AN IMPROVEMENT IN PRINTING ROLLERS
Year: 1879

page_text: |· LETTERS PATENT to Robert Lanham, Managing Director of the Lanham
Printing Roller Company, Limited, of No. 75, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, and County of Middlesex, for the Invention of “AN IMPROVEMENT IN
PRINTING ROLLERS."
Sealed the 9th May 1879, and dated the 26th February 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Lanham at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th February 1879.
ROBERT LANHAM, Managing Director of the Lanham Printing Roller Company,
Limited, of No. 75, Fleet Street, in the City of London, and County of Middlesex.
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN PRINTING ROLLERS."
My Invention relates particularly to inking rollers composed of vulcanized or
other india rubber placed upon an ordinary metal stock, but it may be applied to
rollers otherwise composed of combinations of india rubber with other materials.
The object of my improvement is to increase the elasticity of the roller in a
perfectly uniform manner, and I propose to effect my purpose by making the roller
with openings like tubes passing longitudinally from end to end of the india rubber
or other covering of the stock.
The nature of my Invention will be readily understood by reference to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawing, upon which,-
Figure 1 is an end view of a roller embodying my improvement, and
Figure 2 an elevation of the same drawn to a reduced scale.
A is the stock or spindle; B, the roller; C, C, the openings running from end to
end, as shown by the dotted lines, Fig. 2.
I may produce these openings C by folding the india rubber around wires or
rods of the diameter which I desire to give to these openings, withdrawing
these wires or rods when the india rubber has cooled after being vulcanized or
cured.
I may make the openings circular, triangular, polygonal, or of any shape which
I may in practice find preferable; and I may arrange them in rows around the
stock, as shown on the Drawing, in a single row or otherwise as experience may
direct; and I now deem it preferable that the openings should extend from end to
end of the roller in order to secure a perfectly uniform degree of elasticity in its
entire length as well as in its circumference.
The opening C will contract under the pressure of the roller in working,
expanding again as the pressure is relieved, thereby giving great elasticity to the
periphery of the roller in its rotation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Robert Lanham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th August
1879.
ROBERT LANHAM, Managing Director of the Lanbam Printing Roller Company,
Limited, of No. 75, Fleet Street, in the City of London, and County of Middlesex.
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN PRINTING ROLLERS."
My Invention relates particularly to inking-rollers composed of vulcanised or
other india rubber placed upon an ordinary metal stock; but it may be applied to
rollers composed of combinations of india rubber with other materials.
It consists in increasing the elasticity of the roller in a perfectly uniform manner
by making it with openings or perforations like tubes passing longitudinally from
end to end of the india-rubber or other covering of the stock.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of a
roller embodying my Invention; Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same.
Similar letters of reference denote similar parts in each of the Figures
respectively.
A indicates the roller spindle or stock; B, the roller; C, the perforations or
channels..
The openings or perforations C contract under the pressure of the roller in
working, expanding again as this pressure is relieved, and great and uniform
elasticity is thereby given to the periphery of the roller as it rotates.
The process which I employ in manufacturing my elastic roller is as follows:-
I take a sheet of uncured red india-rubber of dimensions suited to the circum-
ference and length of roller required to be made, lay it upon a heated metal surface,
and treat it with a little solvent, such for example as benzole, turpentine, coal-tar-
naptha, or other. I then place wires or rods of the size and shape of the holes or
perforations required parallel to each other over the whole face of this sheet of
india-rubber, regulating the distances between each wire or rod, according to the
degree of elasticity required for the various descriptions of work. I now take
another sheet of uncured red india rubber of the same dimensions as the preceding,
treat it with a solvent similarly to the first sheet, and lay it on the top of the wires
or rods, place fine linen or canvas over both sheets of india-rubber, introduce the
whole between cloth or blanketing, and subject it to even pressure upon a flat
heated surface, the result being that the wires or rods become embedded in the
india-rubber, causing a union or junction between the upper and lower sheets. I
then remove the cloth or blanketing and the linen or canvas, roll the india-rubber
together with the wires or rods round the iron spindle or stock, place another sheet
of red uncured india-rubber over the whole, and wind on until I have made the
roller to the required diameter. I now roll several layers of cloth very tightly
over the rubber and subject it to the usual process of vulcanization. The wires or
rods are then drawn out and the roller turned in a lathe and faced.
When large holes are required I sometimes find it preferable to cover the wires
with india-rubber previous to placing them in position.
It will be evident that other processes might be adopted to obtain the per-
forations in the roller, and I do not confine myself to the use of that above
described, although I find it answer very well.
I may make my perforations circular, triangular, polygonal, or of any shape
which may be found desirable; and I may arrange them in a single row around
the stock, as shown on the Drawings, or in several rows, the perforations of each
row being of equal or unequal diameter and of the same or of a different shape;
and although I deem it preferable that the perforations should extend through the
roller from end to end it may in some cases be found desirable to arrange them
otherwise.

page_text: Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is or may be performed, what
I claim as secured to me by the herein before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
Firstly. As a new article of manufacture a printing roller having a series of
longitudinal perforations, as and for the purpose set forth.
Secondly. A printing roller consisting of a stock having longitudinally-per-
forated india-rubber covering, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Lanham, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixteenth day of August; in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy nine.
ROBT. LANHAM. (L.S.)