IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR COPYING LETTERS OR OTHER DOCUMENTS
Year: 1885

page_text: or other Documents.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE of the firm of Haseltine Lake & Co Patent Agents
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for ." IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR COPYING
LETTERS OR OTHER DOCUMENTS" to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to construct a machine or apparatus for copying
letters and other written documents in such manner that such copies may be made
more easily and expeditiously than can be done by means of the copying presses
ordinarily used; and by means of my said invention the copy or impression can
be put into compact and convenient form for ready reference thereto whenever
desired, instead of using a book for that purpose.
My improved machine is constructed substantially as follows vizt-At one end
of the frame of the machine is a loose roller upon which is placed a web of copying
paper which is unwound therefrom to receive copies of the documents passed
through the machine. This web of copying paper (which may be ordinary thin
copying paper of the kind in common use) is carried between two parallel rollers
placed in close contact with each other so as to exert a considerable degree of
pressure upon the paper passed between them, which said rollers are journalled at
their ends in standards connected to the frame, parallel with the first mentioned
roller. Said pressure rollers are placed about vertically the one over the other, and
underneath the lower one is a trough or receptacle for water in which said roller is
partly immersed so as to moisten the copying paper as it is carried along, and
working in contact with said roller is another roller to remove surplus water
therefrom. To the end of one of said pressure rollers is attached a crank or handle
for operating the machine. Said pressure rollers may be geared to each other
so as to impart a positive motion to each, but this is not considered essentially
necessary. An inclined shelf or platform is fixed at the front end of the machine,
upon which is laid the document to be copied with its heading downward in such
position that it can be readily slipped in between the pressure rollers, between
which it is carried together, and in contact with, the copying paper, and said

page_text: copying paper being moistened receives the impression as the two pass between
said rollers. The document after having passed the pressure rollers may be
removed by hand. Another roller is journalled at the rear end of the machine,
upon which the copying paper after having received the impression, is wound, and
which is located at a sufficient distance above the base of the frame to admit of a
page of the copy to be displayed between the latter and said take up roller,.so
that it can be read while thus being displayed and before being wound upon said
roller. After the whole of the web of copying paper has received copies of docu-
ments and been rolled on said take up roller in the manner above described, said
take up roller and the roller first above mentioned are removed from the machine
and replaced by other similar rollers and another web of copying paper, and they,
together with the copies rolled thereon, removed to any convenient position where
the copies can be referred to when required. The take-up roller is driven by a belt
which passes over a pulley on its end and a pulley on the end of one of the pressure
rollers.
As a modification, this take-up roller may be left off and the copying paper,
after having passed between the pressure rollers, carried forward by a pair of
rollers, in the rear of the same (driven by the pressure rollers, and then cut off in
such lengths as may be desired; or a reciprocating perforating instrument, or a
reciprocating knife blade driven by the machine, may be provided to effect such
divisions.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Apparatus for Copying Letters
or other Documents.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
The object of this invention is to provide improved means for copying letters
and other written documents, so that the copying may be accomplished more easily
and quickly than can be done by means of an ordinary copying-press in the usual
manner, and so that the copy can be put into .convenient and compact form for
ready. reference thereto whenever desired.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 represents an isometrical perspective view of my improved copying
apparatus.
Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same taken through its
centre; and
Figures 3, 4 and 5 are views of details hereinafter referred to and explained.
Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures.
A and A¹ are two rollers which are journalled at each end in suitable standards a, a
attached to a. suitable base or table B. One of the said rollers may be of wood or
other rigid material, and the other of a substance which is slightly elastic, so as to
slightly yield under pressure. These rollers are placed in contact with each other
so as to impart a considerable degree of pressure on the paper which is passed
between them, as hereinafter described, but in the drawing they are represented
as being at a slight distance apart, for the purpose of more clearly showing the
construction of the apparatus.
C represents a web of ordinary thin copying paper, which may be of any of the
kinds ordinarily used in copying presses, and of suitable length. One end of this
web is secured upon a roller or spool D, journalled in the standards a, a, (so as to
let off the paper as required), and its other end is passed between a roller I and the
roller A, thence between rollers A and A¹, and thence between the rollers E, E¹;
or it may be attached to the roller E¹ as hereinafter explained. Said rollers are
journalled in suitable bearings.
His a trough or receptacle for holding water in which the roller A¹ is partly
immersed, and I is a small roller which works in contact with the roller A¹ (the
paper C being between them) for the purpose of removing any surplus water, and
also for laying said paper smoothly. By this means the paper C is properly
moistened to receive the impression before passing between the rollers A, A'. If
desired, the roller I may be placed behind the rollers A, A¹, and the loose paper C
conducted directly from D to said roller, as shown in Figure 5, but in that case it
does not serve the purpose of straightening the paper.
K is a table or platform upon which the letters, or other documents, to be copied
are laid with their edges next to the rollers A A¹, which table may be of any suitable
material and supported by any convenient means, so that the documents can be

page_text: easily fed in between said rollers. f represents an endless band which is passed
over pulleys f, secured, respectively, on the end of the rollers A and E¹ (or to A¹
and either. El or E) so that motion is imparted to said roller E or to E¹, to draw
the paper C away from the rollers A and A', see Figure 3.
If desired cogwheels g, g, meshing with each other as shown in Figure 4, may be
used, to cause the rollers A and A¹ to rotate at equal speeds but they are not
deemed to be essentially necessary.
The operation of the improved apparatus is as follows. A web of copying paper
having been wound or secured on the roller D, or similar device for letting off the
same and its free end passed successively between the rollers I and A³, thence
between A and A¹ and thence between E and E¹ (or attached to E¹ the roller E
having in that case been removed) and the trough H having been supplied with
water, the document to be copied is pushed from the table K between the rollers
A, A¹; and the crank F, which is attached to the end of A¹, is turned to rotate said
rollers and thus carry the paper forward. The copying paper C is sufficiently
moistened to receive a good impression by the roller A³, and after having passed
between A, A¹ is carried forward by the rollers E, E¹, or rolled upon the roller E¹
as the case may be. If rolled on the roller E¹, when the full length of copying
paper has received impressions, the rollers D and E¹ may be removed from the
inachine and placed in any convenient frame near a desk, or in the place where the
letters are needed to be referred to, and any particular letter can thus be readily
found by winding the web back or forth from one roller to the other.
means the use of a copying book is dispensed with, and after the rollers D and E¹
have been removed their places are supplied by another similar pair, and another
web of copying paper. If both rollers E and E¹ are used, the copying paper after
having passed between them may be cut into sheets and filed in shape of a book.
In either case the copies are readily accessible for reference.
By this
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is
First. An apparatus for copying letters or other documents, composed of two
pressure rollers between which the document to be copied and a continuous sheet
of copying paper are passed, substantially as shewn and described.
Second. In a letter copying apparatus the combination of two pressure rollers
A, A¹, and means, substantially as described, for holding a continuous sheet of
copying paper and supplying the same to said rollers, as set forth.
Third. In a letter copying apparatus, the combination of two pressure rollers
A, A¹, a roller I, to moisten the roller A¹, and a receptacle for water in which said
roller A¹ is partly immersed as set forth.
Fourth. A letter copying apparatus composed of two pressure rollers A and A¹,
between which the document to be copied is passed along with a continuous sheet
of copying paper C', a roller E¹ upon which said copying paper is taken up after
receiving the impression, and means as described for moistening said copying paper
before it passes between said rollers A and A' as described.
Dated this 7th day of December 1885.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicant.