IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTERS' GALLEYS
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Thomson King at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th June 1879. A communication from
abroad by Thomas T. McNish, of Allegheny, in the County of Allegheny,
State of Pennsylvania, United States of America.
JOHN THOMSON KING, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTERS' GALLEYS." [A communication from abroad by
Thomas T. McNish, of Allegheny, in the County of Allegheny, State of Penn-
sylvania, United States of America.]
Printers' galleys have heretofore been made either entirely of wood or with a
brass bottom and brass lined wooden sides, or entirely of brass, the bottom being
formed of a piece of sheet brass, and the sides or walls of a square or angle shaped
brass bar rivetted to the bottom. Where the sides are of wood lined with brass the
brass is sometimes secured to the wood by screws or rivets and sometimes by
sinking its edges into the wood. In other cases the wood is surrounded by the
brass, and the sides thus formed secured to the bottom piece by rivets or screws or
by soldering.
The principal requisites of a good galley are, that it be true and not liable to
become warped, or bent, or injuriously affected by the lye and water used in cleaning
the type.
The wooden galley, which was the primitive form and is now almost discarded,
soon becomes warped, owing to its being often wet, and hence untrue and unfit for
use. The galley with wooden frame and brass lining is also open to the objection
of warping, but not to as great an extent as the wooden galley. In this galley the
wood is used to stiffen the sides, and as the brass lining is light and thin it is
frequently drawn out of truth by the warping of the wood. In those cases where
the brass lining is secured to the wood by screws or rivets the lye and water has a
tendency to eat in around the screws or rivets and loosen the lining. These
objections are overcome in the all brass galley, in which the sides are made heavy
enough to prevent their being bent. The objection to this galley is its expense, for
which reason the brass lined galley, which is much cheaper, although not so good,
is in more general use.
The first part of my Invention therefore relates to the construction of brass

page_text: galleys, and any of the galleys or modifications thereof hereinafter described may
be made from sheet brass, and will be found to be as cheap as the brass lined
galleys and equally as good as any of the all brass galleys now known.
Brass has heretofore been the only metal regarded as suitable, in an economic and
practically useful point of view, to the construction of printers' galleys; of other
metals and alloys, some were too heavy, some too soft, some too expensive, and
others not only too heavy but also subject to corrosion.
I have found that sheet steel is peculiarly adapted for use in the construction
of galleys, it has the following properties, which fit it especially for that purpose:-
It is light, and at the same time very stiff and strong, and can be bent into shape
without injury.
For this reason the side and end walls can be made of a single thickness, and the
entire galley of one piece, the walls being formed by turning up the edges at right
angles. The walls thus formed have sufficient strength and stiffness without
bracing or other support. It is susceptible of being coated to resist corrosion from
the water and lye. It is extremely cheap, costing less than one half the price of
sheet rass; and lastly, it can be cut and bent to shape at small cost.
Therefore the second part of my Invention, briefly stated, consists in forming the
galley of sheet steel, so made aud coated with a coating which will protect the
steel from corrosion, and by it I obtain all of the aforementioned advantages in the
construction of galleys.
I will now proceed to describe the Invention as shown in Sheet 1.
I cut or stamp out a blank like a, I then fold or crimp it, as shown by the cross
section Fig. 2, place the stiffening or liner b in the fold, and close it by brazing or
soldering at c. The ends d¹ of the side flanges d overlie or are overlaid by the
ends e' of the end flange e at the rear end, and by the ends b' of the liner b at the
front end. The overlying end at each corner is cut out, as at i, and a lip n
partially cut from the underlying piece is turned up through the opening i over the
end of the upper piece, thus forming a strong, simple, and cheap corner fastening
and brace.
'The blank a is marked with lines 1 to 9, which indicate the lines of fold, of these
1, 2, 3, and 4, 5, 6, show the side folds, and 7, 8, 9, the end fold, 2, 5, 8, being
the apex lines. In Fig. 3 and 4 of the Drawings the lines at i indicate the cut
away portions of the ends, and at n the lip, which is designed to be clinched
through the opening i. The liner b, ns turned out at b to overlap on the side
flange d, forms a brace on cach side, which braces and sustains the forward end of
the side wall. It also serves to connect and support the corners f, which, when the
metal is folded to form the side and end walls, are otherwise not connected or
supported. This is a very important advantage arising from the use of the liner,
as it is necessary that the corners f should be supported. Thus the whole device
is stiffened and made strong and compact by the incorporation of the liner in the
walls. The liner b is a simple strip of brass cut from the sheet.
.. The parts which constitute this galley may be stamped or cut out of the sheet
by machinery with great rapidity, and it is my intention to do this work by
machinery as well as that of folding or crimping the blank.
This galley being made of sheet brass, and being so simple of manufacturo, is
fully as cheap as the brass lined galley before mentioned, and at the same time
is as true and much stronger and lighter than the all brass galley.
Instead of securing the liner in place by means of solder the mode of fastening
shown at i and n may be employed for this purpose, the lip being cut from the
inner piece and turned outwards through an opening cut in the liner and outer
fold. In order to illustrate this I have inserted a view of it at g in Fig. 1.
While I prefer and recommend to others the form of galley shown at Fig. 1 I will
now describe a simple modification of my Invention; Figs. 5 and 6 show this modi-
fication. Here the liner is omitted and the blank is cut with the side folds and l
having each a projection n at the rear end, which when the blank is folded is bent
and tucked into the end fold, as shown by the sectional view in Fig. 6. The front

