Im- PROVEMENTS IN PRINTING PRESSES, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Bristow Hunt, of Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in
the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of “Im-
PROVEMENTS IN PRINTING PRESSES, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH."—A communication from abroad by William
James Swain and William Elliott Todd, both of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, in the United States of America.
Scaled the 9th June 1874, and dated the 31st December 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bristow Hunt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st December 1873.
I, BRISTOW HUNT, of Serlo Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING PRESSES, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH" (a communication to me from abroad by William
James Swain and William Elliott Todd, both of Philadelphia, Penn-
sylvania, in the United States of America), to be as follows:-
The objects of this Invention are to print in a rapid and expeditious
manner large editions of newspapers by a printing press having a

page_text: In advance of each such combination of devices there is provided a
separate inking apparatus, which consists of a suitable trough containing
the ink, which is transferred through or by a suitable arrangement or
system of rolls to a roller, by which the ink is distributed on the type.
The cylinder is made wide enough to contain forms for printing one
side of two papers simultaneously at each impression; in other words,
as there are (as above remarked) in the present instance six devices for
presenting each a web of paper simultaneously to the type cylinder and
six inking appliances, there are on the cylinder six pairs of forms
precisely alike, the type of these forms covering the entire surface of the
cylinder, with the exception of intervening spaces required by the
margins of the printed papers.
If the cylinder is revolving in its proper direction at the moderate
rate of twenty revolutions per minute the press will print on one side in
that time one thousand four hundred and forty papers.
After the webs of paper have thus been printed on one side, and each.
web has been wound round its take-up roller, the latter and the roller
which formerly carried the roll of unprinted paper are transferred to
each others' bearings, the latter roller thus becoming the take-up roller.
In the meantime the type forms on the cylinder are also changed to
print the desired matter on the blank sides of the webs of paper, which
printing is conducted in the same manner and at the same rate as the
printing of the first side of the web. It will thus be seen that the
actual printing capacity of the press is seven hundred and twenty
complete copies per minute or forty-three thousand two hundred per
hour. It will be evident that this capacity may be increased by
increasing the number of type forms, and still further increased by
increasing the number of devices for presenting additional webs of paper
to the type cylinder; or the capacity may be again increased by placing
more than two forms side by side on the said cylinder.
A very effective press of much less capacity than that described,
though still retaining the same principles of construction and mode of
operation, can however be made at much less cost. For instance, there
may be but two printing forms on the type cylinder, and but one
pressure roller for presenting one web of paper to the cylinder, and but
one inking appliance. The press would be thus reduced to its lowest

page_text: printing capacity, and its cost and bulk would be reduced corre-
spondingly.
After both sides of the web of paper have been printed the rollers are
removed to a machine by which the web is severed longitudinally and
transversely into the proper sized printed sheets, which are then laid on
a platform by the fly mechanism above referred to.
The framework or foundation of the said mechanism consists in the
present instance of a simple quadrangular box, in opposite sides of
which a shaft has its bearings, and to which shaft are secured the herein-
before mentioned arms, there being in the present instance four sets or
rows of these arms, each arm of which consists of two portions, the
inner one of which is rigid, whilst the outer one is movable, the two
being hinged together and combined with a spring, which tends to
maintain the hinged portion of the arm in line with the rigid portion.
A series of endless bands pass round a roller which has its bearings in
the framework and round pulleys loose on the fly shaft. The fly is
caused to revolve and the endless bands to traverse in the proper direc-
tion by suitable gearing, and the printed sheets of paper from the
printing press or from the severing rollers hereafter referred to are
received and carried forward by the bands until they are in a position to
be clevated by one or other of the sets of revolving arms, and carried
round by the same and deposited on the platform before referred to, in
passing which the hinged portions of the sets of arms yield in order to
pass, being caused to recover their former condition by the aid of the
above-mentioned springs the moment they are free from the plat-
form.
Although the above described fly mechanism can be applied to ordinary
presses for receiving and laying the printed sheets it is more especially
applicable to that class of printing presses in which a continuous web of
paper is printed, and in such cases the fly mechanism is combined with
the above-mentioned severing rollers which are provided with longi-
tudinal knives to sever the paper into proper lengths, or with both
longitudinal and transverse knives when the printed web of paper has
to be severed both longitudinally and transversely, the severed sheets
being disposed of by the fly in the manner above described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Bristow Hunt in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BRISTOW
HUNT, of Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Thirty-first day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Bristow Hunt, Her special licence that
I, the said Bristow Hunt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Bristow Hunt, 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 PRINTING PRESSES,
AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,” (a communication
to me from abroad by William James Swain and William Elliott Todd,
both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America),
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Bristow Hunt,
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 Bristow Hunt, 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 in writing and on reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say:-
The objects of this Invention are to print in a rapid and expeditious
manner large editions of newspapers by a printing press having a
revolving type cylinder containing two or more printing forms and a

