IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WETTING COPYING PADS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, LEONARD BAILEY, of Hartford, Hartford county, state of Connecticut, United
States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WETTING COPYING PADS," and in what manner
the same is to be used, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The object of my invention is to provide a simple and compact device for properly
wetting copying pads, and to this end my invention consists in the combination of
the frame, the rollers held in contact with each other by a yielding force, the pan
supported on the frame, and in details of the construction and combination of the
several parts, as more particularly hereinafter described.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings,
Figure 1 is a top view of my improved device with parts out away to show
construction.
Figure 2 is a front view of the same, with part cut away to show details of con-
struction.
Figure 3 is a view in cross-section of the device, on plane denoted by line x----x
of figure 2. The changed position of certain parts, the frame, being shown in dotted
outline.
Figure 4 is a detail front view of a housing and link.
Figure 5 is a detail end view of the pan.
Figure 6 is a front view of my improved bath secured to a letter press in posi-
tion for use, parts of the standard and cross-bar being cut away on the left side of
this figure to show the bolt by means of which the parts are held together.
Figure 7 is an end view in elevation of the letter press and blotter bath.
In the accompanying drawings, where like letters indicate the same parts
throughout, the letter a denotes the roller frame as a whole; b the standards, of any
convenient form and material, in which the frame is pivotally supported on the
shaft of the main roller c that passes through bearings in the standards.. The
crank c is fastened to the outer end of the shaft c¹ and bears a handle that affords
means for rotating it.
The pan d is supported on the standards b and below the roller frame a by means
of a flange d' on the ends of the pan that fits and slides in horizontal grooves bl in

page_text: the inner faces of the standards; and when the pan is filled with water, and, with
the rollers, is in normal position for use, the roller e dips more or less into the
water.
The roller frame a is made up of the housings through which the shaft c passes
and turns freely, the top-bar g, the spring h attached to and preferably covered
within the top-bar, and the links i that connect the outer ends of the spring h
with the trunnion or shaft of the lower roller e at both ends of it.
The top-bar g extends along the frame over the rolls and rests at each end upon
the top of the housings each of which is perforated for the passage of the shaft o
and has a link socket gl within which the link has a limited lengthwise play.
The spring his preferably a flat bar of spring metal, as steel, and it is secured to
the under side of the top-bar at two points, at equal distances from the outer ends
of the spring, as by means of screws h¹ h¹, and the tension screw h" is seated in a
threaded socket in the top-bar near its center, with the point of the screw arranged
to thrust against the center of the spring:
From the opposite ends of this spring which overhang the housings, the links i
are suspended with their lower ends holding the shaft or trunnion of the lower
roll, e, and by means of the tension-screw h the rollers cand e are held against
each other with an adjustable as well as a yielding force, the peculiar arrangement of
the single bar-spring and the central tension-screw, enabling the pressure to be
adjusted at both ends of the rollers from a single point.
In order to place the pan d on the standards and below the rollers, the frame a
is swung to one side about ninety degrees, turning on the shaft cl as a pivot, the
pintles j, that slide in sockets in the upper part of the standards, and are held by
pins against displacement, serving, when thrust into sockets in the housings, as a
means for locking the frame both in its vertical and in its horizontal position. The
pan is preferably semi-cylindrical in outline, in cross-section, and is of any conve-
nient material, as tin or iron, the stop d¹¹ serving to limit the movement of the
pan in the grooves of the standards, and the partial cover d³ with the down-turned
edge d', preventing the slopping over of water while handling the pan to remove or
replace it.
On the top of the back side of the pan is a cover k that is attached to to its upper
edge near the center by any convenient means, as the strap k¹ riveted to both the
pan and cover, with its front edge resting upon the lower roller e above its hori-
zontal center, and pressing down upon or hugging the roller e along its edge by
reason of the weight of the cover, or from the spring action of the strap k².
The object of this construction and arrangement of the cover k. and roller e is to
prevent a pad while passing between the rollers from turning down into the pan,
and it successfully overcomes a very troublesome difficulty.
The front part of the pan after it has been alid into place is covered by a remov-
able lid that is held in place in grooves in the standards by locking screws (1
whose method of operation is obvious,
In order to moisten a copying pad with my improved bath, the pad is placed
between the rollers, the lower one of which has preferably an elastic covering, as
india-rubber, and is run between them by turning the roller c by means of the
handle on the shaft c¹; water that adheres to the roller moistens the pad to just the
degree determined by the pressure that holds the rollers in contact.
Although this blotter bath may be secured to any table, shelf or the like fixture
and used to moisten a pad, as described, it is particularly adapted and intended to
be mounted upon the cross-bar of a letter press m, as shown in figures 6 and 7 of
the drawings. The bolts n passing through the standards of the press, the ends of
the cross-bar and the feet of the standards of the blotter bath frame which by
means of the nut n³ upon one end of the bolt and the head upon the other are
firmly secured together..
The whole structure forms a compact and convenient apparatus for use in
moistening pads in copying letters and the like.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be used, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In combination, the standards, the swinging roller-frame pivoted in said
standards on the shaft of the main roller, the removable pan supported below the
roller-frame, and the cover supported at one edge on the pan and with its other
edge resting on the lower roller, all substantially as described.
2. In combination, the standards, the rollers supported by the standards, the pan
into which the lower roller dips, and the cover with its outer edge supported near
its center and its inner edge resting on the lower roller, all substantially as
described.
3. In combination, the standards, the swinging roller-frame pivoted in said
standards on the shaft of the main roller, the removable pan supported below the
frame, the rollers, and the locking pintles movable in sockets in the standards and
projecting into sockets in the frame, all substantially as described.
4. In combination, the standards, the removable pan, the rollers, and the roller-
frame with its top-bar, the bar-spring attached to the top-bar, the housings on the
main roller-shaft, the links connecting the outer ends of the spring and the shaft
of the lower roller, and the tension-screw arranged to operate against the center of
the bar-spring, all substantially as described.
5. In combination with the supporting standards, the rollers c and e, the
housings f, the top-bar g, the bar-spring h, secured to the top-bar by screws or
pins h¹ at points equi-distant from the ends of the spring, the tension-screw h¹¹, and
the links whereby the lower roller is supported from the ends of the spring, all
substantially as described.