CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ENGRAVING CYLINDERS USED IN PRINTING
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edmondson, James Edmondson, and
Frederick William Edmondson, all of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Engravers to Calico Printers, and Richard Cunliffe,
of the same Place, Pentagraph Engraver, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ENGRAVING CYLINDERS USED
IN PRINTING."
Sealed the 3rd May 1870, and dated the 20th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edmondson,
James Edmondson, Frederick William Edmondson, and Richard
Cunliffe at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 20th November 1869.
We, WILLIAM EDMONDSON, JAMES EDMONDSON, and FREDERICK
WILLIAM EDMONDSON, all of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engravers to Calico Printers, and RICHARD CUNLIFFE, of the same
Place, Pentagraph Engraver, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ENGRAVING CYLINDERS
USED IN PRINTING," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in the application to pentagraph or other
engraving machines of certain machinery by which the pattern or design
or part thereof is produced by a series of punches.

page_text: A convenient mode of performing our Invention is as follows:-A
series of punches is placed above the cylinder to be engraved. These
punches are fixed in weighted levers connected to the ordinary tool bar,
and these levers are tilted up by a cam shaft or other equivalent actuated
by a treadle. After the punches have been raised off the cylinder they
fall by their own gravity or by springs, and thus give the desired
impression on the cylinder, the position of the punches and the cylinder
being changed by the operator passing the tracer over the enlarged
pattern in the ordinary manner.
Our Invention may be modified so as to give motion to two or more
series of punches simultaneously placed in suitable positions; in this
case the punches are connected to weighted elbow levers, or to levers
actuated by springs.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edmondson, James Edmondson, Frederick
William Edmondson, and Richard Cunliffe in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
EDMONDSON, JAMES EDMONDSON, and FREDERICK WILLIAM EDMONDSON,
all of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engravers to Calico
Printers, and RICHARD CUNLIFFE, of the same Place, Pentagraph
Engraver, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said William Edmondson, James Edmondson,
Frederick. William Edmondson, and Richard Cunliffe, Her special
licence that we, the said William Edmondson, James Edmondson,
Frederick William Edmondson, and Richard Cunliffe, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William
Edmondson, James Edmondson, Frederick William Edmondson, and
Richard Cunliffe, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to tinie and at all times

page_text: 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ENGRAVING CYLINDERS USED
"
IN PRINTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
William Edmondson, James Edmondson, Frederick William Edmondson,
and Richard Cunliffe, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and scals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the sanie
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 we, the said William Edmondson, James
Edmondson, Frederick William Edmondson, and Richard Cunliffe, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement (that is to say):-
Our Invention consists in the application to pentagraph or other
engraving machines of certain machinery by which the pattern or design
or part thereof is produced on the cylinder by a series of punches or by
two or more series of punches.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of part of an ordinary Rigby pentagrapli
machine to which our improvements are applied. a is the cylinder to be
engraved; b and c are the two series of punches mounted in the
weighted levers &' and c, which are similar to those usually employed
for holding the diamond or other tools; the weighted levers 6' and o
vibrate on centres connected to the tool bars d and e; these parts and
the others requisite to complete the machine are made in the usual
manner. The partial rotary motion is given to the cylinder and.the lateral
to-and-fro motions are given to the tool bars by the ordinary means.
The levers b' and care provided with regulating screws 6* and c³, against
the points of which the ribs of the cam shafts and g act to depress the
ends of the levers b' and to raise the ends of the levers c' in order to
move the punches from the cylinder. When the outer ends of the

page_text: levers and c are released the punches strike the cylinder by their own
gravity, or they are brought against it by the gravity of the sliding
weights and c, which fit on V-shaped projections on the levers, and
the positions of which can be regulated and fixed by set screws according
to the strength of blow required to be struck by the punch. The cam
shafts fand g extend from one side of the machine to the other, and
they have each four longitudinal cams or ribs also extending the full
length of the shafts, which are turned one-fourth round every time the
treadle is depressed in the following manner:- is a rod connected
below to the ordinary treadle. lever; the upper end of the rod / is jointed
to the lover g³ which is hinged to the cam shaft g, to the lever g' is also
jointed the lower end of the link i, the upper end of which is connected
to the lever f' hinged to the cam shaft f. To each cam shaft is fixed
a ratchet wheel with four teeth. The shaft f is moved by the catch f
jointed to the lever f¹, and the shaft g by a similar catch g³ jointed to
the lower arm of the double lever j, the upper arm of which is connected
to the catch f; the lever j is mounted on a stud projecting from the
lever which vibrates on the fulcrum study. By this arrangement the
requisite pattern or design or any part thereof may be transmitted from
the enlarged design to the cylinder. As soon as the tracer point has
been placed in its requisite position on the enlarged design the attendant
depresses the treadle, thereby causing the cam shafts to rotate sufficiently
to remove the punches from the cylinder and to pass beyond the ends of
the sot screws 6 and c³ to liberate the weighted levers 6' and c. It is
evident that as the cam shafts extend the full length of the cylinder all
the levers on the tool bars are acted upon simultaneously. In some
cases it may be preferable to employ only one series of punches instead
of two as shewn.
Fig. 2 is a section of part of a Shield's pentagraph machine showing
a modification of our improvements. In this instance the punch lever b¹
and care in the form of an elbow, and the punches b and c act on each
side of the cylinder a; the other parts are similar to those shewn in
Fig. 1, and are marked with corresponding letters of reference.
Fig. 3 is an elevation, and Fig. 4 a plan of another modification of
our Invention. In this instance the punches b are connected to the slotted
bar & shewn detached in Fig. 5, which extends the whole length of the
cylinder. The bar k is attached at each end to an elbow lever 6' similar
to those shewn in Fig. 2, and these elbow levers are supported on centres

page_text: connected to the tool bar d. At one end of the machine is a short cam
shaft, which in revolving acts on the screw 6º and gives motion to one
of the elbow levers 6', thereby moving all the punches connected to the
bar from the cylinder. As soon as the cam shaft in revolving passes
beyond the end of the screw 6' the punches strike against the cylinder,
the force of the blow being regulated by varying the position of the
weight 6. The requisite intermittent rotary motion is given to the cam
shaft by the usual treadle lever, to which the rod h shewn in Fig. 3 is
connected. When the cam shaft f has been turned one-fourth round it is
held by the retaining catch and ratchet wheel f³. In Figs. 3 and 4 we
have only shewn one set of punchies, but it is evident that two sets of
punches may be applied to act simultaneously on the cylinder, as shewn
in Fig. 2.
Fig. 6 represents another modification of our Invention. The punches
are fixed in a slotted bar k, similar to that shewn in Fig. 5, the ends of
which are fixed to the elbow levers 6', which vibrate on centres or studs
mounted on swivel stands connected to the tool bar d. The cam shaft f
acts in the manner before described on the screw * to lift the punches
off the cylinder a, and they fall by their own gravity.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described several
modes of carrying the same into operation, we wish to observe that we
do not intend to limit ourselves to the details given, as our Invention
may be applied in various other ways, and to other engraving machines
besides those shewn and referred to; and we claim, the machinery
described or any modification thereof for actuating punches for pro-
ducing the pattern or design on the cylinder to be engraved, as shewn
and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Edmondson, for myself and
on behalf of the within-named William Edmondson, Frederick
William Edmondson, and Richard Cunliffe, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May One thousand
eight hundred and seventy.