IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Cope, of Farringdon Road, in the County of Middle-
sex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Cope at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd April 1878.
"IM-
JAMES COPE, of Farringdon Road, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer.
PROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY."
My Invention relates to that class of printing machinery in which the forms of type
are placed upon a travelling reciprocating bed, and the sheet of paper is printed on
both sides before it is delivered from the machine. These machines are usually
denominated flat bed perfecting machines.
The main object of the Invention is to simplify the gearing whereby the working
parts are driven, and to so construct and arrange such parts that they will not be sub-
jected to such hard wear as in the perfecting machines now in use. The moving parts
will not therefore be so liable to get deranged or out of repair; the machine may more-
over be driven at an increased speed without danger, and by the simplification of
its parts will be less costly to construct than the machines now in use.
The defects mentioned in machines of the above class are principally due to the
impression cylinders and reciprocating bed deriving their motion through trains of
spur and bevil geer from the main axle of the machine.
By my improved means of driving these machines, the impression cylinders are
alternately locked to spur geer and driven direct from the reciprocating bed. The
uniform velocity of the superficies of the forms of type upon the bed of the machine
and of the impression cylinders thereby attained, secures the most perfect register.
This mode of driving the impression cylinders also permits of the crank motion
used in single cylinder machines for giving motion to the reciprocating bed, being
employed in driving this class of perfecting machines, thus overcoming the inertia,
arresting the momentum of the bed, and enabling the machines to be driven at the
high speed required.

page_text: A crank on a main shaft is connected by a rod to the axle of a pair of spur
wheels, which severally geer with and roll over racks, one set being secured to the
under side of the bed, and the other to the framing or bed plate of the machine.
Mounted loosely at both ends of the axles of each of the cylinders, and in
different planes, are spur wheels which geer with racks on both sides of the upper
surface of the reciprocating bed.
In order to lock the cylinders (which are keyed to their axles) alternately to the
loosely mounted spur wheels which they carry, these wheels are furnished with
pawles which interlock with a ratchet tooth formed upon the axles of the cylinders
or upon a collar attached thereto; or in place of such connection, spring clutches
may be employed, the one half being carried by the loosely mounted spur wheels
and the other secured by feather geer to the axle of the cylinder, such ratchet lock
or clutch connection being set or cut so as to act in opposite directions upon their
respective cylinders, and thus allow of the locked and loose spur wheels rotating
in the same direction at each reciprocation of the bed of the machine, while that
cylinder only which is giving the impress (being locked to its spur wheels) is driven
direct from the reciprocating bed.
In order to give rotation to the impression cylinders in opposite directions simul-
taneously, they are geered together by equal sized spur wheels keyed on their axles
the relative
inside or outside the frame of the machine, as may be most convenient;
positions of the impress surfaces and the accessories of the two cylinders will thus
be always maintained, whichever cylinder is being driven direct from the racks of
the reciprocating bed. This improved mechanism for driving the machine will not
prevent the employment of the usual mechanism for lifting the impress surface of
the cylinders from the forms when necessary.
A modification of the above mechanism for the direct driving of the cylinder
which is in action is to mount the loose spur wheels in the same plane (and in geer
with each other) upon sleeve axles slotted so as to be capable of being alternately
lifted out of geer with the racks on the reciprocating table or bed by rock levers or
other suitable mechanism.
Another improvement in the same machine relates to a novel arrangement or
construction of parts for separating the set-off sheets from the newly printed sheets,
and delivering the same on to an inclined table without the use of any fly frame
for depositing such set-off sheets on the delivery table. By this means, the height
of the machine is considerably reduced and it can therefore be placed and worked
in a room where the ordinary machines could not be introduced.
This part of the Invention consists in so arranging the tapes and rollers which
separate, and carry the set-off sheets after separation from the printed sheets, that
they shall deliver the set-off sheets in an inclined direction to or over an inclined or
sloping receiving board (provided with a suitable stop) situated either over one of
the laying-in boards, the taking-off board, or other convenient part of the machine,
thus rendering unnecessary the use of a flyer for the set-off sheets and consequently
increasing the compactness of the machine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Cope in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd October
1878.
JAMES COPE, of Farringdon Road, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer. “Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY."
My Invention relates to that class of printing machinery in which the forms of
type are placed upon a travelling reciprocating bed, and the sheet of paper is printed
on both sides before it is delivered from the machine. These machines are usually
denominated flat bed perfecting machines.
