AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TAKING SHEETS OF PAPER FROM PRINTING AND OTHER MACHINES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry John Wicks, of Milkwood Road, Herne Hill, in
the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
TAKING SHEETS OF PAPER FROM PRINTING AND OTHER MACHINES."
Sealed the 11th February 1879, and dated the 15th August 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry John Wicks at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th August 1878.
HENRY JOHN WICKS, of Milkwood Road, Herne Hill, in the County of Surrey.
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TAKING SHEETS OF PAPER FROM PRINTING AND
OTHER MACHINES."
This Invention relates to an improved "taking-off" apparatus, chiefly designed
for use in connection with a printing machine or press, but which may also be useful
fo removing sheets from other machines or apparatus, such as paper-making
machines.
The object of this Invention is the slow delivery of the sheets from the machine
without draft or confusion, and in a straight or even pile, and therefore the
speed of delivery by this apparatus is slower than the speed of the machine to which
it is applied.
For this purpose I have devised the following apparatus, that is to say:-I
employ a wood or metal roller, and an iron or other metal shaft. The said metal
shaft is placed above the wood or metal roller, and the spindles or journals of both
are arranged to rotate in the same forked bearings; the said shaft has fixed on it a
series of small wheels which have a narrow groove or channel around their periphery.
The small wheels ride upon the aforesaid wood or metal roller, and are thereby
caused to revolve. Around the said wooden or metal roller under each of the said
small wheels I place narrow strips of flannel or other suitable material, which run
in the grooves of the said wheels.

page_text: As the sheet of paper passes from the printing or other machine between these
wheels and the roller the grooves and flannel strips cause a slight grooving of
the sheet longitudinally, thereby so stiffening or strengthening the paper as to greatly
facilitate its delivery.
It may be desirable with some machines to employ also a rising and falling bar
so placed and connected with the apparatus as to descend upon the sheets at the
right moment for delivering the same slowly.
The paper sheets pass from the said wheels and roller to a board supported on
springs, or by other suitable means in such manner that as the said sheets accu-
mulate thereon the board sinks in proportion to the increasing weight upon it, and
thereby maintains at one level the surface on which the sheets are delivered
throughout the operation of the machine. On this board I place an adjustable
gauge, against which one edge of the sheets will be placed as the said sheets are
delivered upon the said board.
The said wooden or metal roller is provided with a speed pulley, or with other
suitable means for driving the said apparatus, either from the printing or other
machine or independently of the same.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry John Wicks in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th
February 1879.
HENRY JOHN WICKS, of Milkwood Road, Herne Hill, in the County of Surrey.
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TAKING SHEETS OF PAPER FROM PRINTING AND
OTHER MACHINES."
This Invention relates to an improved " taking-off" apparatus, chiefly designed
for use in connection with a printing machine or press, but which may also be
employed in connection with other machines or apparatus requiring sheets of paper
or other material to be delivered therefrom, such as paper-making machines.
The object of this Invention is the slow delivery of the sheets from the machine
without draft" or confusion, and in a straight or even pile, and therefore the speed
of delivery by this apparatus is slower than the speed of the machine to which it is
applied.
Figure 1 is a plan or top view of my improved "taking-off ´´ apparatus as appшed
to a printing machine.
Figure 2 is a side elevation; and Figure 3, an end elevation, partly in section, of
the same.
Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the application to a printing press of a drop rod or bär
to ensure the slow delivery of the sheets of paper, as herein-after described.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawings.
My improyed "taking-off" apparatus is constructed as follows, that is to say:-
a is a roller formed of wood or other suitable material, and b is an iron or other
metal shaft, which is placed above the said roller, the spindles or journals a*, b*, of
both being arranged to rotate in the forked bearings c. The shaft b has fixed on it
a series of small wheels b', which have a narrow groove or channel around their
periplieries, as shewn in Figures 1 and 3. These small wheels b₁ ride upon the
aforesaid roller a, and are thereby caused to revolve. Around the roller a and
under each of the small wheels b' I place a narrow strip of flannel or other suitable
material, as shewn at a', the said strips being so arranged upon the roller a as to
run in the grooves of the wheels b'.
d is the cylinder of the printing press, from which the sheets are to be delivered;
e is an inclined board supported upon the shaft e', which rests in bearings, as shewn
at c, e. Upon the said shaft e' is fixed a roller e, around which and a small
roller et running in bearings at the lower end of the said inclined board the endless
tapes e are passed. Upon the shaft e¹ is fixed a driving pulley e, as shewn in
Figure 1, to which motion is imparted by a belt passing around the same and a
pulley on the printing machine or press. f is a shaft supported in suitable bearings
on the caps or covers of the cylinder d at the sides of the machine, and provided
with rollers f; g is a shaft provided with rollers g', which run on the periphery
of the roller e; it is also provided with rollers g*, around which and the rollers f¹
endless tapes fare passed. The sheets of paper are carried up the said inclined
board by and between the said endless tapes e³ and f²; h is one of the grippers
ordinarily employed for holding the paper upon the cylinder during the printing.
In order that the sheet of paper when approaching the lower end of the inclined
board e, and after it has been released by the grippers h may be in the proper
position to enter between the tapes f2, e³, I arrange a pusher or pushers within the
cylinder d, as shewn at i. These pushers are attached to a rock shaft i, to which
motion is imparted for moving the pushers forward by means of a roller running on
a cam surface attached to the frame of the machine, the said roller being mounted
upon an arm attached to one end of the said rock shaft; or motion may be imparted
to the said rock shaft by levers or other suitable means.

