A NEW AND USEFUL SELF-FEEDING CARD PRINTING
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nathan Ames, of Saugus, in the County of Essex, and³
State of Massachusetts, of the United States of America, for the Inven--
As Tannery SAID PERDING CARD PRINTING PRESS."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Nathan Ames at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 16th May 1862, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT'
KNOWN that I, NATHAN AMES,. of Saugus, in the County of Essex, and State-
of Massachusetts, of the United States of America, have invented "A NEW AND
USEFUL SELF-FEEDING CARD PRINTING PRESS," and I do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed, to
be fully described in the following Specification, and represented in the accom-
panying Drawings, of which Fig. 1 is a top view of the machine; Fig. 2 an
end view; Fig. 3 a bottom view; Fig. 4 a side view; Fig. 5 a longitudinal
section; Fig. 6 a rear side view (enlarged) of the feeding plate, and the
grooved bed in which it slides; Fig. 7 an edge view (enlarged) of the feeding.
plate and its appendages; Fig. 8 a top view (enlarged) of one of the side guides ;-
Fig. 9 an end view (enlarged) of the inking rollers and their frame; Fig. 10-
a side view (enlarged) of the horizontal sliding card pusher, and Fig. 11 a top
view (enlarged) of the feed regulator, with its spring and screw. Like parts
are indicated by the sanie letters in all the Drawings. Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

page_text: are intended to be about one-third as large as a medium-sized working
machine for printing cards.
The nature of my Invention consists as follows:-
1st, in the use of a rotatory oscillating and reciprocating type bed and
distributor in combination with a rocking platen.
2d, in the employment of a sliding rod for the purpose of rocking the
platen and keeping the type bed parallel with it.
3d, in attaching the inking rollers to the continued axis of the crank shaft,
causing them to rotate with it, and carrying the type bed and distributor in a
circle round said rollers.
4th, in so arranging the card feeding apparatus on the top of a rocking
platen that the rocking of the same in combination with rods connected with
the frame shall feed down the cards at the proper time."
i
5th, in constructing the feeding plate with separate fingers and causing
them to slide in grooves between raised strips to prevent the face of the card 1
from being soiled or scratched by coming in contact with that portion of the
metal subjected to friction.
6th, in beveling the ends of the fingers of the feeding plate, so as always to
pass under the edge of the card and bring it up against a shoulder (the
thickness of a thin card), and prevent said fingers from ever catching on to S
more than one card at a time.
7th, in making the above-mentioned shoulder inclined under so as to form
an acute angle with the surface of the raised strips to prevent the fingers
from ever slipping over a card when they strike its edge.
8th, in the employment of adjustable fingers to prevent the feeding plate a
in passing up over the back of a card from lifting up the same.
9th, in the use of adjustable lateral guides to assist in placing the cards in
a proper position to be fed down upon the platen and prevent them from
working laterally. &
10th, in providing the horizontal card pusher with suitable slots to receive 3
the adjustable fingers and adjustable lateral guides alluded to above.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and. use my Invention, I will
now proceed to describe its construction and operation.
A, A, are the two sides of the cast-iron frame, which are united at the
proper distance apart (as represented in Figs. 1, 2, and 3) by means of the 8
bolts B and C. D, E, F, E, D, constitute a crank shaft, the two ends D, D,
passing through the frame A, A, and turning in suitable bearings therein.
D' is a fly wheel, fast to one end D of the crank shaft, and provided with a
handle D", by means of which the machine is driven by hand. G is the