The main object of the Invention is to simplify the gearing whereby the working
parts are driven, and to so construct and arrange such parts that they will not be
subjected to such hard wear as in the perfecting machines now in use.
The moving
parts will not therefore be so liable to get deranged or out of repair; the machine
may moreover be driven at an increased speed without danger, and by the simplifi-
cation of its parts will be less costly to construct than the machines now in use."
The defects mentioned in machines of the above class are principally due to the
impression cylinders and reciprocating bed deriving their motion through trains of
spur and bevil gear from the main axle of the machine.
By my improved means of driving these machines, the impression cylinders are
alternately locked to spur gear and driven direct from the reciprocating bed. The
uniform velocity of the superficies of the forms of type upon the bed of the machine,
and of the impression cylinders thereby attained, secures an impression without
slur, and the most perfect register for "overlays." This mode of driving the im-
pression cylinders also permits of the crank motion used in single cylinder machines
for giving motion to the reciprocating bed, being employed in driving this class
of perfecting machines, thus overcoming easily the inertia and arresting the
momentum of the bed, and enabling the machines to be driven at the high speed
required.
In the accompanying Drawings,―
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal elevation (partly in section) of a perfecting machine.
constructed according to my improvements, the upper parts for feeding in the paper
and receiving the printed sheets being removed in order to avoid unnecessary com-
plexity in the Drawing; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.
Fig. 3 is an end elevation, and Fig. 4 a transverse vertical section of the
machine.
A and A¹ are the two impression cylinders, which are mounted in bearings at
the upper ends of two vertical standards, which are capable of a limited vertical
motion in guides for the purpose of raising and lowering the impression cylinders
in the well-known manner. B is the main driving shaft carrying at one end the
fast and loose pullies a, a, and at the other the fly wheel b. At the central part
of the shaft B are two pinions c, c, which gear into and drive two large toothed
wheels d, d, on the pair of cross shafts C, C. A crank pine is fixed by its two
ends in the sides of the large wheels d, d, on the shaft C, and is connected by a.
rod el to the axle of a pair of spur wheels f, f, as indicated by dots in the plan
view, Fig. 2. These spur wheels f, f, severally gear with and roll in the racks g, g,
and h, h, one set of racks g being secured to the under side of the bed, and are
consequently moveable therewith, while the other set of racks h are fixed to the
framing or bed plate of the machine, and are consequently stationary.
Mounted loosely at both ends of the axles of each of the impression cylinders
and in different planes are the spur wheels i, i, and j, j, which gear with the wide
side racks k on both sides of the upper surface of the reciprocating bed, which is
fitted with bearers d* as usual,
In order to lock the impression cylinders (which are keyed to their axles)
alternately to the loosely mounted spur wheels i and j, which they carry as above :

page_text: mentioned, these wheels are furnished with pawls, which interlock with a ratchet
tooth formed upon the axles of the impression cylinders, or upon a collar attached
thereto, as shewn in the enlarged views, Figures 5, 6, and 7.
Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation drawn upon an enlarged scale of part of the bed of
the machine with the impression cylinders and the parts connected therewith;
Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same; and Fig. 7, a vertical section taken on a line
with the axis of the impression cylinder A.
The axles of the two impression cylinders A and A¹ are provided at each end
with toothed wheels 1, 1, and I, 1. These wheels are outside the framing of the
machine, and they gear together on each side, so that the two cylinders must
always rotate together, whichever of them happens to receive motion from the
racks of the travelling or reciprocating bed D. As the sheets of paper to be
printed are fed.in continuously, and pass through the machine in one direction, the
impression cylinders must always rotate in the same direction, although the
travelling bed by which they are driven moves to and fro alternately.
In order to impart from the reciprocating motion of the bed a continuous rotary
motion (in an uniform direction) to each of the impression cylinders A and A¹, the
toothed wheels i, i, and j, j, which gear into the travelling racks / are mounted
loosely on collars m, Fig. 7, which are keyed fast on the axles of the cylinders.
The wheels i and j are kept in place on their respective collars m by means of the
circular plates m¹, which when in place (as shewn at Fig. 7) are keyed fast to the
collars m, and thereby form part thereof, the wheels i and j being thus left free
to rotate in either direction on their respective collars. In the edge of the circular
plate mof the collar m is made a notch m², Fig. 5, into which drops a pawle or
tooth n, which is attached or pivotted to, and of course is carried round by the
wheel orj with which it is connected.
For the sake of convenience, and to save room, the pawle or tooth n and the
circular plate m' are placed on the inner face of the wheel i, and on the outer face
of the wheel j.
The action of the several parts is as follows:-The sheets of paper are fed into
the machine in the ordinary manner, and are taken by the grippers attached to the
impression cylinder A and carried round in the direction of the arrow to the first
form of type on the bed D, which is travelling in the direction of the arrow. The
rack, as the bed travels forward, drives round the wheel i of the impression
cylinder A, and causes the tooth or pawle n carried by the wheel i to enter the
notch m² of the circular plate of the collar belonging to this cylinder.
As the two impression cylinders A and A¹ are geared together in the way
already described they will of course rotate together, and when the printed sheet
on A comes round again it will be laid hold of by the grippers of the second
impression cylinder A¹, and will be printed on the opposite side by the second form
of type on the bed D, and will then be carried out of the machine.
It will be obvious that as the toothed wheels i and j are always in gear with
the rack of the reciprocating bed D they must rotate alternately in opposite
directions, and although the impression cylinders must of necessity rotate always
in the same direction this sudden change of direction in the rotation of the wheels i
and, while the cylinders are continuing their rotation in the same direction, is
liable to cause the notch m² to pass the point where the pawl falls into it. This
arises from the momentum and the difference in speed of the impression cylinders,
and that of the wheels i orj at the moment of the change of direction, and it
therefore becomes necessary to equalize these speeds. To this end I adapt to the
end of each cylinder sector racks o and o¹, which gear into the short racks p and
p attached to the reciprocating bed D. As the racks p and p³ must travel at the
same speed as the racks k it follows that the parts which gear into them must also
travel at the same speed.
It will of course be understood that as the reciprocating bed D approaches the
end of its stroke its speed will gradually decrease, while (consequent upon the
reciprocating of the bed being derived from the crank action) the speed of the

page_text: cylinder would therefore overrun the bed if precautions were not taken to prevent
it. This is the object of the sector racks o and o¹ and the short racks p and p¹.
It has been found in practice that this precaution is only required for a very
short time, that is to say, until the pawle n¹ of the second cylinder A' has fairly
dropped into its notch m² and is about to act, but before so doing the cylinder A
must be released from its connection with the bed D in order that the latter with
its racks k and p may return while the cylinder A and its sector o are continuing
to rotate.
The release of these parts is effected by causing the rack p to drop away from
the sector o, to which end the rack p is divided, and a short portion thereof is
pivotted to the under side of the bed, as shewn at Fig. 5 and Fig. 8, which latter
Figure represents the parts in the position they would assume when the releasing
action is about to take place. It will be seen on referring to Fig. 8, that the
moveable part p* of the rack is supported at the latter part of its stroke by a
tumbler q, the upper edge of which is level with the upper edge of a bracket r
which is attached to one of the bearers. The moveable piece p* of the short
racks P slides along and is supported by this bracket until it reaches the tumbler
q. Upon continuing its forward motion, the part p* ultimately passes beyond the
tumbler q, when it will drop down on to the short bracket, the face of which is
at a lower level than the tumbler q, the consequence will be that the sector o of the
cylinder A will be released from the rack, and will be free to travel round with the
cylinder, while the toothed wheel i connected with this cylinder will be free to
rotate in the opposite direction when the action of the bed D is reversed.
return of the bed D, the end of the moveable piece p* of the rack will strike against
the tumbler and force it back into the position indicated by dots in Fig. 8, tho
part p will then pass up the short incline formed by the end of the tumbler q
(when in the dotted position), and will thus be conducted up to the higher level of
the bracket 1. When the rack p (on its return) passes beyond the tumbler q, the
latter will return to its original vertical position, as shewn in Figures 5 and 8. A
similar arrangement of parts acting in the same manner is placed on the other side
of the machine in connection with the other impression cylinder A¹.
On the
As an additional precaution against the cylinder overrunning when lifted from
the bearers, a brake inay be adapted to the cylinders or their axles, and operated
by cams on the main shaft, or made automatic through the lifting action of tho
cylinders. If thought desirable to lessen the width of the machine, the loose geared
wheels and may be arranged in the same plane by simply giving greater width
and less depth of tooth to these wheels, without increasing the distance of the
cylinders from each other.
The mechanical devices consisting of toggles worked by cams on a main shaft
and springs and levers, as usually adopted in this class of printing machinery for
raising and lowering the impression cylinders to lift them out of contact with tho
type, or to bring them down thercon alternately, are shewn in Fig. 1, but need not
be described, as they form no part of the present Invention. The inking arrange-
ments are not shown, as they are not in any way connected with the Invention.
Another improvement in the same machine relates to a novel arrangement or
construction of parts for separating the "set-off" sheets from the newly printed
sheets, and delivering the same on to an inclined table, without the use of any fly
frame for depositing such "set-off" sheets on the delivery table. By this means
the height of the machine is considerably reduced, and it can therefore be placed
and worked in rooms where the ordinary machines could not be introduced.
This part of the Invention consists in so arranging the tapes and rollers which
separate and carry the "set-off" sheets after separation from the printed sheets, that
they shall deliver the "sct-off" sheets in an inclined direction, to or over an inclined
or sloping receiving board (provided with a suitable stop) situated either over one
of the laying-in boards, the taking-off board, or other convenient part of the
machine. By this means, I render unnecessary the use of a flyer for depositing the
set-off sheets, and consequently the machine is rendered more compact, and may

page_text: be placed in a room of much less height than when flyers are used for depositing
the "set-off" sheets.
Fig. 9 is an elevation of the upper part of a printing machine, such as that shewn
at Fig. 1. The sheets to be printed are placed on the feeding board F, and are fed
in to the first impression cylinder in the usual manner. They are taken in succes-
sion by the grippers of the impression or printing cylinder A, and are carried to the
printing surface. When printed, the sheet is carried round again, until it is de-
livered to the grippers of the second printing or impression cylinder A', whereby
the blank or reverse side of the sheet of paper is brought into contact with the
second form in order to be printed on the back. As however the ink on the first
side of the paper will of course be moist and liable to "set off" on the blanket of
the second impression cylinder A¹, "set-off" sheets of paper are interposed between
the blanket of the cylinder A¹ and the newly printed sheet. These "set-off" sheets
are placed on the inclined table G, and are fed into the machine at the same rate as
the sheets placed on the feeding table F. To effect this object at every second
revolution of the cylinder A, a toothed wheel 8, indicated by dots in Fig. 9, is made
to gear into and drive a wheel t of double the number of teeth. On the periphery
of a disc attached to the wheel t is made a cam t¹, against which bears the lower
arm of a lever u on the axle u' of which are mounted a pair of levers or arms v,
provided at their ends with rollers, as shewn in the Figure.
Whenever the recess of the cam t¹ comes round, the lever u drops into it, and
allows the arms v above to fall, so that the rollers at their ends will nip the edge of
a "set-off" sheet against the roller w, which is kept in constant rotation. Round
this roller, and over suitable guides pass the "set-off" tapes 1, 1, on which the set-
off sheet will return. A second tape 2 also passes partly round the roller w, and
assists in carrying in the set-off sheet to the cylinder A¹. In the meantime the
sheet of paper printed on one side is carried forward by the cylinder A, and both
sheets are seized by the grippers of the second impression cylinder A¹, and are
carried to the second form of type as before mentioned, the printed sheet being
supported by the tapes 3.
When the sheet has been printed on both sides, it is carried with the set-off
sheet to the pulley x, where being no longer supported by the tape 3, it will pass
out in the direction of the arrow, and drop on to the tape 4, from which it will be
lifted by the flyer y, and deposited on a table in the usual manner. The set-off
sheet being held by or between the two tapes 1 and 2 will be carried forward to and
around the pulleys 2 and z¹, from the latter of which it will be thrown forward on
to the inclined receiving board G', from whence the sheets may be moved in batches
to the inclined feeding board G, and used again and again.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in Printing
Machinery," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish
it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim,-
First. Driving the impression cylinders constantly in the same direction by
means of gearing connected with or actuated by the reciprocating bed, as herein
set forth.
Second. The arrangement of tapes, rollers, and inclined tables herein shewn and
described for separating the set-off sheets from the printed sheets, and depositing
them on the inclined board or feeding table without the aid of a flyer, as and for
the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Cope, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, the Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight