IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Conisbee, of King Street, Queen Street,
Southwark Bridge Road, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING
MACHINES."
Sealed the 9th July 1858 and dated the 20th January 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Williani Conisbee at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
January 1858.
I, WILLIAM CONISBEE, of King Street, Queen Street, Southwark Bridge
Road, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for .." IMPROVEMENTS
PRINTING MACHINEE," to be as follows:-
IN
This Invention has for its object improvements in printing machines. For
these purposes the printing cylinder is connected by direct gearing with the
type surface or table, by a wheel which is fixed to the end of the cylinder,
which works in a rack fixed on the table, so that the surface of the cylinder
and type or printing surface constantly move in unison, the cylinder being
adjusted by its wheel with the rack on the table that the gripper edges, or
those parts of the cylinder at which the sheets of paper to be printed are
taken, shall have the same relative distance from the surface of the table at
each extremity of its traverse. At a short distance from each gripper edge
of the cylinder is fixed a shaft parallel with each edge, and working in bear-
ings at each end of the cylinder. On each gripper bar or shaft is mounted
several gripper stocks which are adjustable at any part of the shafts by means
of tightening screws; the faces of these stocks or the part on which the
grippers are fixed have a radius less than the cylinder. The grippers are
slotted or grooved partially from end to end, and fixed to the stocks by means
[Price 8d.]

page_text: of screws to enable them to be adjusted to suit the various sizes of paper. To
the end of each gripper shaft or bar a crank is fixed, at the extremity of
which is attached a roller working freely on a fixed stud in the crank. .On
the inside of the bearings in which the cylinder works is fixed an incline, in
such a position that the crank on the end of the gripper shaft is brought in
contact and partially turned, and the grippers are opened for the purpose of
taking the sheet of paper from the feed table, which is advanced for that
purpose by means of two cams alternately as each set of grippers are opened
for that purpose. The feed tables are preferred to be worked in slides mounted
on the framing of the machine horizontally, the back part being hinged to
the bottom frame, the front part being elevated or depressed by two excentrics
mounted on a shaft fitted in the bottom frame of the feed table, and fixed in
its position by a ratchet and paul attached. There is also used in connection
with the feed board a shaft which is grooved partially from end to end, and
worked in two bearings at each side parallel with the front edge, but with its
axis below the upper surface of feed board. On the shaft, and adjustable by
means of screws, are mounted register stocks, on the upper face of which
register marks or indices are fixed which are slotted or grooved partially from
end to end, but having a lip or projection at the point extending a short
distance above the upper surface of the feed table. On the end of shaft out-
side of bearing is fixed a lever or trigger, and on the side of the framing is
fixed a stud or stop, so that the feed board is brought forward, and the lever is
brought in contact with the stud, and the register marks are depressed below
the level of the board at the time the grippers close by, the return of the
cylinder, and the sheet having been laid previously to the marks is left free of
obstruction to be taken. There is used in connection with a cam sling which
is connected with a cam fixed on the main shaft an eccentric cam roller, the
eccentricity of which is rather more than the throw of the cam. The eccen-
tric is turned half round when it is desired to use the machine for printing
separate sheets of paper of various sizes which are fed or supplied at each end
of machine. Each sheet after being printed is delivered on to the opposite side
to that at which it was fed, the cylinder working at the same horizontal level
during the process. The same machine may be used to print sheets of paper,
either at both ends or at one end only at a time; this is done by turning the
eccentric cam roller half round, which brings the cylinder in connection with
the cam by means of connecting rods, in order that the cylinder may be lifted
off the form after the sheet is printed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Conisbec in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th July 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CONISBEE, of King Street, Queen Street, Southwark Bridge Road, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Conisbec, Her special licence that I, the said William
Conisbee, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Conisbec, 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 night 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
MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Conisbee, 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 Conisbee, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and. in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in printing machines. For
these purposes the printing cylinder is connected by direct gearing with the
type surface or table by a wheel which is fixed to the end of the cylinder,
which works in a rack fixed on the table, so that the surface of the cylinder
and type or printing surface constantly moves in unison, the cylinder being so
adjusted by its wheel with the rack on the table, that the gripper edges, or
those parts of the cylinder at which the sheets of paper to be printed are
taken, shall have the same relative distance from the surface of the table at
each extremity of its traverse. At a short distance from each gripper edge
of the cylinder is fixed a shaft parallel with each edge, and working in bear-'

