IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PREPARING PAPER FOR PRINTING
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gray, Kn². and M.P., of Charlville House,
in the County of Dublin, Ireland, and Edmund William Dwyer
Gray, of Eighty-throc, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PREPARING PAPER FOR
PRINTING."
Scaled the 10th March 1874, and dated the 10th October 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gray and Edmund
William Dwyer Gray at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 10th October 1873.
I, JOHN GRAY, Kn. and M.P., of Charlville House, in the County
of Dublin, Ireland, and I, EDMUND WILLIAM DWYER GRAY, of Eighty-
three, Middle Abbey Street, Dublin, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PREPARING PAPER FOR
PRINTING," to be as follows:—
The object to be accomplished by means of our Invention is the
damping of the paper as it passes from the roll to the printing cylinders

page_text: of the printing machine, and the means by which we effect the said
object are as follows:-We place near the end of the printing machine
into which the paper is to be drawn or fed, and between the printing
of the paper and the impressing part of the machine or printing
cylinders a series of cylinders and rollers. Some of these we call
damping cylinders for greater clearness of description, and some
guiding or carrying cylinders. The first damping cylinder we use
to damp one side of the paper as it is drawn or fed towards the
printing machine. This first damping we accomplish in different ways,
according to circumstances.
By one arrangement we, cause the paper to be drawn over a fixed
hollow cylinder or other vessel containing water, and having on its
upper surface a continuous longitudinal slit or opening capable of
being more or less closed, and we cause a spray or mist of water to
be forcibly driven through this slit against the passing paper by the
action of a revolving brush or other adjustment, which by suitable
gearing is caused to revolve rapidly in the vessel or cylinder, or by
means of jets of water passing through very fine holes, or other adjust-
*ment capable of dividing the water into spray or mist. As the paper
passes over this slit, or the series of fine apertures, the spray or mist
impinges on it and damps the one side of the paper. This first damping
may be accomplished by several other means, as by a revolving cylinder
working in a trough containing water which will carry up a regulated
quantity of water and impart some of it to the paper as it passes over
and on it; or the revolving cylinder may be clothed with a soft
absorbent material, which being damped by contact with or a drip
of water from other damped absorbent material, or by the direct
application of a regulated and evenly distributed supply of water will
acquire and impart to the side of the paper that is led or drawn over
it a proper and regulated supply of moisture or dampness. This
dampness may also be imparted by passing the paper over or through
the vapour of water or steam at a moderate temperature in close
chambers suitably adjusted for the free passage of the paper, and the
admission of the vapour and its exit while confining the vapour
sufficiently to secure its full effect. In this case the paper would bẹ
damped on both sides more or less sufficiently.
The noner damned on one side by any of these or other modifications

page_text: cylinders to what we call a second damping cylinder, where by suitable
arrangements herein-after described the dampness already received on
one side of the paper or on both is forced into and through its substance
by means of heat, which applied to the more damp side of the paper
causes the water of dampness to vapourize and to penetrate the paper,
and so damp it throughout its substance.
We also effect the second damping by means of suitably damped
and weighted rollers pressed upon the previously undamped side or
surface of the paper. By means of this second damping process,
whether it be effected by the vapourizing of the damp imparted by
the first damping, or by the application of pressure with the additional
damping of a wetted cylinder or rubber, or by the vapour bath, or
steam chamber, the paper before reaching the impressing cylinders,
or part of the machine that performs the impressing operation is
so damped throughout as to be in a fit state to receive the inking
impression.
The mode by which we vapourize the water of dampness imparted
to the paper by any of the first damping processes, so as to produce
the second or through damping may be variously accomplished, but
by preference as follows:-The continuous sheet of paper damped on
one side by means of what we call the first damping cylinder (whether
the stationary or the revolving be used) is fed or drawn on to what
we call the second damping cylinder or cylinders, which latter consists
of one or more hollow metallic cylinders or tubes which heated and kept
hot by any suitable means, preferentially by means of steam with an
arrangement of pipes for the entrance of the steam, and the exit of
the products of its condensation. The paper is drawn in its passage
towards the printing cylinders over the heated hollow cylinders or
tubes, the damped side being in contact with the heated metal the
heat vapourizes the water of dampness, and the vapour having no
free exit penetrates the paper, and in part passes visibly through it
leaving a dampness throughout its substance.
If the heat of the cylinder, the dampness imparted by the first
damping, and the speed with which the paper passes over the heating
arrangement be properly adjusted the paper will acquire in this process
the proper degree of dampness to fit it for being printed on.
The other mode by which we impart the second damping by means
of a second wet cylinder or roller and pressure causing the first and

