IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FOLDING PAPER
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Conquest, of Tudor Street, in the City of London,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR FOLDING PAPER." A communication from abroad by Stephen Davis
Tucker, of the City and State of New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 8th August 1876, and dated the 10th February 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Conquest at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th February 1870.
WILLIAM CONQUEST, of Tudor Street, in the City of London, Mechanical
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FOLDING PAPER."
This Invention of improvements in apparatus for folding paper relates to
improvements in that class of folding mechanism for which a patent was granted
to me, dated September 4th, 1875, No. 3105, and consists in operating the folding
blade by means of a rocking lever having a swinging or pendulous motion, or by
the to-and-fro reciprocations of a slide frame carrying the folding blade.
Instead of giving to the folding blade the rotatory or orbicular motion therein
described, the peculiar epicycloidal motion of the folding blade, at the moment of
action of the folders upon the paper is obtained either by the combined action of a
fixed and movable cam or by the rolling of a toothed wheel over a convex, concave,
or straight toothed rack..
Pendulous rocking levers are mounted vertically upon a fulcrum carried in a
central line above the apparatus and are reciprocated by means of a pin or pins
carried upon the face of a spur wheel or wheels entering vertical slots in the levers.
One of these spur wheels which receive their motion from any convenient part of
the machine is geared with a pinion on the axle of one of the pair of folding
rollers. The folding blade is mounted at the lower end of the pendulous rocking
lever or levers by a hinged joint pin or axle, and fast on this pin or axle is a short
lever carrying a bowle at its outer end, which runs on the edge of the fixed cam
and is deflected or guided into the recess formed therein by the action of a movable
triangular cam carried by a pinion which receives its motion from a segment rack
carried by the rock lever. Marginal tapes carried by suitable rollers are employed
to bring up the paper to be operated upon and carry it away folded.
Duins 71

page_text: The rocking levers carrying the folding blade may be pivotted on a central line
below the folding rollers, and the triangular movable cain receives its motion from
a segment rack through an intermediate wheel.
Another improvement consists in mounting the folding blade on an axle carried at
the end of a pendulous or rocking lever or levers; this axle has keyed at its outer
end a pinion which as the lever reciprocates or rocks will roll over a toothed seg-
ment with which it is in gear, which toothed segment may be either convex or
concave, according as the fulcrum of the lever is carried above or below the folding
rollers. Or in place of carrying the folding blade on a rocking lever it may be
mounted in a similar manner upon a horizontal sliding frame, and be reciprocated
in a similar manner to that before described. The folding blade when carried in
this manner may be acted upon by the combined action of fixed and moveable
cams, or by a toothed wheel rolling over a straight toothed rack.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Conquest in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th August
1876.
WILLIAM CONQUEST, of Tudor Street, in the City of London, Mechanical
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR FOLDING PAPER." A communi-
cation from abroad by Stephen Davis Tucker, of the City and State of New York,
United States of America.
This Invention of "Improvements in Apparatus for Folding Paper," relates to
improvements in that class of folding mechanism for which a Patent was granted to
me, dated September Fourth, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, No.
3105, and consists in operating the folding blade by means of a rocking lever
having a swinging or pendulous motion, or by the to-and-fro reciprocations of a
sliding frame carrying the folding blade.
Instead of giving to the folding blade the rotatory or orbicular motion described
in the Specification of the Patent above referred to the peculiar epicycloidal motion
of the folding blade (at the moment of action of the folders upon the paper) is ob-
tained either by the combined action of a fixed and moveable cam, or by the rolling
of a toothed wheel over a convex, concave, or straight toothed rack.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings I have shewn several arrangements of a
sheet folding apparatus in which the folding blade is carried by a reciprocating
pendulous lever, a rocking bar, or by a reciprocating sliding frame, and the peculiar
epicycloidal action of the edge of the blade upon the paper is obtained either by
the combined action of a fixed and travelling cam, or by the rolling of the toothed
wheel carrying the folding blade over a straight convex or concave rack.
Fig. 1 shews a side elevation of one of these arrangements of folding apparatus
in which A is a slotted lever pivotted at B. C is the folding blade attached so as
to turn freely on the axle c. This axle at its outer end is cranked, or carries a
short lever arm c', which is provided with a bowle running freely upon the edge of
the fixed cam D. The lever A is reciprocated by means of a pin carried on the face
of the toothed wheel E, this pin entering a vertical slot in the rock lever A. The
wheel E gears with a spur wheel on the axle of the folding rollers F, F, and may
receive motion from any convenient part of a printing machine to which the
apparatus is to be attached. At their opposite ends the folding rollers F, FI, are
geared together by toothed wheels. The fixed and moveable cams D and G are
similarly constructed to those shown and described in the Specification of the
Patent granted to me September Fourth, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five, before referred to, but the toothed wheel G₁, carrying the moveable cam

