IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINES." A communication from abroad by Auguste
Hippolyte Marinoni, of Paris, France.
Sealed the 20th May 1879, and dated the 2nd December 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd December 1878.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINES." [A communi-
cation from abroad by Auguste Hippolyte Marinoni, of Paris, France.]
This Invention relates to improvements in cylinder printing machines generally,
whether working with mechanical folders or mechanical receivers, and whether fed
from a roll, and the continuous web of paper be cut before or after printing, or
whether the paper be laid on in sheets.
The improvements have for object:-1st. To enable the paper to be severed one
or more times for each revolution of the printing cylinders. 2nd. To enable the
several sheets thus cut off to be brought together and superposed during one and
the same revolution of the printing cylinders, and be conducted either to a collector
or directly to the flyer, and this whether the sheets have been severed one or more
times per revolution of the printing cylinders. 3rd. To enable one or more lines of
perforations to be made in the sheets when desired in directions either parallel or
perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder. 4th. To enable (when the printing
cylinders are of very small diameter so that it is difficult to employ a collector
corresponding to their circumference) a double or triple collector to be used without
proportionately increasing the speed of the sheets. 5th. To enable either a whole
sheet or several small sheets to be conducted to one or several mechanical folders
without passing through a collector. 6th. To enable, in the same machine, the
937

page_text: sheets to be cut either after being printed when their size remains unaltered and
corresponds with the circumference of the cylinders, or before being printed when
the size of the sheet is varied.
For cylinder printing machines having mechanical receivers now in use; the
collector (that part of the machine in which the sheets are collected and superposed
before being deposited upon the receiving tables) is made of a circuit to correspond
to the circumference of the printing cylinders, plus a variable amount when the
is cut once only per revolution of the cylinders; or its circuit corresponds to
paper
only half the circumference, plus a certain amount when the paper is cut twice per
revolution; or to a third of the circumference if the sheet is to be divided three
times, and so on. This plan has the great disadvantage that it necessitates a very
small collector when the sheets are small, and makes it exceedingly difficult to
arrange the parts which ensure the arrival of the sheets, and their delivery when a
sufficient number is collected. Moreover if the collector is arranged to collect half
sheets (ie., equal to half the circumference of the printing cylinders) it cannot collect
whole sheets.
By the improved collector of this Invention the above objections are avoided, as
either whole, half, or smaller sheets may be collected indifferently in the same
collector.
This part of the Invention is represented in Figure 1 of the accompanying
Drawings as applied to a rotary web printing machine in which the web of paper is
cut after being printed, but it should be understood that the improvement may also
be applied to machines in which the paper is cut into sheets before being printed,
and to those in which whole sheets are laid on by hand, to be afterwards cut into
two or more parts by the machine.
A, A, are the printing cylinders; and B, B, the cutting cylinders of the same
diameter as A, A, and each provided at diametrically opposite points b, b, with two
saw toothed or other cutters which cut the sheets into two equal parts; their
position may however be varied if the sheet is to be cut into two parts of unequal
length. The paper is thus cut twice for every revolution of the printing cylinders.
It will be evident that the same result will be attained if instead of two knives
in a cylinder moving at the same speed as the printing cylinders there is but one
knife, and the cutting cylinder makes two revolutions for one of the printing
cylinders.
The half sheets are conducted alternately to the two sets of tapes shown in
The two half sheets are
the Figure by means of the divider or switch shown.
conducted, as indicated by the arrows shown in full and dotted lines, by sets of
tapes of different lengths so as to deliver the half sheets together exactly, the one
upon the other at point C where the two half sheets are conveyed together to a
collector. While these two half sheets are making the circuit of the latter, the next
two half sheets having followed the same course arrive at the entrance to the
'collector at the same time as the first two come round again thereto, and the
former are superposed upon the latter. The succeeding half sheets following in
the same way, a certain number (say 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or more are thus accumulated,
each equal in length to half the circumference of the printing cylinders. The parcel
of half sheets is then conducted to flyers, and by them delivered upon the receiving
table. By an examination of the Drawing all the advantages to be derived from
such an arrangement will be clearly seen. The knife cylinders B, B, being of the
same diameter as the printing cylinders A, A, and the collector being so arranged
that its circuit corresponds to sheets of a size equal to the entire circumference of
the printing cylinders, if one of the two cutters be omitted the sheets will be cut
of the largest size the machine will admit of.
