IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FOLDING PRINTED SHEETS OF PAPER
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FOLDING PRINTED SHEETS
OF PAPER." -A communication from abroad by Richard March Hoe,
of the City and State of New York, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 7th June 1869.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for. "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FOLDING
PRINTED SHEETS OF PAPER," to be as follows:-
The improved apparatus which forms the subject of the present
Invention is intended to be adapted to printing machinery. for the
purpose of folding the printed sheets as they are delivered from the
machine printed on both sides.

page_text: On issuing from the printing machine the sheets are received by a
mechanical sheet flyer, consisting of a light frame of wood, which when
the sheet is deposited thereon throws it forward to the folding apparatus,
which consists of vibrating frames, one of which will double up the
sheet or make the first fold and the second the next fold, and if required
more folds may be made in succession as will be required for some
newspapers. If the paper is printed from a long continuous roll the
sheets must first be separated therefrom by means of a transverse
cutting apparatus..
The cutting apparatus for separating the sheets from the long roll,
the mechanical flyer for receiving the printed sheets as they are cut
off, and the automatic folding apparatus may all be adapted to the same
printing machine if desired, so that the printed sheets may be delivered
folded ready for sale.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her
special licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an. Invention
for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FOLDING PRINTED SHEETS OF PAPER," being a
communication to me from abroad by Richard March Hoe, of the City

page_text: and State of New York, United States of America, upon the condition,
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE. that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):-
The improved apparatus which forms the subject of the present
Invention is intended to be adapted to printing machinery for the
purpose of folding the printed sheets as they are delivered from the
machine printed on both sides.
Fig. 1, Sheet I, is a diagram representing one method of carrying out
the object of the Invention in connection with one of Hoe's polycylinder
printing machines. a is the large type cylinder, round which there are
arranged any convenient number of impression cylinders as is well
known in machines of this class. The sheets of paper to be printed
are placed on tables or feeding boards b, one to each printing or impression
cylinder c. The sheets when fed in pass between the type cylinder a
and impression cylinder c, and are then conducted away by endless
tapes d.
On issuing from the printing machine the sheets are received
by a mechanical sheet ffyer e, consisting of a light frame of wood which
is actuated from any convenient part of the mechanism of the printing
machine, as is well known, and when the sheet is deposited against the
fly frame the latter is vibrated on its centre of motion and throws it
forward to the first set of endless tapes f, f, of the folding apparatus
which consists of a pair of vibrating frames g, g¹, one of which will
double up the sheet or make the first fold, and the second the next fold
at right angles to the first, and if required more folds may be made in
succession in the same manner. In order to ensure accuracy in the
folding the printed sheet when carried into the folding apparatus is shot
forward by the tapes f, f, against a stop h.
The first folding knife g

page_text: then descends and creases the sheet in the middle and drives it down
between the rollers f¹, f', which will carry the folded sheet to the
second set of tapes i, i, whereby it will be brought under the folder g¹,
which is at right angles to the former. Fig. 2 is a plan view of this
part of the apparatus, ¹ being the rollers which carry the second set of
tapes i, i; i*, i*, are stops to insure the folded sheet attaining the proper
position to receive the second fold. The folder g¹ is attached to the
long bar g, to which an up-and-down motion is communicated from any
convenient part of the mechanism of the printing machine.
By the
descent of the folder g¹ a second fold will be given to the printed sheet,
and it will be pushed down between the third set of tapes j, j, which
pass round the rollers j', j¹. The folding being thus completed the
folded sheet is carried downward and is deposited in a trough k.
Fig. 3 is a sectional view representing another arrangement for
folding printed sheets. In this instance the sheets are all folded in
parallel lines, and therefore the mechanism is of a much simpler
character than that required for the arrangement shewn at Fig. 1. a is
the type cylinder as in the former instance, and c the impression
or printing cylinder. The sheets to be printed are fed in as before,
and on passing from the impression cylinder c are carried forward
by the endless tapes d to the stop h, which arrests them and causes
them to stop on the tapes f until the vibrating folder g descends and
creases the sheets between the tapes d and f, and thus produces the first
fold. The sheet is then carried down to a second stop h', when a second
vibrating folder g¹ creases the sheet a second time and pushes it between
the third set of tapes i, i, whereby it will be carried out of the machine
and deposited on a table, or be otherwise disposed of. Fig. 4 is a
diagram in which the dotted lines represent the sheet when extended
before folding. The vertical dotted line 1, 1, represents the first fold
and the line 2, 2, the place of the second fold while the rectangular full
lines represent the folded sheet. The vibration of the folders g, g', is
effected by means of cranks or excentrics on their axles in the same
manner as the fly frame e is vibrated, as described in the Specifications of
former Patents granted to me for this mechanical device.
If the paper is printed from a long continuous roll, as is sometimes the
case, as indicated in Fig. 5, the sheets must either first be separated
therefrom by means of a transverse cutting apparatus, as will be hereafter
explained, or the long sheet may be folded in large sheets each con-

