IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FOLDING SHEETS OF PAPER
Year: 1884

page_text: We JOHN HENRY BUXTON, Newspaper Proprietor DAVIES BRAITHWAITE and
MARK SMITH, Printers Engineers, all of the Manchester Guardian Printing Works;
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of said
invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FOLDING SHEETS OF PAPER,"
to be as follows:-
"
i
Our invention relates to improvements upon the machine with three cylinders
for folding sheets of paper described in the Provisional and Complete Specification
of our application for a Patent Numbered 840 and dated the 7th January 1884.
By our present improvements we dispense. with one of the two. taking-in
cylinders described in the said specification and arrange the other so that sheets
may be fed to it from two separate folding tables one table feeding on the upper
and the other at or near the lower side of the cylinder which has one set of grippers
and a thin adjustable folding blade carried in spur. wheels on the axis of the
cylinder as described in the said specification.
The spur wheels gear with spur wheels on the axis of a cylinder below the
taking in cylinder which latter is or may be half the diameter of the taking-in
cylinder, and is geared by the said spur wheels to make two revolutions to one of
the taking in cylinder or so that the surface speed of both cylinders is equal
.
The tapes for carrying the once folded sheet to the first cross folding mechanisin
work on the periphery of the small cylinder which is without grooves for them
and the grippers on it which receive the fold from the blade on the taking-in
cylinder, project about a quarter of an inch above the surface of the small cylinder.
these grippers being arranged and actuated as described in the said specification.
The machine is driven by à belt working on fast and loose pulleys upon the
axis of the small cylinder, and the folding and delivery mechanism after the sheets
leave the small cylinder are or may be arranged and actuated as described in the
aforesaid specification.
There is a guage to which the edge of each sheet is fed for each table which.
guage for the upper table is or may be movable actuated by a lever from a cam on
a shaft geared to rotate one revolution to two of the taking-in cylinder.
The guage for the lower table is or may be fixed, and the table or a part of
it is hinged to rise and fall being actuated by a lever from a cam as before
mentioned.

page_text: The grippers on the taking in cylinders are made to grip against an elastic
substance on the taking in cylinder, the material we prefer to use being a strip of
India rubber inserted in a rib on the cylinder, or otherwise secured thereto.
The gripper shaft is oscillated by a small pinion upon it gearing with a wheel
on a shaft in bearings in the cylinder, this shaft having a crank and bowl acted
upon by a cam or cams to close and open the grippers.
The grippers are arranged and actuated to close on the sheet and retain it until
the thin blade forces it into the grippers in the small cylinder.
The grippers have to close at one revolution in a position to take the sheet from
the upper table and at the next revolution they have to close in the position to
take the sheet from the lower table.
We actuate the grippers by two cams which are side by side and concentric with
the axis of the taking in cylinder, one cam is stationary and secured to the frame
the other cam is geared and arranged to rotate in the bearings in the stationary
cam in the same direction as the cylinder but at half the speed.
The bowl on the crank shaft actuating the grippers extends over the edges of
both cams which are close together.
The stationary cam is shaped and arranged to act upon the grippers for the sheet
fed from the lower table and also acts to open the grippers to allow the sheet to be
released when delivered to the grippers of the small cylinder for the sheets fed
from both the lower and upper tables.
The rotary cam acts to close. the grippers for the sheet fed from the upper table
and keeps them closed until they have passed the lower feeding table and the bowl
has passed on to the surface of the fixed cam-The acting cam surface of the rotary
cam is by its motion carried to a position so that when the grippers take the sheet
from the lower table the stationary cam is left free to operate alone.
The stationary cam is or may be arranged so that pieces may be screwed on to
increase or decrease the duration of the hold of the grippers on the sheet according
to its size, as a short sheet will have to be released earlier than a long sheet
Instead of separate pieces an overlapping part is or may be formed on the
stationary cam which by a concentric slot and bolt can be adjusted as required.
In place of one stationary and one rotary cam two non-rotating cams side by side
are or may be used concentric with the taking-in cylinder-one cam shaped to
actuate the grippers when taking from the upper and the other cam when taking
from the lower feeding table, and these cams are both slided together to and fro in
the direction of the axis of the taking in cylinder so as to bring first one and then
the other cam opposite the bowl on the gripper crank shaft.
This is or may be done by a cam or crank making. one revolution for two of
the taking-in cylinder the movement from which cam or crank is made to slide the
two cams together to and fro in a line with the axis of the cylinder.
"
Instead of two cams one cam and a segment of a cam may be used the segment
being moved into and out of position in the stationary cam by a cam or crank as
mentioned above:
Or if desired any other suitable arrangement may be used for actuating, the
grippers in the order required.'
Dated this £ftranth day of Antahan 100+

page_text: We JOHN HENRY BUXTON, Newspaper Proprietor, DAVIES BRAITHWAITE, and
MARK SMITH, Printers Engineers, all of the Manchester Guardian Printing Works
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of said
invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FOLDING SHEETS OF PAPER, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention relates to improvements upon the machine with three cylinders
for folding sheets of paper described in the Complete Specification in application
for a Patent Numbered 840 and dated the 7th January 1884.
By our present improvements we dispense with one of the two taking in
cylinders described in the said specification and arrange the other, so that sheets
may be fed to it from two separate feeding tables one table feeding on the upper
and the other at or near the lower side of the cylinder which has one set of
grippers and a thin adjustable folding blade carried in spur wheels on the axis of
the cylinder as described in the said specification.
The spur wheels gear with spur wheels on the axis of a cylinder below the
taking in cylinder which latter is or may be half the diameter of the taking in
cylinder, and is geared by the said spur wheels to make two revolutions to one of
the taking in cylinder or so that the surface speed of both cylinders is equal.
The tapes for carrying the once folding sheet to the first cross folding mechanism,
work on the periphery of the small cylinder which is without grooves for them,
and the grippers on it which receive the fold from the blade on the taking in
cylinder project about three quarters of an inch above the surface of the small
cylinder these grippers being arranged and actuated as described in the said
specification.
The machine is driven by a belt working on fast and loose pulleys upon the
axis of the small cylinder, and the folding and delivery mechanism after the sheets
leave the small cylinder are or may be arranged and actuated as described in the
aforesaid specification.
There is a guage for each table to which the edge of each sheet is fed which
guage for the upper table is or may be either fixed or movable and the movable
table or guage is actuated by a lever from a cam on a shaft geared to rotate one
revolution to two of the taking in cylinder.
The guage for the lower table is or may be fixed, and the table or a part of
it is hinged to rise and fall being actuated by a lever from a cam as before
mentioned.
The grippers on the taking in cylinders are or may be made to grip against an
elastic substance on the taking in cylinder the material we prefer to use in such
case being a strip of India rubber inserted in a rib on the cylinder or otherwise
secured thereto, or the grippers may grip against metal or other suitable material
in which case an elastic arrangement is or may be provided to actuate the grippers.
The gripper shaft is oscillated by a small pinion upon it gearing with a wheel on
shaft in bearings in the cylinder this shaft having a crank on its end having a

page_text: bowl acted upon by a cam or cams to close and open the grippers, the grippers
being closed positively by the cam and opened by a spring by permission of the
cam or cams.
The grippers are arranged and actuated to close on the sheet and retain it until
the thin blade carried on the taking in cylinder forces the middle part of the sheet
into the grippers in the small cylinder.
The grippers on the taking in cylinder have to close at one revolution in a
position to take the sheet from the upper table and at the next revolution they
have to close in the position to take the sheet from the lower table.
We actuate or can actuate the grippers by two cams which are side by side and
concentric with the axis of the taking in cylinder, one cam is stationary and
secured to the frame the other can is geared and arranged to rotate in the bearings
in the axis of the stationary cam. in the same direction as the cylinder but at half
the speed.
The bowl on the crank shaft actuating the grippers extends over the edges of
both cams which are side by side and close together.
The stationary cam is shaped and arranged to act upon the grippers for the sheet
fed from the lower table and also acts to open the grippers or permit them to be
opened to allow the sheet to be released when delivered by the blade or knife on
the taking in cylinder to the grippers of the small cylinder for the sheets fed from
both the lower and upper tables.
The rotary cam acts to close the grippers for the sheet fed from the upper table
and keeps them closed until they have passed tho lower feeding table and the bowl
has passed on to the surface of the fixed cam-The 'acting cam surface of the
rotary cam is by its motion carried round to a position so that when the grippers
take the sheet from the lower table the stationary cam is left free to operate alone.
The stationary cam is or may be arranged so that pieces may be screwed on to
increase or decrease the duration of the hold of the grippers on the sheet according
to its size, as a short sheet will have to be released earlier than a long sheet-
Instead of separate pieces an overlapping part or plate is or may be formed on the
side of the stationary cam the cam face of which plate agrees with that of the
stationary cam which cam plate by a concentric slot and bolt can be adjusted as
required to extend or reduce the cam surface.
In place of one stationary and one rotary cam two. non-rotating cams side by
side are or may be used, the axis of the cams agreeing or being concentric with the
axis of the taking in cylinder one of these cams is shaped to actuate the grippers
when taking from the upper and the other cam when taking from the lower feeding
table, and these cams are both arranged to be slided together to and fro in the
direction of the axis of the taking in cylinder so as to bring first one and then the
other cam opposite the bowl on the crank shaft actuating the grippers.
This is or may be done by a cam or crank making one revolution for two of the
taking-in cylinder the movement from which cam or crank is made to slide the two
cams together to and fro in a line with the axis of the cylinder.
Instead of two cams one stationary cam and a segment of a cam may be used,
the segment being moved into and out of position in the stationary cam by a cam
or crank as above mentioned.
Or if desired any other suitable arrangement may be used for actuating the
grippers in the order required.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing so much of the mechanism as will be necessary
for explaining our invention.
A is the framing, a the upper feeding table or a part of it, mounted and secured
on the framing; a part a¹ near to the taking in cylinder bis hinged at a to the
other part of the table a..
This binged part a' of the table has a thin metal plate a³ secured to it for
presenting the edge of the sheet to the grippers upon the taking in cylinder- Upon.
the hinged part a¹ of the table brackets a are secured to carry a rod a passing
across the table, and this rod has fingers a secured to it at intervals by screws a³,

page_text: which fingers act as is well understood in printing machines to smooth the sheets
being fed as they pass to the taking in cylinder.
When the sheet is being fed the table a¹ is up so that the edge of the sheet can
be placed against a guage c adjustable and carried on a rod c¹ extending across the
machine the ends of the rod being mounted on pillars c³ one being secured to the
framing at each side of the machine.
The hinged part al of the table is lifted and lowered once for each alternate
revolution of the taking in cylinder b, by one or more fingers as, secured on a
shaft a passing across the machine and being carried in suitable brackets from the
framing.
.
On one end of the shaft aº an arm a* is secured the free end of which carries a
bowl that works against a cam d attached to a spur wheel & shewn in peculiar
dotted line rotating on a stud d² secured on the framing.
The spur wheel d¹ gears with a spur pinion 3 on the end of the axis of the
taking in cylinder b the pinion d³ being half the diameter of the wheel d' which
thus makes one revolution for two of the taking in cylinder.
The cam d is adjusted to move the hinged part a¹ of the table into the position
to be ready to deliver the edge of the sheet fed against the guage c to the grippers
of the taking in cylinder when they come round to receive it from the upper
table à¹.
The lower table a¹ has an hinged part a¹ constructed, arranged, and actuated
same as the upper table a¹ the cam d being upon the axis of another spur wheel d
driven from the same pinion d³, but if desired both tables a¹ may be actuated from
cams d on or driven by the same spur wheel d³ through suitable levers and
connections.
The sheet on the lower feeding table a¹ is also fed to a fixed adjustable guage
(not shown) but the feeding board and gunge is similar to the feeding board and
guage of a Wharfdale Printing machine) the movable feeding board in this case,
lifting the edge of the sheet to be taken by the grippers of the taking in cylinder.
The grippers 6 of the taking in cylinder are secured upon a shaft b having
bearings in the ends of the cylinder band there is a spur pinion b³ secured on the
gripper shaft b in gear with a spur wheel b' secured on a shaft b also in bearings
in the ends of the cylinder-On the outer end of this last named shaft 6 is the
crank 6° carrying the bowl b' acted upon by the cams or compound cam both parts
of which are (in the machine illustrated) non-rotating.
The grippers 6 come against a strip of india rubber secured on the gripping
edge of a piece 69 extending across the cylinder and standing about three
quarters of an inch above its periphery.
