IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Henry Woodcock at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th April 1875.
I, WILLIAM HENRY WOODCOCK, of Brooklyn, New York, United
States of America, now of No 8, Southampton Buildings, London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRINTING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
This Invention has relation to printing presses which have a rocking
cylinder, that is to say, a cylinder which turns to and fro, but does not
rotate, the said cylinder being fed from both sides.
The nature of my Invention consists in various improvements
comprising novel means for attaching two fly cylinder frames to the
press frame, whereby the former can be thrown up out of the way when
access to the impression cylinder is desired.
Also the combining with an impression cylinder, which has removable
impression sections vertically and lengthwise, feed boards capable of
adjustment for the purpose of maintaining at all times the proper relation
of the lower edges of these boards to the said cylinder.

page_text: Also the combination of adjustable grippers and removable impression
sections, with a rocking impression cylinder, and the application of two
rollers in the mouth or opening of an impression cylinder for the
purpose of letting off and taking up a "setting off" sheet which covers
the surface of this cylinder, the said rollers being actuated automatically 5
by suitable contrivances which will cause them to move the "setting off
sheet" a short distance at each stroke of the cylinder, whereby new and
clean surfaces are presented for cach impression, thus preventing the
blurring" of the sheets when they are printed on both sides.
“
My said Invention is carried into practice as follows -The impression 1
cylinder receives a rocking or oscillating motion while the press bed
reciprocates beneath it in the usual manner. This cylinder is adapted
for double feeding, and for this purpose it is provided with a double set
of grippers and two feed boards arranged on opposite sides of it. Two
fly cylinders are applied in the free ends of frames which are hinged or 1
pivoted to the press frame, so that they can be thrown up when it is
desired to afford access to the impression cylinder, or to allow the
operator to conveniently "make ready" the form.
The sheets of paper are taken from the impression cylinder by the said
fly cylinders and delivered to the flies in the usual manner, that is to 2
say, by means of grippers and tapes, and when these cylinders are in
working positions they are rotated by means of spur wheels.
The impression surface of the impression cylinder is somewhat less
than a circle, that is to say, the said cylinder has a space not forming
part of its impression surface. This space is occupied by a mouth or a
gap wherein I place two rollers around which paper or cloth is wound;
this paper or cloth is carried around the impression surface of the
cylinder, thus covering this surface The said rollers will be operated at
cach stroke of the impression cylinder by rotating devices which will
cause one roller to let off a portion of the "setting off" sheet, and the
other roller to take up the slack, thus moving the sheet and presenting
oven surfaces over the "form." By these means I prevent the
'blurring" of the first printed sides of the sheets while printing on the
second or opposite sides thereof.
Rods on which the grippers are mounted have their ends bearing in
1
2

page_text: reach more or less over the said surface, according to the size of the
sheets to be printed. The ends of the said gripper rods have collars and
nuts on them for securing them after their adjustment.
I prefer to use a cylinder whose impression surface can be enlarged or
diminished to adapt it for sheets of different sizes, but I use this device
only in combination with the two feed boards. For this purpose the said
cylinder is constructed with removable segments or sections which are
suitably secured in their places, and which can be conveniently removed
and their places supplied by other sections presenting a greater or less
arca for impression.
The adjustment of the gripper rods for sheets varying in size, and the use
of removable sections necessitates the employment of feed boards, which
are vertically and longitudinally adjustable, and therefor the lower ends
of these boards are connected to screws which are adjustable vertically
by means of nuts, and which are also adjustable in a direction parallel
with the length of the press frame. The upper ends of the said boards
rest upon rods or rollers.