page_text: ings at each end of the cylinder. On each gripper bar or shaft is mounted
several gripper stocks which are adjustable at any part of the shafts, by means
of tightening, screws; the faces of these stocks or the part on which the
grippers are fixed, have a radius less than the cylinder. The grippers are
slotted or grooved partially from end to end, and fixed to the stocks by means
of screws to enable them to be adjusted to suit the various sizes of paper. To
the end of each gripper shaft or bar a crank is fixed, at the extremity of
which is attached a roller working freely on a fixed stud in the crank. On
the inside of the bearings in which the cylinder works is fixed an incline in
such a position that the crank on the end of the gripper shaft is brought in
contact and partially turned, and the grippers are opened for the purpose of
taking the sheet of paper from the feed table, which is advanced for that
purpose by means of two cams alternately, as each set of grippers are opened
for that purpose. The feed tables are preferred to be worked in slides mounted
on the framing of the machine horizontally, the back part being hinged to
the bottom frame, the front part being clevated or depressed by two excentrics
mounted on a shaft fitted in the bottom frame of the feed table, and fixed in
its position by a ratchet and pawl attached. There is also used in connection
with the feed board a shaft which is grooved partially from end to end, and
worked in two bearings at each side parallel with the front edge, but with its
axis below the upper surface of the feed board. On the shaft, and adjustable by
means of screws, are mounted register stocks, on the upper face of which
register marks or indices are fixed, which are slotted or grooved partially from
end to end, but having a lip or projection at the point extending a short
distance above the upper surface of the feed table. On the end of the shaft out-
side of bearing is fixed a lever or trigger, and on the side of the framing is
fixed a stud or stock, so that the feed board is brought forward and the lever is
brought in contact with the stud, and the register marks are depressed below
the level of the board at the time the grippers close by the return of the
cylinder, and the sheet having been laid previously to the marks is left free of
obstruction to be taken. There is used in connection with a cam sling which
is connected with a cam fixed on the main shaft an excentric cam roller, the
excentricity of which is rather more than the throw of the cam. The excentric
is turned half round when it is desired to use the machine for printing separate
sheets of paper of various sizes which are fed or supplied at each end of the
machine. Each sheet after being printed is delivered on to the opposite side to
that at which it was fed, the cylinder working at the same horizontal level during
the process. The same machine may be used to print sheets of paper, either at
both ends or at one end only at a time; this is done by turning the excentric

page_text: cam roller half round, which brings the cylinder in connection with the cam by
means of connecting rods, in order that the cylinder may be lifted off the form
after the sheet is printed.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto
annaved
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side view, and Figure 2 is a plan, of a printing machine
arranged according to my Invention; Figure 3 shews on a larger scale a side
view, partly in section, of the same. a is the main axis, which is driven from
the axis b, and this receives motion by means of the band c passing over a
pulley mounted on it; a¹ is a crank on the shaft a, and with it is connected
the connecting rod d carrying a toothed wheel e; at its end this wheel
traverses backwards and forwards on and gears with the fixed rack f; it also
gears with a rack fixed on the under side of the table g, which is thus caused
to traverse backwards and forwards over a space equal to twice the throw of
the crank; the table moves in guides as in other machines where a traversing
bed is employed. To the central portion of the bed the form of type is fixed,
and at its two ends are surfaces for the distribution of ink, and on which the
ink is spread by rollers in the ordinary manner; the axes of these rollers are
retained by the notches h, h, at the ends of the frame. On the side of the table g
another rack is fixed, and this gears with a toothed wheel i mounted on the
end of the printing cylinder, so that the table in-traversing causes this cylinder to
revolve on its axis į, first in one direction and then in the other, with a surface
speed equal to the speed at which the table itself moves; the cylinder, when
the machine is printing with as large a form of type as it is capable of taking,
makes about of a complete revolution. The portion of the printing cylinder
which passes over the form of type and in printing presses the paper down
upon it, is padded so as to give to it a suitable soft surface; the rest of the
cylinder is open from end to end, as is shown clearly at Figure 4; 1, 1, ȧre two
axes mounted within the cylinder; on these are fixed by set' screws (so that
their positions can be adjusted at pleasure the pieces in, m, and to these are
attached the grippers n by other screws, as is shown; one of the pieces m with.
its gripper is shown in side view and cnd view at Figure 5; on the end of
the axes short arms l' are mounted, and these carry at their extremities small
rollers which come in contact with fixed inclines o, o, which open the grippers,"
raising their ends out of contact with the cylinder against the resistance of the

