IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FOLDING, COVERING, AND PASTING PAPER
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lako, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FOLDING, COVERING,
AND PASTING PAPER." -A. communication from abroad by Cyrus
Chambers, junior, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of
America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 9th August 1875.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
FOLDING, COVERING, AND PASTING PAPER," a communication, to be as
follows:
A annualism to
1

page_text: printed sheet coming together at the back of the signature or section.
shall all be pasted together, and when trimmed or the outer folds cut
the paper shall be held together at the back folds as it is when stitched.
I also attach to the said machine a covering device or mechanism
whereby an independent sheet of paper of proper size to form a cover
for the principal sheet may be fed to the machine, folded, and pasted on
the twenty-four pages folded and pasted by the machine.
The machine to which these attachments and additions arc to be
made is the ordinary and well-known book folding machine, and its
construction is so familiar to persons acquainted with the art of folding
paper that it need not be described in detail; it has the common
arrangement of feed table, folding blades, and folding rollers, with tapes
and rods for conveying and guiding the paper from one pair of rollers to
another, and the usual combination of rollers and other parts for folding
the inset inside of the outset.
To the frame I attach upon suitable brackets a long paste trough or
fountain, for the purpose of holding the supply of paste for the service
of the first pasting blade; this fountain is adjustable in its brackets by
screws. The rear side of this fountain is formed by a paste roller having
a ratchet wheel on its end engaging with a pawl operated by a crank on
the end of the shaft of the paste blade. The said paste blade is so hung
in the ends of arms as to be capable of turning to any desired extent;
these arms are attached to the said shaft.
The paste blade is a thin strip of metal finely serrated on its edge;
it is attached at the back to a rod which is turned at right angles to the
line of the blade, and passes through a rotating guide nut pivoted to an
arm projecting from the upper part of the frame. When the said arms
are raised the rod slides in the nut and turns the paste blade to a
horizontal position, in which position its serrated edge is brought into
contact with the surface of the paste roller. As the arms descend the
rod turns the blade to a vertical position, in which it comes in contact
with the sheet of paper lying on the table on the line of the back fold of
both the "outset" and "inset."
To prevent the daubing of the table by the paste blade and to insure
its perfect contact throughout the length of the paper there is laid
across the table at the line of its contact an adjustable strip with a long
slot in it, over which the paper is laid, thus forming an elastic bridge of

page_text: paper for the paste blade to strike against. The paper yielding when the
edge of the blade strikes it allows a perfect contact of the two, and
insures a continuous line of paste to the paper.
Just in front of the paste blade is a stripper of wood with a thin piece
of rubber set in its edge, and which plays loosely up and down a short
distance on curved pieces extending from it, and working in holes in the
ends of the arms carrying the paste blade; these pieces are bent in the
form of arcs. After the paper is released from the paste blade the paper
is released ready for the operation of the first folding blade, when the
operations of folding and cutting take place in the usual manner, and
the sheet, both the inset and outset, are pasted together throughout the
line of their back folds.
Motion is communicated to the paste blade by a cam and link at the
outer end of the main shaft. This link has projections or rack teeth upon
it which engage with a hook on an arm (which operates the first folding
blade) extending from the treadle shaft, so that when the first folding
blade is arrested the paste blade is also arrested. The fountain roller is
operated by a ratchet wheel and pawl working a crank pin.
.
The second folding blade arm carries a paste box; it has a thin disc
of metal running in a slit in the bottom of the box at one end, and
having its edge milled or serrated to saw out any lumps of paste that
may come in contact with it. The quantity of paste is regulated by a
spring and thumbscrew. When the folding blade forces the paper
between the folding rollers the gum rollers of the paste box are in
contact with the moving paper, and receive motion therefrom and
impart it to the paste disc. By this arrangement a thin or narrow line
of paste is put on the paper in the line of the third or last fold. The
cam operating the second blade has an adjusting piece, so that the time
the blade shall remain down or the paste wheel continue in contact with
the paper can be regulated according to the size of the sheet. The rollers
opposite to the line of the paste are grooved, so as not to press the paste
and spread it, or to bruise the paste wheel by striking.
To secure the inset within the outset a paste box similar in con-
struction to the above described box is attached to the frame of the drop
roller that starts the inset between the reversing rollers, which roller
is also allowed to remain down or in contact with the paper during most
of its passage, to apply paste to the outside of the inset in a line with

page_text: the last fold, thus completing the pasting together of the twenty-four
pages at the bolt or back fold, and obviating the necessity of stitching.
To fold and paste a sixteen page sheet the machine may be con-
structed as a plain octavo machine without the cutter, reversing rollers,
and drop roller; or the same machine may be used by removing the
paste cup from the drop roller and the cutters from the first rollers.
The covering attachment or device is situated at one side of the
machine in a supplemental frame, and consists of a feed board with a
cover roller at its front edge, whose upper surface is on a line with the
top of the table, and whose surface runs at same velocity as that of the
second folding rollers and of the reversing rollers. Over this cover
roller is a drop roller operated similarly to the drop roller of a 12mo.
folder with guides to feed the covers to, and a paste cup to spread a
linc of paste in its centre line as the cover sheet runs in, the drop roller
remaining down during the time the sheet is running in. This cover
sheet is carried by tapes and bars in the usual manner under the second
folding rollers and under the inset or reversing rollers until its forward
edge strikes the last stop.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent 2
Office on the 9th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 1
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during

