IMPROVE- MENTS IN LITHOGRAPHIC AND ZINCOGRAPHIC PRINTING
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hamilton Glassford, of Glasgow, in the County
of Lanark, North Britain, Lithographer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LITHOGRAPHIC AND ZINCOGRAPHIC PRINTING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hamilton Glassford,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th April 1854.
I, JOHN HAMILTON GLASSFORD, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Lithographer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LITHOGRAPHIC AND ZINCOGRAPHIC PRINTING" to be as follows:-
'This Invention relates to the so arranging and constructing lithographic and
zincographic printing presses for printing of various kinds, that the stone, plate,
or printing surface. may be brought into accurate printing position and action
at each traverse movement, without any separate movement or attention on the
part of the printer. This is accomplished by placing adjustable and partially
rotatory cams or stops beneath the traverse table carrying the stone or plate, so
that as the table runs beneath the fixed scraper, the cams or eccentric pieces
shall raise up the table at the proper time, and thus bring the scraping action
into play. This is conveniently accomplished by setting a pair of differentially
curved or shaped cams upon a horizontal shaft or carrier, disposed as a centre
across the printing machine framing beneath the line of traverse of the table.
These cams are counterweighted in such manner, that when left unacted

page_text: upon, their angular prominences shall be directed upwards, with one side of
such prominences in a vertical line, or nearly so; then, as the stone is traversed
forward at a level somewhat lower than the necessary printing height, the front
end of the table bears against the vertical sides of these cams, and turns them
over upon their centre, until the opposite sides of the angular prominences
come down upon a fixed stop in the frame. At this stage of the movement,
the sides of the cams, which were originally vertical, are brought to a horizontal
position, and they give the stone the required lift into printing play, the front
entering edge of the stone being bevelled, to allow of easy admission beneath
the immoveable scraper. This system may be carried out under various
modifications of apparatus, the essential feature being the use of an automatic
cam or stop arrangement for bringing up the printing surface at the right time;
with the aid of suitable adjusting bearing pieces, the cam or eccentric action
may be set for any extent of printing surface. The common press may also
be modified to produce a somewhat similar effect by using a moveable scraper,
as at present, but connected to the traverse movement of the press in such
manner as to be brought into action at the moment of commencing to
print.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Hamilton Glassford in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HAMILTON GLASSFORD, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Lithographer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Hamilton Glassford, Her special license that I, the said John
Hamilton Glassford, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Hamilton Glassford, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN LITHOGRAPHIC AND ZINCOGRAPHIC PRINTING," upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said John Hamilton Glassford, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to. be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office-
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Hamilton Glassford, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
My said Invention relates to the so arranging and constructing lithographic
and zincographic printing presses for printing of various kinds, that the stone,
plate, or printing surface may be brought into accurate printing position and
action at each traverse movement, without any separate movement or attention
on the part of the printer. This is accomplished by placing an adjustable and
partially rotatory cam or stop beneath the traverse table carrying the stone or
plate, so that as the table runs beneath the fixed scraper the cam or eccentric
piece or pieces shall raise up the table at the proper time, and thus bring the
scraping action into play. This is conveniently accomplished by setting a
differentially curved or shaped cam upon a horizontal shaft or carrier, disposed
as a centre across the printing machine framing beneath the line of traverse
of the table. This cam is counter-weighted in such manner that when left
unacted upon its angular prominence shall be directed upwards, with one side
of such prominence in a vertical line, or nearly so; then, as the stone is
traversed forward at a level somewhat lower than the necessary printing height,
the front end of the table bears against the vertical sides of the cam, and turns
it over upon its centre, until the opposite side of the angular prominence comes
down upon a fixed stop in the frame. At this stage of the movement, the side
of the cam, which was originally vertical, is brought to a horizontal position,
and it gives the stone the required lift into printing play, the front entering
edge of the stone being bevilled, to allow of easy admission beneath the
immoveable scraper. This system may be carried out under various modifica-
tions of apparatus, the essential feature being the use of an antomatic cam or
stop arrangement for bringing up the printing surface at the right time; with
the aid of suitable adjustable bearing pieces, the cam or eccentric action may
be set for any extent of printing surface. The common press may also be
modified to produce a somewhat similar effect, by using a moveable scraper, as
at present, but connected to the traverse movement of the press in such

