IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Bond, of Preston, in the County of
Lancaster, Letterpress Printer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PRINTING MACHINES."
Sealed the 11th December 1874, and dated the 12th August 1874.
:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Bond at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th August 1874.
I, WALTER BOND, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Letter-
press Printer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES," to be as follows:—
My Invention relates to novel arrangements of mechanism for
separating sheets from a roll or web of paper, also to an arrangement of
the type forms for both sides of a sheet on one large cylinder, the
manner of inking the type and taking the impression being similar to
that now in use; also to a novel arrangement of tapes and rollers by
which a sheet, after being printed on one side, is reversed and passed
*Price Sd.1

page_text: back to the printing cylinder to be impressed on the other side; and also
for an arrangement for the better and more rapid delivery of the printed
sheets.
For the purpose of separating the sheets from the roll I use two
revolving cylinders, one of which has a groove cut in its periphery
longitudinally, and the other is fitted with a movable knife so adjusted
as to allow of its being projected diagonally into the groove of the other
while the sheet is held firmly by tapes and rollers, or by india-rubber or
other elastic pads attached to the cylinders. To these cutting cylinders
is geared an arrangement of rollers by means of which the size of sheet
to be severed can be varied at will.
The periphery of the type cylinder I divide longitudinally into four
sections, one of which is occupied by type for printing one side of the
sheet, while the opposite section of the cylinder is occupied by type for
the other side of the sheet, the two intervening spaces of the cylinder
being used as ink tables. A vibrating roller takes ink from the ink duct
and spreads it eveuly on the ink table as it revolves past; other
stationary rollers suitably arranged then receive it from the ink table
and deliver it on the face of the type at each revolution. The reversing
tapes are arranged to receive the sheet from the impression cylinder
when it has been printed on one side, and then by reversing their motion
deliver the sheet to the next impression cylinder to be printed on the
other side by the type on the opposite section of the type cylinder. The
rinted sheets are discharged from the machine each side up alternately,
aud are assorted by a double flyer, each flyer piling its sheets upon a
table or horse suitably arranged. The flyer is constructed of arms
fitted with springs holding a sheet of canvas, down the sloping face of
which the printed sheet is projected and thrown over the table or horse
arranged to receive it.
1
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, :
filed by the said Walter Bond in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th February 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
Bond, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Letterpress Printer,
send greeting.

page_text: .
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Walter Bond, Her special licence
that I, the said Waiter Bond, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Walter Bond, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PRINTING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Walter Bond, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Walter Bond, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 accompanying Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, similar parts being
indicated by corresponding letters of reference :-
The machine shown has been devised for newspaper printing from
ordinary type, but is equally serviceable in printing from stereotype
plates-
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine designed to work from one roll
of paper, and gives a general view of its arrangements.
The first and principal point in which my Invention differs from all
other rotary printing machines now in use is in the arrangement of the
type cylinder. Hitherto it bas been the general practice in rotary
newspaper printing to work off the whole of the edition on one side of
the paper, and then removing the type and replacing it with forms for
the next side, repeat the whole operation a second time. To overcomę

