Improvements in Cylinder Printing Machines.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Dec., 1889-Accepted, 4th Jan., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
Improvements in Cylinder Printing Machines.
I, PAUL ODON LAFFITTE of No. 13 Torriano Avenue Camden Town in the County
of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
In the Specification No. 9242 of 1884 of an invention communicated by me from
abroad, I described travelling grippers for passing paper, either in web, or in succes-
sive sheets, through between a pair of cylinders or several pairs of cylinders of a
printing machine. I also described moveable inking apparatus applicable either above
or below to the forme cylinders of such machines. Again in the Specification
No. 564 of 1889 I have described means of driving the cylinders without toothed
gearing and of varying their diameters.
My present invention relates to improvements in the parts of printing machines
above referred to, as I shall describe referring to the accompanying drawings.
The travelling grippers according to my present improvements are shewn in detail
by Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 their application to a machine having four pairs of cylinders is
shewn by Fig. 5 and the driving and pressing wheels for these grippers are shewn by
Figs. and 7. As shewn in Fig. 1, the grippers consist of a continuous tape T and a
continuous cord C between which the paper P is gripped by the pressure of guide
rollers R R as indicated in Fig. 2. The one guide roller is hollowed in the periphery
so that the tape T and paper P are pressed by the cord C into a curved condition
giving the paper a frictional hold, such that it is made to travel with the grippers
and cannot be dragged laterally out from between them. In order to resist lateral
drag, inclined guide rollers I, shewn in Fig. 3, are mounted near the rollers R R
so as to impose on the cord C an oblique strain as indicated by the arrows. Fig. 4
shews the grippers with their guide rollers on each side of the machine, the paper P
being stretched between them. Referring to Fig. 5 the tape T is shewn as being
driven by a wheel A and the cord C by a wheel A¹ each being pressed by pairs
of pressing rollers B and B which can be geared to A and A and can be set
sufficiently near to one another and strained sufficiently against A and A¹ to ensure
that the tape and cord shall travel with the driving wheels A and A', these having
the same surface speed as the printing cylinders. The tape and cord are guided
between each pair of cylinders by pairs of the guide rollers R R¹ having mounted
near them the inclined guide rollers I, and they are guided respectively below and
above the machine by guide rollers D. Fig. 8 shews diagrammatically a machine
with three pairs of cylinders which may be varied in diameter as indicated by the
dotted circles, the rollers A A' for driving the tape and cord being varied in
diameter to a corresponding extent and the pressing rollers B and B being adjusted
suitably in their angular position and in their pressure against the driving wheels A A'
respectively. Although I have shewn in Fig. 4 only two sets of travelling grippers,
one set for each edge of the paper, there may obviously be several intermediate
sets especially when the paper is of considerable width.
Figs. 9 and 9 represent moveable inking apparatus according to my present
invention, these being capable of inking formes on cylinders of various diameters
as indicated by the circles V in Fig. 9 and also being capable of being moved from
one cylinder to another, or of being worked upside down, as in the case of a
perfecting machine, where, one of the formes is on an under cylinder and another
of the formes is on an upper cylinder. The inking apparatus shewn in Fig. 9 has
a single ink duct E which can.be inverted as indicated by the dotted lines E¹
when the apparatus is used upside down. It has two vibrating rollers F F¹ and
a duplicate set of revolving tables and distributing rollers G G¹. One or more of

page_text: the upper inking rollers H can be adjusted in its attitude and pressure to suit
cylinders of different diameters and another roller K of the set can be varied in
position according as more or less inking is required. These adjustable rollers may
be applied in the set G as well as in the set G¹. In the inking apparatus shewn in
Fig. 9 there are two ink ducts E each capable of inversion and each feeding a set of
distributing rollers G and G¹ and rotating tables which may be provided with
adjustable rollers such as H and K of Fig. 9. In Fig. 8 are represented inking
apparatus of the kind shewn in Fig. 9 one of them inverted. In Fig. 8 the inking
apparatus are shewn as being applied to the cylinders when they are of large
diameter. When they are of smaller diameters as indicated by the dotted circles
the inking apparatus which is under each cylinder has to be raised and that which
is above has to be lowered. This may be done by placing suitable blocking pieces
between the bases of the inking apparatus and those parts of the framing of the
machine to which they are fixed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. The travelling grippers, each consisting of a tape and a cord between which
the paper is gripped, in combination with their driving and pressing wheels and
their vertical and inclined guide rollers, substantially as described.
2. The moveable and adjustable inking apparatus, having duplicate vibrating
rollers, reversible ink ducts and means of adjusting the inking rollers to contact with
cylinders of various diameters, substantially as described.
Dated this 4th day of December 1889.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.