting it to the crank shaft of a
pair of small paddle wheels, the operator actuating the platform and propeller
in the manner above described.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the driving or actuating of machinery by means of a tipping platform
supporting the entire weight of the operator and caused to oscillate by the
transfer of such weight from one side to the other of the centre of oscillation,
substantially as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use to, and in the driving or actuating of the
rollers of ink tables of a tipping or oscillating platform which receives
its oscillating motion by the transfer of the weight of the operator from one
side to the other of its centre of oscillation, substantially as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Garnett, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.
JOHN GARNETT. (L.S.)