Improvements in Printing Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in Printing Machines.
I, BICKNELL HALL. of 31, Bedford Place, in the County of London, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows: —
This invention relates to printing machines especially to those of the kind
generally known as rotary machines or cylinder-presses.
A
According to my invention the machine in its general construction and arrange-
ment comprises a plate or type cylinder and an impression cylinder both of large
diameter arranged side by side as near the ground as convenient. These cylinders
are provided at one end with spur wheels which gear together and so cause the
cylinders to revolve in opposite directions. The plate cylinder is driven from a
pinion mounted on the main shaft of the machine, the said pinion being pro-
vided with a clutch for enabling it to be thrown out of gear when desired.
delivery cylinder located beneath the feed board and provided with a spur wheel
gears with the impression cylinder and actuates a series of tapes whereby the
sheets of paper are taken from the impression cylinder and conducted to the fly by
which they are delivered one by one upon the delivery table as is well under-
stood. The said fly may be operated by a cam on the impression cylinder work-
ing in conjunction with suitable levers connected with a segmental rack which
gears with a similar segmental rack on the pivot of the fly. The apparatus may
be of the ordinary kind comprising an ink fountain, ductor roller, vibrating
roller, distributing rollers and an inking table or plate carried by the plate cylinder.
Near the lower
The said inking rollers are arranged above the plate cylinder.
portion of the plate cylinder I arrange a damping apparatus, hereinafter more
fully referred to, comprising a water fountain ductor roller, distributing rollers
and vibrating roller. The general construction and arrangement of my printing
machine is such that the parts are located as much as possible near the ground
so as to enable the machine attendant to readily reach the feed board and other
parts of the machine. The inking apparatus is actuated by means of toothed
gearing driven from a toothed ring or wheel on the axle of the plate cylinder.
The damping apparatus may be driven from the inking apparatus by a belt or band
passing around pullies suitably arranged in connection with the said inking
and damping apparatus.
My invention has special reference to means whereby the plate cylinder can be
conveniently thrown out of action whom desired without interfering with the
working of the inking apparatus or the damping apparatus, so that these
apparatus can be allowed to work independently of the other parts of the machine
and thereby distribute the ink and water upon the rollers while the other parts
of the machine remain out of action. For this purpose I mount the axle or
trunnions of the plate cylinder in eccentric bushings carried by bearings in the
side frames of the machine, such eccentric bushings being adapted to be shifted
angularly when desired by means of suitable levers and rods, so as to cause the
plate cylinder to be moved a sufficient distance in a direction to bring its surface

page_text: out of contact with the impression cylinder and the inking rollers. The damp-
ing rollers are mounted in a pivotal frame which is connected with the aforesaid
levers aud rods by which the eccentric bushings are actuated, so that simul-
taneously with the shifting of the said bushings, the damping rollers are thrown out
of contact with the surface of the plate cylinder. I also provide means in con-
junction with the said pivotal frame whereby the latter can be actuated
independently of the said levers and rods that operate the eccentric bushings and
thus permit of the damping rollers being thrown out of contact with the surface
of the plate cylinder without throwing the latter out of gear with the impression
cylinder.
I also provide means whereby the said pivotal frame can be caused to auto-
matically shift and bring its damping rollers out of contact with the plate
cylinder whilst the inking table on said cylinder is passing the said damping
rollers during the revolution of the qylinder. These means may consist of a
lever having a foot upon which the pivotal frame rests and by its weight keeps
the free end of said lever pressed against a cam on the trunnion of the plate
cylinder. The said cam is so formed and arranged that in its revolution it rocks
the lever at the proper times and thereby allows the said frame to descend
slightly and so temporarily remove the damping rollers from the surface of the
plate cylinder as aforesaid.
In order to regulate the quantity of water with which the damping rollers are
charged, I mount the vibrating roller for transferring the water from the fountain
to the damping rollers, on a spindle provided with a crank arm, which is acted
upon by an adjustable device for causing the said crank arm and therefore the
said vibrating roller to oscillate with more or less speed, or in other words to
lie for a shorter or longer time in contact with the damping rollers. The said
device may comprise a rocking segmental cam piece which receives its rocking
movement from a crank pin on one of the gear wheels driving the damping
apparatus, the said crank pin being connected with the rocking cam piece by
a rod whose length is adjustable. By adjusting the length of this rod the inter-
vals of time between each stroke of the crank and therefore the vibrations of
the vibrating roller can be readily regulated. The said adjustment may be
effected by forming the connecting rod in two parts connected together by an
internally screw threaded sleeve, the screw threads of which are right and left
handed to engage with right hand screw threads one one of the parts of the
connecting rod and with left hand screw threads on the other part. In accord-
ance with the direction in which the said sleeve is revolved the length of the
connecting rod will be increased or diminished.
