IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING OR MARKING WORDS OR FIGURES ON PAPERS, PARCELS, BOOKS, PAGES, TICKETS, AND OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING TO BE MARKED, PRINTED, STAMPED, OR ADDRESSED
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, E.C., Editor of the Mechanics' Magazine, and
Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING OR
MARKING WORDS OR FIGURES ON PAPERS, PARCELS, BOOKS, PAGES, TICKETS,
AND OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING TO BE MARKED, PRINTED, STAMPED, OR
ADDRESSED." A communication.
Sealed the 1st March 1859, and dated the 6th September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 6th September 1858.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, E.C., Editor of the Mechanics' Magazine, and Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING
OR MARKING WORDS OR FIGURES ON PAPERS, PARCELS, BOOKS, PAGES, TICKETS, AND
OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING. TO BE MARKED, PRINTED, STAMPED, OR ADDRESSED,"
(communicated to me from abroad,) to be as follows:-
The words or figures to be printed on successive articles are arranged in
type in columns, so as to run down one column and up the next. The form
thus arranged is inked, and has a longitudinal and lateral motion imparted.
to it by machinery, which causes each column to traverse at intervals, so that
each name, address, or figure to be marked at one time shall come successively.
under an aperture in the frisket. The page, parcel, folded newspaper, or

page_text: other article to be printed or marked is placed in a fly, which nips it, and
holds it over the aperture until it is pressed down by a lever, so as to receive
an impression, after which the lever releases it, and the fly removes it to
some receptacle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th March 1859.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, E.C.,
Editor of the Mechanics' Magazine, and Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself; Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns; or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 OR MAKING WORDS OR FIGURES ON
PAPERS, PARCELS, BOOKS, PAGES, TICKETS, AND OTHER ARTICLES REQUIRING TO
BE MARKED, PRINTED, STAMPED, OR ADDRESSED, (communicated to me by a
foreigner résiding 'abroad,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement thereof, referénce being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexéd, that is to say:

page_text: The words or figures to be printed on successive articles are arranged in
type in columns, so as to run down one column and up the next. The form
thus arranged is inked, and has a longitudinal and lateral motion imparted
to it by machinery, which causes each column to traverse at intervals, so that
each name, address, or figure to be marked at one time shall come succes-
sively under an aperture in the frisket. The page, parcel, folded newspaper,
or other article to be printed or marked is placed in a fly, which nips it, and
holds it over the aperture until it is pressed down by a lever, so as to receive
an impression, after which the lever releases it, and the fly removes it to
some receptacle.
.
The types set to the names, numbers, or addresses of the measure required
to contain the names, numbers, or addresses are arranged in a form. of as
many columns as the bed will allow. The names, numbers, or addresses are
separated from cach other by quads or spaces of the same size as the type
used, so as to allow only one to be printed at a time. The columns are also
separated from each other in the same manner, and read alternately down
and up. The form thus inade up is placed upon the bed and inked, and the
first name, number, or address at the top of the first column at the left side
of the form is brought under the aperture in the tympan. The machine thus
adjusted is set in motion by the power applied to the fly wheel. Each revo-
lution of the driving shaft operating upon the carriage, as above described,
causes it to move the distance required to bring each name, number, or
address in the column successively under the aperture in the tympan, and
the article to be printed, marked, or addressed being placed over the aperture
is pressed upon the type by the motion given to the platen while the bed is
at rest, and thus produces the desired impression; the article printed upon is
then removed by the action of the fly or otherwise; another article is placed
for printing, and the next name, number, or address in the column is brought
opposite the hole in the tympan, and so on. When the carriage has run
down the first, column, its motion is reversed, as above described, and the
bed is previously moved from right to left through the distance required to
bring the second column in the line of the tympan, and so on, traversing
each column down and up successively until the whole form has been gone
over, which is then removed and another placed on the bed, and the machine
similarly adjusted, and the operation repeated as often as required.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a plan of the machine, showing
the arrangement of the bed and carriage, and the mechanism for operating
the same; Figures 2 and 3 are enlarged views of separate parts; Figure 4
is a side elevation, and Figure 5 an end elevation. The same letters represent