page_text: springs p, p, which at other times keep the grippers closed; the inclines which
work one set of grippers are fixed to the frame on one side of the machine,
and those which work the other set on the opposite side of the machine; the
inclines o open the grippers to take the sheet for printing, and act when the
cylinder is at the end of its travel, and the inclines o' open the grippers to
release the sheet when printed, and act when the paper is clear of the type,
and when its edge is opposite the delivery tapes hereafter to be explained;
q, q, are the feed tables; they are mounted so as to be capable of sliding to and
fro on the top of the frame in guides, or they may, if preferred, be suspended
from above; just under the front edge of each of the tables an axis r is
mounted having short arms r' with projecting pieces or register stocks at their
ends, up to which the paper is fed by the feeder; these axes r, r, have at their
ends arms or triggers r, r2, which when the feed tables are moved forward to
supply the sheet to the gripper, as will be herein-after described, come in
contact with the projections s, and so the register stocks are moved down out
of the way; when the feed table retires the stocks are drawn up again by the
springs t. The feed tables q receive their motion in the following manner:
u, u are cams on the axis a; they are connected by rods v, v¹, with arms on
the axes w, w¹, which carry arms x, x', and from these connecting links pass
to the tables, as is shown in the Drawing; the cams u, u', are so formed as to
produce a dwell when the tables are in a forward position during about one-
third of a revolution of the shaft.
The action of the machine is as follows:-In Figure 3 the grippers on the
left-hand side of the cylinder are in the position which they assume when on
the point of taking a sheet of paper from their feed table, at the same time the
type table g is at the end of its travel at the left-hand side of the machine.
When the table g begins to return, the grippers close on the edge of the
sheet of paper presented to them by the forward motion of the feed table,
and as the cylinder revolves they draw the sheet off the table; during this
motion the form of type returns under one of the pairs of inking rollers
of which the axes are retained in notches y, y, on each side of the frame, and
so becomes inked; afterwards the type comes against the paper on the cylinder
and prints it. When the printing is complete the grippers are opened by the
incline o, and its edge falls against the roller z and is taken by the endless
tapes (one set of which pass round this roller) and discharged on to the
receiving table A, A; the grippers have now no further duty to perform, but
the cylinder and type table continue their motion, so that the type is carried
under the other pair of inking rollers, while at the same time the inking

page_text: rollers which before passed over the type are brought in contact with the
surface on which the ink is distributed; ultimately the table g comes to the
end of its travel towards the right-hand end of the machine; and then the
other set of grippers which, during all the motions described up to this point
have been out of use, come into a position relative to their feed-table suitable
for taking the sheet presented by it. The delivery tapes are arranged in the
following manner;-The set which passes over the roller z passes also round
the rollers B, C, D; the other set passes round the rollers F and G. The
rollers F, F, are driven by a band passing round the pulley H, as is shown,
and in this manner the second set of tapes receives motion; the first set of
tapes is actuated by the second set, which pass in contact with the roller B
and cause it to revolve; I is a roller for keeping the two sets of tapes in
contact where the paper passes up between them. The tapes J which pass
round the printing cylinder is for preventing the sheet sticking to the cylinder;'
the weight K is to keep them from becoming slack when the open part of the
cylinder comes into such a position as to allow the tapes to fall in towards the
axis. When sheets of paper are to be printed smaller than that which the
machine is capable of taking, the grippers, which are slotted for the purpose,
as is shown, are adjusted so as to project further from their axes, and nip the
paper at a greater distance therefrom; the ends of the upper part of the feed
tables are also raised, so as to feed the edge of the paper up to a different part
of the cylinder; this is done by the excentrics L, L, which are retained by
ratchets and pawls. When it is only desired to print from one feed table the
cam M on the main axis is brought into action; N is a friction pulley carried
by the connecting rod O. Ordinarily when the machine is in full action this
pulley is held at a distance from the cam, and the rod O consequently does
not receive any motion, but now the pulley N is brought up to the cam by
turning round the eccentric pin P on which it is mounted, and then at each
revolution of the main axis the rod O receives a motion which it communicates
to the rod Q, and this by turning the excentric R, by which the bearing of
the printing cylinder is carried, raises this cylinder out of contact with the
type when it is travelling in one direction; but it brings it down again into a
position to print when it is travelling in the contrary direction.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would remark that I am aware that printing machines
have before been constructed in which the table, which carries the form of
type, is geared with a printing cylinder carrying grippers which take paper
from feeding tables. I do not therefore claim the arranging machines in this

page_text: manner, except in combination with the improvements herein described, by
which the machine is adapted to print sheets of different sizes, and to be fed
on one or both sides of the printing cylinder, as may be desired.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Conisbee, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.