IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRINTING
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LITTLE, of 198, Strand, Publisher of the Illustrated London News, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Gicat
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of May,
in the ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Little, my exois, admors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said William Little, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Little, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRINTING;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William Little,
should cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after

page_text: the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the saul
William Eittle, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and asce-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Diawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked theicon
thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object various improvements in printing machines,
to obtam greater speed or more numerous impressions in the same time than
other printing machines using like numbers of printing cylinders; and in
order that the Invention may be more readily understood, it will be desirable
in the first place to call attention to the construction of the fast machines now
in use for printing the daily newspapers, in each of which four cylinders are
used, two of which constantly revolve in one direction, and the other two in
the opposite direction, so that in the passing of the form of type in one direc-
tion two impressions only are obtained by two of the cylinders, and two more
impressions-aie-obtained_by_means of the other two cylinders on the passage
back of the form of type, the cylinders requiring to move in the same direc
tion as the form of type when producing impressions therefiom, so that fou
impressions (that is, one impression by means of each of the four printing
cylinders) requires that the form of type should pass to and fro. Now such is
the peculiar character of my Invention, that when four cylinders are used in
a printing machine thice impressions are obtained from cach movement of the
form of type under the four printing cylinders. thus obtaining one half more
impressions by the use of a like number of printing cylinders, and sucl
also is the nature of my Invention, that when using three punting cylinders in
a machie, twice as many impressions could be obtained at each movement o
the form of type as could be obtained by two cylinders when arranged
according to the old construction of printing machinery. And further, such
is the nature of the punciple on which painting machines have been hereto
fore arranged, that only half as many impressions can be obtained from eac
movement of the form of type as there are cylinders used in a machine, and
the number of cylinders cannot with any great advantage be extended beyon
four, but according to my Invention many cylinders may be employed, an
there will be as many impressions, less one, obtained from the form of type a
each of its movements as there are printing cylinders employed in the machine
In the former construction of printing machines each pair of the printin
cylinders constantly evolved in opposite directions. and the feeding tapes a

page_text: so arranged as to pass under the cylinders in such manner that they never pait
with the paper after receiving it till they have conducted it under the respec-
tive punting cylinders. Now according to my improvements only cach of the
outer cylinders continuously revolves in one direction, and the clucction of
theu motion is opposite to each other, as heretofore, all the other cylinders or
cylinder intermediate of the two outer ones first revolving in one duection and
then in the other, by which each of the intermediate cylinders pints an
impression with each movement of the form of type in whichever direction
the form may be passing, so that all the cylinders but one (of the two outer
ones) will produce its impression with each movement of the form of type
And in order to accomplish the feeding and taking away of the sheets of paper
into and from the machine, the feeding tapes (of the intermediate cylinders,
which first receive the sheets of paper), in place of descending under the
punting cylinders, only carry the paper down to such a position as to be taken
by other feeding tapes, and then such feeding tapes acting with the interme-
diate cylinders move in such a manner that, having fed a sheet of paper, so
that it may pass under their printing cylinder in one direction, they may feed
the next sheet of paper so that it may pass under their printing cylinder in
an opposite direction, and at the same time they will perform then pait in
carrying away the sheets of paper as they receive their impressions And in
oider that the Invention may be more fully described, I will proceed to
descibe the Drawings hereunto annexed, which represent a machine having
four printing cylinders, the two outermost ones of which act with then tapes
in a similar manner to those heretofore used in a four-cylinder machine; but
the two intermediate cylinders are so arranged and worked that they alternately
produce their impression by first being caused to revolve in one duection and
then in the other direction.
DESCRIPTION OR THE DRAWINGS
The nature of each of the Figures being written thereon, it will not be
necessary to repeat the same here, and as the construction of the parts and
manner of working pinting machinery are well understood, it will not be
necessary to enter into a description of the nature or mode of working of the
various parts, a workman acquainted with such descriptions of machinery from
the Drawings, aided by the description already given, and a short statement
of the arrangement of the parts, will readily construct printing machinay
according to my Invention, and he will use one or more intermediate pinting
cylinders, with suitable arrangements of tapes, between the two outer punting
cylinders, according to the extent of work the machinery to. be constructed

page_text: may be required to perform. In each of the various Figures the same
letters of reference are used to indicate similar parts. a, a, is the framing of
the machine. is the main or diving shaft or axis, which receives motion
from a steam engine or other power C is a bevilled toothed wheel fixed on
the main shaft or axis b. The wheel c takes into and drives the bevilled toothed
wheel d on the axis e, on the upper end of which is affixed the pinion e',
which takes into the rack e³, by which the printing table F is moved, and
on the lower end of the axis e is fixed a pinion f, which takes into and drives
the cog wheel g, on the upper surface of which is fixed a cam or excentric
track h, by means of which to and fio motion are communicated to the
apparatus carrying the tapes for feeding and conveying away the sheets of
paper to and from the intermediate printing cylinders of the machine, A, B,
being the two outer printing cylinders, which print alternately, and C, C, two
intermediate rollers, each of which produces an impression at each passage of
the form of type under each of these cylinders. The apparatus for carrying
the tapes working with the intermediate cylinders C, C, is suspended to the
upper part of the machine by the two side rods 2, i, which move on axes at the
top-of-the-machine,-in such manner as to be caused by the cam track to swing
to and fio, carrying with them the axes on which the pulleys are placed, by
which the tapes are guided and kept correctly and tightly in their places, such
axes of the pulleys having conical sinkings at their ends to receive the points
of the screws 3, so that there may be as little friction as possible at those parts.
The screws pass through female screws in the bearings 2 capable of being
fixed as requued in the slots in the sliding plates k, h, by means of the nuts
3. The plates k k, slide between guide plates 1, 1, fixed to the framing of the
machine, as shewn, and the rods 2,2 move the sliding plates k by means of
necks or pins, ', passing through the rods 1, 2, and in like manner are the
axes of the drums m, m, carried in sliding plates k, and moved with the rods i
by the cam track, motion being given to the rods 1, and to the sliding plates k,
which carry the axes of the drums m, by means of levers n, which by the
links are connected to the bar n², and this bar is connected to the lever n³ by
a link n', which tuins upon a centre n³, carried by the fiaming, and has a
truck ne, which travels in the cam track of the cam h, so that as the cam h
revolves a too and fro motion is communicated to the bar n³, and thence thro
the levers n to the rods i, 2, and parts connected therewith. The bar n² 1
carried by the guides a¹. It has been already stated that the two outer
cylinders A, B, print alternately, and therefore they rise out of the way of the
form of type when it is travelling in the opposite direction to which they are
moving, as is well understood, and in order to accomplish this object in the

page_text: present machine, the bearings of the axes of the cylinder A and B are
mounted on sliding bars o, o, which are raised up and down by cams p, p, on
axes 9, 9, there being screw wheels r, r, driven by screws s on the axes t, such
axes receiving' motion from the main or driving shaft by means of bevel
wheels, as shewn, and rotary motion is communicated to the printing cylinders
A and B from the axes t, t, by means of bevelled toothed wheels u, v, taking
into and driving the bevilled toothed wheels u, u, on the diagonal axes w, w,
there being bevilled toothed wheels on the axes w which take into and drive the
bevilled toothed wheels a, a, on the axes y, y, on which are toothed wheels z, z,
which take into and drive the cog wheels D on the axes of the printing cylinders
A, B, and from the axes w, w, motion is communicated to the feeding rollers
as hereafter explained. Motion is communicated to the intermediate printing
cylinders C, C, by means of the toothed rack E on the table F, which carries
the form of type, so that as the table F moves to and fro, the printing
cylinders C are first moved in one direction, and then in the other, by the racks
taking into and driving the cog wheels G, G, on the axes of the intermediate
printing cylinders C, C, and from the wheels G¹ motion is communicated by
intermediate wheels to the wheels on the axes of the drums m³, m³, which carry
the tapes which pass under the printing cylinders C, C; hence it will be under-
stood that the sheets of paper as they arrive down to the drums m pass from
the tapes of the drums m to the tapes actuated by the drums m³, m³, first on
one side of the cylinders C and then on the other side thereof, the diums m³,
like the intermediate printing cylinders, having an alternating motion by which
they can receive sheets of paper and pass them in succession on alternate sides
of their respective cylinders C, and to facilitate the sheets of paper passing
from the tapes of the drums m to the tapes of the drums m³, the rollers
m, m', work between each other, as is shown, and I prefer that one set of the
tapes of the rollers m¹ should not be endless, as is shewn at (1) 1)
The tape
(2) is alternately wound on the rollers (3), which are to be spring rollers
similar to blinds, so that they will wind up the tapes alternately on the rollers
(3) according as the cylinders C, C, are for the time being moving in one
direction or the other, or in place of the rollers being moved by springs, they
may be moved by weighted cords, or the tapes (2) may be endless as other
tapes. H, I, are the two feeding places of the right-hand intermediate
cylinder C, and J, K, are the two feeding places for the left-hand intermediate
cylinder C, and such feeding places are of the ordinary construction; and
the green lines show the course of the tapes, and L, L, are the four places
where the printed sheets of paper are delivered by the tapes
On the axes

