IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRINTING AND PERFORATING PAPER AND FABRICS, APPLICABLE PARTICULARLY TO THE PRODUCTION OF POSTAGE STAMPS, BANK NOTES, BANKERS' CHEQUES, BILLS OF EXCHANGE, AND SIMILAR DOCUMENTS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Vincent Wanostrocht, of No. 8, Lancaster Place,
Strand, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRINTING AND PERFORATING PAPER AND FABRICS,
APPLICABLE PARTICULARLY TO THE PRODUCTION OF POSTAGE STAMPS, BANK
NOTES, BANKERS' CHEQUES, BILLS OF EXCHANGE, AND SIMILAR DOCUMENTS,"
A communication from abroad by Louis Francois Chezaud and Henry
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Vincent Wanostrocht
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th July 1864.
I, VINCENT WANOSTROCHT, of No. 8, Lancaster Place, Strand, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRINTING AND PERFORATING PAPER AND
FABRICS, APPLICABLE PARTICULARLY TO THE PRODUCTION OF POSTAGE STAMPS, BANK
NOTES, BANKERS' CHEQUES, BILLS OF EXCHANGE, AND BIMILAR DOCUMENTS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for printing
and perforating paper and fabrics, applicable particularly to the production of
postage stamps, bank notes, bankers' cheques, bills of exchange, and similar
documents. For these purposes a pressing cylinder is employed; it is heated
[Price 8d.]

page_text: by the admission of steam to its interior, and its bearings are arranged so as
to be able to slide up and down vertically in guides on the frame. Each
bearing has a screw attached to it, which passes up through a nut fixed at the
top of the guides. and has a bevilled wheel fixed to its top. With the bevilled
wheels on the screws two bevilled pinions gear; they are fixed on a horizontal
axis, of which the bearings are carried by the screws at their upper ends, but
so as not to interfere with the rotation of the screws. It will be seen that by
turning the horizontal axis with the pinions upon it, the pressing cylinder is
raised or lowered truly and parallelly. Around this cylinder an endless apron
passes, and the paper to be printed is in a continuous sheet supplied from a
roller to the surface of this apron, and just as it comes on to the apron it
passes around a guide drum, which in some cases is made hollow and per-
forated at its periphery, and steam is admitted to its interior to moisten the
paper. The printing is effected by three engraved cylinders, each of which
applies a different color. The bearings of the axes of the printing cylinders
are arranged so that they can slide in guides to and from the axis of the
pressing cylinder, and in order to cause the printing cylinders to press with
a proper degree of force on the pressing cylinder, each of their bearings
has a screw beneath it for setting it up, and a block of india-rubber is inter-
posed between the end of the screw and the bearing to give sufficient
elasticity. Each of the printing cylinders is furnished with a color trough and
rollers to take up the color from the trough and apply it to the printing
surface. There is a doctor or scraper also for each printing cylinder to scrape
off the excess of color applied by the color rollers; it is adjustable by screws.
Two of the printing cylinders also have their axes supported in excentric
brasses, and each of these is fitted with a screw by which it can be turned in
the bearing; this arrangement is made to facilitate the setting the printing
cylinders truly parallel the one to the other. The centre one of the three
printing cylinders is driven from any convenient prime mover by gear of two
different speeds, and it drives the other two through intermediate toothed
wheels arranged so that the printing cylinders may all revolve in the same
direction. The spur wheels of two of the printing cylinders are not keyed on
their axes, but a lug on the cylinder enters a slot in connection with the spur
wheel, and by a screw the position of the lug in the slot can be adjusted to
bring the impressions of the several cylinders to register. In order to dry or
partially dry the impression of one printing cylinder before the paper comes
to the next, it is made to pass close to the surface of a steam pipe. The
paper, when it has received the three impressions, is carried onwards by the
endless apron, and either wound upon a roller or taken from the machine.

