IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LITHOGRAPHIC AND AUTOGRAPHIC PRESSES
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HECTOR FRANÇOIS DUMONTIER, of the City of Rouen, in the Kingdom of
France, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS, in consequence of communications made to me by certain
persons residing in France, and discoveries made by myself, I am in possession
of an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LITHOGRAPHIC AND
AUTOGRAPHIC PRESSES;" and whereas Ifer present most Excellent Majesty
Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great
Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-eighth day of March, in
the seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Hector François Dumontier,
Her especial licence that I, the said Charles Hector François Dumontier,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Hector François Dumontier, my executors, administrators, 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, the said Invention; in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Charles Hector François
Dumontier, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: 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 said
Charles Hector François Dumontier, do hereby declare the nature of the sd
Invention to consist,-
First, in a mode of affording a continuous supply of paper to the printing
roller.
Second, in an arrangement for supplying ink to the inking rollers and
water to the wetting rollers, and for elevating and depressing .the inking
rollers as well as the wetting and absorbing rollers.
Third, in an excentric cam, forcing part of the said arrangement for
working the printing levers, and in a spring for keeping the printing roller up
from the stone and the paper when not required to press upon them.
And, in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Charles
Hector Francois Dumontier, do hereby describe the manner in which the said
Invention is to be performed by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings annexed, and to the figures and letters marked-
thereon, that is to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Similar letters refer to similar parts in Sheets 1 and 2, containing general
and detailed Drawings of the press. The detail in Sheet 2 is drawn three
times larger than in Sheet 1.. A denotes the lithographic stone; B, the
carriage on which it traverses backwards and forwards on the V of the bed
marked B². A portion of it is seen under the framework of the press C. D.
is the frame containing the three carrying inking rollers E, E, E, and
sponging rollers F, F, and water roller G... The frame D. has a perpendicular
movement guided by the roller A sliding in the frame of the press, and is
suspended by the chain b, b, b, passing over the friction rollers c, c, and thereby
connected to the excentric cam H, which works the press levers I and J.
This cam is united by the connecting rod K to the crank L under the bed, of
the press, and has an alternating movement, which it receives in a manner
herein-after to be described. M is a crank keyed on the driving shaft P,
which, by the connecting rod N, drives the stone bed, by means of the bracket
O, to the extent of 21. The action of the press may be described as follows:-
The crank M on the shaft P, from which the power is received by its rotation,
and through the connecting rod N, produces a come-and-go movement in the
bracket O. But this bracket is bolted to the stone bed B, as shewn in the
Drawing, which stone bed thus derives a reciprocating action to the extent

page_text: determined by the throw of the crank. The crank therefore must be adjusted
to suit the size of the stone; so that when a small stone is employed the
throw of the crank may not be more than sufficient to carry the entire length
of stone past the inking, sponging, and printing rollers. The stone and bed
is shewn in Drawing moving in the direction of the large arrow.
The extent
of this movement is shewn by the line in red, and the letters and ¹ marking.
the termination of the movement in either direction. Now, when the con-
necting rod N is driven as far as the letter ¹ the tappit roller e, having moved
in the direction of the red line (it being bolted to the stone bed, and moving
with it), strikes the tail of the weighted or balanced paul or stop lever f, and
frees it from the notch in the plate g, which plate is keyed firmly on the shaft h,
which extends across the press. The balance weight i then turns the shaft h,
and with it the lever K and crank L, in the direction of the arrow, bringing
them in the position shewn by the dotted lines, and thus raising the connecting
rod K, the other end of which is fixed to the crank l on the shaft m, on which
is also keyed the excentric cam H, which moves the printing levers I and J.
Now this crank, being raised in the manner stated, brings the curve of the'
cam H in the position indicated by the red line, and away from the joint of
the printing levers I and J; and allows them to assume a more acute angle.
But the lower lever J, which is forked or arched so as to take each end of the
printing roller'n, is, on being freed in the manner stated, pressed upwards in the
slot o in the press frame by the spring p, p, and thus lifts the printing roller
above the level of the stone face, which can then pass below it without touching.
But the movement of the cam H, as described, not only allows the printing roller.
to be thus lifted from the level of the face of the stone, but also, by raising one
end of the chain b, which passes over the roller c, c, lowers the frame D, which
is attached to the other end of the frame, and which carries the inking rollers:
E, E, E, and sponging rollers F, F, and brings them to the level of the stone to
ink and wet the same. 'It must be understood that the alteration in the position.
of the parts of the press takes place when the stone has arrived at that extre-
mity of its journey indicated by the letter on the red line, the press being
shewn with the printing roller n down, and inking frame D up, the stone A
having just transferred an impression to the endless web of paper around the
printing roller n, as herein-after described. Now, the crank M, having driven
the stone A to the termination of its movement in the direction z', the inking
and wetting rollers will be lowered to the level of the stone, and the printing
roller n will be raised in the manner before described. The stone then,
returning in the opposite direction, passes under the sponging rollers F, F,
first, and then the inking rollers E, E, E, which are prepared with ink in a