page_text: The inward movement of the said pushers at the proper time is effected by means
of the spring is, attached by one end to the arm 22 of the said rock shaft i¹, and by
its other end to the interior of the cylinder d, as shewn.
The movements of the grippers h and pushers i are so timed that when the edge
of the sheet of paper upon the cylinder is released by the said grippers the pushers i
are moved forward, thereby forcing the edge of the said sheet outwards or away from
the periphery of the cylinder d, and this edge of the said sheet is then in such a
position that on the further rotation of the cylinder it will freely enter between the
tapes f2 and e5, and will be thereby carried up the inclined board e.
As the said sheet of paper passes from between the aforesaid tapes it enters
between the wheels 6' and the roller a, the grooves in the said wheels and the
flannel strips a causing a slight corrugation of the sheet longitudinally, thereby
putting a back in" the paper, and so stiffening or strengthening the same as to
ensure its delivery without creasing or buckling.
The paper sheets pass from the said wheels and roller to a board j; the said
board is supported at its front end by two rods or bars j' passing through plates
attached to the standards or upright c¹, the said rods being surrounded by spiral
springs, as shewn. These rods are provided with nuts, between which and the
lower plate the said springs are placed; these nuts serve to regulate the pressure of
the said spring. But in place of the said nuts I may employ pins which are passed
through one of a series of holes formed in the bars, and against which the upper
end of the said springs would rest. The outer end of the said board is supported
upon a flat spring k, as shewn. By thus supporting the said board by means of
springs or by other suitable means the sheets as they accumulate thereon cause the
said board to sink in proportion to the increasing weight upon it, and thereby
maintain at the same level the surface on which the sheets are delivered throughout
the operation of the machine. On this board I place an adjustable gauge j*,
against which the edge of the sheets will abut as they are delivered upon the said
board.
The roller a is provided with a belt pulley, as shewn at a² in Figures 1 and 3, or
with other suitable means for driving the same, either from the printing or other
machine, or independently of the same.
This improved apparatus will be found very convenient for permitting access to
the cylinder for " making ready" and otherwise, as it may be adjusted quite clear
of the said cylinder by turning it up or back against the uprights c', the shaft e¹
serving as its fulcrum or pivot.
In some machines it is desirable to employ a device termed a rising and falling
bar or drop bar, or rod arranged to descend upon the sheets at the right moment
in order to arrest or retard the said sheets as they are rapidly emerging from the
delivery rollers of the machine upon the board. I thereby obtain or ensure the
desired slow delivery of the said sheets upon the said board, and thus effect
the object of my Invention, that is to say, the delivery of the sheets automatically
or without the aid of an attendant in an even pile.
This part of my Invention is illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, Figure 4 shewing
the said drop rod or bar applied to an ordinary perfecting machine, and Figure 5
shewing two drop rods or bars applied to a machine for the purpose herein-after
specified.
In Figure 41 is the drop bar or rod which is fitted to turn freely in bearings in
the drop-bar lever 1, which is pivotted at in combination with the roller a and
series of wheels b¹ on the shaft b, similar to those above described in connection with.
Figures 1, 2, and 3. m is a cam fixed on one of the cylinder shafts of the machine,
and arranged to act on the roller n' on the rod n to impart motion through the
medium of the said' rod to the drop bar 1, to whose arm 13 the said rod is
connected:
The roller o is formed of wood or other suitable material, and driven at a slower
surface speed than the said cylinder by means of a belt passing around the same and
the pulley p upon another shaft of the machine.

page_text: The movements of the aforesaid cam and drop rod are so timed that as a sheet of
paper passes at the speed of the machine from between the said roller and wheels
towards the board j, the drop bar or rod is forced down on the said sheet of paper
which is gripped between the same and the roller o, and its movement is thereby
arrested or retarded, and as the said roller travels at such a speed as to move the
paper at a much slower rate than it is moved by the other parts of the machine the
sheets will be delivered slowly and gently up to the gauge j* on the board in an even
pile, without the aid of an attendant to put them straight. The roller a and wheels b¹
on the shaft b act to corrugate or "put a back" in the sheets, as and for the purpose
above described; therefore I provide the drop-down bar with collars or rings at
suitable intervals to act on the sheets without touching the parts which have been
acted upon by the wheels b¹. The said board is supported upon springs in a similar
manner to that shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
In Figure 5. I have shewn two of the said drop rods applied to a printing
machine, one being designed to arrest the printed sheets and deliver them slowly
and evenly upon the board, as above described, and the other to deliver the set-off
sheets which have passed through the machine with the said printed sheets.
In machines for very rapid printing I may combine the said drop-down bar with
the roller a and shaft b in the apparatus shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, to check or
retard the delivery of the sheets on the board.
Having thus fully described the said Invention and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,―
First: In a printing or other machine from which sheets of paper or other material
are delivered or discharged the employment of a roller and series of wheels arranged
to work together in such a manner as to corrugate or "put a back" in the sheets
and to deliver them from the said machine at a speed slower than that at which
they have passed through the said machine for the purpose specified.
Second. The taking-off apparatus, shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3 of the Drawing,
operating in combination with a printing or other machine, as and for the purpose
specified, and consisting of the said roller and wheels in combination with the
adjustable board or table, and with the inclined board or endless tapes or bands,
which are arranged in connection with the cylinder of a printing or other machine,
and are adjustable in relation to the same, as and for the purpose above set'
forth.
Third. In the said taking-off apparatus the combination with the other parts of
the same of the cylinder provided with the grippers and pusher, as and for the
purposes specified.
Fourth. The apparatus in which the drop bar or rod is employed in combination
of the aforesaid roller and series of wheels, as and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry John Wicks, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
H. J. WICKS. (L.S.)