Dated this 25th day of November 1897
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings. London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Printing Machines.
I, BICKNELL HALL, of 31, Bedford Place, 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:-
This invention relates to printing machines especially to those of the kind
generally known as rotary machines or cylinder-presses.

page_text: The machine in its general construction and arrangement comprises a plate or
type cylinder and an impression cylinder which are caused to revolve in opposite
directions. A delivery cylinder located beneath the feed board and provided with
a toothed wheel, gears with the impression cylinder and actuates a series of tapes
whereby the sheets of paper taken from the impression cylinder by a gripper
are conducted to the fly by which they are delivered one by one upon the delivery
table as is well understood. The inking apparatus is arranged above the plate
cylinder and is actuated by means of gearing driven from a toothed ring or wheel
mounted independently of the plate cylinder but adapted to revolve concentri-
cally therewith when said cylinder is in its printing position. The damping
apparatus is arranged near the lower portion of the plate cylinder and is driven
from the inking apparatus by a belt or band passing around pullies suitably
arranged in connection with the said inking and damping apparatus.
An essential feature of my invention has reference to the plate cylinder which
is adapted to be conveniently thrown out of gear with the impression cylinder
when desired without interfering with the working of the inking apparatus or the
damping apparatus, so that these apparatus and the plate cylinder may be allowed
to work independently of the other parts of the machine and thereby distribute
the ink and water upon the form rollers while the other parts of the machine
remain out of action.
:
Another important feature of my invention has reference to the arrangement
of the water form rollers on a pivotal frame which is so combined with the
mechanism employed for shifting the plate cylinder, that the position of said
water for rollers will be varied simultaneously with the shifting of the said
cylinder. I also provide means in conjunction with the said pivotal frame
whereby, during the revolution of the plate cylinder, the said pivotal frame will
be oscillated to shift the water form rollers out of contact with the said cylinder
each time the inking table thereon passes the said rollers. I also provide means
whereby the said pivotal frame can be shifted by hand to bring the water form
rollers out of contact with the surface of the plate cylinder without throwing the
latter out of gear with the impression cylinder.
Another important feature of my invention has reference to the regulation of
the quantity of water with which the water form rollers are charged, and con-
sists in mounting the ductor roller for transferring the water from the fountain
to the water form rollers, on a shaft provided with a crank arm, which is acted
upon by an adjustable device for causing the said crank arm and therefor the
said ductor roller to oscillate with more or less speed, or in other words to lie
for a shorter or longer time in contact with the water form rollers.
In order that my said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the same more fully with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine.
Figure 2 is a horizontal section of a portion of the machine taken approxi-
mately on the line 1, 1, of Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a sectional elevation and a plan of the adjust-
able device for regulating the quantity of water with which the water form rollers
are charged.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are diagrammatical views showing the plate cylinder in
three of the positions into which it is capable of being shifted relatively to the
impression cylinder.
Like reference letters indicate similar parts in all the figures.
A is the plate cylinder. B the impression cylinder. C the inking apparatus,
Dthe damping apparatus, E the delivery cylinder, I the feed board. G the front
guide. H the delivery table, and I the series of tapes for conducting the sheets
of paper from the impression cylinder to the delivery table.
The plate cylinder A and the impression cylinder B are both of large diameter
and are arranged side by side as near the ground as convenient. They are pro-

page_text: the
vided at one end with toothed wheels a, b (see Figure 2) which gear together and
by their revolution cause the cylinders to revolve in opposite directions, motion
being transmitted to these toothed wheels by a pinion mounted on
main shaft A of the machine and provided with a clutch for throwing it into
and out of gear. The plate cylinder A is driven from a pinion A which is also
mounted on the main shaft A of the machine and which gears with the toothed
wheel a on the axle bearing of the plate cylinder. The said plate cylinder is
provided with trunnions which are mounted in eccentric bushings carried
by bearings in the side frames A2 of the machine. Each of these bushings
has an arm at which is connected by means of a rod to one arm of a double
crank mounted on a transverse shaft 7. To the other arm of such crank is
connected, by a rod a, a crank a provided with a lever handle. By actuating
this handle the machine attendant can cause the eccentric bushings to be shifted
angularly to bring the surface of the plate cylinder A out of contact with the
impression cylinder B. as shown in Figure 6, or out of contact with the impres-
sion cylinder B and the inking rolls C as shown in Figure 7. In order that
these movements may be effected without impediment from the damping rol
lers D, the latter are mounted in the frame which is pivotally connected to a
transverse shaft. This frame is likewise connected to the arm of the afore-
said double crank, by means of the link and rod ³, so as to be simultaneously
shifted about its pivot in correspondence with the eccentric movement of the
cylinder A, when the handle all is operated. To support the aforesaid pivotal
frame in each of its shifted positions above stated, it is furnished with a hinged
cam piece (Figures 5, 6 and 7) attached to the link . This cam piece has
three faces each of which, by the movement of the said link about its pivot 75,
is successively brought into a position to rest upon a foot or bracket as the
frame is shifted into the respective positions represented in Figures 5, 6 and 7.