To collect whole sheets instead of half sheets the divider would not be used, and
all the sheets would take the same course and be similarly delivered by the flyers
when a sufficient number, say 2, 3, 4, 5, or more have been accumulated. By simply
dispensing with one of the cutters and with the action of the divider, whole sheets
instead of twice the number of half sheets may be cut, collected, and discharged,

page_text: and if, therefore, the printing cylinders are of large newspaper size, sheets either of
this or of half this size may be printed in the same machine.
If three cutters be placed at points b, b, b, Figure 2, of the cylinders B, B, the
paper will be cut three times for every revolution of the printing cylinders, the three
small sheets being distributed by means of a divider to the three sets of tapes shown,
by which the three sheets are made to travel such distances respectively that they
will arrive together at a certain point and be superposed and conveyed together
to the collector. The following three sheets are similarly superposed and conveyed
to the collector at the moment the previous three sheets have made the circuit
thereof and returned to the point at which they entered, so that the second three
are laid on the first three, and so on for the remainder; and when a sufficient number
have been accumulated the parcel of sheets is conveyed to the receiver. As in the
former case, by using only one cutter and dispensing with the motion of the divider
so that all the sheets follow the same course, whole sheets may be cut and collected
and thence conveyed in suitable number to the receiver.
From the two examples of the Invention above described, it will be readily under-
stood that the number of the cutters may be still further varied, or the cutter
cylinder may have only one cutter and make 2, 3, or more revolutions for each
revolution of the printing cylinders, the sheets travelling different distances and
being superposed and conveyed to the collector as before.
The machine may thus be arranged to cut the paper one or more times into one
large or several small sheets for each revolution of the printing cylinders as desired.
By means of the divider the sheets may be made to follow different routes and bo
superposed, and then be conducted either to the collector or to the receiving table
direct. It should be understood that any other suitable kind of collector may be
employed in connection with the Invention instead of the one shown in Figure 1.
In those machines also in which the paper cut into sheets of varying length before
being printed, the cutter cylinders may either be of the same diameter as the
printing cylinders and have 1, 2, 3, or more cutters, or they may make 1, 2, 3, or
more revolutions for every revolution of the printing cylinder so as to cut the sheet
into 2, 3, or more parts, the large or small sheets when printed being carried to the,
divider, superposed, and conducted to a collector or directly to the flyers when the
other is not used.
In the case of a machine fed by a layer on, the sheets are passed either before or
after being printed through a pair of knife cylinders which cut them into as many
parts as desired, these parts being led away by different routes and afterwards
superposed and conducted to a collector or directly to the flyers. By the above
arrangement the cutting up of large sheets by hand is avoided.
The Invention may also be applied to a machine having either two collectors and
two receivers, or two receivers only without a collector or two folders, so as to enable
two different, publications to be printed simultaneously in the same machine. By
providing the printing cylinders with the forms for printing two different publica-
tions, the sheets upon which the two publications are printed may be conveyed to
separate receivers or collectors.
Each sheet may also be subdivided as before described in the case of a single
collector or receiver by providing the necessary number of cutters upon the knife
cylinders and conveying the sheets away by as many routes of different length and
superposing them as before described. It will be evident that more than two
publications may be similarly printed in the same machine.
The foregoing description of the Invention with the assistance of the Drawing
clearly shows that the Invention may be applied in various ways, of which it is
sufficient here to give some examples only. I have already stated that in the
same machine the length of paper corresponding to the circumference of the
printing cylinders may be cut up into 1, 2, 3, or a larger number of small sheets,
which may be laid upon one another and conducted to a collector having suffi-
cient length of circuit to take whole sheets equal to the circumference of the

page_text: printing cylinders. It has also been stated that the machine may be made to
cut the paper 1, 2, 3, 4, or more times for every revolution, and then collect
and deliver the whole, half, third, quarter, or smaller sheets, so that the same
machine inay serve to print a four paged or smaller publication. For publications
having more than four pages it is proposed to form rows of perforations or slits
in the line of the folds to enable the leaves to be more easily separated by the
reader.
