IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Lewis Baylis, of Worcester, in the County of
Worcester, Printer, and Arthur Greenwood, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Lewis Baylis and
Arthur Greenwood at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th
February 1880.
ALFRED LEWIS BAYLIS, of Worcester, in the County of Worcester, Printer, and
ARTHUR GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PRINTING MACHINERY."
Our Invention relates to that class of printing machines which are known as
platten machines, and consists in so modifying the construction of these machines as
to render them applicable to both lithographic (whether from stone or zinc) and
letter press printing.
In carrying out our Invention we mount a thin lithographic stone or zinc plate
on wood type-high, and fix it in a chase, which we secure to the type bed of the
machine in any convenient manner; or we may use ordinary lithographic stones by
mounting them in a chase on a movable type bed, which is capable of adjustment
by means of screws or in any other convenient manner. For inking the stone or
zinc plate we make use of the same class of ink fountain and distributing rollers as
are used in the printing machines above referred to, but the inking rollers, instead
of being composition rollers, are covered with leather, or india rubber, or other
suitable material for lithographic purposes.
The inking apparatus is so arranged in a vertical frame or carriage as to permit
of the addition of two or more damping rollers placed below them in the same
frame, but above the top of the type bed. The frame or carriage in which these
rollers are mounted receives a vertical motion from a cam on the main shaft, and
when the frame is at the top of its motion the damping rollers will be in contact with
a water supply roller mounted in fixed bearings below the ink cylinder, and driven
by geering from the ink cylinder and at about the same surface speed. This water
supply roller, which may be rotated in a trough or duct of water, is provided with

page_text: a scraper or pressing bar, held against it by springs or other means, to remove the
surplus water therefrom. Upon motion being communicated to the vertical frame
the damping rollers will first pass over the stone or zinc, followed by the inking
rollers; and on the return motion of the frame the inking rollers will pass over the
stone, followed by the damping rollers.
In some classes of work however it is desirable that the damping rollers should
not pass again over the stone after it has been charged with ink. To avoid this we
propose to mount the damping rollers in a separate frame, to which vertical motion
is given from a cam keyed on the main shaft of the machine, or in any other con-
venient manner. The motion of this frame must however be so arranged and timed
that the frame shall make its upward movement over the stone and back again, and
then rest while the inking rollers are passing over the stone and the impression is
being taken. In order to prevent the ink seizing or collecting upon the edges of
the stone as the inking rollers pass over it we provide adjustable cam pieces which
will raise the rollers slightly as they approach the edges of the stone, and allow of
their dropping directly onto the face of the stone instead of striking against the
edge.
As the frisket fingers in these machines may be insufficient to draw the paper
from the stone we propose to use grippers along the top, sides, or edges of the
platten, which shall lay hold of the margin of the paper and withdraw it from the
stone.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alfred Lewis Baylis and Arthur Greenwood in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 6th August 1880.
ALFRED LEWIS BAYLIS, of Worcester, in the County of Worcester, Printer, and
ARTHUR GREENWOOD, of Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PRINTING MACHINERY."
Our Invention relates to that class of printing machines which are known as
platten job machines, and consists in so modifying the construction of these machines
as to render them applicable both to lithographic printing (whether from stones or
zinc plates) and to letter press printing.
In order to effect this object we make the type bed adjustable with respect to the
platten, so as to allow for the greater thickness of the ordinary lithographic stones
over the type "forme," and we adapt to the machine an arrangement of damping
mechanism for wetting the stone previous to the inking operation.
In the accompanying Drawings we have shewn as an example our improvements
applied to the machine known as the "Sun" platten printing machine, and referred
to in the Specifications of two Patents granted to one of the present applicants and
William Caspar Kritch, and dated respectively April Thirtieth, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy five, No. 1602; and November Twenty third, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy six, No. 4549.
Fig. 1, Sheet I., is a side elevation of this machine, and Fig. 2 is a front elevation
of a portion of the inking roller carriage; and Fig. 3, Sheet II., is a plan view of
the machine.
As the general construction, arrangement, and mode of working this machine is
practically the same as that described in the Specifications above referred to,
it will be unnecessary to do more than make a general reference to the principal
parts.
A, A, are the side frames of the machine, and B the main driving shaft, which is
mounted on bearings in the side frames; C is a second shaft mounted in a socket C¹
cast in one piece with the side frames, and receiving motion through the toothed
wheel D, keyed thereon from a pinion on the shaft B.
The shaft C carries the various cams and gear wheels for actuating the different
parts of the machine.
E is the type bed and F the platten, which is connected by the rods F¹ to and
worked by a cam on the shaft C; G is the inking roller carriage, which slides in
the vertical guides or race G; H is the main ink distributing roller, and h, h, are
the inking rollers.
We will now proceed to describe the various modifications rendered necessary to
enable us to carry on our object, viz., that of converting the letter press printing
machine into a lithographic printing press.
The type bed E we cast with a cylindrical stem a, which is threaded externally,
and takes into a threaded collar or tube b. The rear end of this collar b is formed
with an internal rim or flange b', and it abuts against a plate c, which is cast in
one piece with the socket C¹ and side frames A. The collar b is maintained in its
position in contact with the plate c by means of a circular plate d, which is screwed
or otherwise secured to the plate c.
The plate d is rebated at its edge to form with the plate c a groove in which the
flange b' is free to turn axially. The collar b may be provided externally with
holes for the insertion of a bar or lever, by which it can be turned; thus it will be
seen that by turning the collar b in one direction or the other, the type bed E, by
reason of its threaded stem a, may be drawn back or driven forward as circum-