page_text: the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
excrcise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FOLDING, COVERING, AND PASTING PAPER,"
a communication to me from abroad by Cyrus Chambers, junior, of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors or administrators, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
According to these improvements I attach a pasting device to an
ordinary 12mo. or 24 paged folding machine so that the folds of the
printed sheet coming together at the back of the signature or section shall
all be pasted together, and when trimmed or the outer folds cut the paper
shall be held together at the back folds as it is when stitched. I also
attach to the said machine a covering device or mechanism, whereby
an independent sheet of paper of proper size to form a cover for the
principal sheet may be fed to the machine, folded and pasted on the
24 pages folded and pasted by the machine.
The machine to which these attachments and additions are to be made
is the ordinary and well-known book-folding machine, and its con-
struction is so familiar to persons acquainted with the art of folding
paper that it need not be described in detail. It has the common
arrangement of feed table, folding blades, and folding rollers, with tapes
and rods for conveying and guiding the paper from one pair of rollers
to another, and the usual combination of rollers and other parts for
folding the inset inside of the outset, as represented in the Drawing, in
which,―

page_text: Figure 1 is an end elevation of a machine constructed according to
this Invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation; Figure 3 is a plan or top
view of the same.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the first folding blade and pasting
blade, showing the latter in two positions.
Figure 5 is a plan of the paste box with its cover removed; and
Figure 6 is a vertical section of the paste box.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
A is the framing of the machine and B the feed table on which the
sheets are placed and registered under the first folding blade Q;
1, 1, 2, 2, and 3, 3, indicate respectively the three pairs of folding
rollers.
To the frame A. I attach upon suitable brackets a long paste trough
or fountain C for the purpose of holding the supply of paste for the
service of the first pasting blade. This fountain is adjustable in its
brackets by means of screws in the well-known manner. The rear side
of this fountain is formed by a paste roller having a ratchet wheel b on
its end engaging with a pawl c operated by a crank on the end of the
shaft D of the paste blade F. The paste blade F is hung in the ends of
arms E, E, so as to be capable of turning to any desired extent. The
arms E, E, are attached to the shaft D.
The blade F is a thin strip of metal, finely serrated on its edge. It
is attached at the back to a rod I, which is turned at right angles to the
line of the blade, and passes through a rotating guide nut J pivoted to
an arm Z projecting from the upper part of the frame. When the
arms E, E, are raised the rod I slides in the nut J and turns the paste
blade to a horizontal position, in which position its serrated edge is
brought into contact with the surface of the paste roller. As the
arms E, E, descend the rod I turns the blade F to a vertical position, in
which it comes in contact with the sheet of paper lying on the table B
on the line of the back fold of both the "outset " and "inset."
In order to prevent the paste blade F from daubing the table, and to
insure its perfect contact throughout the length of the paper, there is
laid across the table at the line of its contact a strip G, with a long slot
in it, over which the paper is laid, thus forming an elastic bridge of
paper for the paste blade F to strike against. The paper yielding when

page_text: 1
the edge of the blade strikes it allows a perfect contact of the two and
insures a continuous line of paste to the paper. This strip G is adjust-
able to correspond with the position of the paste fountain C and
blade F, so that they work in concert, no matter for what size of
paper they are set.
Just in front of the paste blade F is a stripper H of wood with a thin
piece of rubber & set in its edge, and which plays loosely up and down
a short distance on curved pieces e extending from it and working in
holes in the ends of the arms E carrying the paste blade F. These
pieces e are bent in the form of arcs, so that when the arms E, E,
descend the rubber strip & strikes the paper and binds it to the strip G,
and on the further descent of the paste blade the stripper remains
stationary and prevents the paper from moving; but on the ascent of
the paste blade F the stripper does not begin to rise till the paste blade
is entirely detached from the sheet of paper, but continues to hold the
paper down and prevents its adhering to and rising with the paste blade.
After the paper is released from the paste blade the further ascent of
the arms E lifts the stripper H, and the paper is released ready for the
operation of the first folding blade, when the operations of folding and
cutting take place in the usual manner, and the sheets, both the " "inset
and "outset," are pasted together throughout the line of their back
folds.
"
Motion is communicated to the paste blade by a cam K and link L at
the outer end of the main shaft Y. The length of the link L is
regulated by a nut and screws, and the precise position of the blade F
when down relatively to the paper is regulated by the adjusting bolt and
screws on the end of the paste blade shaft D. The link L has pro-
jections or rack teeth upon it which engage with a hook on an arm N,
Figure 2 (which operates the first folding blade) extending from the
treadle shaft M, so that when the first folding blade Q is arrested the
paste blade F is also arrested, and prevented from applying paste to the
sheet. The fountain roller is rotated interruptedly by a ratchet wheel b
and pawl c working a crank pin from the paste arm shaft.
.
The second folding blade arm U₁ carries a paste box S, which is
clearly represented in Figures 5 and 6. It has a thin disc of metal j
running in a slit g in the bottom of the box at one end, and having its
edge milled or serrated to saw out any lumps of paste that may come in
contact with it. The quantity of paste is regulated by a spring / and