In order to form these perforations in the longitudinal direction of the cylinders,
a saw toothed blade is disposed in a groove in the knife cylinders in such manner
that the points only of the teeth shall enter the paper, and thus produce a regular
line of perforations, see Figure 3, in which D represents the perforator and E the
paper.
The perforator may also be applied to a cylinder other than to the cutter cylinder.
To make the perforations in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the cylinders a
circular saw is arranged in contact with one of the rollers round which the paper
passes, as seen at F, Figure 1, the teeth being received in a groove in said roller and
the saw F being rotated at the same speed as that at which the paper is travelling.
In both instances the length of the perforations may be varied by making the saw
teeth penetrate the paper more or less deeply, or by varying the form and number
of the teeth. These perforators may be employed whether the machine is provided
with a mechanical folder or not.
Figure 4 shows an arrangement of machine for feeding two sheets at a time to
a folder, by which the latter is simplified, has to make one fold less, and cutting by
hand is dispensed with. Suppose the machine to cut the paper twice in each revo-
lution of the printing cylinders as in the Figure, the sheets as they are severed are
sent alternately to one and the other of the two sets of tapes, and are laid one upon
the other at C, whence they are conveyed together to a folder of ordinary con-
struction. Similarly the paper may be cut three or more times per revolution of
the printing cylinders, led through different sets of tapes, superposed, and conveyed
to the folders.
When desired the paper may be cut once only, the divider put out of action,
single large sheets being in this case conveyed to the folder instead of small sheets
superposed.
As before mentioned, when the collector is small it is extremely difficult to arrange
for the introduction and exit of the sheets, and for this reason I have adopted the
arrangement shown in order that when the cylinders are of small diameter and the
sheets are to be severed twice the collector shall not be too small. As even when
cutting once only at every revolution if the printing cylinders are of small diameter,
the restricted dimensions of the collector may cause inconvenience, it is proposed in
that case to arrange the latter as for large or double sheets, and to supply the sheets
thereto two at a time, cutting them once only per revolution of the printing
cylinders, the arrangement being as in Figure 5. The sheets thus cut are distributed
alternately to the two sets of tapes, are superposed at C as before, and transferred
to the collector, and by the time they return to the point of entrance the two next
sheets which have been similarly superposed at C are deposited upon the two first,
and when a sufficient number have been thus collected they are transferred to the
flyer.
It is also possible with this machine to cut the paper but once for every two
revolutions of the printing cylinders, in which case it would be unnecessary to dis-
tribute the sheets between two sets of tapes, the divider being also dispensed with.
In this case the sheets contain duplicate impressions, which must be afterwards cut
by hand. This arrangement of double or triple collector also forms part of the
present Invention, the paper being cut once only at every two or three revolutions of
the printing cylinders.
Figure 6 shows how a machine in which the paper is ordinarily cut after it is
printed may, by an addition made to it, be made to cut the paper into sheets before

page_text: printing, the arrangement of the machine, which is of the kind in which all the
cylinders are arranged in one vertical plane in order to facilitate fixing the form,
changing the blankets, &c., being in no way altered.
Referring to the Drawing, Figure 6, the roll of paper P is supported in a frame
at the front of the machine and the paper is drawn from it by a number of rollers
m, m, led as indicated by the arrows through the knife cylinders X, Y, by which it
is cut into sheets, which are fed into the machine by the tapes n, n, to the first and
then to the second printing cylinder, after which it follows the course as shewn in
Figure 1.
With such an arrangement of machine the size of the sheet may be varied either
by changing the rollers m, m, or the combinations of gear wheels to unwind more
or less paper during each revolution of the printing cylinders. The tapes n, n, run
upon rollers mounted in swinging arms to enable them to be removed and leave the
front of the machine entirely clear for the various preliminary operations above
mentioned. To ensure the sheets entering the tapes n, n, endless cords r, r, are
used, passing through notches made in the knives and knife cylinders and around
small rollers ou either side of the said cylinders; by this means all liability of the
paper becoming wound upon either of the knife cylinders is avoided.
The sheets in this case would not be entirely cut where the small cords r, r, come,
but this small uncut portion is torn by the draught to which the paper is subjected
in entering the tapes, which move faster than the paper so as to completely separate
the sheets. This arrangement gives very good results with paper of mediuin
strength, but is liable to cause creases or folds in thin paper, which might pass in_
this condition to the printing cylinders. In order to avoid this the following
arrangement has been devised by which I am enabled to ensure the complete
separation of the sheets by the knife cylinders while retaining the cords placed
around the said cylinders for guiding the paper.
This arrangement, which is shewn in Figure 7, consists in the employment of
bars P, P, which at the moment the knives enter the paper and the latter is nipped
by the cylinders are caused to separate, and so tear apart the uncut portions.
The separation of the bars P may be operated in various ways, either by arranging
them as shown in Figure 7, to slide upon inclined surfaces o, o, or otherwise with
the same object.
Or the same result may be obtained by the employment of small thin blades
placed at suitable distances apart above the bars P, which blades are kept raised by
springs when the cylinders are out of action, but which when the cylinders are in
action press against said bars and then immediately rise and detach the paper from
the cylinder.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st May 1879.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINES." A communi-
cation from abroad by Auguste Hippolyte Marinoni, of Paris, France.
This Invention relates to improvements in cylinder or rotary printing machines
generally, whether working with mechanical folders or mechanical receivers, and
whether fed from a roll and the continuous web of paper cut into sheets before or
after printing, or whether the paper be laid on in sheets. The improvements have
for object, 1st, to enable, in the same machine, the paper to be severed one or more
times, according to requirements, for each revolution of the printing cylinders ;
2nd, to enable the several sheets thus cut off during one and the same revolution
of the printing cylinders to be brought together and superposed, and conducted
cither to a collector or directly to the flyer, and this whether the paper has been
severed one or more times per revolution of the printing cylinders; 3rd, to enable
one or more lines of perforations to be made in the sheets when desired in directions
either parallel or perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder; 4th, to enable (when
the printing cylinders are of very small diameter, so that it is difficult to employ a
collector corresponding to their circumference) a double or triple collector to be
used without proportionately increasing the speed of the sheets in the collector;
5th, to enable either a large or whole sheet or several small sheets to be conducted
to one or several mechanical folders without passing through a collector; 6th, to
enable in the same machine the sheets to be cut either after being printed, when
their size remains invariable and corresponds with the circumference of the cylin-
ders, or before being printed, when it is necessary to vary their size.
For cylinder or rotary printing machines having mechanical receivers now in
use the collector (that part of the machine in which the sheets are superposed or
collected into a parcel before being deposited upon the receiving tables) is made of
a circuit corresponding to the entire circumference of the printing cylinders (plus
a variable amount) when the paper is cut once only per revolution of the cylinders,
or to half the circumference (plus a certain amount) when the paper is cut twice
per revolution, or to a third of the circumference when the paper is cut three times
per revolution, and so on. This plan has the great disadvantage that it necessitates
a very small collector when the sheets are small, and renders the parts which
ensure the arrival of the sheets and their delivery when a sufficient number has
been collected exceedingly difficult of arrangement. Moreover if the collector is
arranged to collect half sheets (i.c., equal to half the circumference of the printing
cylinders) it cannot collect whole sheets.
By this Invention the above objections are avoided, as either whole, half, or
smaller sheets may be collected at will in the same collector. In order that this
part of the Invention may be readily understood I have illustrated it in Figure 1
of the accompanying Drawings as applied to a rotary web printing machine, in
which the web of paper is cut after being printed, but it should be understood that
the improvement may also be applied to machines in which the paper is cut into
sheets before being printed, and to those in which whole sheets are laid on by hand
and are afterwards cut into two or more parts by the machine. I will proceed to
describe it with reference to Figure 1.
A, A, are the printing cylinders, and B, B, the cutting cylinders, having the
same diameter and speed as A, A, and provided at diametrically opposite points b, b,
with two serrated or other cutters, which cut the paper into sheets of equal size,
and each corresponding to half the circumference of the printing cylinders; the
position of the cutters may however be varied if the sheets are to be of unequal
length. The paper is thus cut into half sheets or twice for every revolution of the

page_text: printing cylinders. It will be evident that the same result will be attained if the
cutter cylinder has one cutter only, but makes two revolutions for one of the
printing cylinders.
The half or small sheets into which the web of paper is cut by this arrangement
are by means of the "divider" shown delivered alternately to two sets of tapes, by
which they are conducted, as indicated by the arrows in full and dotted lines, by
routes of different lengths, the tapes being so arranged as to deliver the two sheets,
printed at each revolution of the printing cylinders, exactly the one upon the other
at point C, whence they are conveyed together as one to the collector. While
these two sheets are making the circuit of the collector, the next two having
followed the same course arrive together at the entrance to the collector at the same
time as the first two come round again thereto, and the former are superposed upon
the latter. The succeeding pairs of sheets following in the same way a certain
number (say 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, or more) are thus accumulated. The parcel of sheets is
then conducted to the flyers, and by them delivered upon the receiving table.
By an examination of the Drawing all the advantages to be derived from such
an arrangement will be clearly seen. The cutting cylinders B, B, having the same
diameter and speed as the printing cylinders A, A, and the circuit of the collector
corresponding to whole sheets (ie., sheets equal to the entire circumference of the
printing cylinders) it is only necessary to omit one of the two cutters in order to
cut whole sheets or sheets of the largest size the machine will admit of. To collect
these whole sheets the divider would not be used, but all the sheets would take
the same course,
and be similarly delivered by the flyers when a sufficient number
of say, 2, 3, 4, 5, or more have been accumulated. Thus by simply dispensing with
one of the cutters and with the action of the divider whole sheets, instead of twice
the number of half sheets may be cut, collected, and delivered; and if therefore the
printing cylinders are of large newspaper size, sheets either of this or of half this
size may be printed in the same machine at will.
If instead of two cutters three cutters be placed at points b, b, b, of the cylin-
ders B, B, as in Figure 2, the paper will be cut three times for every revolution of
the printing cylinders A, A, these three small sheets being distributed by means of
a divider (described in the Specification of former Letters Patent granted to me) to
the three sets of tapes shown, by which the three sheets are made to travel such
distances respectively that they will arrive together at a certain point, and be
superposed and conveyed together as one to the collector. The following three
sheets are similarly superposed and conveyed to the collector at the moment the
previous three sheets, after making the circuit thereof, have returned to the point at
which they entered, so that the second three are laid on the first three, and so on
for the remainder, and when a sufficient number have been accumulated the parcel
of sheets is transferred to the receiver. As in the former case by using only one
cutter and dispensing with the action of the divider so that all the sheets follow the
same course, whole sheets may be cut and collected and thence conveyed in suitable
numbers to the receiver.
From the two examples of the Invention above given, it will be readily under-
stood that the number of the cutters may be still further varied, or the cutter
cylinder may have only one cutter and make 2, 3, or more revolutions for each
revolution of the printing cylinders, the sheets travelling different distances and
being superposed and conveyed to the collector as before. The machine may thus
be arranged to cut the paper one or more times into one large or several small
sheets for each revolution of the printing cylinders as desired. By means of the
divider the several small sheets cut at every revolution of the printing cylinders
may be made to follow different routes in order to meet at the same point and be
superposed, and then be conducted either to the collector or to the receiving table
direct. It should be understood that any other suitable kind of collector may be
employed in connection with the Invention, instead of the one shown in Figure 1.
In those machines also in which the paper is cut into sheets before being printed and in
which the size of the sheet is varied, the cutter cylinders may either be of the same

page_text: diameter as the printing cylinders, and have 1, 2, 3, or more cutters, or they may
make 1, 2, 3, or more revolutions for every revolution of the printing cylinders so
as to cut two, three, or more small sheets at each revolution of the printing
cylinders, these sheets when printed being carried to the divider, superposed, and
conducted to a collector or directly to the flyers when the other is not used. In
the case of a machine fed by a layer on the sheets are passed, either before or after
being printed, through a pair of cutter cylinders which cut them into as many
parts as desired, these parts being led away by different routes in order to super-
pose them as before, and conduct them to a collector or directly to the flyers. By
the above arrangement the cutting up of large sheets by hand is avoided.
The Invention may also be applied to a machine having either two collectors and
two receivers, or two receivers only without a collector, or two folders, so as to
enable two different publications to be printed simultaneously in the same machine.
By providing the printing cylinders with the forms for printing two different
publications, the sheets upon which the two publications are printed may be
conveyed to separate receivers or collectors. Each sheet may also be subdivided as
before described in the case of a single collector or receiver by providing the
necessary number of cutters upon the knife cylinders, and conveying the sheets
away by as many routes of different lengths and superposing them as before
described. It will be evident that more than two publications may be similarly
printed in the same machine.
The foregoing description of the Invention with the assistance of the Drawing,
clearly shows that the Invention may be applied in various ways of which it is
sufficient here to give some examples only. I have already stated, that in the same
machine the length of paper corresponding to the circumference of the printing
cylinders may be cut up into 1, 2, 3, or a larger number of small sheets which may
be brought together, laid upon one another, and conducted to a collector having a
sufficient length of circuit to take whole sheets equal to the entire circumference of
the printing cylinders when required. It has also been stated that the machine
may at will be made to cut the paper 1, 2, 3, 4, or more times for every revolution,
and then collect and deliver the whole, half, third, quarter, or smaller sheets, so cut,
whereby the same machine may be used to print a four paged or smaller journal as
required. For publications having more than four pages, it is proposed to form
rows of perforations or slits in the line of the folds to enable the leaves to be more
readily separated by the reader. In order to form these perforations in the longi-
tudinal direction of the cylinders, a saw toothed blade is disposed in a groove in the
cutter cylinders in such manner that the points only of the teeth shall enter the
paper, and thus produce a regular line of perforations, see Figure 3, in which D
represents the perforator and E the paper. The perforator may also be applied to a
cylinder, other than to the cutter cylinder. To make the perforations in a direction
perpendicular to the axis of the cylinders, a circular saw shaped perforator is
arranged in contact with one of the rollers round which the paper passes, as seen
at F; Figure 1, the teeth being received in a groove in said roller and the saw F being
rotated at the same speed as that at which the paper is travelling. In both
instances the length of the perforations may be varied by making the saw teeth
penetrate the paper more or less deeply, or by varying the form and number of the
teeth. These perforations may be employed whether the machine is provided with
a mechanical folder or not.
'
Figure 4 shows an arrangement of machine for feeding two sheets at a time to a
folder, whereby the latter is simplified and has to make one fold less, and cutting
by hand is dispensed with. Suppose the machine to cut the paper twice in each
revolution of the printing cylinders as in the Figure, the sheets as they are severed
are sent alternately to one and the other of the two sets of tapes and are laid one
upon the other at C, whence they are conveyed together to a folder not shown, but
which is of ordinary construction. Similarly the paper may be cut three or more
times per revolution of the printing cylinders led through different sets of tapes,
superposed, and conveyed to the folders. When desired however the paper may be

page_text: cut once only per revolution of the printing cylinders and the divider put out of
action, single large sheets being in this case conveyed to the folder instead of two
or three small sheets superposed. As before mentioned, when the collector is small,
it is extremely difficult to arrange for the introduction and exit of the sheets, and
for this reason, I have adopted the arrangement shown in Figure 1 in order that
when the cylinders are of small diameter and the sheets are to be severed twice, the
collector shall not be too small. As, even when cutting once only at every
revolution if the printing cylinders are of small diameter, the restricted dimensions
of the collector may cause inconvenience; it is proposed in that case to arrange the
latter as for a large or double sheet, and to supply the sheets thereto two at a time,
cutting them once only per revolution of the printing cylinders, the arrangement
being as in Figure 5. The sheets thus cut are distributed alternately to the two
sets of tapes, are superposed at C as before, and transferred to the collector, and by
the time they return to the point of entrance the two next sheets which have been
similarly superposed at C, are deposited upon the two first, and when a sufficient
number have been thus collected they are transferred to the flyer.