page_text: The machine may also be employed for printing and perforating postage
stamps and similar labels, the printing being in one color, and the lines of
perforations both longitudinal and transverse. In this case two of the printing
rollers are removed, and for one of them there is substituted a roller having a
number of longitudinal slots formed in its periphery. The sides of these slots
are radial, and they are fitted with filling pieces capable of being fixed in
their places by screws; each of these filling pieces serves to. clamp against
each side of its slot a strip of metal with points all along its edge which
project just beyond the periphery of the roller; these points when the roller is
in its place serve to make the transverse perforations. The longitudinal lines
of perforations are made by the roller, which is substituted for the other
printing cylinder; this roller carries a series of discs with points around their
edges. The discs are clamped between supporting plates on the roller, and
each pair of these plates can be set at the required distance from the next
pair by an adjusting screw and nut. If it be desired to print postage stamps
or labels in two colors, and also to perforate them, then two of the printing
cylinders are left in the machine, and the perforation is effected by a roller
which is substituted for the third printing cylinder. This roller has a sur-
face of soft metal in which lines of points both longitudinal and transverse
are set.
paper.
The machine above described is applicable for printing fabrics as well as
One great advantage in the arrangement of the machine is, that
when at any time it is stopped the pressing cylinder may be raised and the
paper or fabric lifted off the printing cylinders, and when it is desired again
to start the machine, it is only necessary to lower the pressing cylinder down
again to the printing cylinders. If the paper or fabric were left in contact
with the printing cylinders whilst the machine was standing, it would fre-
quently stick to them and become damaged, besides producing great incon-
venience by leaving pieces adhering to the printing cylinders.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Vincent Wanostrocht, Her special licence that I, the said Vincent
Wanostrocht, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Vincent Wanostrocht, my 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 MACHINERY FOR PRINTING AND PERFORATING PAPER AND
FABRICS, APPLICABLE PARTICULARLY TO THE PRODUCTION OF POSTAGE STAMPS, BANK
NOTES, BANKERS' CHEQUES, BILLS OF EXCHANGE. AND SIMILAR DOCUMENTS," a commu-
nication to me from abroad by Louis Francois Chezaud and Henry Jeremie
Christen, persons resident in Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Vincent Wanostrocht, 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 Vincent Wanostrocht, 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:
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for printing
and perforating paper and fabrics, applicable particularly to the production of
postage stamps, bank notes, bankers' cheques, bills of exchange, and similar
documents. For these purposes a pressing cylinder is employed; it is heated
by the admission of steam to its interior, and its bearings are arranged so as
to be able to slide up and down vertically in guides on the frame. Each
bearing has a screw attached to it, which passes up through a nut fixed at the
top of the guides, and has a bevilled wheel fixed to its top. With the bevilled
wheels on the screws two bevilled pinions gear; they are fixed on a horizontal
axis, of which the bearings are carried by the screws at their upper ends, but
so as not to interfere with the rotation of the screws. It will be seen that by
urning the horizontal axis with the pinions upon it the pressing cylinder is

page_text: raised or lowered truly and parallelly. Around this cylinder an endless apron
passes, and the paper to be printed is in a continuous sheet supplied from a
roller to the surface of this apron, and just as it comes on to the apron it
passes around a guide drum, which in some cases is made hollow and perforated
at its periphery, and steam is admitted to its interior to moisten the paper.
The printing is effected by three engraved cylinders, each of which applies a
different color. The bearings of the axes of the printing cylinders are
arranged so that they can slide in guides to and from the axis of the pressing
cylinder, and in order to cause the printing cylinders to press with a proper
degree of force on the pressing cylinder, each of their bearings has a screw
beneath it for setting it up, and a block of india-rubber is interposed between
the end of the screw and the bearing to give sufficient elasticity. Each of the
printing cylinders is furnished with a color trough and rollers to take up the
color from the trough and apply it to the printing surface. There is a
doctor or scraper also for each printing cylinder to scrape off the excess of
color applied by the color rollers; it is adjustable by screws. Two of the
printing cylinders also have their axes supported in excentric brasses, and
each of these is fitted with a screw by which it can be turned in the bearing;
this arrangement is made to facilitate the setting the printing cylinders truly
parallel the one to the other. The centre one of the three printing cylinders
is driven from any convenient prime mover by gear of two different speeds,
and it drives the other two through intermediate toothed wheels arranged so
that the printing cylinders may all revolve in the same direction. The spur
wheels of two of the printing cylinders are not keyed on their axes, but a lug
on the cylinder enters a slot in connection with the spur wheel, and by 'à screw
the position of the lug in the slot can be adjusted to bring the impressions of
the several cylinders to register. In order to dry or partially dry the im-
pression of one printing cylinder before the paper comes to the next, it is
made to pass close to the surface of a steam pipe. The paper when it has
received the three impressions is carried onwards by the endless apron, and
either wound upon a roller or taken from the machine.
The machine may also be employed for printing and perforating postage
stamps and similar labels, the printing being in one color and the lines of per-
forations both longitudinal and transverse. In this case two of the printing
rollers are removed, and for one of them there is substituted a roller having a
number of longitudinal slots formed in its periphery; the sides of these 'slots
are radial, and they are fitted with filling pieces capable of being fixed in their
places by screws; each of these filling pieces serves to clamp against each
side of its slot a strip of metal with points 'all along its edge which project

