A ROTARY LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTING MACHINE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pearce Wolstenholme, of Blackburn, in the
County of Lancaster, Engraver and Printer, for the Invention of
"A ROTARY LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTING MACHINE."
Scaled the 24th September 1872, and dated the 30th March 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pearce Wolstenholme
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th March 1872.
I, PEARCE WOLSTENHOLME, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster,
Engraver and Printer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "A ROTARY LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTING MACHINE," to be as follows:-
I have a sort of cylinder with a recess in the side of it for the reception
of the lithographic stone; this cylinder is mounted on a shaft to which
is given a rotary motion, or if preferred an oscillating motion, that is to
say, after it is turned part way round it is turned back again. The
printing face of the stone is curved, the curve being the arc of a circle,
the centre of which is the cylinder shaft; the stone projects a little
beyond the side of the cylinder, for one reason that it may come in
contact with one or more damping rollers placed near the cylinder's
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circumference, and which touch the stone but not the cylinder. Placed
similarly to the damping rollers are three or more inking rollers, which
are allowed to rise and fall and touch both the stone and the cylinder,
or a metal covering which goes about half way round the cylinder; this
covering serves to distribute the ink upon the inking rollers, and is
for this purpose made to slide backwards and forwards for a short
distance along the cylinder, receiving ink from one part of the inking
rollers, and then moving its position it communicates that ink to
another part of the rollers which is less supplied; it is made with curved
edges which overhang the cylinder at each side, and which are acted
upon by small bowls attached to the framing of the machine, the said
bowls pressing upon the high parts of the curved edges press the cover
sideways, and as this is the case at each side it receives a backward and
forward motion. There is an endless band carried by two rollers, one
of which is directly under the cylinder and receives the pressure when
printing; upon this endless band the paper is laid, and as the stone
comes round it presses upon the before-named roller and takes the
endless band and paper along; the pressure roller is set up by a screw
to get more or less pressure. To separate the paper from the stone
after being printed, there are two or more sharp pointed fingers which
are set so as to touch the face of the stone, and which as the stone
comes round get under the edge of the paper and separate it from the
stone as it comes forward.
For feeding the inking rollers with ink I employ one of the common
ink boxes now in use and place it above one of the inking rollers; this
ink box is carried by two rods working in guides and resting upon two
eccentrics on the cylinder shaft, which are shaped so as to keep the box
in an elevated position and also to let it drop and come in contact with
the said inking roller and communicate thereto a small portion of ink,
after which it is lifted up again; the ink taken by the one roller is
distributed by means of the metal cover on the cylinder to the other
rollers.
For feeding the damping rollers with water I have a water trough
placed near them, and a cloth which dips into the water rests also on the
rollers, the cloth conveying by capillary attraction the moisture from
the trough to the rollers.
To prevent the inking and damping rollers from having a seam where
the covering would be joined together, I knitt or weave the said covering

page_text: in the form of a tube and without seam, and draw it on to the said
rollers.
This machine is intended and equally adapted for printing from a roll
of paper as well as sheets, and what I have here said or may say of a
lithographic stone has the same reference to a zinc plate or block when
printing from that instead of stone.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Pearce Wolstenholme in the Great Seal Patent,
Office on the 28th September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PEARCE
WOLSTENHOLME, of Blackburn, in the County of Lancaster, Engraver
and Printer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Pearce Wolstenholme, Her special licence:
that I, the said Pearce Wolstenholme, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Pearce Wolstenholme, 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 'A ROTARY LITHOGRAPHIC
PRINTING MACHINE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said.
Pearce Wolstenholme, my executors, administrators, or assigns, 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
"
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page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings:-
This machine is intended more particularly to print on
"endless
paper," or rather on a roll of paper, though it will print equally well
from "cut sheets." I have a sort of metal cylinder A carrying a litho-
graphic stone B, this cylinder has an axle C running through it and
turning with it, and is furnished at one end with a fly wheel and
handle D for giving motion thereto. The stone is firmly held in its
place by a set screw at one end E, and under the bottom there is an
elastic packing F, which not only modifies the severity of the pressure
in printing but renders it unimportant that the face of the stone be the
true arc of a circle, neither is the thickness of the packing of importance,
a little more or a little less being counterbalanced by the pressure roller
being brought nearer to or further from the cylinder. Between the
pressure roller G and the screw regulating it I also place an elastic
packing H. The stone as it turns round touches a pair of damping
rollers K, K, placed near its circumference, and recieves therefrom
sufficient moisture to damp it; it next passes under several inking
rollers L, L, L, L, placed also near its circumference, and which serve
in like manner to ink it, after which it comes in contact with the paper
to be printed; this paper rests on an endless band M, underneath which
is a roller G to receive the necessary pressure; this roller serves also to
carry the endless band, which only moves forward by the pressure of
printing and never backward, standing at rest between one revolution
of the stone and the next. There are two or more damping rollers K, K,
with a trough of water N placed above them; a cloth P which is partly
immersed in the water rests also upon the said rollers and conveys by
capillary attraction the water from the trough to the rollers. The ends
of the inking rollers L, L, L, L, are each placed in open slots, and are
capable of being lifted up and down and of turning round, they rest
upon the stone and cylinder simply with their own weight, being made
sufficiently heavy of themselves to give the necessary pressure for inking.
One of the inking rollers is fed with ink from an ordinary duct. Q
placed above it.
The metal cylinder A carrying the stone is of a peculiar construction,
for besides being made to carry the stone and revolve with it, it also per-
forms another most important office, namely, that of distributing the ink

page_text: upon the inking rollers, for which purpose it is furnished with a movable
cover R made. by preference of metal and revolving with the cylinder,
but in addition to which it has another motion sideways given to it by
small bowls S fixed on the framing of the machine and pressing alter-
nately on the edges of the said cover, the edges not being parrallel to
each other, but curved or inclined, Fig. 1, in such a way that before the
cover can pass each bowl it must be moved in a direction from it.. The
above-named motions given to the cover enable it not only to take
ink from the first roller and give it to the others, but also to take ink
from any part of a roller surcharged and give it to a part less supplied.
I place a guard T across the machine to prevent the paper being
accidentally soiled by the ink.
The damping and inking arrangements I place near together, and as
much on the upper part and feeding side of the cylinder's circumference
as I can, in order to get as much clear space as possible on the delivery
side of the machine, so that the work on the stone' may be always open
to inspection.
To prevent the inking and damping rollers having a seam where the
covering would be joined together, I knitt or weave the said covering
in the form of a tube and without seam, and draw it onto the said
rollers.
In printing upon a roll of paper I either use the endless band or
dispense with it, but in either case I have a long guide strip U, against
which one edge of the paper is placed; in printing on sheets I not only
use the endless band and long strip before named, but also another
small angular guide, against which I place that end of the sheet which
is furthest from the stone.
For transferring, the inking and damping rollers are just lifted out,
the transfer sheet is placed in proper position on the endless band, and
the cylinder turned round as often as desired.
For polishing the stone and in order to keep it somewhat like the
shape desired, I have an iron trough the shape of the stone's face; this
trough I sprinkle with sand and water and draw the stone backwards and
forwards in it.
What I have herein said of a lithographic stone has the like reference
to a zinc block or plate when printing from that instead of stone.
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page_text: Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner of carrying it into effect, I wish it to be understood that what I.
claim, are,-
PEARCE WOLSTENHOLME. (L.S.)