IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY.”
-A communication from abroad by Richard March Hoc, of the
City of New York in the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 5th January 1872.
.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING
MACHINERY," to be as follows :—
The first part of this Invention relates to improvements in the inking
mechanism of typographic and lithographic printing machines, and
consists in improved ink distributing apparatus, and in improved means
of supplying ink to the ink distributing table of printing machines.

page_text: To ensure a better distribution of ink two lifting rollers are employed,
which are mounted on a pair of lifting arms so arranged that their lifting
distance is in proportion to their distance from the centre of the lifting
shaft, in order that both rollers shall touch the fountain roller and dis-
tributing table in conveying the ink from the one to the other.
Another improvement consists in putting the ink on to the distributing
table in front of the distributing rollers, so that these rollers shall roll
over the ink twice before the ink distributing table passes under the
"form" or (stone) inking rollers.
In this improved arrangement the ink is taken from the fountain
roller and put on to a revolving distributing cylinder by means of a drop
roller mounted and actuated as usual. Upon this revolving cylinder it
may be partially distributed in the usual way, and from thence taken by
another drop roller and deposited on the distributing table. This
apparatus is to be placed between the oblique or other distributing
rollers and the form of type, and the lifting rollers actuated so as to put
ink on the table when running out.
In order to better preserve the purity of colored inks in color printing
I employ glass, vitrified iron, stoneware, china, or porcelain in the con-
struction of the distributing surfaces used for such colored inks, thesc
materials having no deleterious effects on them, and being more readily
cleaned than wood or iron.
This material may be applied to the flat distributing tables of printing
machines in the form of plate glass attached to the frame or bed by
clamps or otherwise.
When applied to cylindrical distributing surfaces it may be formed in
segments of a diameter suitable to the size of the cylinder, and fixed to
the periphery thereof; or the cylinder, when of a small diameter, may
be cast hollow and afterwards mounted upon its shaft.
It is desirable to so regulate the supply of ink to the distributing
tables of stop cylinder printing machines (similar to those for which
Letters Patent were granted to me respectively bearing date 24th August
1870, and 29 August 1870, Nos. 2330 and 2368), so that when the
impression cylinder is thrown out of action the fountain roller may be
prevented from giving out a supply of ink. This is accomplished by
connecting the trip for throwing the impression cylinder out of action

page_text: with the operating mechanism of the fountain roller by a crank and
horizontal rod in such a manner that when the treadle employed for
throwing the cylinder out of action is operated, the rod is thrust under
the forked connecting rod of the ink fountain roller mechanism, and
holds it out of action.
The second part of this Invention, which is applicable to the heroin-
above mentioned description of machinery as well as to rotary and other
presses, consists in an improved mode of operating the sheet flyers of such
machines. Heretofore the flyers of printing machines have been operated
by a spring or weight, and brought down to the fly board with great
violence when by accident a sheet of paper has not been delivered from
the machine. This improvement consists in operating the flyer by means
of a self-acting cam of a suitable shape to raise it up to receive the sheets,
and conduct it down in an casy and quiet mannor. This cam operates
the flyer by means of a horizontal lever, one end of which carries a
bowle bearing upon the periphery of the cam, and its opposite end is
geared with a tooth segment keyed on the axis of the flyer.
As a modification of the above a cam with a suitable shaned groove
O SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 5th July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lanc, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time

page_text: 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 MACHINERY," being a communication to ne
from abroad by Richard March Hoc, of the City of New York, in the
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Edward Newton, 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 William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say)
--
The first part of this Invention relates to improvements in the inking
mechanism of typographic and lithographic printing machines, and
consists in improved ink distributing apparatus, and an improved means
of supplying ink to the ink distributing table of printing machines.
To ensure a better distribution of ink two lifting rollers are employed
instead of only one as is now the case. These two rollers are mounted
on a pair of lifting arms so arranged that their lifting distance is in
proportion to their distance from the centre of the lifting shaft in order
that both rollers shall touch the fountain roller and distributing table in
conveying the ink from the one to the other.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1, Sheet I., shews in elevation a
portion of the ink distributing apparatus of a flat form printing machine
in which two lifting rollers are employed to convey the ink from the
fountain roller to the ink distributing table instead of one as heretofore.
A is the fountain roller mounted in bearings in the frame of the machine
as usual; B, B, arc the lifting or carrying rollers mounted in bearings
in a pair of rocking arms C, which are pivotted to the frame of the
machine at D. To these armis C are pivotted the lifting rods E, which