It is also possible with this machine to cut the paper, but once for every two
revolutions of the printing cylinders, in which case it would be unnecessary to
distribute the sheets between two sets of tapes, the action of the divider being
therefore dispensed with. In this case the sheets contain duplicate impressions,
which must be afterwards cut by hand. This method or arrangement of double or
triple collector also forms part of the present Invention, the paper being cut once
only at every two or three revolutions of the printing cylinders.
Figure 6 shows how a machine in which the paper is ordinarily cut after it is
printed may, by an addition made to it, be made to cut the paper into sheets before
printing, the arrangement of the machine, which is of the kind in which all the
cylinders are arranged in one vertical plane in order to facilitate fixing the form,
changing the blankets, &c., being in no way altered.
Referring to the Drawing, Figure 6, the roll of paper P is supported in a frame
at the front of the machine, and the paper is drawn from it by a number of
rolls m, m, led, as indicated by the arrows, through the cutter cylinders X, Y, by
which it is cut into sheets, which are fed into the machine by the tapes n, n, to the
first, and then to the second printing cylinder, after which it follows the course as
shown in Figure 1.
With such an arrangement of machine the size of the sheet may be varied cither
by changing the rollers m, m, or the combinations of gear wheels so as to unwind
more or less paper during each revolution of the printing cylinders. The tapes n, n,
run upon rollers mounted in swinging arms to enable them to be removed and leave
the front of the machine entirely clear for the various preliminary operations above
mentioned. To ensure the sheets entering the tapes n, n, endless cords 1, r, are
used, passing through notches made in the cutters and cutter cylinders, and around
small rollers on either side of said cylinders; by this means all liability of the paper
becoming wound upon either of the cutter cylinders is avoided. The sheets in this
case would not be entirely cut where the small cords r, r, come, but this small uncut
portion is torn by the draught to which the paper is subjected in entering the tapes,
which move faster than the paper so as to completely separate the sheets. This
arrangement gives very good results with paper of medium strength, but is liable
to cause creases or folds in thin paper, which might pass in this condition to the
printing cylinders. In order to avoid this the following arrangement has been
devised, by which I am enabled to ensure the complete separation of the sheets
by the cutter cylinders, while retaining the cords placed around the said cylinders
for guiding the paper. This arrangement, which is shown in Figure 7, consists in
the employment of bars p, p, which, when the cutters have entered the paper, and
the latter is nipped by the bars, are caused to move apart from one another, and so
tear apart the uncut portions. The separation of the bars p may be operated in
various ways, either by arranging them to slide upon inclined surfaces o, o, as
shown in Figure 7, or otherwise, with the same object. The Invention consisting

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rather in the mode of tearing the sheets apart whilst retaining the use of the
cords than in the particular means described.
Or the same result may be obtained by the employment of small thin blades
placed at suitable distances apart above the bars p, which blades are kept raised by
springs when the cylinders are out of action, but which, when the cylinders are in
action, press against the said bars, and then immediately rise and detach the paper
from the cylinders.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,-
In a rotary or cylinder printing machine, the arrangements of mechanism or
apparatus substantially as herein shown and described, whereby I am enabled,-
1st. To sever the paper one or more times (according to requirements) per
revolution of the printing cylinders.
2nd. To bring together and superpose the different portions or sheets cut during
a single revolution of the printing cylinders in order to send them to a collector or
directly to the flyer at will.
3rd. To print in the same machine and with the same collector, either full
sized sheets equal to the whole circumference of the cylinders or smaller sheets
equal to half or any other fractional part of said circumference, these smaller sheets
being completely cut by the machine.
4th. To print simultaneously two or more publications on the same machine, the
sheets of each publication being afterwards separated and conducted to its own
collector or flyer.
5th. To perforate the sheets in directions parallel and perpendicular to the axis
of the cylinders..
6th. To use a collector corresponding to two revolutions of the printing cylinders
without proportionately increasing the speed of the sheets in the collector.
7th. To convey to one or more mechanical folders either a whole sheet (corre-
sponding to the entire circumference of the printing cylinders) or several small
sheets (fractional parts of the large sheet) which are superposed without passing
through a collector.
8th. To cut the paper either before or after being printed, at will.
9th. To completely sever the sheets, and yet ensure their certain passage
between the tapes and prevent their becoming wound upon the cutter cylinders.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Meville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
A M CLARK (LS)