page_text: braces b³ here are made of short pieces of sheet metal, which are fastened to the
sides and flanges by clinch-joints g or otherwise.
If desired the walls may be stiffened by running in a line of solder between the
folds.
Still another form is shown by Figs. 7 and 8; here the blank is cut without
flange pieces, the metal is folded upon itself in the way hereinbefore described, and
the corners are supported as in the last modification, or as shown at m, or by any
other suitable means. No liner nor side brace is employed, but the forward ends
of the sides are stiffened, strengthened, and united by a clinch joint at p. The
turning out of the lip from the inner side does not effect the trueness of its sides.
I propose to make this galley of any suitable metal, such as brass.
I will now describe the galleys shown in Figs. 9, 10, 11, and 12 (Sheet 2).
I cut the blank u with tongues ds and es from the sheet of steel and scale it
perfectly by pickling and grinding. I find that grinding is the most certain way
of obtaining a perfect removal of the scale. The side and end walls b³ and c³ aro
formed by turning up the edge of the blank a at right angles. The corners &
anay be jointed, as in Fig. 10, or not, as in Fig. 12, as desired. The joint at d' in
Fig. 10 is a very simple and strong one. The lower lug e³ lapping around the end
wall prevents the side from being forced in and the end from being forced out, and
the upper lug lapping around on the side prevents it from being sprung or
spread outwards and the end from being forced inwardly, while the plain inner
surface of the walls remains unbroken, which is a necessary feature in a galley.
Many other forms of joint or fastening are apparent to the skilled mechanic.
After the galley has been bent into shape it is coated with a permanent coating
for the purpose of protecting it from corrosion arising from its being frequently wet
and from being handled by the perspiring hands of the typo.
This may be done with nickel or other like metal, by electro deposition, or by
dipping in zinc, platinum, or tin, or by japanning or baking on a vitreous
coating.
The simplicity of the form, cheapness, and suitability of the material for this
purpose enables me to produce this galley at much less cost than any of the various
forms of brass or brass lined galleys heretofore known, while on the other hand it is
absolutely free from the before mentioned objections to the wood, brass, and brass
lined galleys.
I will finally describe the modifications shown in Figs. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18
(Sheet 3).
In making this galley the ordinary sheet brass, sheet steel, or other suitable
sheet metal may be used; and from the same I cut or stamp a blank A, two of the
corners of which are cut away irregularly, so as to leave tongues or projections a³, a³,
near the outer edge of the blank for the purpose of locking the side and end walls
of the galley; and also so as to leave projecting portions of the sheet b³ to complete
the flange of the galley when the blank is folded.
In the Drawing the full lines on the face of the blank (Fig. 13) indicate the lines
of fold, and the spaces (for the purpose of this description) are marked 1, 2, 3. In
folding the blank to form the side and end walls the portions 2 are folded towards
the centre and down upon the portions marked 1, and the portions of the blank
marked 3 are turned up at right angles to the blank to form the side and end walls.
These side or end walls are then locked or fastened at the corners by folding down
the tongues a³, a, those marked as of the end wall being flattened against the end
wall. In order to render the upper surface of the flange of the galley uniform the
portion 6 may (if preferred) be folded on itself, as indicated in dotted line.
The above described construction will give a strong, light, and inexpensive
galley, the sides of which will be sufficiently stiff and will not be liable to be sprung,
owing to the fact that the flange fold (2) will be in the line of the applied force, and
will brace the side and end walls at the bottom.
But however, if it is deemed desirable to fasten the flanges it can readily be done

page_text: by slotting the spaces 2, as at c³, cutting lips or tongues d³ in spaces 1 (or vice
versa), and when the fold is made passing the lips d³ through the slots e³ and
turning it down, as shown in Fig. 16.
If braces for the side walls are desired the scrap (see Fig. 18) may be utilized for
that purpose by cutting or stamping therefrom a blank of the shape shown at eº, 5
slitting the same, as indicated by the dotted line (Fig. 18), and folding the portion
7 over the portion 8, the braces E thus formed being subsequently secured to the
flange and side wall of the galley, as shown in Fig. 16.