page_text: are operated by a cam on the main shaft of the machine in the usual
manner. By this arrangement the quantity of ink transferred by the
rollers B, B, to the table A* will be put on more thinly; moreover, each
of the rollers B, B, will in its turn cut up and distribute the ink laid by
the other roller upon the distributing table A*. Both these rollers B, B,
being mounted and carried in the same pair of lifting arms C, their
lifting distance is in proportion to their distance from the centre of
motion D of the arms C, so that both rollers touch the fountain roller
and the distributing table simultaneously.
Another improvement consists in putting the ink on the distributing
table in front of the distributing rollers, so that these rollers shall roll
over the ink twice before the ink distributing table passes under the
form or stone inking rollers.
This improved arrangement is shewn in elevation and plan at
Figures 2 and 3, Sheet I. The ink is taken from the fountain roller A
and put on to a revolving distributing cylinder B by means of a drop
roller C mounted on rocking arms C¹, and actuated as usual by the rod E
shewn by dots in Fig. 2. Upon this revolving cylinder B the ink is
partially distributed in the usual way by the ink distributing rollers B', B*,
and from the under side of this distributing roller B the ink is taken by
another drop roller D operated by the rod D', shewn by dots in Fig. 2,
and deposited on the distributing table F. This apparatus, instead of
being placed outside the oblique distributing rollers G, G, is to be placed
between these rollers and the form of type H. The lifting roller D is to
be so actuated as to supply the ink to the table F when it is running
out, and the roller D will be lifted clear from the table F when it is
running in. It will now be seen that by this means the distributing
rollers G, G, will run twice over the ink that has just been supplied to
the table F before it goes to the form inking rollers, thus ensuring a
better distribution of ink.
.
In order to preserve the purity of colored inks in color printing, and
prevent them from being injuriously affected or chemically acted upon
by the ink distributing surface, I employ glass, vitrified or enamelled
iron, stone, slate, earthenware, china, porcelain, or other analogous,
vitreous, or non-absorbent material for the construction of the distributing
surfaces used for such colored inks. The object I have in view in the
use of the above-mentioned materials for this purpose is that no

page_text: deleterious effects shall be produced on the ink or colour used, more-
over such vitreous or non-absorbent surfaces can be more readily
cleansed than wood or iron.
In Sheet II. I have shewn several means whereby distributing surfaces
composed of these materials may be secured to their bed plates in the
machine to which they are to be applied.
In adapting this improvement to flat distributing tables I prefer to
use plate glass, which may be bedded in cement or plaster of Paris upon
a plate or trough of iron bolted on to the traversing bed.
Fig. 4 is a transverse section, and Fig. 5 is a plan view of a traversing
bed of a flat form printing machine with a glass distributing table a
adapted thereto, and bedded on a layer of plaster of Paris b laid on the
plate of iron c which is secured to the bed by clamps d, which overlap
the inclined edge of the glass, as shewn at the right-hand side of the
Figure; or it may be secured by screws having their heads countersunk
into the glass as at e, Fig. 5; or the plate may have right-angled edges
and the clamps & simply form the edge of the trough in which the glass
is to be bedded, so as to allow the cement to flow round the edge, as
shewn at fat the left-hand end of the Figure.
d
When applied to cylindrical distributing surfaces, glass or other
similar materials, as above mentioned, may be formed in segments of a
diameter suitable to the size of the cylinder, and fixed to the periphery
thereof in the manner shewn in Fig. 6, where d, d, are clamps bolted to
the cylinder and are made to clasp the inclined edges of the glass
segment; or countersunk screws may be used to attach it to the
periphery of the cylinder.
When a distributing cylinder of small diameter is required, similar to
those shewn in Figures 1 and 2, Sheet I., the cylinder may be cast
hollow, and afterwards mounted upon its shaft in either of the manners
shewn in the sectional views, Figures 7 and 8, Sheet I.
Two modes are shewn at Figures 7, Sheet I., of mounting small
cylinders of glass; the left-hand end of the longitudinal section shows
the edge of the cylinders bevilled to fit into a conical recess formed in
the end caps. The caps are keyed on the shaft b, which is provided with
a flange b¹ at one end, and lock nuts 62 at the other end, by which means
the glass cylinder will be held tightly between them. A leather, india-

page_text: rubber, or other washer of soft and yielding material should be placed
between the glass and metal to compensate for expansion and contraction.
If preferred, the cast-iron end caps or covers may be formed as shewn
at the right-hand end of the Figure with a flange c entering within the
cylinder, which may be secured thereto by screws having countersunk
hoads.
When ink distributing cylinders of larger diameter are required, they
may be conveniently cast in segments, as shewn at Figures 8, which
after being properly ground or faced may be held together by the brass
ring d. The outer face of this ring is conical, and enters and fits in the
conical flange a¹ of the end covers a, which are tightened up by the lock
nuts 6 as before, and the outer periphery of the cylinder is ground to a
true face by means of emery wheels, or in any other suitable and
convenient manner. Or the end edges of the segments of the glass
cylinder may be bevilled and fitted into the conical flange of the end
covers a, as shewn at e in the left-hand end of Fig. 8. Or the segments
may be separately screwed to an internal flange on the end caps by
countersunk screws, as shewn in reference to the hollow cylinder at
Figures 7.
It is desirable to so regulate the supply of ink to the distributing
tables of stop cylinder printing machines (similar to those for which
Letters Patent were granted to me, and bearing date respectively Twenty-
fourth August One thousand eight hundred and seventy, and Twenty-
ninth August One thousand eight hundred and seventy, Nos. 2330
and 2368) that when the impression cylinder is thrown out of action the
fountain roller may be prevented from giving out a supply of ink.
In Sheet III. of the accompanying Drawings Fig. 9 shews a partial
side clevation of a stop cylinder printing machine with the improvement
adapted thereto; and Fig. 10 is a partial end view of the same. A is
the treadle shaft operated by the treadle a and rock lever a¹ (shewn by
dots in Fig. 9) for the purpose of throwing the impression cylinder out of
action in the manner described in the Specifications of the above-
mentioned Patents. This mechanism is connected, with the operating
mechanism of the fountain roller in the following manner:-A vertical
arm b is keyed upon the treadle shaft A, and jointed to this arm 6 is a
horizontal rod c, the further end of which is carried in a fixed guide d.
When the treadle a is pressed down the rod c will be thrust under the
с

page_text: pawl g, which operates the fountain roller %, so that it will be kept out
of contact with the lifting cam f, and no additional ink will be taken
until the impression cylinder is again thrown into action and a sheet
printed.
The second part of this Invention, which is applicable to the herein
above-mentioned description of machinery as well as to rotary and other
presses, consists in an improved mode of operating the sheet flyers of such
machines. Heretofore the flyers of printing machines have been operated
by a spring or-weight, and brought down to the fly_hoard with great
violence when by accident a sheet of paper has not been delivered from
the machine. This part of the Invention is shewn in Sheet IV. of the
Drawings, in which Fig. 11 is a partial side view of a stop cylinder
printing machine, and Fig. 12 is a plan view of a portion of the
mechanism.
The improvement consists in operating the flyer A. by means of a self-
acting cam B of a suitable shape to raise it up to receive the sheets, and
conduct it down to the fly board in an easy and quiet manner. This
cam B (keyed upon the outer end of the cam shaft 6) operates the flyer A
by means of a horizontal lever C, one end of which carries a bowle c
which bears upon the periphery of the cam B. The opposite end of this
lever c is provided with a quadrant rack c', which is geared with a tooth
segment a keyed on the axis or shaft of the flyer A. The bowle or
friction roller c of the horizontal lever C (that operates the fly frame A.)
is kept in constant contact with the cam B by means of a spring not
shewn in the Drawing, or by a weighted lever as indicated by dots in
Fig. 11. This weighted lever, or a spring as its equivalent, may be
caused to act on the horizontal lever C in any convenient manner, so
that if the attendant should neglect to feed in a sheet of paper, or when
"double rolling," or after "tripping" the impression cylinder no sheet
has been taken in, the fly frame A will be thrown over in the same
casy manner as if a shect were on it.
An obvious modification of the above plan of operating the flyer in the
manner described would be by means of a grooved cam operating without
a spring or weighted lever; but the before-described form of cam, as
shewn at B, is preferred because the lever can thereby be held up and
out of action when required.

page_text: Having now described the "Improvements in Printing Machinery"
which have been communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and
having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as
the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, -
First. The use of two or more lifting rollers for receiving ink from the
same fountain roller, and transferring the same to the distributing
surface, as and for the purpose described with reference to Fig. 1,
Sheet I.
Second. I claim supplying the ink to the distributing table in front of
the distributing rollers, so that these rollers shall roll over it twice
before it goes to the form inking rollers, as described with reference to
Figures 2 and 3, Sheet I.
Third. I claim the use as and for the purpose herein set forth of ink
distributing surfaces constructed of glass, vitrified or enamelled iron,
stone, slate, earthenware, china, porcelain, or other vitreous or non-
absorbent material which is not liable to act on the ink or colour.
Fourth. I claim connecting the mechanism for throwing the impression
cylinder out of action with the mechanism for operating the ink fountain
roller, so that when the cylinder is out of action the fountain roller will
be prevented from giving out a supply of ink.
And, lastly. I claim operating the sheet flyers of printing machines by
means of a sheet flyer cam of such shape as to control the action and
motion of the fly frame in every position, as and for the
set forth.
purpose herein
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of July, in the
VOOR of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.