The said foot or bracket forms part of an arm which is pivoted at 18 to
the frame of the machine, such arm being oscillated about its pivot by a cam
as the plate cylinder A revolves. Therefore the aforesaid bracket in addition
to serving as a support for the pivotal frame also acts to transmit the oscillatory
movement of the arm to the said frame d, whereby the water form rollers are
shifted away from the cylinder A each time the inking plate thereon passes in
front of them.
(710 is a lever handle by which the pivotal frame d can be manually thrown
out of contact with the cylinder A, without shifting the latter by the means
above stated.
(Figures 5, 6 and 7) is the water fountain of the aforesaid damping apparatus
and D is the ductor roller carried by a rocking arm D³. This arm oscillates
between the fountain roller D and the distributing roller D5 whereby the ductor
roller is alternately brought against the fountain roller D and the distributing
roller D. Water is thus conveyed from the fountain to the water form rollers D
mounted on the aforesaid pivotal frame d. For the purpose of regulating the
quantity of water with which the water form rollers are charged, the arm D³
carrying the ductor roller D³ is cranked and furnished with a roller 1)7 (see
Figures 3 and 4) that bears against a rocking segmental cam piece 18. This
cam piece receives its rocking movement from a crank pin D³ on one of the
wheels of the driving gear of the damping apparatus. The said crank pin is
connected with the rocking cam piece by a rod which is formed in two parts ǹw Du
each of which is screw threaded in opposite directions and such parts are con-
nected together by a correspondingly threaded sleeve D. In accordance with
the direction in which the said sleeve is revolved the length of the connecting
rod will be increased or diminished and the position of the rocking cam piece
relatively to the roller Di on the arm carrying the ductor roller D² will be varied.
Consequently the length of time that the ductor roller remains in contact with
the distributing roller D and the amount of water supplied thereto will be
correspondingly varied.

page_text: The inking apparatus may be of the ordinary construction and comprises an
ink fountain C, ductor rollers C², vibrating drum intermediate roller C', dis-
tributing rollers and form rollers Co.
The said inking apparatus and damping apparatus are actuated from the afore-
said toothed wheel mounted on the axle bearing of the plate cylinder A and
driven by the pinion A' on the main shaft of the machine (see Figures 5, 6 and 7).
By mounting the toothed wheel at on the axle bearing of the plate cylinder it
will be observed that the position of this wheel is unaffected by the eccentric
movements of the plate cylinder when it is shifted by the handle a". I do not
however confine myself to this position of the said toothed wheel a¹ as it may
be otherwise arranged so long as it will revolve independently of the plate cylinder
and concentrically therewith when the said cylinder occupies its printing position.
When the machine is at work and printing in the ordinary manner the parts
are in the position represented in Figure 5. When it is desired to remove the
plate cylinder out of contact with the impression cylinder without however remov-
ing it from all the inking rollers, it is shifted into the position represented in
Figure 6. In this position the ink is being supplied from one of the inking
rollers to the plate on the cylinder A ready for printing. To remove said plate
cylinder out of contact with the impression cylinder and the inking rollers, it
is shifted into the position represented in Figure 7 in which position the ink is
being distributed on the inking rollers without being supplied to the plate on the
cylinder A.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
-
1. A rotary printing machine in which the plate cylinder is mounted in eccen-
tric bushings that can be shifted angularly to bring the said cylinder out of
contact with the impression cylinder or out of contact with both the impression
cylinder and the inking rollers, for the purposes specified.
2. The combination with the toothed gearing for driving the inking apparatus
and the damping apparatus of a toothed wheel which is mounted independently
of the plate cylinder but adapted to revolve concentrically therewith when the
said plate cylinder is in printing position for the purpose specified.
3. The pivotal frame carrying the damping or water form rollers, and its com-
bination with the plate cylinder and the mechanism for shifting the latter,
substantially as described and for the purposes specified.
4. A rotary printing machine having its parts constructed arranged and com-
bined to operate substantially as described with reference to the accompanying
drawings for the purposes specified.
1
1900
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.