page_text: just beyond the periphery of the roller; these points when the roller is in its
place serve to make the transverse perforations. The longitudinal lines of
perforations are made by the roller which is substituted for the other printing
cylinder; this roller carries a series of discs with points around their edges.
The discs are clamped between supporting plates on the roller, and each pair
of these plates can be set at the required distance from the next pair by an
adjusting screw and nut. If it be desired to print postage stamps or labels in
two colors and also to perforate them, then two of the printing cylinders are
left in the machine, and the perforation is effected by a' roller which is sub-
stituted for the third printing cylinder; this roller has a surface of soft metal
in which lines of points both longitudinal and transverse are set.
The machine above described is applicable for printing fabrics as well as
paper. One great advantage in the arrangement of the machine is, that when
at any time it is stopped the pressing cylinder may be raised, and the paper
or fabric lifted off the printing cylinders, and when it is desired again to
start the machine, it is only necessary to lower the pressing cylinder down
again to the printing cylinders. If the paper or fabric were left in contact
with the printing cylinders whilst the machine was standing, it would fre-
quently stick to them and become damaged, besides producing great incon-
venience by leaving pieces adhering to the printing cylinders.
Having thus stated the nature of the Invention, I will proceed to describe
more fully the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews an end view of a machine constructed according to the
Invention; the machine, as shewn, is arranged for printing in three colors.
In this Figure, A is the framing of the machine; B, the pressing cylinder
heated by steam; C, a bracket from the upper part of the framing that carries
a wooden beam D, a portion only of which is shewn in the Drawings; a
similar bracket and beam is carried at each end of the machine. The
brackets and beams support the rollers, around which the endless cloth E
passes, which is for supporting the paper or fabric to be printed, and also a
roller not shewn in the Drawing, upon which the paper or other material is
wound as it is printed. The brackets C also carry the roller Y, around which
is wound the supply of paper or other material to be printed. m, m, m, are
slides carried by the framing, upon which are placed the printing cylinders
e, e, e, e, e. The brasses in which the cylinders turn have each upon their
exterior a small projection which is received into a corresponding recess, and
thus the brasses are kept in their proper position. The brasses of two of the

page_text: cylinders are carried by excentrics 1, 1, which are capable of being turned
round by means of screws o, o, gearing with teeth formed around their cir-
cumference. By turning these excentrics the axes of the cylinders can be
raised or lowered, and the cylinders can thus be brought parallel with each
other, and also with the pressing cylinder B; this pressing cylinder B is
carried by a hollow axis, from which an opening is made into the interior of
the cylinder; this is for the purpose of admitting steam into the cylinder in
order to heat it, and thereby dry the paper as it passes from between the
rollers. The paper is also dried by means of the heated pipes a¹, a³. The
bearings of the pressing cylinder B are formed in slides x, one at each end of
the framing; these slides can be raised by means of the screws y. when it is
desired to change the printing cylinders, and can also by them be again
lowered on to the printing cylinders, and caused to give the requisite pressure
for printing. The screws for this purpose each carry at their upper end a
bevil toothed wheel v; into these wheels bevil wheels u, carried by the axis u¹,
which passes from one side of the machine to the other, gear. This axis
is supported by bearings carried by the heads of the screws, as shown at
Figure 6, the bearings being so formed as to allow the screws to turn freely.
On one end of the axis is a hand wheel by which the axis can be turned, and
by this means the cylinder can rapidly be raised or lowered, and caused to
give the requisite pressure on the three printing cylinders. It will thus be
seen that when once the printing cylinders are in their place and adjusted,
their position is retained immoveable, however often the machine may be
stopped or the colors used with them changed.
The thus retaining the printing cylinders immoveable is one of the advan-
tages derived from arranging the machine as herein described. The facility
with which the pressing cylinder can be raised or lowered is, as before stated,
another great advantage, as in case of the paper breaking or the machine
being stopped from any other cause, the cylinder can be immediately raised,
and thus prevent the paper adhering to the printing cylinders. The screws
k, k, k, are employed for regulating the position of the slides m, that carry the
bearings in which the axes of the printing cylinders work; the parts marked n
on these slides are hollow spaces in which are placed blocks of vulcanized
india-rubber; these blocks receive the pressure from the screws k, which are
provided with collars at their ends for the purpose; these blocks act as springs,
and give an even pressure to the cylinders. The pieces, f, g, h, are the
supports of the scrapers ;, and by means of the screws t, t, t, the scrapers can
be moved to or from the cylinders as their diameter requires. The arms of
the levers p, p, p, serve conjointly with the screws to regulate the scraping of