This bar 6s is or may be of metal and the grippers 61 may grip against it
instead of india rubber in which case each gripper is or may be connected to its
shaft 62 by an elastic arrangement, that is, the boss of each finger b¹ may be loose
on the shaft b² but connected with it by a key extending the lengthway of the
shaft.
The key groove in the boss of each gripper b¹ for the key attached to the shaft b²
is not made an exact fit but space is allowed to permit the grippers to slightly
rotate on the shaft.
For each gripper there is on the shaft b* a helical spring 6° one end of which is
attached to the boss of the gripper b¹ the other end to a collar 6' which can be
secured on the shaft b², (see fig. 4).
The torsion of the spring bo is arranged to move the gripper 6' round in the
direction in which its shaft is moved when gripping the edge of the sheet, but its
rotary movement in that direction is limited by the key on the shaft b².
Thus arranged the shaft b' can be slightly rotated in the direction to make a
firm grip after the grippers have come against the surface on the cylinder which
ensures that all the grippers will have firm hold.
•
+
The shaft 6 when moving to open the grippers will have in such case to move
slightly more than with rigidly attached grippers before the grippers are fully

page_text: opened to release the sheet-The collars 61 for one end of each spring abovo
referred to are or may. be fixed on the shaft b' to prevent lateral movement of the
grippers (see fig. 4) the collar acting on one side of one gripper 6¹ and the spring 6°
from it coming, against the other side of the gripper.
Separate loose collars 18 may be used if preferred, one on the shaft b² on each
side, of each gripper-Or if the ends of the springs 6° are firmly secured to each
gripper and to one collar 61, the latter alone will only need to be secured on the
shaft b²
A key along the shaft 62 as above stated may be used, but a key groove in the
shaft may be substituted the key in this case being in the boss of each
:
gripper b'.
Instead of the elastic arrangement above described or in addition to it there
may be a similar elastic arrangement between the wheel b and the shaft b5 that is
the wheel b is or, may be arranged to slightly rotate on the shaft 65 this movement
being limited by a key and key groove, and a spring on the shaft 65 one end of
which is attached to the wheel b and the other to a collar secured on the shaft b
by which the wheel b may be rotated to the limit fixed by the key and key groove
in the direction to move the grippers to grip the sheet.
Instead of grippers being arranged as above described, they may be constructed
as illustrated by fig. 5. where b¹ is a rigid part secured to the shaft 6 and 61 is a
thin well tempered spring secured to the part b₁ by a screw-
-There are
projections on the part bi to prevent the spring from moving laterally upon the
part b' It is the end of the spring b that grips against the edge 68.
The bowl b7 on the crank bo works against a cam surface concentric with the
axis of the taking in cylinder b.
The cam acts to close the grippers and hold them closed until the sheet is to be
released therefore the face of the compound cam is formed by a circle with a gap
where the grippers are to be open and they are opened when the bowl comes
opposite this gap in the cam by a spring one end of which is secured to the end of
the cylinder at the inside, the other end of the spring being attached to an arm on
the shaft b.
The compound cam is made up of a base cam 69 that will act for closing the grippers
when taking the sheet from the lower table a¹ and for releasing the sheets taken
from both tables the releasing portion of the cam be being varied according to the
size of the sheet by securing pieces to or removing them from the cam b³, or by a
plate having a cam face agreeing with that of the base cam 6º and placed close to
one side of it which plate is adjustable by a set screw and concentric slot in the
plate so as to hold the bowl b' with the grippers closed for a longer or shorter time
as required.
The part added to the base cam te is a segment of a cam b* and it is formed on
or secured to a dovetail piece 6" made to slide in the edge of the base cam 6º in
the direction of the axis of the taking-in cylinder.
:
When this segment of a cam bx is brought over the face edge of the base cam bº
it acts to close the grippers for the sheet taken from the upper table and keep them
closed until the bowl passes on to the base cam 6° which releases the sheet.
The segment cam 6* is slided to and fro by a drum cam which may be secured
to the axis of the spur wheel this drum cam acting on a bowl e on a stud in a
lover el having its fulcrum on one of the pillars c² or on any suitable stud on the
framing.