page_text: this I place the type forms for both sides of the sheet on one cylinder
A, as shown in Fig. 1, the type for one side occupying the upper section
of the cylinder, and that for the other side occupying the lower section,
while the intermediate spaces serve as ink carrying surfaces. Ban C
are impression cylinders fitted with grippers and covered with blanket in
the usual manner, and geared to the type cylinder so that each impres-
sion cylinder revolves four times for the type cylinder once. It will be
obvious that by one revolution of the type cylinder each impression
cylinder prints twice, viz., one impression of each side of the sheet.
In order to obtain a perfect sheet, that is a shoet printed on both
sides, it will be necessary that one set of type forms be made to print
on the back of an impression of the other set. The mode in which
I effect this object will be readily perceived from the following
description.
Referring again to Fig. 1, D and E are the cutting cylinders, which
are driven by a stud wheel F geared into the pinion G, which pinion
also drives from its opposite side the large type cylinder A. These
cutting cylinders are made to revolve twice for the type cylinder once,
and at each of their revolutions deliver a fresh sheet down the tapes
a, a, to the impression cylinder B. The type having received ink from
the rollers & prints the sheet on its first side at this impression cylinder,
after which the sheet is passed between tapes along the line of the
arrows to tapes b, b, b. These latter set of tapes have a backward and
forward motion given them by the friction plates H acting on the
friction pulleys I (see explanation of Figs. 5 and 6), and their motions
are so timed as to receive the sheet and pass it on between them into a
horizontal position, when their motion is instantly reversed and the
sheet is passed along the horizontal line of tapes to impression cylinder
C, where it is printed on its second side. The perfected sheet is now
passed along the line of tapes c, c, c, in the direction of the arrows over
the centre roller, and is projected down the flyer for delivery. A
succession of perfected sheets is thus delivered alternate sides upper-
most. For the purpose of assorting these sheets I use a double flyer
acting right and left, by which the sheets are piled on the horses J, J.
The rollers y are actuated by a double throw cam on the type cylinder
shaft, by which they are pushed outwards clear of the type and made to
take ink from the duct roller, and being returned by springs suitably
arranged deliver ink to each of the ink carrying surfaces.

page_text: Figs. 2 and 3 show the arrangement of the friction plates and cutting
cylinders, and the manner in which the friction plates bearing on the
pulleys I, I, actuate the reversing tape rollers (see explanation of Figs. 5
and 6. .
:
Fig. 4 shews an end view of the off side leg of the delivery end of the
machine. A shaft e passes from side to side of the machine, on the
outer end of which is fixed a crank arm f. This crank arm is connected
with an eccentric on the ends of the type cylinder shaft by connecting
rods g, g, Fig. 1. A somewhat longer crank arm h is fitted on the shaft
e on the framework, having on its extremity a friction pulley i. At
each revolution of the type cylinder a right and left hand throw is
given to this crank arm, and the friction pulley coming in contact with
the flyer arms k, k, they are in turn pressed forward and returned by the
action of the springs to their upright position resting against the
stud m.
The arm k carries a sliding rod n pressed upwards by a spring.;
at the top of this rod a horizontal bar o is fixed which passes across the
machine and couples at its other end with a similar arm and sliding rod
actuated in the same way by the shaft 6. To this horizontal bar is
attached a sheet of canvas which extends to another horizontal bar fixed
below. When the arm k is at rest against the stud the bar o is past the
centre of the delivery rollers h, and the canvas forms a smooth sloping
surface down which the sheet slides without interruption until, by the
forward motion of the arm k, the lower portion of the sheet is pressed
against the horse by the canvas and the upper portion thrown over it,
the springs at the upper end of the arm k keeping the canvas tight in
every position.
Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views of the cutting cylinders and reversing
triction plates, showing more particularly their principle and con-
struction. For the purpose of severing the sheets with clean and
smooth edges the knife is mounted on swivels or cranks, as shown at a, a.
Attached to the framework at the end of this cylinder is a ring or disc
b, b, against, which the end of the knife blade is pressed by suitably
arranged springs. A portion of this disc is gradually increased in
thickness forming an incline c, c, terminating suddenly at d at the
bottom centre. By the combined action of this incline and the cranks
a, a, the knife at each revolution of the cylinder is pressed inwards and
held clear of the sheet till it arrives at the position shown in Fig. 5.
The end of the knife blade then slips suddenly off the shoulder of the