page_text: the cylinders. The trays r, r, r, contain the colors, and the rollers q, q, q,
transmit them to the engraved printing cylinders. The colors contained in the
three trays are different the one from the other; each cylinder, therefore,
prints the paper or fabric with a color different from the other cylinders.
The paper to be printed is wound around the roller Y; the paper as it comes
from the roller passes over the hollow copper cylinder o, o; this cylinder where
it comes in contact with the paper is, when the machine is used for printing in
one color, and when working with some kinds of paper, pierced with a
number of small holes, in order that if steam be admitted into the interior of
the cylinder it may pass through the holes and moisten the paper.
At Figure 2 is shewn the framing that supports the wheels and axes which
transmit motion to the printing cylinders; two of these wheels which are
connected with the axes of the cylinders are, as shewn in the Drawing,
connected to their axes in such manner that the printing cylinders can be
adjusted to bring the impressions of the cylinders to register as is usual.
Figure 3 shews another view of the same framing. In these Figures, c is the
main or driving axis, having upon it two pinions a and b, which gear with
toothed wheels d', d', on the axis d. The two pinions a and b are of different
diameters, and both are capable of turning freely around their axis, but either
one or other of them can be made fast upon its axis by means of the clutch
boxes or i, and the machine can thus be driven at one or other of two
speeds; the clutch boxes can also be moved so that neither one or the other
is fast on the axis, and thus stop the machine. The movement of the clutch
boxes is governed by a lever connected to the slide that carries them at the
point j. From the axis d motion is transmitted, as is shewn at Figure 2, to
two other axes e, e, and from the ends of these three axes motion is trans-
mitted to the axes of the three printing cylinders. As before mentioned, it
is necessary to dry the impressions produced by the first rollers in order to be
enabled to print in three colors, and this is effected by steam introduced into
the pressing cylinder, and also by the heated tubes a¹, a, and also when
printing in three colors the small perforated cylinder is replaced by an unper-
forated cylinder heated by steam.
When the machine is to be used for printing and perforating postage
stamps and similar labels, the two printing rollers T, T, are removed, and for
one of them is substituted' a roller having a number of longitudinal slots
formed in its periphery. A section of such a roller is shewn at Figure 4; the
sides of the slots are radial, and the slots are fitted with filling pieces c, c, held
in their places by screws d, d. Each of these filling pieces serves to clamp
against each side of its slot a thin blade of steel a; the edges of these blades

page_text: project just beyond the periphery of the roller, and on this edge of the blades
are formed numerous small points; these points, when the roller is in its
place, serve to make the transverse perforations across the paper. For the
other printing cylinder is substituted a roller such as is shewn at Figure 5;
this roller is composed of an axis q, at one end of which is a collar t, and at
the other a screw nut u, and between these are clamped a number of discs s, 8,
each of which has a small hole bored through it to fit the axis, and around its
periphery has a number of small points formed upon it. Each of these discs
is held between two supporting discs o, o, as is shewn; on one of each pair
of discs is a projection n, having a screw thread cut on its exterior; on this
projection is screwed a screw nut i, and by screwing on or unscrewing this
nut the distance between the discs s can be regulated.
In working the machine to print and perforate postage stamps, the machine
is worked in like manner to that in which it is worked for printing in two or
three colors. If it be desired to print postage stamps or labels in two colors,
and also to perforate them, then two of the printing cylinders are, as before
stated, left in the machine, and the perforation is effected by a roller which is
substituted for the third printing cylinder. This roller has a surface of soft
metal in which lines of points both longitudinal and transverse are set.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is,-
First, the combination of apparatus herein described, by means of which
paper and fabrics can be printed in several colors, and by which also postage
and similar stamps or labels can simultaneously be printed and perforated.
Second, the constructing the perforating cylinders as herein described,
which construction of perforating cylinder is applicable to all kinds of
machinery for perforating paper or fabrics.
Third, the means herein described of drying the impressions of the printing
cylinders.
Fourth, the constructing the apparatus as herein described, in such manner
as to be enabled readily to raise or lower the pressing cylinder.
In witness whereof, I, the said Vincent Wanostrocht, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
V. WANOSTROCHT. (L.S.)