page_text: manner to be hereafter described. The stone A, on thus passing and being
wet and inked, is driven to the other extremity of its journey, indicated by the
letter on the red line, on its approaching which the roller & strikes the
lever / keyed on the shaft h, which brings this part of the press to the position
shewn in the Drawing. The stone is then at the end S of the press, and
about to commence its journey in the direction of the arrow, and passes under
the printing roller n, and transfers an impression to the paper around it.
The paper is supplied for each succeeding impression in the following
manner: The stone, by passing in close contact with the roller n, causes it
to rotate, thereby drawing the paper from off the feeding roller y', between
the printing roller n and stone A, and it is then, when printed, wound on the
roller y³ by a catgut band R, which connects it with pullies on the printing
roller. The gut pulley on the printing roller n must be sufficiently large to
wind on an empty roller y² as much paper as the largest sized stone can draw.
When a smaller sized stone is used on the relative bulk of paper on either the
feeding or taking rollers y¹ and varies. The gut ought to be of such a
tightness as to draw and wind the paper sufficiently tight, and to skid or slip
on the pullies, when it would draw more paper than the stone required for
the impression. The rollers E, E, E, when up, are in contact with the ink-
feeding roller 9, 9, 9, &c. These rollers are consequently revolving by a band
passing from the rigger w, on the driving crank shaft P, over the guide pulley
t, over the pulley r, on one of the rollers. The three top ones are geared
together by cog wheels, and are fed with ink between. The angular metal
plates p, p, p, pressing by their weight on the inferior one, cause them to
rotate; so that the rollers E, E, E, when in contact, revolve with them, and
receive the requisite supply of ink for each successive printing process. The
roller G contains water, which it gives through finely perforated holes on its
circumference to the roller F below, coated with sponge, and thus wets the
stone, while the next sponge roller F³, which I call an obsorbing roller,
partially and sufficiently dries the stone before the ink is put on. Thus for
each revolution of the crank, and backward and forward movement of the
stone, one impression is made, which is wound on the endless roller y².
Sheet 2 contains the detail of the machine in different views, as written
thereon, similar letters referring to similar parts, as in the general Drawings.
The inking roller frame D can be made to press to any required degree on the
stone by loading it with weights 6, 12; and, if a great velocity of production
is required, it will be necessary to increase the number of inking rollers E, &c.,
&c., &c., &c., to 4, 5, or 6, with which the stone would come successively
in contact. Each inking roller E having its three feeding rollers 9, 9, 9,

page_text: with three inking rollers, as on Drawing, I can produce seven impressions
per minute, the crank making seven revolutions, each revolution producing
one copy.
Now whereas I claim as my Invention the improvements herein-before
described in lithographic and autographic presses, by which term autographic
presses I mean presses for taking off impressions from autographs written with
suitable materials on stone. And such Invention being, to the best of my
knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never before used in that part of
Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
Her said Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I hereby
declare this to be my Specification of the said Invention, and that I do
verily believe this my said Specification doth comply, in all respects, fully and
without reserve or disguise, with the proviso in the said therein-before in part
recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain
exclusive right and privilege of the said Invention.
In witness whereof, the said Charles Hector François Dumontier hath
hereunto set his hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-four..