page_text: thumbscrew i. The slit g is made largest on the return side to prevent
paste from gathering. It is hung on pins in the blade arm U', so that
when the folding blade forces the paper between the folding rollers (the
cam, being so shaped and timed as to allow the blade to remain down
during nearly the whole time of the passage of the paper), the gum
rollers of the paste box are in contact with the moving paper, and receive
motion therefrom and impart it to the paste disc. By this arrangement a
thin or narrow line of paste is put on the paper in the line of the third
or last fold. The cup S is held up when the blade rises by ledges on its
sides or ends, so as to allow the sheets to enter under it when the blade
is up. If the paste cup S remained in contact with the paper during
the passage of its whole length it would continue the paste line to the
extreme end, and when a number of signatures were folded and packed
together they would be stuck together by the paste at the extreme ends.
To prevent this inconvenience the cam U operating the second blade U¹
has an adjusting piece, so that the time the blade shall remain down or
the paste wheel continue in contact with the paper can be regulated
according to the size of the sheet, and the paste cup be caused to rise
just before the tail end of the sheet passes under the paste roller, and
the paste will not be applied quite to the end of the sheets. The rollers
opposite to the line of the paste are so grooved that they do not press
the paste and spread it or bruise the paste wheel by striking. This
grooving of the rollers also allows the paste roller to be a little larger
than the propelling rollers, and to press the paper slightly into the
grooves, thus insuring more perfect contact of the roller and paper and
a continuous line of paste. It further prevents the paste from getting
upon the rollers when the machine happens to be running without paper
on it..
To secure the "inset" within the "outset " a paste box S¹, similar in
construction to box S, is attached to the frame of the drop roller Z¹ that
starts the "inset" between the reversing rollers, which roller Z is also
allowed to remain down or in contact with the paper during most of its
passage in order to apply paste to the outside of the "inset," in a line
with the last fold, thus completing the pasting together of the twenty-
four pages at the bolt or back fold, and obviating the necessity of
stitching..
To fold and paste a sixteen page sheet the machine may be constructed

page_text: roller, or the same machine may be used after removing the paste cup
from the drop roller and the cutters from the first rollers.
The covering attachment or device is situated at one side of the
machine in a supplemental frame A¹, and consists of a feed board B',
5 Figure 1, with a roller C¹ at its front edge, whose upper surface is in a
line with the top of the table B', and whose surface runs at the same
velocity as that of the second folding rollers 2, 2, and of the reversing
rollers 3, 3. Over this cover roller C¹ is a drop roller D¹, operated
similarly to the drop roller of a 12mo. folder, with guides to feed the
covers to, and a paste cup S* to spread a line of paste in its centre line
as the cover sheet runs in, the drop roller D¹ remaining down during the
time the sheet is running in. This cover sheet is carried by tapes and.
bars in the usual manner under the second folding rollers 2, 2, and
under the "inset" or reversing rollers 3, 3, until its forward edge strikes
5 the last stop. In consequence of the distance it has to travel it arrives
there a little before the "inset" and "outset;" or at about the same time,
so that it lies on its own set of tapes under the "outset," while the
"inset" lies above, and upon the descent of the last folding blade all
(the "inset," outset," and "cover") are folded together, thus making
a complete pamphlet of twenty-four pages, with a cover of four pages of a.
different sheet, and if desired of a different color, the whole being pasted
together at the back folds, forming a union stronger and better than
that effected by stitching.
>> 66
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,--
First. In a machine for folding and pasting paper the adjustable pasto
fountain, in combination with the paste blade and the mechanism for
operating the same, all so constructed and arranged that they may be
adjusted together for the purpose of adapting the machine to paste
the various sizes of pages it is designed to fold, in the manner above
described.
Second. The adjustable slotted strip applied to the feed table in the
line of the back fold of the sheet, as above set forth and for the purpose
specified.
Third The rasta blada with to chaft and aw

page_text: operating-in-combination-with-the-rod-and-turning guide, as above_set_
forth and for the purpose specified.
Fourth. In combination with the paste blade the stripper for holding
down the sheet during the operation of the said paste blade, as above
set forth.
Fifth. The paste box provided with the 'serrated paste blade and
rollers for operating the same, as above described.
Sixth. The combination of a paste box with the arm carrying the
folding blade of a folding machine, in the manner above described.
Seventh. In combination with a paper folding and pasting machine
the supplemental frame, with its table, drop roller, paste box, and guides,
for the purpose of supporting, feeding, and pasting the covering sheets,
in the manner above specified.
In witness whereof I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.
Witness,
JA. EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
WN, ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)