Improvements relating to Sheet Printing Machines.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 13th June, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 13th Mar., 1900-Accepted, 5th May, 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Sheet Printing Machines.
•
We, ALFRED JOHNSON, of 249, Euclid Avenue, Brooklyn, in the County of New
York, United States America, Engineer, and ANDREW JACKSON STONE, of 5,
Bridewell Place, London, Middlesex, Managing Director of a Public Company,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:--
This invention relates to sheet printing machines, and has for its object to
provide means for laying between the sheets as they are piled on the piling table,
slip sheets by means of which offset is prevented,
Hitherto slip sheets have been laid on by hand and as the result in such cases
the speed of the machine had necessarily to be decreased.
The invention is applicable to machines having an ordinary fly delivery or a
reciprocating delivery, but is more especially applicable to the type of machine
described in the Specification to Letters Patent No. 28977 of 1896.
The invention consists in providing a reciprocating carriage frame above the
piling table upon which grippers are provided to seize and draw out slip sheets
that are placed upon a supplementary table at the end of the machine, the slip
sheet being drawn on to the top sheet of the pile upon the backward return move
ment of the carriage frame. The printing sheets may be delivered on to the
piling table by means of grippers provided upon the reciprocating carriage frame
or by means of ordinary fly delivery mechanism.
In carrying the invention into effect fly fingers are suitably mounted upon a
transverse oscillating shaft to which motion is communicated from the main
shaft of the printing machine by any suitable means such as by cam or crank
and connecting rod, the shaft being oscillated through an angle of somewhat less
than 180 degrees. The fly fingers are preferably mounted upon the transverse
shaft by being secured to a cross bar fastened to the shaft at each end in shoes'
or brackets and the shaft is carried at each side by means of supporting brackets
mounted upon the machine frame or mounted independently of the machine frame
The supporting brackets by means of lugs support one end of a piling table
whose opposite end is supported by means of feet or a frame. Above the piling
table at a suitable distance apart are provided longitudinal rails whose extremities
are pivotedly mounted or secured to the supporting brackets so that they may
be capable of being upwardly lifted above the piling table. The rails are sup-
ported in their horizontal position by means of stops provided upon the supporting
brackets which abut against projections provided upon the respective rails, and
the rails are connected together at their outer extremities by means of a trans-
verse rod by means of which they are maintained at a determined distance apart,
the rod being so secured thereto as to be capable of being removed to permit of
the carriage frame being withdrawn or introduced into position. Carriages are
mounted upon each of the rails and these consist of a plate upon the outer side
of which grooved rollers are provided having peripheral grooves corresponding

page_text: to the width of the rails, the rollers being secured into position upon pins or
spindles suitably held upon the plate. The carriages are suitably connected
together by means of a transverse rod and upon this rod are provided at intervals
apart, fixed jaws. An oscillating shaft or spindle is mounted in and borne by
the carriages so as to be parallel with the fixed rod, and gripper arms are fixedly
mounted upon such shaft or spindle at intervals and in positions corresponding
to the jaws provided upon the fixed rod, so that when the gripper arms are moved
upward towards the end of the stroke of the carriage frame they shall come in
contact with the edge of the respective jaws and so seize the slip sheet.
Upon each end of the oscillating shaft or spindle provided upon the carriage
frame, a pawl operating lever is provided by means of which the shait or spindle
is oscillated so as to open and close the gripper arms. This is effected on the
reciprocation of the carriage frame by contact of the operating pawls with stops
which may be fixedly mounted at opposite extremities of the rails, the one stop
being preferably arranged upon one rail, and the other stop upon the other rail.
The one stop by contact with one of the operating pawls at the forward extremity
of the stroke of the carriage frame causes the gripper arms to close and grip a
slip sheet, while the other stop makes contact with the other operating pawl and
causes the gripper arms to open at the opposite extremity of the stroke of the
carriage frame.
The opening and closure of the gripper arms may be timed so that the slip
sheets may be seized at any particular point and deposited at any particular place
upon the piling table, by arranging the stops to be capable of adjustment. This
be done by mounting the stops each upon a bracket by means of a pin within
a longitudinal slot provided upon either of the rails so as thereby to be capable
of longitudinal movement and to be capable of being secured in any longitudinal
position.
may
The grippers arms may be positively maintained open or closed by means of a
spring which is preferably mounted upon one of the carriages and has its outer
extremity bearing upon a projection of the adjacent operating pawl. When the
grippers are open the spring presses directly in the line of the projection, and
when the grippers are closed the spring exercises a slight pressure tending to
turn the shaft or spindle and thereby maintain the gripper arms closed with a
slight pressure against the jaws provided upon the fixed rod.
The carriages are prevented from being uplifted and from being withdrawn
except by sliding upon the rails, by the provision thereupon of transverse pins
which bear under the rails.
A supplementary slip sheet feeding table is provided. This may consist of a
surface supported upon transverse bars, these bars having secured thereto feet
for supporting the table at one end, whilst at the opposite end the bars are formed
hook shape so as to engage with the transverse bar by means of which the two
rails are secured together at their outer extremity.
The slip sheets may be put into proper register upon the supplementary feed-
ing table by means of stops.
The reciprocating motion of the carriage frame may be effected from the oscil-
lating shaft to which the fly fingers are secured, by means of connecting rods
secured to one end of the extremities of the crank arms, the other extremities
being formed hook-shape and riding upon the transverse rod by means of which
the carriages are connected.
It will thus be understood that the sheet after being printed in the press is
deposited on the fly fingers and on the oscillation of the shaft to which they are
connected the fly fingers are caused to rotate and so deposit the printed sheet
upon the piling table. Simultaneously with this rotation of the fly fingers the
carriage frame is caused to move outwardly ready to bring back a slip sheet on its
return stroke. At the outer extremity of the stroke the gripper arms are closed
as herein before described, and seize the slip sheet which is previously arranged
in position to be received by them from the table. The slip sheet is retained in

page_text: position upon the table by means of stops, and the grippers while seizing the
slip sheet lift it clear of such stops. The reciprocating frame then takes the slip
sheet and deposits it upon the piling table, and upon the sheet last deposited upon
the pile, the grippers releasing the sheet at the backward extremity of the stroke.
It is obvious that the invention is not limited to machines having a fly deliver-
ing mechanism, as it is equally applicable to machines having other means of
delivering the sheet such as reciprocating sheet delivery mechanism.
In adapting the invention to machines having reciprocating delivery the
grippers for carrying forward the printed sheet upon the table may be mounted
upon the same carriage frame as that upon which the grippers for carrying back-
ward the slip sheet are provided.
It will be understood that by the employment of the invention the printing
machine may be run at twice or three times the speed that would be necessary
when inserting slip sheets between the printed sheets on the pile, by hand, while
moreover the layer-on can work with greater ease.
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, and 25, Cross Street, Manchester, Agents.
Improvements relating to Sheet Printing Machines.
We, ALFRED JOHNSON, 248, Euclid Avenue, Brooklyn, in the County of New
York, United States America, Engineer, and ANDREW JACKSON STONE, formerly
of 5, Bridewell Place, London, but now of 15, Tudor Street, London, Middlesex
Managing Director of a Public Company, do hereby declare the nature of this in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to sheet printing machines, and has for its object to
provide means for laying between the sheets as they are piled on the piling table,
slip sheets by means of which offset is prevented,
Hitherto slip sheets have been laid on by hand and as the result in such cases
the speed of the machine had necessarily to be decreased.
The invention is applicable to machines having an ordinary fly delivery or a
reciprocating delivery, but is more especially applicable to the type of machine
described in the Specification to Letters Patent No. 28977 of 1896 (Miehle).
The invention consists in providing a reciprocating carriage frame above the
piling table upon which grippers are arranged to seize and draw out slip sheets
that are placed upon a supplementary table at the end of the machine, the slip
sheet being drawn on to the top sheet of the pile upon the backward return move
ment of the carriage frame. The printing sheets may be delivered on to the
piling table by means of grippers provided upon the reciprocating carriage frame
or by means of ordinary fly delivery mechanism.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figures 1
and 2 are respectively elevation and plan of an apparatus made in accordance
therewith.
In carrying the invention into effect fly fingers A are suitably mounted upon
a transverse oscillating shaft B to which motion is communicated from the main
shaft of the printing machine by any suitable means such as by cam, or crank
and connecting rod, the shaft being oscillated through an angle of somewhat less

page_text: than 180 degrees. The fly fingers A are preferably mounted upon the transverse
shaft B by being secured to a cross bar fastened to the shaft B at each end in
shoes or brackets C¹ and the shaft B is carried at each side by means of supporting
brackets mounted upon the machine frame or mounted independently, of
the machine frame. The supporting brackets D D¹ by means of lugs d support
one end of a piling table E whose opposite ends is supported by means of feet e
or a frame. Above the piling table E at a suitable distance apart are provided
longitudinal rails FF whose extremities are pivotedly mounted or secured to
the supporting brackets 1 D) at so that they may be capable of being upwardly
lifted above the piling table E. The rails F F are supported in their horizontal
position by means of stops provided upon the supporting brackets which abut
against projections d provided upon the respective rails F F and the rails are
connected together at their outer extremities by means of a transverse rod R by
which they are maintained at a determined distance apart, the rod being so
secured thereto as to be capable of being removed to permit of the carriage frame
being withdrawn or introduced into position, by such means as nuts r². Car-
riages H are mounted upon each of the rails FF, and these consist of a plate
upon the outer side of which grooved rollers II are provided having peripheral
grooves corresponding to the width of the rails, FF, the rollers being secured
into position upon pins or spindles ii suitably held upon the plate. The
carriages H are suitably connected together by means of a transverse rod J and
upon this rod are provided at intervals apart, fixed jaws K. An oscillating shaft
or spindle L is mounted in and borne by the carriages H so as to be parallel with
the fixed rod J, and gripper arms M are fixedly mounted upon such shaft or
spindle L at intervals and in positions corresponding to the jaws K provided upon
the fixed rod J, so that when the gripper arms M are moved upward towards the
end of the stroke of the carriage frame they shall come in contact with the edge
of the respective jaws K and so seize the slip sheet as illustrated in Figure 2.