page_text: w, w, are bevelled toothed wheels M which take to aud dve the bevilled
toothed wheels N on the axes of the feeding diums 0, 0, and the feeding
drums are provided with stop levers to stop the edge of the sheets
of paper as they are feil in, such stop levers being in connection with the
diopping bars P, P, and the cams of the dropping bass and apparatus are to be
so timed that they will cause the successive sheets to be carried into the tapes
in proper succession and time, as is well understood. The falling bais are put
in motion by means of screws Q, Q, on the diagonal axes R, R, such screws
taking into screw wheels T which are affixed to the cams S, the wheels T and
cams S turning freely on the axes of the feeding drums, and 1otary motion is
communicated to the falling bai from the feeding tapes, as is well understood
Motion is communicated to the axis R fiom one of the axes w, w, by means of
a cog wheel V affixed on the axis of one of the upper feeding drums, which by
means of an intermediate wheel gives motion to the wheel U on the axis W.
which by a bevelled toothed wheel ✗ gives motion to the bevelled toothed
wheel Y affixed on one of the axes R, and the two axes Rare geared together
by wheels Z The inking tables receive ink at either end of then motion in
the ordinary manner, and ink is supplied from the inking tables to the type,
after each impression is taken, by-proper anking rollers placed between the
printing cylinders (4) 4), are the feeding places for the outer cylinder A, B
and (5*) 5*), are the receiving boxes where the printed paper is delivered by
the tapes of the cylinder A, B, and these tapes are similaily conducted to
those of punting machines heretofore constructed, the falling bais of these
cylinders being worked in the same manner as the others. (5) 5), are stops
against which the sheets of paper are placed in feeding into the machine,
these stops are formed by the ends of the aims (6) 6), projecting upwards, as
shown, these arms are affixed to the axles 7, to which are also affixed arms 8,
by which the stops are lowered when the dropping bars descend and the
paper is passing into the machine, there being links 9, 9, between the ends of
the arms 8 and the parts of the dropping bars, as shown. And it may be
desuable here to remark that it is important to combine cylinders A and B
with accipiocating cylinders C in order to take advantage of the necessary
movement of the form of type
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the. manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark that I make no claim to
any of the separate parts of the machinery, nor do 1 confine myself to the
details herein shewn and described, so long as the peculiar character of either
of my improvements be retained
But what I claim 15,-

page_text: Fust, the combining punting cylinders A, B, moving as herein described,
with punting cylinder or cylinders C. having a reciprocating motion communi-
cated thereto
Secondly, I claim the so combining and arranging the tapes that they may
be moved too and fro alternately to feed the sheets of paper on either side of
their respective reciprocating printing cylinders, and receive the printed sheets
of paper on either side, as herein described.
And thirdly, I claim the mode of arranging the rollers or drums m, m³, with
their tapes to ensure the correct passing of the sheets of paper to and from the
tapes working with those drums or rollers.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Little, have heicunto set my
hand and seal, thus Twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
WILLIAM (LS) LITTLE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twelfth day of November, in
the year of our Lord 1846, the aforesaid William Little came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above witten And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose