Improvements in Machines for Printing Indexes, or any desired Series of Letters, Figures, or Signs.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Sept., 1893-Accepted, 17th Feb., 1894
Improvements in Machines for Printing Indexes, or any desired
Series of Letters, Figures, or Signs.
I, FREDERICK FRENCH, of 15 British Street, Bow, in the County of Middlesex,
Stationer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
My invention relates to machines employed for lettering the indexes in account,
letter and other books, or for printing any desired series of letters, figures, or signs,
in two or more colours at one operation, and the principal features or objects of
my said invention consist in certain improvements upon the two-colour index
printing machine for which Letters Patent were granted to me, bearing
date 30th November 1886, and numbered 15,624.
In the machine described in the Specification of my said Letters Patent, the
printing wheel was only capable of printing an index of a definite given size and
length, so that a separate machine was required for each standard size of book.
In the machine forming the subject of my present invention, a series of printing
wheels of the various standard or other sizes are employed, so that one machine
will print indexes of varying dimensions, embracing within its compass, if so
required, all or any sizes of index required.
The above result is attained, partly by an alteration in the construction of the
frame of the machine and partly by the employment of two independent inking
rollers, arranged and operated in a particular manner. In the original machine, a
single inking wheel was employed, having pads of alternate colour and gearing with.
the printing wheel.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings, which forms part of this Specification
Fig. 1, is a side elevation of a machine, constructed in accordance with my
invention, part of the frame being broken away, to shew more clearly the inking
rollers,
Fig. 2, is an elevation, partly in section, at right angles to Fig. 1, on the
line a a.
Similar letters of reference denote similar parts throughout the drawings.
EE are two metal plates of triangular form, united at their base to a plate E',
the whole forming the frame of the machine and being provided with a suitable
handle F affixed to the plate E¹.
In practice the three plates E, E, E', may, if desired, be cast or otherwise formed
in one piece.
At the apex of the triangle, formed by the said frame, is a pin or stud D, screwed
at one end into one of the plates E and having a slotted or otherwise suitably
shaped head D¹, at the other end so that it can readily be removed when required.
Upon the said pin the printing wheel A revolves. This wheel is preferably formed
of metal and has its outer periphery divided into the required number of equal
divisions A, each said division having affixed to it a type A², formed of india
rubber or other suitable material. To secure the said types more firmly in place,
I prefer to provide a flange on each side of the wheel, which said flanges being
bent over or turned inwards, form an undercut or dovetailed recess, thereby holding
the said types very securely, and preventing their accidental displacement.
Preferably, one, two, or more of the divisions on the wheel are left blank,
Thus for an ordinary
according as the number of types to be used is odd or even.
alphabetical index consisting of 24 letters, the wheel would have 26 divisions, but
two of these at the end of the alphabet would be left blank, so that if when printing

page_text: an index the wheel should be slightly rotated beyond the required distance, no
harm would result.
So far the construction of the said wheel is similar to that of the wheel A,
described in the Specification of my said Letters Patent, No. 15624 of 1886.
H, Hare two inking rollers, one being charged with say black and the other
with red ink. The rollers revolve on pins hh fitted in carriages I, I. These
carriages I, I, slide in ways on the inside of the plates E, E, formed by means of
inwardly projecting flanges e e, or in any other suitable manner, but the essential
part of this arrangement, for a reason to be presently described, is that each
carriage with its roller shall move in the line a a or b b, which lines are radial to
the wheel A. Attached to the back of each carriage I is a pin J entering a
tube I, this tube has affixed at right angles to its lower end a tube L', and the
projecting ends of a pin passing through the said tube L' work in slots M in
the plates E, the said slots being formed on the radial lines a a and b b.
One end of each of the pins is screw threaded and provided with a milled
nut ', so that the said tubes L' can be clamped in any required position in the
slots M.
Those parts of the pins J which are within the tubes L, are reduced in size
and surrounded by helical springs K, which keep the inking rollers H, H, pressed
forwards against the type on the wheel A. As each said roller has only to ink
every alternate type, means have to be provided for permitting contact with the
wheel A at the proper times only. For this purpose, I provide on each carriage I
a small anti-friction roller N, the said rollers being on opposite sides.
On each side of the wheel A, I affix a flat ring P, concentric with the said
wheel, and having its outer periphery cut or formed with teeth or projections p,
to engage with the rollers N. These teeth are shaped with a sloping side pl and a
radial or nearly radial side p², while the top of the tooth forms part of the
circumference of the ring; gaps are provided between the teeth.
The ring P on one side of the wheel A is so placed that each tooth P is opposite
to a black letter, while each gap q is opposite a red letter, and the ring on the
- other side is placed with each tooth opposite a red letter and each gap opposite a
black letter. The action is as follows:-When the wheel is placed on the surface
requiring to be printed, and caused to roll over it by pushing the handle F, the
sloping side p¹ of a tooth coming in contact with the roller N on, say, the black
inking roller carriage, pushes the said roller out of contact with the wheel A and
holds it out of contact by means of the top of the tooth while a red type passes
it, at the same time the roller N on the red inking roller carriage has dropped
into a depression q in the toothed ring on the other side of the wheel A and inked
one of the red types, and this action is repeated for each type as the wheel A
revolves. When the rollers N drop into the depressions q the inking rollers H are
pressed up against the type by means of the springs K before mentioned, the said
springs being compressed when the rollers are pushed away again by the action of
the teeth p. The wheel A can only be rotated in one direction, as the radial
sides p' of the teeth p lock against the rollers N, when it is attempted to turn the
said wheel A. backwards.
The rollers H are covered with a thickness of absorbent material, which will
contain a charge of ink sufficient to last for about 150 impressions. If desired the
said rollers can be made hollow and filled with a supply of ink, but in practice I
prefer the first described method.
On the side of the wheel A, against the type "Z," I place an arrow head, as
shown, or other suitable mark, to indicate at a glance where to place the wheel on
the paper, and insure the machine always being started at the proper angle,
without it being necessary to inspect the faces of the type, and against the "A,"
I place a cross, as shown, or other distinctive mark, to indicate when the printing
is finished.
The toothed rings P, instead of being affixed to the wheel A, may if desired be
formed in one piece therewith.

page_text: The wheel A, as shown in the drawings, is for an index of small size; to print
a larger or smaller index with the same machine, the milled nuts are slackened,
which allows the inking roller carriages to recede in the slots M. The pin D is
then unscrewed, the wheel A taken out, and an exactly similar wheel, but of
larger or smaller diameter put in its place. The inking roller carriages are then
advanced towards the wheel till their rollers bear with sufficient pressure against
the type, when the nuts are tightened and the machine is again ready for use.
In ordinary practice I provide with each machine a set of three wheels A, which
cover the sizes of indexes most commonly in use, and marks are made against the
slots M to show the correct position of the nuts for each wheel, but a larger
number of wheels can obviously be used if required, the dimensions of the
largest wheel employed being limited only by the capacity of the frame of the
machine, thus one machine can be fitted with wheels to print from an 8vo. to
the largest folio size.
As the inking roller carriages advance or recede in radial lines from the centre
of the wheel A, they are always in correct position to engage with the toothed
rings and ink the proper type, irrespective of the diameter of the wheel. The
wheels not only increase in diameter, but to a sufficient degree in thickness also,
to allow for larger type, as the size of the type should increase in proportion to
the length of the index.
To prevent the inking roller carriages falling out of the tubes L when the
wheel A is removed, and to insure the said inking rollers being drawn out of
contact with the wheel when the nuts are taken to the bottoms of the slots M,
I form a slot in each tube L, and insert a stud 13 in each pin J to project through
the said slot.
To charge the rollers H with ink, it is only necessary to draw their carriages
back as before described, when they are free to rotate and can be fed with ink by
a brush, or other convenient means.
It will be understood that in place of, or in combination with letters of the
alphabet, the wheels can be arranged to print figures, or other required signs, or
characters, also that by employing additional inking rollers in carriages moving on
radial lines in like manner to those already described, my improved machine may
be arranged to print in three or more colours at one operation. In this case a
separate toothed ring will be required for each additional inking roller, and the
teeth in each of the rings will need to be of sufficient length to hold the rollers
away from the wheel A, while two or more consecutive type pass them, according
to the number of inking rollers employed.
The arrangement of the inking rollers with regard to the wheel A, as shown in
the drawings, is convenient in practice, but I do not necessarily confine myself
thereto. Thus the said rollers may be placed diametrically opposite to each other,
or at any desired angle other than that shown, the design of the frame being
modified in accordance, provided that in all cases the said rollers move on lines
radial to the said wheel A.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim, is :-
:-
1. In a machine of the class described, a rotating printing wheel having types on
its outer periphery, in combination with two or more inking rollers, operated by
and moving in lines radial to the said wheel, for the purpose described.
2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame, two, or more
inking rollers carried thereby and capable of motion in lines radial to a pin
therein, and a series of interchangeable printing wheels of varying sizes, each
adapted to rotate on said pin and to operate on and be inked by the rollers
aforesaid, for the purpose described.
3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a frame, two, or more
inking rollers carried thereby and capable of motion in lines radial to a pin therein,

page_text: a series of interchangeable printing wheels of varying sizes, each adapted to rotate
on said pin and to operate on, and be inked by, the rollers aforesaid, and means for
adjusting the said rollers to the particular distance required for each printing
wheel, for the purpose described.
4. In a machine of the class described, a printing wheel A, having teeth p,
adapted to engage with and operate inking rollers H, moving in lines radial to the
said wheel, substantially as described.
5. The combination, in a machine of the class described, of a frame E, E, E',
with handle F, a series of interchangeable printing wheels A provided with teeth p,
two or more inking rollers H on carriages I moving in lines radial to the wheel A
and having rollers N engaging the said teeth p pressed towards the said wheel by
springs K seated in tubes L held in position by nuts l, all substantially as and for
the purpose described.
6. In the inking roller carriage of a machine of the class described a tube L, a
pin J sliding within said tube and surrounded by a helical spring K, a slot 1 in
said tube L and a stud 13 in said pin J projecting through said slot, substantially as
and for the purpose described.
Dated this 4th day of September 1893.
AMBROSE MYALL,
2, Lancaster Place, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.