page_text: segment of a cylinder, which, for a medium-sized card press should be about
seven inches long and six inches in diameter. This segment G may be con-
structed of hollow cast iron, or the flat part of it, constituting the type bed,
may be cast in one piece, with the ends about one half an inch in thickness,
and the arc which forms the distributor may be sheet brass, iron, or steel. H is
the type chase, which is held in place on the flat part of G, constituting the
type bed, by means of the projecting pins b, b (Fig. 4), which drop into slots in
the cleats a, a, attached to the sides of G. H' is the type, confined in the chase
in the usual manner. Through the axis of the segment G is a hole or pipe box,
about one inch and a quarter in diameter, through which passes the axle F.
uniting the two arms E, E, of the crank shaft. To one side of the segment
G is attached by screws the steel slide I, as shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4, & 5. J is a
block of cast iron, the size and external shape of which are shown in Figs. 1 and 4.
This block vibrates or rocks on the shaft K, the two extremities of which are
fast in the sides of the frame A, A. In one side of J is a groove I', the under
side of which groove is formed by the steel plate I" (see Fig. 3) screwed to
the bottom of J, and in this groove plays the steel slide I, by means of which
it is obvious that the type bed or type face H', and the face of the platen J',
will always be parallel. That part of J to which the platen J¹ is attached is
hollow, as represented in Fig. 5, and that part back of the axle K is solid, so
as to counterpoise the weight of the feeding apparatus. On the back side of
the platen J' are four holes, into which pass the ends of the screw bolts f, and
by which bolts the platen is supported, and may be carried nearer to or
farther from the type at pleasure. c is a spring hasp, by means of which the
platen J¹ is held upon the ends of the screw bolts f, said hasp hooking on to
the handle of the adjustable lateral guide d, which enters a hole in the side of
Je is the common device for confining the paper or " tympaning" on the
platen; L is a strip of sheet iron or steel, shaped as shown in Fig. 3, sliding
freely on the bottom of J, being held in place and guided by means of the
headed screws u and v, in the slots a¹, 61. One extremity is bent down at
right angles, as represented in Fig. 5, and to this is attached the adjustablo
card stopper L, by means of the thumb screw t. L is drawn backwards, so
as to bring the card stopper L' on to the platen, by means of the coil spring
L", which is attached to the pin e¹ in J, and f' in L, as shown in Figs. 4
and.5. g is a pin (see Figs. 3 and 4) projecting down from one side of the
bottom of L, the object of which is to throw the card stopper L₁ from the
platen at the proper time to release the printed card, which it does by striking
against the pin g', projecting from the inside of one of the legs of the frame A,
as indicated by the dotted circle in Fig. 4, M, M, are the sides of the ink
•

page_text: roller frame united. by a strip of steel M", and two screws d' on one side,
and two pins d", d", and a thumb screw n¹ on the other side, as shown
in Fig. 3. The ink rollers M', M³, are of the ordinary construction, and
are placed in the frame M by removing the thumb screw n¹; N is a steel
pin, about one half inch in diameter, one end of which is fast in the
centre of the crank shaft D, as shown in Fig: 5, said pin 'extending across the
distributor G so as nearly to touch the slide I. O is a bolt, one end of which,
as clearly shown in Fig. 9, encircles the centre of the pin N. In the middle
of the strip M" (see Fig. 3) is a hole through which the bolt O freely plays.
0¹ is a nut screwed on the end of O; and P is a spiral spring by means of
which the ink rollers are pressed upon the distributor and type, the degree of
pressure being regulated by means of the nut O¹. The fly wheel D being
'turned in the direction indicated by the arrows (Figs. 4 and 5) it is obvious
that the centre of the segment G will move round the axle D in a circle, and
the type bed or type face H¹ will be held parallel with the rocking platen J¹
by means of the slide I. D¹¹¹ is a counterpoise to balance the weight of
the segment G and its appendages. In Figs. 4 and 5 the type is represented
as moving toward the platen J, the impression being given when the arms
E, E, are parallel with the top of J. The type then begins to recéde from
the platen, and the ping (Fig. 4) striking against pin g' throws the card
stopper L' from the platen, and allows the printed card to drop. It is also
obvious that the segment G, the distributor, and type will be carried round
the inking rollers M³, M', while the latter. at the same time as well as the
frame M, pin N, and their appendages partake of the rotary motion of the
axle D. h¹ is a supplementary distributor of ink roller composition, or india-
rubber, turning on an axis provided with a double screw, by means of which it
has imparted to it a lateral motion in the usual manner, said axis being
attached at its extremities to the springs ; thus the segment G at each
revolution strikes the distributor h, and owing to the elasticity of the springs
bears upon it a considerable distance so as to give the requisite lateral
distribution. The parts already described constitute a simple card or bill
head press to be fed by hand, but to facilitate the operation of printing
cards I make use of a feeding apparatus, which I will now describe. Q' is a
plate of cast iron, to the sides of which are screwed the cleats k¹, k¹, by means
of which and the screw w (see Fig. 5) said plate is confined to the top of J.
Qis another plate of cast iron attached to one end of Q at right angles with
it. Both surfaces of this plate are first planed smooth, and then one surface
is grooved to receive the feeding plate R, allowing the latter to rise above the
zurface of, or the raised strips j' (Fig. 6), the thickness of a common card.