page_text: like parts in all the Figures. A is the frame of cast iron; B, the fly wheel
to which is attached the pinion C gearing with the wheel D, which is keyed
on the 'driving shaft F, on which also is keyed the disc G, having a cam
groove cut in one side, and two projecting cams R and V on the other
(shown on a larger scale in Figures 2 and 3). The grooved side of the disc
G receives a roller, which works on a pin screwed into the upper end of the
lever H, having its fulcrum at a, the lower end being connected by means of
a sliding block and pin screw, seen at b, Figure 4, with the link I, which may
be secured in any part of the slot. This link I is keyed on one end of the
rocking shaft J, seen in Figure 5, to the other end of which is keyed the
short lever K, connected by means of a strap with the sliding bar L,
Figures 1 and 4, which moves freely in suitable bearings, and carries in its
centre the hand or pawl M, which also slides freely in bearings framed in
and at right angles to the bar L. The pawl is pressed forward to the teeth
of the rack N by a spiral spring enclosed in the centre rounded portion
between its bearings, and is drawn back by the feather seen at c, Figure 4,
on the small rocking shaft O, pressing a pin, which passes through the pawl,
and serves also to stop the spring. The rocking shaft O is connected by the
small strap P, Figure 5, with the lever Q, which receives its motion from the
projecting cam R on the dise G, which being rotated works the lever H,
the link I, the shaft J, and the lever K, drawing the bar L' and pawl M over
one, two, or more teeth of the rack N, according to the number of lines
required to be printed in one impression. At this point the lever Qfalls off
the projecting cam R, thereby freeing the pawl M, and allowing it to fall into
the tooth of the rack N, opposite which it now stands. The rack N is bolted
to the carriage S, which by the next movement of the bar L and pawl M is
propelled along the V grooves, in which it is fitted, the distance required to
bring on the next name, and so to the end of the column, when a stop on
the carriage strikes a corresponding stop on the sliding bar T, bringing the
stops which are attached to it in contact with one end of the lever U, Figure 1,
the other end of which forces the lever Q, to which it is connected, from the
projecting cam R to the projecting cam V, thereby causing the pawl to draw
at the opposite time, by which means the carriage is propelled in the opposite
direction till it arrives at the end of the distance, when it is reversed in the
same manner, and so on until the entire form has been passed over, the bed W
being moved simultaneously to bring on the next column. Figure 4 is a
side elevation of the machine, with a portion of the framing removed, in
order to shew the action of the platen X, which is made to slide freely in.
bearings. formed in the centre of the frisket bars Y, and is 'worked. by the

page_text: lever Z, and cam keyed on the shaft F. On the under side of the lever Z a
web spring is fixed, which allows the platen to accommodate itself to the
various thicknesses of the paper to be printed. f is the tympan, which is a
piece of sheet brass, or any other suitable material, with an aperture (under
the frisket bar Y in Figure 1,) cut in it, just sufficient to allow the end of
the platen to pass through, and forms a shield to keep the other portion off
the type; g is the frame of the frisket, which extends to the front of the
machine, forming a rest for the arms of the person working the machine and
shielding the forms. Figure 5 is an end elevation, with portions of the top
rail of the frame broken away, in order to shew the arrangement for producing
the lateral motion of the bed W, by which the columns are changed; i is a
ratchet, in which a series of teeth are cut the same pitch as the width of the
column in the form, and which ratchet is bolted to the end of the bed; j is a
lever which works on a pin screwed in the carriage S. The upper end of
the lever is fitted with a pawl (see Figure 1), which is forced against the
teeth of the ratchet i by a spiral spring enclosed in the box, and in the lower
end is fitted a sliding block, with a hole in its centre, through which a round
rod passes, having its ends, together with another and similar rod l, made
fast by nuts in the pieces m, which work on pins that pass through their
centres, and are screwed into the frame. To the rod is attached a rod
connecting it with the lower end of the lever n, which is supported on a
universal joint at o, the upper end having a roller attached to it, which works
in a grooved cam p. The operation is as follows:-When the carriage has
run its required length it strikes a stop on the bar q, throwing the lever n
into the cam p, by which the lever j is drawn back over one tooth, at the
same time bringing the projection on its side in contact with the spring
catch r, pressing its nipple out of the hole in the under side of the rack i, a
series of which holes are drilled in line with the teeth of the rack. The cam
has now made its full throw in that direction, and by the peculiar form of
the groove it makes an equal throw in the opposite direction, and the pawl
being in the rack, the bed W is thrown over the distance required to bring
the next column in the line of the tympan, and the lever n is thrown out of
the cam by a stop in the end of the groove, in which position it remains till
the carriage reaches the other end, when it operates as before. s is the fly,
by which the paper or other matter is removed from the machine, and is
worked by the quadrant wheel t, the semi-pinion v, rocking shaft w, lever a,
and cam, the eccentric portion of which coming in contact with one end of
the rocking shaft w, lifts it, and the quadrant wheel t, which is keyed on the
other end of the shaft, causing the fly s to move from left to right, when the

page_text: cam lets it go, and it is returned by the spring which is wound round its.
shaft, causing the lower end of the fly to sweep the tympan, and remove the
printed matter to an apron attached to and moved by the machine.. When
the name, number, or address consists of two or three lines, the carriage is
made to move the distance of two teeth at each revolution of the driving
shaft, by causing the hand to fall in every second tooth in the ratchet by the
adjustment of the sliding pin, which connects the levers H. and I. When
four or five lines require to be printed at one impression, the hand is made
to fall in every third tooth of the ratchet. The aperture in the tympan has
adjusting slides for enlarging or diminishing it to the number of lines to be
printed at each impression.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the application
of type, arranged in a form, to the printing or stamping of names, numbers, or
addresses upon papers, pages, books, tickets, or other articles in regular
succession; by the means or machinery above described, or any similar com-
bination for producing the same motions in whole or in part.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-nine.