page_text: pressure roller or rollers for presenting one or more than one web of
paper simultaneously to the said type cylinder, and to receive the printed
sheets of paper (as they are printed) from the said press or from severing
rolls, and to place them on a platform by means of a rotating fly having
one or more than one set of hinged arms.
Such being the nature and objects of the said Invention, I will
now proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is
to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, and in
order that the same may be distinctly understood, I have annexed
hereunto two Sheets of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked.
the same with figures and lotters of reference corresponding with those
in the following explanation thereof, that is to say :-
On the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 represents a half side view,
and Figure 2 an end view of the improved press, and Figure 3 represents
a vertical section, and Figure 4 a plan view of the improved fly arrange-
ment.
In carrying the above-mentioned objects into effect the opposite side
frames A of the printing press are connected together by suitable stay
bolts y, and are provided or formed (at the central point of each) with
suitable bearings a for supporting the shaft of the type cylinder B.
The frames A. are further provided with other bearings c, which carry
the journals of a roller d carrying the roll D of paper to be printed, and
with similar bearings g, which carry the journals of a second roller f,
round which the paper has to be wound after having been printed.
The web of paper from the roll D is carried between a drawing
roller E and a pressure roller F, and round the latter to the take-up
roller f.
The journals of the roller F turn in bearings adapted or fitted to
guides formed on the frames A, each bearing having a screw i, which
passes through a portion of the frame, and is furnished with nuts by:
which the roller F can be adjusted from or towards the cylinder B and
secured after adjustment.
The roller F has a grooved pulley m, against which an endless belt or
band n is caused to bear by pulleys p, each hung to an arm H connected
by a pin to one of the frames A, and each having a segmental slot for a
receiving a bolt by which the arm may be secured after adjustment. By

page_text: the adjustment of these arms the band » can be made to bear with more
or loss pressure against the pulley m, with which its frictional contact
must be such as to insure the proper taking up of the paper as fast as it
leaves the pressure rolls.
5 In the present instance the frames A are provided with six such
arrangements of mechanism as that above described for conveying the
web of paper from one roll, presenting it to the type cylinder, and
winding it round the other roll, as will be readily seen on reference being
had to Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings, which shews the preparation
) for the additional devices more than one combination of which it has
not been deemed necessary to illustrate.
In advance of cach such combination of devices there is provided a
separate inking apparatus (only one of which is shewn on the annexed
Drawings), which consists of a suitable trough K. containing the ink,
5 which is transferred through or by suitable arrangement or system of
rolls to a roller w, by which it is distributed over the type. The annexed
Drawings will suffice to explain to those familiar with the art the system
of rollers which is preferred.
The cylinder is made wide enough to contain forms for printing one
O side of two papers simultaneously at each impression; in other words,
as there are (as above mentioned) in the present instance six devices for
presenting each a web of paper simultaneously to the type cylinder and
six inking appliances there are on the cylinder six pairs of forms pre-
cisely alike, the type of these forms covering the entire surface of the
5 cylinder, with the exception of intervening spaces required by or for the
margins of the printed papers.
If we suppose the cylinder to be revolving in the direction of the
arrow at the moderate rate of twenty revolutions per minute the press
will print on one side in that time one thousand four hundred and forty
papers.
After the webs of paper have thus been printed on one side and each
web has been wound round its take-up roller the latter and the roller
which formerly carried the roll of unprinted paper are transferred to
each others bearings, the latter roller thus becoming the take-up roller.
In the meantime the type forms on the cylinder are also changed to
print the desired matter on the blank sides of the webs of paper, which

page_text: printing is conducted in the same manner and at the same rate as the
printing of the first sides of the webs. It will thus be seen that the
actual printing capacity of the press is seven hundred and twenty
complete copies per minute, or forty-three thousand two hundred per
hour. It will be evident that this capacity can be increased by increasing
the number of type forms, and still further increased by increasing the
number of devices for presenting additional webs of paper to the type
cylinder, or the capacity may be again increased by placing more than
two forms side by side on the said cylinder.
A very effective press of much less capacity than that described,
though still retaining the same principles of construction and mode of
operation, can however be made at much less cost. For instance there
may be but two printing forms on the type cylinder and but one
pressure roller for presenting one web of paper to the cylinder, and but
one inking appliance. The press would thus be reduced to its lowest
printing capacity, and its cost and bulk would be reduced corre-
spondingly.
It has not been deemed necessary to illustrate in the Drawing or
describe herein the gearing by which the circumference of the type
cylinder and pressure rollers are caused to traverse at the same speed,
nor the gearing by which the inking appliances are driven, as appropriate
driving gear having been long in use will readily be suggested to those
familiar with machinery of this class.
After both sides of the web of paper have been printed the rollers are
removed to a machine by which the web is severed longitudinally and
transversely into the proper sized printed sheets, which are then laid on
a platform by the fly mechanism above mentioned and illustrated in
Figures 3 and 4.
The framework or foundation A' of the said mechanism consists in
the present instance of a simple quadrangular box, in opposite sides of
which a shaft a¹ has its bearings, and to which shaft are secured the
herein-before mentioned arms, there being in the present instance
four sets or rows of these arms, cach arm of which consists of two
portions, the inner one b¹ of which is rigid, whilst the outer ono d' is
movable, the two being hinged together at x¹ and combined with a
spring, which tends to maintain the portion d¹ in line with the
portion b¹.

page_text: A series of endless bands B' pass round a roller m², which has its
bearings in the frame of the machine, and round pulleys n¹ loose on the
shaft a¹.
The fly is caused to revolve and the endless bands to traverse
in the direction of the arrows by suitable gearing, and the printed sheets
of paper from the above described printing press or from the severing
rollers D', herein-after mentioned, are received and carried forward by
the bands until they are in a position to be elevated by one or other of
the sets of arms, and carried round by the same and deposited on the
said platform ², in passing which the portions of the sets of arms
yield, as will be understood on reference to Figure 3, in order to pass,
being caused to recover their former condition by the aid of the springs
the moment they are free from the platform.
Although the above-described fly mechanism can be applied to
ordinary presses for receiving and laying the printed shoets it is more
especially applicable to that class of printing presses in which a
continuous web of paper is printed, and in such cases with the above-
described fly mechanism are combined the above-mentioned severing
rollers D', which are provided with longitudinal knives to sever the
paper into proper lengths, or with both longitudinal and transverse
knives when the printed web of paper has to be severed both longi-
tudinally and transversely, the severed sheets being disposed of by the
fly in the manner above described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature and
objects of the said Invention, together with the manner in which the
same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, I
would remark in conclusion that I claim as the Invention communicated
to me by the above-named William James Swain and William Elliott
Todd,―
Firstly. A printing press, in which are combined a type cylinder
containing two or more printing forms, with a pressure roller for pre-
senting a web of paper, or with pressure rollers for simultaneously
presenting two or more webs of paper to the said type cylinder.
Secondly. The combination with the central type cylinder of a number
of pressure rollers for presenting an equal number of webs of paper to
the cylinder and with an inking appliance or apparatus for each roller.
Thirdly. The combination of the type cylinder, a pressure roller or
rollers, and a paper delivery and take-up roller for each pressure roller.

page_text: Fourthly. A rotating fly having one or more sets of jointed arms in
combination with a system of endless bands and a platform.
And, Fifthly. The combination of the rotating fly and endless bands
with the severing rollers, all being substantially as herein-before
described and as illustrated on the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Bristow Hunt, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.