IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING FROM TYPES, OR BY A SPECIAL ADAPTATION FROM STONE OF OTHER FLAT SURFACE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Iver Mac Donnell, of No. 13, Anglesea Strect, in
the City of Dublin, Letter-press Printer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING FROM TYPES, OR BY A SPECIAL ADAPTATION FROM
STONE OF OTHER FLAT SURFACE."
Sealed the 28th January 1873, and dated the 29th July 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Iver Mac Donnell at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th July 1872.
I, IVER MAC DONNELL, of No. 13, Anglesea Street, in the City of
5 Dublin, Letter-press Printer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING FROM TYPES, OR BY A SPECIAL ADAP-
TATION FROM STONE OR OTHER FLAT SURFACE," to be as follows:-
A system of revolving inking rollers ink the types, and obtain ink
from a cylindrical surface, round which they move. Impression on the
O paper is obtained by a platen, which is drawn into action by levers,

page_text: which are moved by friction rollers placed on two wheels.
A stop
action is provided by a clutch, which detaches the driving fly wheel.
The ductor roller is made to rise from the ink cylinder to meet the
inking rollers by curved levers, which are depressed by the revolving
friction rollers. The adjustment of pressure is regulated by a cam
bushing placed on each end of the platen bar..
A parallel motion of the platen to the type at moment of pressure is
obtained by hinging the platen in blocks which move in guides at a
right angle to the form of types.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Iver Mac Donnell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th January 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, IVER
MAC DONNELL, of No. 13, Anglesea Street, in the City of Dublin, Letter-
press Printer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Iver Mac Donnell, Her special license that
I, the said Iver Mac Donnell, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Iver. Mac Donnell, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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
FROM TYPES, OR BY A SPECIAL ADAPTATION FROM STONE OR OTHER FLAT SURFACE,”
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Iver Mac Donnell,
my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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

page_text: 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 Iver Mac Donnell, 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 :—
My said Invention relates to a simple, compact, and economical con-
struction of printing machines, and consists of a system of revolving
inking rollers, which receive ink from an inking cylinder by means of a
ductor roller, which is made to rise at the proper time to meet such
inking rollers as they revolve. The inking rollers distribute the ink on
to a cylindrical surface, over which they are caused to traverse before
passing over the types or other printing surface from which impressions
are to be taken. Impressions are obtained by means of a platen, which
is drawn into action by pressure levers, acted upon by friction rollers;
carried on two spur wheels arranged on opposite sides of the machine.
The platen receives a motion parallel to the printing surface at the
moment of pressure by hinging the platen to sliding blocks, which move
in guides cast on the inner faces of the side standards, and arranged at a
right angle to the printing surface.
The pressure of the platen is regulated by means of adjustable wedges
fitted on the upper ends of the pressure levers to which the platen is
connected, such wedges being raised and lowered by means of a screw;
and thereby caused to project more or less a steel or other metal facing
plate, against which the friction rollers herein-before referred to act.
The machine is capable of being instantaneously stopped by throwing
out of gear a sliding clutch, which connects the driving fly wheel to the
driving shaft.
And in order that my said Invention may be better understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same by referring to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which the same letters of reference
are employed to indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved printing machine ;
Figure 2, a corresponding front view of the same; and Figure 3 is a
detail shewing the mode of carrying the inking rollers..

page_text: A, A, are the two side standards of the machine, connected at their
upper ends by the longitudinal bar or spindle B, upon which spindle
there is rigidly fixed a semi-cylindrical or D shaped hollow casting C, to
the flat part a, a, of which the type "forme" or other printing surface
is attached. D is the ink reservoir, provided with a rotating inking
cylinder E. The ductor roller F is carried on the outer ends of two
levers G, and is made to rise and fall so as to convey ink from the
cylinder E on to the inking rollers H each time they rotate around the
casting C in the manner herein-after described. The platen I, by means
of which impressions are obtained, is fixed to a hinged bar J, working on
centres in the blocks K. These blocks are made to slide in slots formed
on the inner faces of the standards A, A, at a right angle to the printing
surface. The two ends of the hinged bar J extend below the blocks K,
and carry cach a friction roller L, which work in the curved slots M.
The inking rollers H are carried on the ends of the sliding bars N (see
Figure 3), which slide in dovetailed grooves formed on the inner faces of
the two spur wheels O, O, mounted loosely upon the bar or spindle B at
the opposite end of the casting C. On the outer face of each of these spur
wheels O there is fitted a cam P, provided at their outer ends with.
friction rollers Q, which as the wheels O rotate act upon and depress the
two curved levers R, to which the levers G, carrying the ductor roller F,
are connected by the links T. It will thus be seen that during the time
the friction rollers Q are travelling along the curved levers R the ductor
roller F will be kept clevated, so as to come in contact with the inking
rollers as they are carried round by the wheels O, O, and thereby
convey to them a supply of .ink from the inking cylinder E. By the
time the inking rollers H have passed the ductor roller, the friction
rollers will be clear of the levers R, when the ductor roller will fall by
its own gravity on to the inking cylinder E to receive a fresh supply of
ink in readiness for the inking rollers upon their next revolution. The
inking cylinder E receives an intermittent rotatory motion by means of
a pawl carried on one of the vibrating levers U, which pawl actuates the
ratchet wheel, keyed on the axle of the inking cylinder E, or by any
other suitable means. After leaving the curved levers R, the friction
rollers Q come in contact with the faces of the vertical vibrating
levers U, forcing them in an outward direction. The vibrating levers U
are hinged at their lower ends to the longitudinal bar V, and carry at
their upper ends a pair of forked levers W, which latter are connected to