page_text: manner as to be brought into action at the moment of commencing to
print.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall now
proceed to describe the several explanatory Figures on the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto attached. Figure 1 on the Sheet of. Drawings is a vertical longi-
tudinal section of a lithographic printing press, constructed according to my
Invention; Figure 2 is an end elevation, and Figure 3 is a plan, both corre-
sponding to Figure 1. Figure 4 is a side elevation of the table or carriage
detached; and Figure 5 is a plan thereof, as inverted, to exhibit an adjustable
bearer piece for regulating the length of scrape. The framing of the press
selected for representation in illustration of my Invention consists of two cast-
iron side standards A, bolted down to the flooring by foot flanges, and tied
together by the wrought iron rods B, as well as by a cross head C, above the
scraper D. The scraper is carried by a scraper bar E, which slides in vertical
grooves or slots in the side standards, and is adjusted vertically by means of the
screw spindle F, working in the cross head C, and provided with a hand wheel
for turning it by. The table or carriage G, upon which the stone or other
printing surface H is placed, slides upon horizontal rails I, fixed or cast upon
the insides of the side standards. When the scraping action takes place, the
carriage G is supported and borne up by a counter-pressure roller J, which is
immediately below the scraper D. This roller D is carried in bushes, which
work in short vertical slots K in the side standards, and which have jointed to
each of them a lever L, the two levers L being jointed to levers M, fixed upon a
transverse shaft N, carried in bearings in the bottom of the side standards, and
in a vertical line below the scraper D and roller J, thus forming a toggle joint
arrangement, by means of which a powerful upward pressure can be applied to
the roller J. The roller J is elevated, and lifts up the carriage G only when
this is going forward to receive the scraping action, being depressed on the
return of the carriage, to allow of its free passage back. This elevation and
depression of the roller J is effected by means of a self-acting cam movement
actuated by the carriage itself. The levers L, M, are connected at their joints
by links O to short levers P on a transverse shaft Q, carried in bearings in the
side standards, and having fixed upon it a cam R. This cam is so arranged,
that on the carriage G being pushed forward, its under side acts upon the
prominent point of the cam, and turns it over into the position represented in
black lines in Figure 1, this action turning the shaft Q, and acting on the
toggle levers L, M, so as to elevate the roller J, and thus lift up the stone H
into contact with the scraper D, underneath which it is passed either by hand,
by means of a winch handle, or by steam or other motive power, by means of a

page_text: pulley S fixed upon the overhanging end of the roller shaft T. When the
scraping action is effected, the shaft Q returns to its normal position by means
of the counter-weight U. This causes the roller J to sink to its normal
position, which is indicated by red lines in Figure 1, as is also the normal
position of the cam R and toggle levers L, M. In Figure 1, the levers L, M,
are represented as being brought a little over the centre line when elevating
the roller J, so that the pressure of the scraping action has a tendancy rather
to force them towards the shaft Q, and to turn this shaft and the cam R. The
cam R, however, rests upon the roller J, which has a groove turned out of it
for the purpose, so that the levers L, M, cannot give way during the scraping
action. I prefer, however, to arrange the cam and other details so that the
toggle levers are never brought quite up to the centre line, instead of being
drawn beyond it, and I use this arrangement in combination with the adjustable
bearer piece represented in Figures 4 and 5 on the Sheet of Drawings.
Instead of causing the cam R to be acted upon by the under side of the
carriage G, I fix thereto a projecting bearer, consisting of two pieces V, W;
the former of which is fixed to the carriage, whilst the latter is adjustable
longitudinally by any suitable means, such as a screw spindle X, working in a
bush fixed to the piece W, which slides in a groove in the under side of the
carriage. G. The pieces V, W, are shaped like reversed combs, fitting into
each other, so as to act upon the cam R, which must be made sufficiently wide
like a solid bearing piece, notwithstanding that the two parts V, W, may be
drawn apart within certain limits. If the other details remain as repre-
sented in Figure 1, the cam R will require to be made less projecting to
compensate for the projecting of the bearer V, W. The action will be as
follows: When the carriage G is pushed forward, the front of the bearer
V, W, will act upon the cam R, and raise the roller J to give the pressure;
but as soon as it passes the point of the cam, the counter-weight U will
bring down the roller J, and thus stop the scraping action; and it is
obvious, that by adjusting the length of the bearer V, W, the scraping action
may to confined to any length upon the stone, according to the size of
lithograph being printed, and without unnecessarily extending it over the entire
stone.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of my Invention; but what

page_text: I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the general arrangement and construction of lithographic and zinco-
graphic printing machines, as herein-before described...
Second, the application and use in lithographic and zincographic printing
machines of an antomatic cam arrangement, for raising the printing surface
up to the scraper so as to be acted upon by the latter, as herein-before
described. .
Third, the system or mode of lifting the counter-pressure roller of litho-
graphic and zincographic printing machines, by means of a cam acted upon
by the carriage on entering under the scraper to receive the impression, as
herein-before described.
Fourth, the application and use in lithographic and zincographic printing
machines, in which the counter-pressure roller is raised by the action of the
carriage upon a cam movement of an adjustable bearer piece, for acting on the
cam, and for limiting the scraping action to any desired portion of the printing
surface, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hamilton Glassford, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and four:
MAY
AT
JOHN HAMILTON GLASSFORD. (L.B.).