Upon each end of the oscillating shaft L provided upon the carriage frame, a
pawl lever N is provided by means of which the shaft or spindle L is oscillated
so as to open and close the gripper arms M. This is effected on the reciprocation
of the carriage frame by contact of the operating pawls with stops QQ₁ which
may be fixedly mounted at opposite extremities of the rails, the one stop being
preferably arranged upon one rail, and the other stop Q upon the other rail.
The one stop by contact with one of the pawl N at the forward extremity of the
stroke of the carriage frame causes the gripper arms M to close and grip a slip
sheet; while the other stop Q₁ makes contact with the other operating pawl N
and causes the gripper arms to open at the opposite extremity of the stroke of
the carriage frame.
The opening and closure of the gripper arms M may be timed so that the slip
sheets may be seized at any particular point and deposited at any particular place
upon the piling table, by arranging the stops to be capable of adjustment. This
may be done by mounting the stops each upon a bracket, by means of a pin within
a longitudinal slot provided upon either of the rails so as thereby to be capable
of longitudinal movement and to be capable of being secured in any longitudinal
position.
The gripper arms may be positively maintained open or closed by means of a
spring U which is preferably mounted upon one of the carriages and has its outer
extremity bearing upon a projection U of the adjacent operating pawl N. When
the grippers M are open the spring U presses directly in the line of the projection
and when the grippers are closed the spring exercises a slight pressure tending
to turn the shaft or spindle L and thereby maintain the gripper arms M closed
with a slight pressure against the jaws K provided upon the fixed rod J.
The carriages H are prevented from being uplifted and from being withdrawn
except by sliding upon the rails, by the provision thereupon of transverse pins
which bear upon the rails.
A supplementary slip sheet feeding table p¹ is provided. This may consist of

page_text: a surface supported upon transverse bars, these bars having secured thereto
feet for supporting the table at one end, whilst at the opposite end the bars
are formed hook shape, so as to engage with the transverse bar R by means of
which the two rails FF are secured together at their outer extremity.
The slip sheets may be put into proper register upon the supplementary feeding
table by means of stops *.
The reciprocating motion of the carriage frames H may be effected from the
oscillating shaft B to which the fly fingers A are secured, by means of connecting
rods S S secured to one end of the extremities of the crank arms, T, T¹ the other
extremities G being formed hook-shape and riding upon the transverse rod J by
means of which the carriages H are connected.
It will thus be understood that the sheet after being printed in the press is
deposited on the fly fingers A in the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2
and on the oscillation of the shaft Bio which they are connected the fly fingers
are caused to rotate and so deposit the printed sheet upon the piling table E.
Simultaneously with this rotation of the Hy fingers, the carriage frame is caused
At the outer
to move outwardly ready to bring back a slip on its return stroke.
extremity of the stroke the gripper arms M are closed as herein before described,
and seize the slip sheet which is previously arranged in position to be received
by them from the table as illustrated in Figure 2. The slip sheet is retained in
position upon the table by means of stops, and the grippers while seizing the
slip sheet lift it clear of such stops. The reciprocating frame then takes the slip
sheet and deposits it upon the piling table E and upon the printed sheet last
deposited upon the pile, the grippers releasing the slip sheet at the backward
extremity of the stroke.
It is obvious that the invention is not limited to machines having a fly delivery
mechanism, as it is equally applicable to machines having other means of deliver-
ing the sheet such as reciprocating sheet delivery mechanism.
In adapting the invention to machines having reciprocating delivery the
grippers for carrying forward the printed sheet upon the table may be mounted
upon the same carriage frame as that upon which the grippers for carrying back-
ward the slip sheet are provided.
It will be understood that by the employment of the invention the printing
machine may be run at twice or three times the speed that would be necessary
when inserting slip sheets on the pile, by hand, while moreover the layer-on can
work with greater ease.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
In printing machines of the type hereinbefore specified, the arrangement and
combination of parts constituting means for laying slip sheets between printed
sheets, substantially as and for the purposes described.
1000
PacAT
EDWARD EVANS & Co.,
Chartered Patent Agents,
27, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., & 105, Colmore Row, Birmingham.