page_text: the platen I by the links X. It will be seen that as the vibrating
levers U are forced outwards the platen I will be caused to turn on its
centres in the sliding blocks K, and brought into a vertical position, and
then drawn against the type at a, a, on the casting C in a parallel
direction by causing the blocks K to slide in their slots, such parallel
motion being further ensured by the stops Y carried on the platen bar Z,
against which stops the back side of the platen bears.
0
The pressure of the platen is regulated by providing adjustable wedge
pieces 6, fitted near the upper ends of the vibrating bars U, such wedges
being raised and lowered by the screws c, thereby causing the steel or
other metal face pieces d to project more or less as desired, and thus
regulate the extent of the vibration of the levers U, and consequently
the pressure of the platen against the printing surface. So soon as the
pressure is removed from the platen by the further rotation of the
wheels O, the sliding blocks K will be drawn back in their slots by the
blade springs K¹; the platen will then fall by its own gravity into the
position indicated by the red lines in Figure 1, ready to receive a fresh
sheet to be printed.
The inking rollers H, after receiving their supply of ink from the
) ductor roller traverse the cylindrical portion of the casting C, depositing
thereon any superfluous ink with which they may have been supplied
before passing over the types. The inking rollers H are held in contact
with casting C and the printing surface by means of coiled springs e,
situate in a recess formed in the inner face of the wheels O, O, and
5 connected to the sliding bars N, which carry the inking rollers (see
Figure 3).
Rotatory motion is imparted to the wheels O by pinions f,f, keyed on
to the driving shaft g, which shaft, when driven by steam power, is
provided at one end with fast and loose driving pulleys h, h', its opposite
O end carrying loosely thereon a fly wheel i, which is connected so as to
rotate with the driving shaft g by throwing into gear the sliding clutch k
by means of the lever handle 1, connected thereto by the rod n, which
lever also actuates the strap shifter m. It will thus be seen that by the
act of shifting the driving strap on to one or other of the pullies h, h',
5 the clutch k will be simultaneously thrown into or out of gear with the

page_text: fly wheel i, by which means the machine may be instantaneously stopped
or started when desired.
When intended to be employed for lithographic printing the several
parts of the machine should be made stronger than when intended for
printing from types, and in lieu of employing a platen for imparting
pressure to the printing surface, a leather or other tympan will be
employed, the back of which a pressing roller or scraper will be caused
to traverse and impart the necessary motion thereto.
Although I have described the machine as being driven by means of
a driving strap, it may, if desired, be worked by means of the treadle ó
and connecting rod p, attached to the crank q on the driving shaft, or
by any other convenient means.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is or may be used or may be carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel,
and therefore claim as my Invention is,-
1st. The peculiar arrangement of revolving inking rollers, operating
substantially in the manner herein-before described and illustrated by
iny Drawings.
2ndly. Hinging the platen to sliding blocks, whereby a motion of
such platen parallel to the printing surfaces is obtained, in the manner
herein-before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
3rdly. The combination and arrangement of the cams and levers
for imparting pressure to the platen, as herein-before described and'
illustrated by my Drawings.
4thly. The system or mode of regulating or adjusting the pressure of
the platen, as herein-before described.
5thly. The mode of elevating the ductor roller for conveying ink to
the inking rollers, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated
by my Drawings.
6thly. The system or mode of instantaneously stopping the machine
by means of a clutch, arranged and operating substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
2
3

page_text: 7thly. The general construction and arrangement of printing machino
herein-before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
1
In witness whereof, I, the said Iver Mac Donnell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
JOHN BAIN.
IVER MAC DONNELL. (L.S.)