page_text: definite-length-of-paper-is--measured off at each revolution of the cutting
cylinders.
In order to vary the length of the sheet to be severed it is only
necessary to change the bottom roller for one of a different diameter, the
size of this roller having no relation whatever to the gearing by which
it is driven. By the slightest enlargement or reduction of the diameter
of this bottom roller the size of the sheet can be regulated to the greatest
nicety. In the bottom cutting cylinder a series of grooves are cut at
regular intervals in which rest slender needles, so adjusted as to conduct
the front edge of the sheet into the tape rollers h, h, by which the sheets
are passed to the first impression cylinder B, Fig. 1. After the sheet
has received its first impression at cylinder B it passes to the reversing
tapes as shown in Fig. 1, which are constructed as follows:—I, I, iñ
Figs, 1, 3, 5, and 6, are tape rollers constructed as shown in Figs. 5
and 6, or beaded rollers, as in Fig. 3. Connected with these rollers by
two series of endless tapes bands are two other smaller rollers Ia, Ia,
Fig. 1. The rollers I, I, are geared together by wheels at i, one end
of their shafts resting in stops secured to the framework at j, the other
end being carried by bearings sliding in chairs so as to allow of their
being raised or lowered by the adjusting nuts and screws k, l, k. On
the shaft ends, close to these chair bearings, are fixed friction pulleys
standing one in advance of the other, as shown at 7, in Fig. 6. On the
shaft of the lower cutting cylinder is the principal driving wheel m
which couples with the stud wheel F, Fig. 1, 2, and 3. On the boss of
this driving wheel are fitted two friction plates n, n, held in position by
bolts to the driving wheel. One half of the rim of each friction plate is
coincident with the pitch line of the driving wheel, while the remaining
half is depressed somewhat below it. The friction pulleys 2, 1, are by

page_text: the adjusting screws made to bind firmly against the raised portions of
the rims of the friction plates, and the plates having been so adjusted
that as one breaks contacts with its friction pulley the other plate is just
making contact. It follows that the uniform rotary motion of the plates
is converted into an alternate backward and forward motion in the
reversing rollers. This change of motion is so timed by the setting of
the-friction-plates that the printed sheet from cylinder B shall reach the
tapes b, b, when their centre motion is from right to left, as in Fig. 1,
and be so continued until the sheet is held in a horizontal position
between them. The motion of the tapes is then instantly reversed, and
the sheet following the line of the tapes o, o, Fig, 1, is carried to
impression cylinder C, where it is printed on the other side and passed
to the flyer and delivered on its receiving table as before described.
I have now fully described the principle and construction of my
Invention in its simplest form, that is, working from one roll of paper
only, but it will be evident that without departing from the principle
herein-before described the number of impression cylinders may be
increased to any extent practicable, each pair of impression cylinders
having their separate roll of paper, cutting and reversing gear, ink
rollers, &c.
It will further be obvious that the perfected sheets from the two pairs
of impression cylinders may be delivered by one flyer by simply adjust-
ing the distance that each has to travel after printing, so that they arrive
at the flyer at one time. But this duplication of parts in no way affects
the parts themselves, the principle and combination of which I have
herein-before fully set forth. I have had occasion to mention and
describe many things not novel, but which are necessary to a clear
understanding of the whole; but what I claim as heroin secured to
me is,-
First. The movable rollers of various diameters for measuring the
paper to the cutting cylinders, substantially as and for the purposes
herein-before set forth.
Second. The smooth edged knife working diagonally into the groove
of a cylinder, with the elastic pad and needles as .described, substantially
as and for the purposes herein-before set forth.
Third. The arrangement of reversing rollers and tapes, and the mode
of operating their action in combination with the cutting cylinders,
substantially as and for the purposes herein-before set forth.

page_text: Fourth. The arrangement of horses or tables, and the application of
canvas or other equivalent in connection with the arm of the flyer,
substantially as and for the purposes herein-before set forth.
Fifth. The general arrangement of the parts named in claims 1, 2, 3,
and 4, in combination with a type cylinder constructed as herein-before
described, substanially as and for the purposes herein-bofore set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Bond, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
JOHN LEWIS,
Engineer & Patent Agent,
Preston,
Lancashire.
WALTER BOND. (L.S.)