page_text: A blast
G is driven by the segment rack forming part of or attached to the lever A
H, H, are rollers carrying marginal tapes by which the paper to be folded is brought
up in the direction of the arrow to its position over the folding rollers.
pipe I, may be used to assist in disengaging the sheets from the tapes and carrying
them over the rollers F, F, thus preventing the front edge of the sheet of paper
from being carried around the rollers. At each reciprocation or rocking of the
lever A the folding blade C will dip in between the folding rollers F. F', and will
deliver the sheet into the bite of the rollers so that it will be carried away folded.
between the marginal tapes in the direction shown by the arrows in the Figure.
Fig. 2 represents an arrangement in which the rocking lever A is pivotted below
the folding rollers F, F¹. In this arrangement motion is communicated to the cam
carrying wheel G¹ through the intermediate wheel G*.
In Fig. 3 is shewn an arrangement in which the slottod levers A are pivotted at
B above the folding rollers F, F, and carry the axle c of the folding blade C at
their lower end. Upon the outer end of the axle c is keyed the toothed wheel C¹,
which gears into the concave seginent rack D fixed to the frame of the machine.
F, F, are the folding rollers between which the edge of the folding blade C dips
as the levers A swing back and forwards. The reciprocating motion of the
levers A is obtained in a similar manner to the before-described arrangements of
the folding mechanisın. The epicycloidal motion of the edge of the folding blade
C during its action on the paper is obtained by the rolling of the spur wheel C over
the concave segment rack D during the reciprocations of the levers A, and the edge
of the folding blade C will act upon a sheet of paper during every backward and
forward reciprocation, and as the motion of the folding blade is carried no farther
than absolutely necessary the apparatus may be driven at high speeds.
Fig. 4 represents an obvious modification of this apparatus in which the rocking
levers A are pivotted below the level of the folding rollers and the spur wheel C¹
runs over a convex toothed segment D.
Fig. 5 represents another arrangement of the folding mechanism in which the
axle c of the folding blade C is carried by a horizontal sliding frame A mounted
between fixed parallel guides B. This frame receives a reciprocating motion from
the pin of a face wheel E as in the before-described arrangements. The reciproca-
ting motion of the axle c of the folding blade C may be caused to produce a
cycloidal motion of the edge of the blade in a manner similar to that employed
in the before-described arrangements, vizt, either by the use of fixed and moveable
cams or by the rolling of a spur wheel over a straight rack. Fig. 5 shows the
former plan in which the axle c of the folding blade carries an arm c¹, having
a bowle running upon the fixed cam D. The cam G is carried by the toothed wheel
G which receives its motion from the spur wheel E. In Fig. 6 another plan of
obtaining a cycloidal action of the edge of the blade C is employed. In this case
the axle of the folder blade C carries a toothed wheel C₁, which as the frame A
reciprocates rolls over the fixed rack D and the wheel C¹ being in gear with the
teeth of the rack the edge of the blade will perform at every reciprocation of the
sliding frame the cycloidal line indicated by dots in the Figure. These last arrange-
ments of folding mechanism are fitted with marginal tapes for the purpose of
bringing the sheets to be folded up to the requisite position, and after the sheets
have been folded by passing them between the rollers F, F', of carrying them away
and depositing them in any convenient manner.
Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in Apparatus for Folding
Paper," which has been communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and
having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim, as the
Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, adapting the axle of the
folding blade (of apparatus for folding paper) to a rocking lever or arm having a
swinging or pendulous motion, or to a reciprocating frame having a to-and-fro
motion in such a manner that a partial rotary motion (on its axis) may be imparted
to the folding blade (by means of any suitable gearing) while it is being carried to

page_text: and fro or operated by the swinging arm or lever, or the reciprocatiag frame as and
for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Conquest, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Tenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.
WILLIAM CONQUEST. (LS.)