page_text: The feeding plate R is made of sheet steel about one-eighth of an inch in
thickness, the lower portion of which is cut into separate strips or fingers R¹,
as shown in Fig. 6, the object of which.construction is to cause the face of
the card to slide on the raised strips and thereby prevent it from ever being
soiled or scratched by coming in contact with the grooved portion of the plate
Q; which is exposed to the friction of the feeding plate and fingers. The ends
of the fingers R', as shown in Fig. 7, are cut down the thickness of a common
card; forming shoulders r, and from these shoulders to the ends of the fingers
are bevels s, as clearly shown in Fig: 7, so as to pass under the edge of a card
and lift it up against the shoulders r; and thus prevent the latter from ever
catching on to more than one card at a time; and this too, even if the fingers
(from wearing loose or springing) should happen to rise more than the
thickness of a card above the surface of the strips j¹; I also make the
shoulder r somewhat inclined or beveled under, as shown in Fig. 7, and for the
object specified above. U is a strip of steel plate, the width of which is
shown in Fig. 1, and this strip is united to the top of the feeding plate R
by the block, and further down by the screw U¹, the plate Q being
'slotted so that the screw U¹ may slide up and down the requisite distance.
W" is a piece of steel plate screwed or riveted to U; and W is a round
bolt of steel fast to the top of W", and extending out each side, as
shown in Figs. 1 and 2. To the ends of the shaft W are attached the
connecting rods V, the lower ends of which are united by pivots W¹ to
the sides of the frame. S is a piece of sheet steel, which is placed, as
shown in Figs: 2 and 5, on the top of Q¹; and i is a spring by which plate
'S is pressed toward the plate Q as far as the screw h will allow, leaving
just space enough to permit a single card to pass through on to the
platen. This space can obviously be regulated for cards of different thickness
by means of the screw h. T is the horizontal card pusher, which slides on
suitable ways in the sides of Q' above the plate S. That part of T which
presses against the cards c' is planed and polished; the top of plate S is also
polished. k is a cat gut or string fast to the pin j, from which it passes round
the pin m (which extends across the end of T, as shown in Fig. 2), and thence
under T and over the pulleys'm and 1 in J, as shown in Fig. 5, and to the
lower end of this string is attached a weight Z of about five pounds, by means
of which the pusher T will always press the cards c¹ against the feeder R or
plate Q. To prevent the forward card from ever being lifted up and the
whole pack displaced by the fingers R₁ as they move up from the platen over
said card, I make use of two adjustable fingers X, X, the upper ends of which
are riveted to the strip Y, which can be moved up or down to accommodate

page_text: cards of different width, and held in place by the set screw Y¹; and to make
room for the fingers X, X, the upper part of T is provided with slots X', X'.
n, n, (see top view, Fig. 8,) are adjustable guides confined to the sides of Q¹
(as shown in Figs. 2 and 4) by means of screws, there being slots o, o, (see
Figs. 2 and 10,) to receive said guides, the design of which is to assist in placing
the cards in the proper position to be fed down on to the platen, and prevent
them from working laterally. is an inclined guide on which the printed
cards slide down from the platen. Figs. 4 and 5 represent the platen at its
highest point of motion, and a card just fed down upon it by the fingers R¹,
which as the platen descends will be carried back over and above the cards,
till the platen reaches its lowest point of motion, when the printed card is
released and the fingers of the feed plate are in readiness to feed down another
.card as the platen ascends. Thus cards of any common size and thickness
can be printed with great rapidity from 60 to 120 per minute.
. Having thus described the construction and operation of my machine, what
I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-
First, a rotatory oscillating reciprocating type bed and distributor in com-
bination with a rocking platen, substantially as described and for the objects
specified.
Second, the slide I, combined and arranged substantially as described, for
the purpose of rocking the platen and keeping the type bed parallel with it.
Third, attaching the inking rollers to the continued axis N of the crank
shaft, causing them to rotate with it, and carrying the type bed and distributor
in a circle round said rollers, substantially as and for the object specified.
Fourth, so arranging the card feeding apparatus on the top of the rocking
platen that the rocking of the same in combination with the connecting
rods V, V, shall feed down the cards at the proper time, substantially as
set forth.
Fifth, constructing the feeding plate R with separate fingers R¹, and
causing them to slide in grooves between the raised strips j' to prevent the
face of the card from being soiled or scratched by coming in contact with that
portion of the metal subjected to friction, substantially as described.
Sixth, beveling the ends of the fingers R¹ so as always to pass under the
edge of the card and bring it up against the shoulders r, and prevent the
latter from ever catching on to more than one card at a time, substantially as
described.
Seventh, making the shoulder r somewhat inclined, so as to form an accute
angle with the surface of the raised strips j¹, substantially as described and for
the object specified.

page_text: Eighth, the adjustable fingers X, X, constructed and arranged substantially
as and for the purpose described.
Ninth, the adjustable lateral guides n, n, arranged as set forth and for the
purpose described.
Tenth, the card pusher T provided with the slots o, o, and X', X', sub-
stantially in the manner and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this
28th April, 1862.