page_text: second damping to penetrate the paper and become more or less.
equally distributed throughout its substance is so nearly identical
with one of the processes described for the accomplishing of the first
damping by means of a clothed cylinder that it is unnecessary to
give a detailed description of it, further than to say that in using
this process one or more additional guide rollers will have to be
used so as to turn the previously undamped surface of the paper
toward the second damping cylinder or roller, which latter, by having
its weight or gearing, or both, suitably adjusted to produce pressure
on the passing paper, may be made to impart sufficient pressure to
cause the dampings imparted by the two actions in part penetrate
the paper and distribute themselves more evenly through the substance
of the paper as well as to impart a modicum of dampness.
We accomplish the object of damping the paper in its transit to
the printing cylinders by these several processes, or by modification
of the details of them; but wo prefer the process of vaporizing the
first dampness, and so permeating the paper by a damping vapour,
as described, whether the dampness be produced by water spray, damped
rollers, or vapour of water.
Wo sometimes use the vapour solely, and perform the process of
preparation or damping by means of the vapour or steam bath or
chamber, only passing the paper from the chamber direct to the
impressing or printing portion of the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent;
filed by the said John Gray and Edmund William Dwyer Gray in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, John
GRAY, Kn*. and M.P., of Charlville House, in the County of Dublin,
Ireland, and EDMUND WILLIAM DWYER GRAY, of Eighty-three, Middle
Abbey Street, Dublin, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and

page_text: successors, give and grant unto us, the said John Gray, and Edmund
William Dwyer Gray, Her special license that we, the said John
Gray and Edmund William Dwyer Gray, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Gray and Edmund
William Dwyer Gray, our 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 APPARATUS FOR PREPARING PAPER FOR
PRINTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John
Gray and Edmund William Dwyer Gray, our executors or admini-
strators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, should par-
ticularly 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 we, the said John Gray and Edmund William.
Dwyer Gray, 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, that is to say :-
The object to be accomplished by means of our Invention is mainly
the instantaneous and thorough damping of the substance as well as of
the surfaces of the paper used for printing machines, which print from
the roll or web, and the effecting such damping after the roll has been
placed in situ on or in connection with the machine, and while the
paper is passing from the roll to the printing or impressing portion of
the machine, thus saving the expense, time, and practical inconvenience
of requiring to have the paper wetted previously so as to secure a
damping of the substance of the paper, as is done by the ordinary
process of damping, and allowing the paper to soak for some hours,
which hitherto has been the only means known to printers for effecting
a damping of the substance as well as of the surfaces of the paper.
Various means have heretofore been tried for damping the paper as it
passes from the roll to the impression portion of the printing machinery,
but none of them have succeeded in doing more than damping the
surfaces.

page_text: We will now proceed to describe more in detail our Invention, and
the means which we have found to be most satisfactory and effective
for producing an instantaneous, thorough, and through damping of the
substance, as well as of the surfaces of the paper.
.
Our improved process may be described as consisting of two stages or
operations. The first stage is the damping of one side of the sheet of
the paper as it unwinds from off the roll. The second stage or operation
is to cause the paper after it has been wetted or damped on one side to
pass in close contact with a heated metallic or other body interposed
between the arrangement for producing the first damping operation and
the printing or impressing portion of the machine. By the operation of
this heated body the damp or wet imparted to the one surface of the
paper in the first stage is converted into vapour or steam by the heat of
the heated metallic or other body, and is forced in part into the
substance of and in part visibly through the surface of the passing:
paper, thus imparting the second or thorough and through damping to
it immediately before it passes to be pressed between the type bed and
the impression blanket of the machine, and so preparing it to receive
more effectually the impression from the inked types.
The damping of one side or surface of the sheet of paper may be
effected in a great variety of ways. It may be effected by directing a
very fine spray of water on to it as it is unwound from off the roll, or it
may be effected by a damping roller or by other suitable appliance. The
paper so damped is carried on and guided by cylindrical rollers to the
impression portion of the machine, and in the course of its transit is
passed over a cylinder or roller or a segmental section of a cylinder
heated by steam, hot air, or otherwise in such a position that the wetted
side of the paper is brought in close contact with the heated surface, and
the water of dampness is more or less vaporized by the heat, and the
vapour or steam produced having no free exit from between the heated;
body and the paper penetrates the substance of the paper and in part
visibly passes through it, thus damping the second surface as well as
the substance of the paper, and preparing it for the reception of the
inking impression, which it receives immediately after it is so damped.
Various modifications of the mechanical means for effecting the two
stages may be adopted to suit the various circumstances that will arise
in practice resulting from the construction of the machines, the position
of the roll of paper, and other causes which it is needless to enumerate.

page_text: In order however that the nature of our Invention may be more fully
understood we proceed to explain by means of Drawings, Figures,
letters, and verbal description, one method by which we carry out and
apply this our Invention to the roll or web printing machine known as
the Victory printing and folding machine.
Drawing No. 1 gives a side view of the Victory web printing machine
shewing the two type cylinders T1 and T2, the two impression or
blanket cylinders B1 and B2, and also the first and second stages of
our damping arrangement D and H as placed in situ when the machine
is at work.
Figure 1 also shews the line of transit of the paper P, P, P, passing from
the roll R over our first stage D of the damping arrangement over our
vaporising or heating arrangement H and on to the first type cylinder T 1.
On the right portion of the Drawing is the web or roll of paper R as usually
placed near the end of the machine. Between it and the machine is
placed an ordinary frame F which is secured to the floor. This frame F
carries the arrangement D for imparting the first damping to the paper.
The paper P, P, P, is shewn passing from the roll to typc cylinder T 1
situate at the far end of the machine. The frame F carries a cylindrical
vessel D in which is placed a long circular brush similar in form to the
brush used for brushing hair by machinery. The brush is geared by a
pulley and belt, see Figure 1, driven by one of the revolving shafts in
the printing machine, and by this means it is given a rapid rotary
motion. This cylindrical vessel contains a quantity of water which is
supplied constantly in regulated quantities by any of the ordinary means,
and has a longitudinal slit or opening at its upper surface which is a
little flattened. The revolutions of the brush cause the water taken up
by it to be driven off by centrifugal force in a fine spray or mist which
passes through the longitudinal slit or opening in the upper part of the
vessel, and sprinkles the lower side of the paper as guided by two rollers
it passes over one roller and under the other so as to pass over the upper
surface of the cylinder. Apparatus similar to that just described for
directing a fine spray of water against the surface of a passing sheet of
paper has before been used for damping paper by the old soaking
process previous to its being placed on the machine. The paper passes
on as indicated by the lino P, P, P, till it comes to the heated body or
cylinder shewn at H, which may be heated by a jet of steam, hot air,
or other means. For this case we shew it as a hollow cylinder heated

page_text: by steam let into its interior. The paper is drawn on in close contact
with this heated cylinder the damp side being close to and next the
cylinder. The water of dampness is vaporized and having no free exit
passes part of it into and some of it through the paper, thus giving it
instantaneously the precise quantity of dampness desired just at the
time the paper is passing into the body of the printing machine to be
pressed between the types, stereotype, or other printing form T 1 and the
first blanket or impressing cylinder B1 of the machine.
with this heated cylinder the damp side being close to and next the
cylinder. The water of dampness is vaporized and having no free exit
passes part of it into and some of it through the paper, thus giving it
instantaneously the precise quantity of dampness desired just at the
time the paper is passing into the body of the printing machine to be
pressed between the types, stereotype, or other printing form T1 and the
first blanket or impressing cylinder B1 of the machine.
In Drawing No. 1 the frame F on which we place our first damping
arrangement is shewn as carrying the cylindrical vessel the upper half
of which is removed to shew the revolving brush.
Drawing 5. F2 shews another means of producing the spray which we
will describe hereafter and which we prefer to employ.
Figure 2 shews.the steam cylinder H with its pipe and stop-cock at each
end, one for admitting and regulating the steam the other for letting out
the condensed steam. This steam heater, as shewn, is cylindrical and is
by preference made of copper, it is stationary though capable of being
occasionally turned round to permit of a new friction surface should
symptoms of wear appear, but it may be made of any other metal or
suitable substance capable of resisting pressure and heat. This is the
cylinder H shewn in end section in Drawing No. 1. In some cases we
use two heated cylinders.
Another and under many circumstances a more facile mode of producing
the spray is shewn in Figures 3 and 4, and on the frame in Figure 5.
An ordinary brass or other metal pipe of about 1 inch diameter
furnished with a number of jets (Figure 3) about three inches apart, cach
jet having a single opening about the size of a common pin is placed in
a long uncovered box about 5 to 6 inches square (Figure 4). This pipe
is supplied with water regulated by a tap to a pressure of about 10 lbs.
to the inch, the pressure being derived either from the street main, an a
elevated cistern, or a small pump connected with the engine. Rollers
as shewn in Figure 1, at the top of the frame F guide the paper over
the box, and when the tap is opened the water issuing from the jets
which are placed inclining upwards at an angle of about 20 to
30 degrees strikes the metal lined side of the uncovered box about 2 3
to 3 inches from the top, and a portion rises upwards in a fine spray or

page_text: slow absorption of damp, and thus brought to the proper state for being
printed on.
2. The employment of a series of fine jets of water caused to impinge
against a smooth surface and become broken up into a fine spray for
damping the surface of a web of paper, substantially as herein described,
which arrangement is alike applicable for damping paper as it is
unwound from one roll to be again rolled up into another, or for damping
paper as it passes into a printing machine, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Gray and Edmund William
Dwyer Gray, have hereunto set our, hands and seals, this ]
Twenticth day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-four.
JOHN GRAY.
(L.S.)
E. DWYER GRAY. (L.S.)