page_text: stances require. This adjustment may also be effected by means of four screws, a
screw being placed at each corner of the type bed. The stone is fixed in a chase,
which is secured to the type bed in any convenient manner.
When thin stones or zinc plates are to be used we mount the stone or zinc plate
on wood type high, and fix the block in a chase, which is then secured to the type
bed E.
The inking mechanism we use is the same as that described in the second of
the two Specifications above referred to, but the rollers we prefer should be covered
with or formed of leather, india-rubber, or other material suitable for lithographic
purposes.
The damping apparatus is placed below the inking mechanism, but above the top
of the type bed E, and consists of a water trough or duct e, a distributing roller f,
and damping rollers g, g. The trough e is secured to the frame A in any suitable
manner, and it is provided with a small supply roller e¹, which runs in contact with
the distributing roller f. The trough is also provided with a scraper or pressing
bar e', which is kept in contact with and serves to remove the surplus water from
the roller f. This roller f is mounted in fixed bearings in the frame A and between
the vertical guides G₁, and is driven by gearing from the ink distributing roller H,
and at about the same surface speed. The damping rollers g, g, are mounted in the
roller carriage in the same manner as the inking rollers, that is, in sliding bushes or
bearings, which are kept in position by coiled springs. The damping rollers are
provided in the same manner with runners, which run on the edges of the vertical
guides (see the front view, Fig. 2).
It is however necessary to prevent the damping rollers g, g, from running in
contact with the inked stone, and we therefore provide a means whereby these
rollers may be held out of contact during the upward or return motion of the
carriage G. Upon both ends of the axle of each damping roller is mounted loosely
a cam piece g¹, which carries a bowle g²; these cam pieces are allowed to rock on
their axles, and the amount of rocking motion in one direction is determined by
pins g³ fixed to the sliding bushes which carry the rollers. The bowles g² of the
cam pieces run in different paths on the edges of the guides G¹, and into recesses
g, g, formed therein. As the carriage G descends, the cam pieces will be tipped,
and the bowles will trail the rollers running on their respective runners; but as the
carriage ascends, the cam pieces will be caused to jam against the pins g³, and force
the sliding bushes carrying the rollers outwards a sufficient distance to allow the
damping rollers g, g, to pass clear of the stone, the bowles running on the guides G¹.
When the carriage arrives at its highest point the bowles will enter their respective
recesses g, which are of sufficient depth to allow of the rollers being drawn back by
the springs into contact with the water distributor f.
The recesses g³ at the bottom of the race are intended to allow the cam pieces to
fall into the position shewn at Fig. 1, and during the ascent of the carriage that
position will be maintained, with the effect, as before explained, of forcing the
sliding bushes outwards.
Thus during the descent the damping rollers will pass in contact with the stone,
followed by the inking rollers; but during the ascent the inking rollers only will
be in contact, and the damping rollers will therefore be kept clean and free
from ink.
In order to prevent the ink seizing or collecting upon the top and bottom edges of
the stone or plate, and also from coming into contact with the water distributor f,
we provide adjustable cam pieces or their equivalent on the race G¹, over which
the runners of the inking rollers will run at the proper time to effect the desired
object.
In the diagram, Fig. 4, Sheet II., we have shewn an arrangement of damping
mechanism as adapted to another type of platten machine, viz., that in which the
platten is fixed and the type bed moveable, such a machine being described in

page_text: the Specification of Patent granted to Samuel Cropper, dated 14th March, 1871,
No. 675.
In this case the water trough and distributor are mounted below the type bed,
and motion is communicated to the distributor from the driving shaft by gearing or
other suitable means. The damping rollers are mounted below the inking rollers,
and means are provided, as before explained, for preventing the damping rollers
running in contact with the inked stone, and also for preventing the inking rollers
from inking the stone before it is wetted.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in Printing
Machinery," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, we wish
it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent we
claim,-
First. Making the type beds of platten printing machines adjustable, for the
purpose set forth.
Second. Adapting to platten printing machines an arrangement of damping
rollers whereby the said machines may when desired be used for lithographic
printing, the said rollers being held away from contact with the stone or zinc plate
during the return movement of the inking roller carriage.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Lewis Baylis, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
ALFRED LEWIS BAYLIS. (LS.)