page_text: taiping, a single impression of the work to be printed. The continuous
roll of paper is seen at 1, Fig. 5, and it passes from thence between the
upper cylinder a, and the impression cylinder c, as indicated by the red
lines. The continuous sheet of printed paper then passes to a folding
apparatus constructed precisely on the principle of that used for folding
calico, cloth, and other textile fabrics, so that it will be deposited in
accurate folds of equal length, as shewn at m. When the whole length
of paper has been printed and folded, as at m, it may be placed in a press
and squeezed tightly enough to give it sufficient solidity to admit of the
fore and back edges being ploughed or cut off in a paper cutting
machine; the whole length of paper will then be cut into sheets in one
or two blows, and the printed sheets may then be folded up in a
machine such as that shewn at Figures 1 or 3.
The cutting apparatus for separating the sheets from the long roll is
shewn at Figs. 6 and 7. n, n, are two carrying rollers equivalent to
those shewn at Fig. 5, as they carry the continuous sheet of printed
paper (indicated by the red line) from the impression cylinder and pass
it between two rollers o and o¹, one of which is provided with a knife or
cutting edge p, shewn detached at Fig. 7, and the other with an elastic
pad q for the cutting edge p to bear against. It will be seen on
referring to Fig. 7, that this knife or cutting edge p, nearly divides
the sheet in two, and this division is completed by the nipping rollers r, r,
which have a slightly greater surface speed than the rollers o, o¹, and
the carrying rollers 8, 8, and consequently tear the divided part away
from the long continuous sheet and conduct it down to the double acting
fly frame e, which will deposit the printed sheets alternately on the
endless tapes f and f¹, to be by them conducted to the folding apparatus.
In this arrangement the mechanical flyer e for receiving the printed
sheets as they are cut off is double acting, that is, it will deposit a sheet
first on one side and then on the other in the manner described in the
Specification of a former Patent granted to me for this device on the
Twenty-ninth of January One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two,
No. 239. Either arrangement of the automatic folding apparatus above
shewn and described may be adapted to the same printing machine if
desired, so that the printed sheets may be cut off the long continuous
length folded, and be ready for sale. I have not however deemed it
necessary to repeat these parts further than to shew by the position of
the stops h, h, where the folding apparatus must be adapted.

page_text: Having now described the Invention, which has been communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, and having explained the
manner
of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me
by Letters Patent as aforesaid,-
Adapting to printing machinery self-acting mechanical folders for
folding the printed sheets as they are delivered from the printing
machine, as herein set forth.
I also claim the adaptation to printing machinery of the self-acting
mechanism for dividing or separating the printed sheets, from a con-
tinuous length of paper, as herein set forth, and the combination
therewith of the mechanical devices for folding the sheets ready for sale
as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Sixth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-nine.