The end of the lever e¹ has a stud that enters a hole (slightly slotted in the
direction of the length way of the lever) in a projection from or connected with the
dove tail slide (611) from the segment cam bx and thus moves it to and fro.
The bowl (e) for the drum cam groove may be at the end of the lever (e¹) as
shown, or between the end of the lever e¹ jointed to the projection from the slide 611
and the fulcrum of the lever e¹,
There is a thin plate or knife f arranged and carried on a shaft f¹ having bearings
in wheels fat the ends of the taking-in cylinder b and loose on its axis which
1

page_text: wheels gear with wheels g¹ on the cylinder g as described in our aforesaid
specification.
Fig. 2 illustrates the arrangement above referred to where f1 is the shaft carrying
the thin blade f¹, f³ the wheels one at each end of the cylinder b.
There is a concentric slot f* in the wheels f* to allow the wheels to move, and
the shaft b and cylinder to remain stationary when the thin blade f is being
adjusted-When adjusted the wheels f* are secured to the end of the cylinder b..
The wheels as explained in our aforesaid specification cause both ends of the
shaft f1 carrying the thin blade f to be simultaneously adjusted to the grippers on
the cylinder gand kept parallel to the axis of both cylinders g and b.
The thin blade f forces the middle of the sheet into the grippers g³ on the
cylinder which are arranged and actuated as described in our aforesaid
specification.
The cylinder g has a bar g³ across its surface (similar to the bar 68 on cylinder b)
which extends about three quarters of an inch above its periphery which thus grips
the sheet above the periphery of the cylinder and the tapes working upon it, but
this bar g has gaps in it for the tapes to pass through which carry the once folded
sheets to the other folding mechanism.
The tapes g shown in peculiar dotted line pass round the cylinder g under a
roller h extending across the machino in suitable bearings over rollers g³ and g³ also
in suitable bearings and then back from go to the cylinder g.
The upper tapes h¹ pass from the roller h in contact and against one side of the
tapes g over the roller g³ and return round the rollers h³ and h³ which are in
suitable bearings back to the roller h.
The mechanism for giving the folds to the sheets subsequent to the first by the
cylinders b and g, is similar to that described in our aforesaid specification. But
to give more accuracy to the fold the sheets are carried by the tapes over a thin
smooth metal plate k extending across the machine under the upper sides of the
tapes g as illustrated in fig. 3.
1
The rollers between which the fold is driven by the oscillating knife l¹ on the
arm are made with a space cut out of their peripheries as shown, and these
rollers are geared to rotate together so that these gaps or spaces will always come
opposite and the rollers are geared to make one, two, or more rotations (four by
preference) to one oscillation of the knife so that when it is about to force the
fold between the rollers the gaps in them will then be always in the same relative
position to the knife ready to receive and freely admit the fold. The plate or
plates k have a space between them exactly opposite to the space between the
rollers and the fold of the sheet is driven by the blade or knife through this
space in the plate k and is thus fully creased at the proper place before it comes in
contact with and is nipped by the rollers and therefore the accuracy of the crease
or fold is not liable to be deranged as it is when touched by the surface of the
rollers before the fold or crease is fully formed.
This arrangement is or may be applied to each pair of folding rollers used in
the machine.
4
Having now particularly described, and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is
1. In folding machines, the combination of two feeding tables with one taking
in cylinder having one set of grippers substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated by the drawings.
2. In folding machines, the combination of two feeding tables with one taking.
in cylinder (b) and one cylinder (g) having grippers for receiving the fold sub-
stantially as herein before described and illustrated by the drawings.
3. In folding machines, the combination of two feeding tables with one taking
in cylinder (b) and a gripper cylinder (g) and with arrangements for adjusting a

page_text: knife (f) on cylinder b to the grippers (g³) on the cylinder g substantially as
herein before described and illustrated by the drawings.
4. The arrangement of the grippers, substantially, as hereinbefore described and
illustrated by fig. 4 of the drawings and the construction of grippers as herein-
before described and illustrated by fig. 5 of the drawing.
.
5. In folding machines the combination and arrangement of cams with the
gripper mechanism of the taking in cylinder (b) to cause them to take sheets
alternately from two separate feeding tables substantially as herein before described
and illustrated by the drawings. :
6. The combination and arrangement of mechanism for folding sheets sub-
stantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the
drawings