Improvements in Chases for Printing Formes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 5th May, 1891-Accepted, 6th June, 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Chases for Printing Formes.
I, PAUL TIMOTHEUS CARL HEITZ, of 3 Schlauchgasse, Strassburg in Alsace
Germany, Bookseller, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to formes sticks adapted to move systematically in a
groove running along the four inner sides of the chase, which intersecting each
other form a whole with the frame or chase.
By using these sticks it is possible to lock 16 small octavo, 8 octave or 4 quarto
pages much quicker than hitherto, as only the crossings of the movable sticks may
be filled with packing, while formerly the packing was laid in pieces all around
each forme to be printed.
The advantages are that the packing of the crossings only, simplies the work
thus saving time, further the empty spaces between the sticks reduce the weight
and the sticks arranged in the groove of the chase prevent the forme from falling
out of the chase and also the slipping of the packing and the consequent printing of
the pages out of register. In order that my invention may be the better
understood I now proceed to describe the same, reference being had to the
accompany drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a plan of the chase.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section on the line C D in Figure 1 and
Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line A B in Figure 1.
The chase V is 3 centimeters in width and 18 millimeters high and surrounded
on its inner sides with a groove O in which the forme sticks move.
The size of the
sticks is not always the same, it being determined by the size of the pages to be
printed.
Three or four of these chases are sufficient to print all sizes.
For ordinary octavo size a central division bar is superfluous which is only used
for large machine chases.
When using a centre division bar the grooves are arranged on the inner edges of
The depth of the groove around the four inner sides of the chase is
the same.
6 millimetres and the width 7 millimetres.
The forme sticks a. b. and c. d. movable in the grooves O are preferably made of
metal and of the same height and width respectively as the sides of the frame. Of
the longer sticks c. d. four are 6 millimetres (1) pica) and three (two for the centre
and one for the locking side) are 9 millimetres. Both ends of these seven sticks
are cut out so as to fit movably into the grooves of the chase.
¡m*
The seven shorter sticks a bare designed for the narrower side of the chase and
are as high as the grooves are wide viz. m. Four of them are 6 millimetres wide
(1 pica) and three are 9 millimetres (2 pica)-two for the centre bars and one for
the locking side.
However the sticks of either length a band ud may be 9 millimetres (2 pica)
wide.
For 16 pages E, seven sticks of each length are sufficient. Their number may
be increased or reduced by oblique position in the chase.
The crossing points e are filled with exactly made packing pieces (pica pieces) or
extension pieces which determine the disposition of the type in the forme.
By taking out these pieces the disposition of the individual type formes can be
altered as desired. For longer and wider pages however additional packing piece
must be inserted into the empty space between the bars of the same size as at the
crossing points themselves.

page_text: For locking the forme, the ordinary locking wedges with rollers are used, of
which the former must be shorter for small size pages.
The unlocking of the forme is effected by the packing being taken out of the
crossing points the forme sticks are then pushed together and the chase with the
forme sticks is lifted from the formes which are done with and placed over the formes
to be taken in hand for printing. The sticks are then again separated and the
pieces crossing points are again filled with the packing.
The use of these forme sticks enables a chase of 16 formes formerly requiring
1 hours for arranging and locking to be locked in 3 minutes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention I
declare that what I claim is :-
In chases for printing purposes the application of forme sticks a b and c d movable
in a groove O surrounding the inner side of the chase either of equal width or of
greater width for the locking side or centre and the crossings of which are filled
with special gauged packing pieces.
Dated this 5th day of May 1891.
FELL & WILDING,
1, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C., Agents for the Applicant.