IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Horton Harrild, of Fleet Works, Farringdon
Street, in the City of London, Printing Machine Manufacturer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES."-A
communication from abroad by George P. Gordon, of Wood-
bridge, New Jersey, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 9th January 1874, and dated the 18th November 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Horton Harrild at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th November 1873.
5 I, HORTON HARRILD, of Fleet Works, Farringdon Street, in the City
of London, Printing Machine Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES,"
to be as follows :-

page_text: generally called "jobbing presses," and the improvements relate more
particularly to the means employed to operate the bed and the platen of
the press, and give it the periods of rest necessary for the reception of
the sheet, and for the reception of the impression, and to improved.
means to hold and carry the form inking rollers.
I will describe the construction and operation of a machine embodying
these improvements.
In a frame for supporting the operative parts of the press a shaft is
inserted, having secured upon one end of it a wheel which has a cam cut
in it so formed as to give a period of rest to the platen while receiving 1
the sheet to be printed, and while receiving an impression from the type
secured upon the bed of the press.
There is a rock shaft herein-after called the main rock shaft supported
in the frame and having secured upon one end of it a crank arm, in the
lower end of which is secured a stud supporting a roller which plays in:
the cam of the wheel above-mentioned, so that a rocking motion is given
to the said shaft. To this shaft are attached projecting arms in the
forward ends of which are held boxes.
There is another shaft held in the frame upon which is keyed the
platen upon which the paper to be printed is laid. This platen is a
provided at its rear or back with bearing pieces, and to one of these
bearing pieces is attached a slotted piece so that one of the boxes shall
be snugly held in the slotted piece, while the other box is free to move
upon the bearing piece attached to the platen.
There is another rock shaft herein-after called the front rock shaft
inserted in the frame, the ends of which shaft project beyond the frame
a certain distance.
In the ends of this last-named shaft placed eccentrically are studs over
which are passed the forward ends of rocking connections, the rear ends
of the same being passed over rocking cranks, secured in roller arms to a
which are attached the roller carrier supports. The bed of the press
upon which the form is secured is hung upon a rod inserted in the
frame.
There is a connecting rod, one end of which is passed over a crank
stud inserted in the cam wheel, and its opposite end over a stud inserted
in one of the roller arms.

page_text: The roller arms are secured upon a rock shaft which is herein-after
called the bed rock shaft passed through the bed, and the roller carrier
supports are attached at one end to the said arms. The roller carrier
supports two of which are employed one on each side of the press, each
consists of a lever attached at one end to the arm, while to its opposite
end is attached at one-third from the rear end of its length a carrier, in
the front end of which the forward roller is secured and carried, and to
the short end of this carrier is attached a saddle piece in which the two
other rollers are carried.
A spiral spring attached at one end to the lever of the roller carrier
supports, and at its opposite end to the roller arm governs the move-
ments of the rollers, and causes them to bear with an equal pressure
upon the same, as they pass from the ink distributing surface down over
the form, and up over the form, and on to the ink distributing surface.
The ink distributing surface or disc is secured upon the bed and
revolved by a ratchet, operated in turn by a surface cam secured upon
the bed rock shaft. Upon this disc or table the ink to be supplied to
the form by the rollers is placed, and by the rotation of the table by the
ratchet and cam secured upon the bed rock shaft is distributed.
There is a handle attached to the front rock shaft by which the same
may be turned by the operator, and there are stops secured in the frame
to govern the throw of the handle.
The forward ends of the rocking connections before-named being
attached to the eccentric studs upon the front rock shaft, and their ends
to studs inserted in the roller arms held upon the bed rock shaft, and
moving with it when the position of the front rock shaft is changed, by
turning the handle the bed will be moved away from or drawn towards
the platen. Thus a simple and easily operated "throw off" is provided
for.
Such being the construction, the operation is as follows:- -We will
suppose the platen to be in position to receive the sheet to be printed,
the form to have been placed upon the bed, the rollers having reached
the extent of their downward movement and resting at or near the
bottom of the bed. The sheet to be printed having been laid upon the
platen, and motion being imparted to the cam wheel in any convenient
manner the same commences to revolve. In this wheel is the cam

page_text: before-named in which plays the roller attached to the crank arm,
secured upon one end of the main rock shaft as herein-before explained,
and over a stud inserted in this wheel is passed one end of the connecting
rod before-mentioned, its opposite end being passed over a stud secured
in one of the roller arms secured upon the bed rock shaft. The wheel t
continuing to revolve the main rock shaft is rocked up, carrying with it
the projecting arms in which are held the boxes as before explained. As
this rock shaft is rocked up, the projecting arms are gradually raised
from an inclined position to a position at right angles with the face of
the platen when it shall receive the impression, and the boxes moving 1
one in the slotted piece before described and the other upon or against
the bearing piece attached to the platen as also before described, cause
the platen to be vibrated upon its shaft and to be moved from the
position necessary to receive the sheet to be printed into a position for
the reception of the impression. During this movement of the platen
the inking rollers held in the carriers as described have been carried up
and over the form, and on to the ink distributing table by the con-
necting rod attached at one end to the stud in the cam wheel, and at the
other end to a stud secured in one of the roller arms.
By the movement of the cam wheel this connecting rod attached as
described, causes the bed rock shaft to be rocked up. As this shaft is
rocked up, the back ends of the rocking connections are thrown around
this rock shaft until their centres are brought into line with the centres
of the other rock shafts, and the bed is vibrated forward to give an
impression. Thus at the moment of impression the main rock shaft with
its projecting arms carrying the sliding boxes, the rocking connections,
the eccentric shaft centres, and the crank centres, upon the bed rock
shaft are all brought into a direct line with each other. An impression
having been given and the motion of the press continuing, the move-
ment of the rock shaft being reversed or the shaft being rocked back, the
bed is vibrated back to its former position to relieve the printed sheet,
and to allow the free passage of the rollers over the form, the inking
rollers are carried down and over the distributing surface and over the
form, imparting ink to the same, and the platen by the downward move-
ment of the projecting pieces before described is moved back to its
former position, the ink distributing surface having been revolved a
certain distance during the downward movement of the rollers by the
ratchet operated by the surface cam as before explained.

page_text: The platen being held upon an axis of its own, placed directly under-
neath it and the main rock shaft with its projecting arms when the
platen is in position to receive the impression standing at a right angle
from the face of the platen and in line with its centre, a form may be
printed upon any part of the platen as safely and well as though it were
permanently stationary.
The sliding boxes are chosen and used for the purpose of presenting
a large bearing surface upon their outer surfaces, and thus necessarily
insure greater durability, they also present a larger bearing upon the
pins or bolts which pass through them, viz., one half the full size of
such pins or bolts. Were rollers used instead of boxes but a single line
upon their periphery would be opposed to the crush of the impression.
The platen is made to move from the point of receiving the sheet to
be printed to the point at which it shall receive the impression, which
impression is given by a movable bed. A dwell is then given to it until
the bed moves forward, gives the impression, and recedes far enough to
relieve the printed sheet from the form of type. Thus the platen with
its period of rest acts in harmony with the vibrating bed, each working
upon its own or independent axis.
The bed is hung upon an axis at a longer point or distance than that
of the platen, thus the bed moves over a large arc of a circle while the
platen moves through or over a very small arc of a circle. The platen
moves like the cover or lid of a book, which admits of no simplification.
The bed is moved from the point of impression to relieve the sheet
from the type, and to allow the inking rollers to pass and repass over
the form of type. It also allows the platen to be hung, as shewn, upon
a stationary axis at its lower edge, the platen in turn, being thus hung,
allows a short vibration to be given to the bed; this short vibration
allows me to use a short crank motion thus giving an impression with
the expenditure of about one half of the power formerly used.
"
It will be further seen that for the purpose of moving the platen,
giving it the necessary dwells and holding it firmly for the reception of
the impression, but one movement is used. It is both thrown and
locked by one movement, the "throw back being one piece the rock
shaft; thus but one piece holds the platen to receive the impression,
and also moves it to and from the points at which it is made to dwell,
and holds the platen in the desired position to receive the sheet.

page_text: For the purpose of giving a dwell to the bed upon the impression it
will be seen that a double crank is used, viz., that of the rocking crank
vibrating the bed through the connections, and that of the independent
crank operating the rocking crank. Each crank has a dwell of its own,
and therefore a double dwell is obtained. It will also be seen that this
double dwell is only given as the time of giving the impression for this
reason, that the rocking crank is not rocked down to the centre only at
such time, and it is rocked but a part of the way round when the bed is
moved from the impression. This manner of vibrating the bed has been
chosen expressly for the purpose of obtaining this double crank dwell at
the time of giving the impression.
The peculiar construction of the roller holding or carrying device, as
described, allows the form inking rollers to conform to or travel over
with an equal pressure any desired curve or plane surface, and this is
effected by the employment of a single spring. Thus the construction
of the roller carriers is exceedingly simplified, and their operation
ensured by the employment of few mechanical means.
When desirable to use four rollers instead of three rollers a second
saddle piece may be substituted for the single roller swing piece, in
which case it will be attached centrally to the lever.
Where two ink distributing surfaces or discs are employed it has been
usual to give a rising and falling motion to the roller arms for the
purpose of causing the rollers to travel upon the lower distributing disc
in the forward movement, and against the under side of the upper or
inverted distributing disc in the backward movement, or vice versa, the
distributing discs being stationary except that they have an intermittent
rotary motion. Now instead of giving the rising and falling motion to
the roller arms I give a rising and falling motion to the distributing
discs, so that the rollers may travel against the lower and upper dis-
tributing discs in the forward and backward movements respectively.
For imparting the said rising and falling motion to the discs I fit a
cam on a rocking shaft at the back of the machine, which cam by
acting upon the disc holder or frame raises the discs and again allows
them to fall at the proper times; it is preferred to have this cam
adjustable in order to regulate the extent of the rising and falling
movement. The discs have the requisite irregular intermittent motion
imparted to them by ratchets and pauls, or levers. To allow of the

page_text: upper disc in case of need being lifted up and moved backwards
independently of the lower disc I secure the upper disc in the holder by
a spring, catch, or stop, which, while at ordinary times securing the
said discs in place, will when moved outwards allow it to be lifted up or
back.