IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES, AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Martyn Nicholls at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th July 1870.
I, HENRY MARTYN NICHOLLS, Civil Engineer, of 143, Great Portland
Street, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
'of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES, AND
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
The printing machines to which these my improvements relate are
those which print continuous paper, the machine supplying itself with
paper from a roll of the same, and the printing cylinders of which
revolve continuously while the machine is in operation.
The object of my first improvement is to facilitate the mechanical
folding of the sheets of newspapers and like publications as they issue
printed from such machines. With this object I construct the said
printing machines with independent sets of "type" and "impression."
cylinders, one set above another (or one set beside another if the
cylinders stand virtically), each set prints an independent web of paper;.
the impression printed by cach set corresponding with that of one sheet

page_text: of the publication. After passing through the machine the printed
webs are brought together in correct "register," and are continually
folded in a longitudinal direction, then cut into sheets, and piled in a
manner to be described further on.
"
"
The object of my second improvement is to facilitate the printing of
sheets of different lengths in the said class of printing machines, the
"forme
surrounding the whole or a portion only of the circumference
of the "type" cylinder" or cylinders, as desired. With this object in
view I couple the cylinders ("type" and "impression") which revolve
in the same direction together by means of cranks and adjustable
coupling rods. The bearings of the "type" and corresponding "im-
pression" cylinder which print one side of the web are made capable
of adjustment in the frames of the machine, so that their distance
from the cylinders which print the other side of the web may be
varied to suit different lengths of "forme." I employ a fly wheel or
fly wheels to produce uniformity in the motion of the machine. When
one side only of the web of paper is to be printed, and where the "forme'
covers only a portion of the circumference of the "type" cylinder, I stop
the paper behind the said cylinder as soon as the impression is given.
The paper being continuously supplied accumulates behind the mechanism
employed to stop its advance, and is caused (by means of mechanism to
be described further on) to form itself into a loop. The printing
cylinder (whose motion is also continuous) still revolving again brings
the leading edge of the "forme" to the required point, when the stopping
mechanism letting go its hold on the paper the web is again drawn
forward by the cylinders, and the accumulation of paper taken up and
an impression given. During the said stoppage of the paper a sheet is
cut off the web and piled, open or folded, as may be desired. Where
both sides of the web are to be printed, and where the "forme" again
only partially covers the circumference of the printing cylinders, the
said "
"type" cylinders are adjusted, as to distance apart, so as to
obtain correct "register" by shifting the bearings of one set of
cylinders in the frames of the machine, and adjusting the coupling
rods to correspond. This mode of gearing the cylinders together
ensures smoothness of motion and freedom from noise at high speeds.
The object of my third improvement is to fold a web of paper
longitudinally as it issues from the printing machine, and then to cut
off the sheet and pile it ready folded. For this purpose I form a well-

page_text: defined crease along the centre of the web by means of suitably flanged
rollers acting in conjunction on each side of the web, and the web so
creased is passed between cylinders whose axes are at right angles to
the axes of the printing cylinders, the folded web is then passed into
one or other modification of an apparatus for cutting and piling the
sheets, described in the Specifications of Patents granted to me, and
bearing date 1866, No. 2808, and 1869, No. 3510. When the publi-
cation consists of two sheets, one inside the other, I take two webs, onc
printed with the matter of the outside sheets, and one with the matter of
the inside sheets, and I bring them together in correct "register" under
the same roller, and I then treat them as I did the single web, creasing
and folding them and cutting off the sheets through each transverse
margin, whereby at each cut the two sheets are piled the one inside the
other. Several webs may be treated in the same manner. The choice
of the cutting and piling apparatus among the modifications described
in the Specifications of my said Patents depends mainly on the size
of the publication and the number of sheets it consists of. White or
unprinted paper can be treated in a similar manner.
"
The object of my fourth improvement is to prevent inconvenience
arising from the sudden start which the web receives when the "feed"
rollers of the piling apparatus again come into gear after the sheet has
been cut off, or when the printing cylinders again carry forward the
web to give the impression, as just described in this Specification. In
both instances an accumulation of paper takes place (the supply of it
being continuous). I cause this accumulation to take the form of a loop
or fold in a direction at right angles to that in which the paper travels
by means of a roller round one side of which the paper has to pass on
its way to the piling apparatus, and which roller prevents the web from
being drawn straight when the said accumulation is taken up, and thereby
tends to give the required direction to the loop when the accumulation
again begins to form.
The object of my fifth improvement is so to arrange the driving gear
of the said cutting and piling apparatus as to make it more generally
useful in practice when dealing with the class of publications named
in this Specification. When the publication consists of a single sheet
the said apparatus may be so geared that the knife cuts through every
succeeding transverse margin, and the apron which removes the pile may
be worked with an intermittent motion, so that two or more sheets may be

page_text: "
piled one upon another without its moving, and it may then move so
Where the
as to seperate one lot of sheets from another by an interval.
publication consists of two sheets, one inside the other (if the "forme
be rightly adjusted on the printing cylinders), the outside half may be
piled first, and the inside half next, and the apron may be worked as !
This
described, so as to seperate one pair of sheets from another.
method of piling is applicable to that modification where the paper is
piled on a horizontal table. If two webs, one printed with the matter
of the outside sheets and one with that of the inside sheets, be passed
into either modification of the said apparatus, the knife may cut through
each succeeding transverse margin, and so a pair of sheets, an inner
and an outer, may be piled for each cut of the knife.
In these several cases the sheets only require one fold to bring them.
into the condition in which they are read. Where it is desired to form
a horizontal pile of considerable depth a table capable of sinking as the
pile accumulates on it may be substituted for the table and travelling
apron described in my said Specifications, but I still place the glass over
the top of the pile, and I still employ the three air blasts in the process
of piling.