CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTUS
APPLEGATH, of Duke Street, Stamford Street, Blackfriars, in the County of
Surrey, Printer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eighteenth day of February, in the fourth year of His reign,
did, for Himself. His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Augustus Applegath. His special licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said Augustus Applegath, my exors, admors, and assigns,
or such others as 1, the said Augustus Applegath, my exors, admors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING
MACHINES;" and in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso
obliging mc, the said Augustus Applegath, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said recited

page_text: Letters Palent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso. J. the said
Angustus Applegath, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention.
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof. that is to say:-
My improvements are five in number. The first relates to machines for
printing, having ink fables or flat surfaces, upon which the ink is distributed or
spread by means of rollers. and it consists in an improved method of giving
motions endways to such rollers by placing them diagonally across the ink table.
in the manner shewn in Figures 1 and 10. hereunto annexed, instead of placing
them directly across, as is usual.
References to Figures 1 and 10. the same lellers refer to each.-A. the
type table having the form of type. &c.. upon it: B. the ink table or flat.
surface, npon which the ink is spread or distributed: C. C. C. rollers, which
communicate the ink to the types: D. D. D, rollers, which distribute or spread
the ink upon the ink table B. As B moves backwards and forwards from a
to z. it causes the rollers. when in contact with it, to revolve around their axes
by the friction of their surfaces against the ink table B: and the rollers
D, D, D, being placed diagonally across the ink table, they, at the same time..
nove endways or in the direction of their length across the said table without
any other contrivance or cause whatever. (By means of which two motions the
ink is distributed or spread both upon the ink table and the rollers.) The
spindles of D, D. D. should be made long enough to prevent them from being
drawn out of their bearings E, E. The distribution of the ink may be further
encreased by using a small metal roller or rollers F. F. lying upon the rollers
D, D, in the same bearings. they should be made to fill the space between the
bearings, so as not to move endways.
The improvement which I here claim. as my Invention, is. the diagonal
position of the rollers, whereby they obtain an end motion in the most simple
manner, and though I have here described it as applied to an ink table which
moves under the rollers, yet I do not mean to limit myself to this application
of it only, but I claim its application to the inking table or distributing
surface generally, whether such table or surface move under, or over, or against
the rollers, or whether the rollers move under, or over, or against the table or
surface.
The second improvement consists in making the ink table or distributing
surface flexible. The flexible distributing surface may be made of any suitable

page_text: pliant material, such as linen or woollen cloth, canvas, carpetting, leather,
&c, &c. It may be made either endless, or not; and in some cases may be
rendered inflexible one way by thin bars or rods of wood, metal, or any other
convenient substance being fastened across it by sewing or any other method,
but so as to permit free motion in the direction required. The surface or side
upon which the ink is to be distributed should be covered with a smooth coating of
varnish paint, or the roller composition, made of treacle and gluc, &c., or of any
other substance to distribute the ink upon. Two methods of using the
flexible distributing surface are shewn in Figures 2 and 3.
References to Figure 2.-A, the cylinder, which gives the impression;
B, B, B, rollers, which ink the types; C, the type table, having the form of
types upon it; D, D. D, the rollers, which distribute the ink upon the flexible
surface and which should be placed diagonally across it: E the flexible
distributing surface, which moves over the roller P. one end of it is fixed to the
type table C. As the type table moves towards z it draws the flexible
distributing surface E along with it under the rollers D, D. D. and B, B, B,
by which means the ink is distributed upon those rollers and the surface E.
As the type table returns to a, the surface E is drawn back by the weight W.
The ink is communicated to the surface E from the roller of the ink trough L
by means of the roller V, this is alternately in contact with the roller I and
the surface E.
References to Figure 3, which represents a flexible distributing surface murde
endless.-A, the cylinder, which gives the impression; B, B. B, rollers, which
ink the types; C, the type table; D, D, D, D. rollers, which distribute the
ink, placed lingonally across E. The direction of their diagonal position is
alternately changed from right to left by the motion of one of the bearings p
which slides in a groove P, receives a slight motion backward & forward from
the rod S, which works on an eccentric on the spindle of A; the opposite
bearing is fixed. E the flexible distributing surface, made endless, and
moving over the rollers r, r, it may be guided by endless chains, cords, straps,
or any convenient method and is constantly moving in the direction of the
arrows by means of a toothed pinion fixed upon the spindle of one of the small
rollers r, and which may be driven by a wheel upon the spindle of the cylinder
A. When the type table moves towards a, the endless surface E and the rollers
D, D, D, D, which lie upon it are raised sufficiently to clear the rollers B, B, B,
in order that the rollers B, B, B, may ink the type. This motion may be
effected by eccentrics or cams fixed upon the spindle of the cylinder A and
acting upon the arms of the frame, which carries the surface E, &c. The ink
is supplied to the surface E in the same manner as shewn in Figure 2.

page_text: The improvement shewn in Figures 2 and 3 which I claim as my Invention,
is the flexibility of the distributing surface, however applied.
The third improvement consists in inking the form of type, &c., by means
of a roller or system of rollers attached to endless revolving chains or revolving
bands or any similar contrivance. A convenient method of using this improve-
ments is shewn in Figures 4 and 40.
References to Figures 4 and 40, the same letters apply to each.-A, the
type table having the type upon it; B, B, B, rollers connected by the endless
chains,, which revolve around the pullies C, C, C, and which have a con-
tinued motion in the direction of the arrows; S is the distributing surface,
which, in this case, is a cylinder of metal turned smooth, and around which the
ink is distributed by means of the rollers B, B, B, and the small rollers
D. D, D. As the rollers B, B, B, are caused, by the action of the endless
chains 2, x, to pass in contact with the distributing cylinder, they revolve and
spread or distribute the ink both upon themselves and the cylinder S, they
then pass over the type to which they communicate the link, and so on
alternately. b, b, arc wooden bars called lifts, having sloped ends fixed upon
the type table on each side of the form of type, and which serve to support
the rollers B, B, B, and to continue their rotatory motion while passing over
the gutters of the form. The cylinder S has a rotatory motion in a direction
opposite to that of the endless chains, and for that purpose it may be made to
turn loose upon its spindle. The sides or edges of the cylinder S are indented,
as shewn in Figure 40, and the carriages F, F, of the small rollers D, D, D,
have friction pullies p, p, acting against the indented edges of the cylinder S,
by which means the carriages F, F, and the small rollers D, D, D, lying in
them are caused to move endways or across the cylinder S. whereby the
distribution of the ink is increased; the ink may be supplied to S as shewn
in Fig. 2.
The improvement to which I lay claim, as my Invention, is the roller or
system of rollers attached to endless revolving chains or bands, and I do not
intend to limit its application to the means shewn in Figures 4 and 40, but to
use it, with an interrupted as well as a continued motion, and also in conjunction
with a flat distributing surface or an endless flexible distributing surface, or
any other surface or surfaces fit to distribute the ink upon.
The fourth improvement consists in using a cylinder with flattened sides, or
a prism of any number of sides, to give the impression to the paper in com-
bination with flat type table. In order the better to explain this part of my
Patent I have given the Drawings marked Figures 5 and 50, in which
Drawings the principle of this improvement is shewn in the most simple

page_text: manner, but I do not intend thereby to limit myself to the particular plan or
motions therein shewn, as it may be carried into effect in a variety of ways.
References to Figures 5 and 50 the same letters refer to each.-A, a prism
of four sides, cach side is furnished with woollen cloths or any substance
proper to give the impression, and a frisket of the ordinary construction, but
having squares and springs at the joints or hinges to keep the frisket either
open or shut, in the manner of the blade of a common clasp knife; the friskets
are not shewn in the Drawings. The sheet of paper is laid upon the side
which happens to be uppermost and is held there by shutting the frisket upon
it. B, the type table, which is capable of rising and falling, either to give the
impression or to allow the type to receive the ink; the rising and falling
motion of the type table is produced by the eccentric or cam wheel C. Upon
the spindle of C is fixed a wheel having the toothed segment S; the segment
has a wiper 1, which acts alternately against the arms a, a, a, a, of the toothed
wheel H fixed upon the spindle of the prism A. by which wiper 2 and the
segment S the wheel and prism are caused to make a quarter of a revolution
for every complete revolution of the segment wheel, whereby the sides of the
prism A are alternately brought to the uppermost situation to receive the sheet
of paper, and to the undermost one to receive the impression upon that paper.
Figure 5 represents the table B at its highest elevation giving the impression
to the sheet of paper; Figure 50 shews the table B at its lowest place when
the inking rollers are passed over the type either by hand or by any convenient
mechanism, and by which the type becomes inked. The sheet of paper is
taken off printed at .
I do not, however, intend hereby to claim as my Invention the upward and
downward motion of the type table. for the paper cylinder or prism may be
made to move upwards and downwards instead of the type table, or both may
be made to move upwards and downwards towards and from each other; and I
do not intend hereby to limit myself to the employment of prisms, or cylinders
with flattened sides, having four sides only, but to use them with any number
of sides; neither do I mean to confine myself to the mode of laying on and
confining the paper here shewn, but to employ tapes, webs, or any other con-
venient method of doing it.
The fifth improvement consists in using a revolving prismatic tympan frame
having any number of tympans thereon, for the purpose of receiving and
conveying the sheet of paper to the place where it is to be printed. A method
of using this improvement is shown in Figures 6 and 60.
References. to Figures 6 and 60, the same letters refer to each.-Figure 6

page_text: is a side view, Figure 60 is a sectional view; A. A, the frame of the machine,
having bosses B, B, upon which the tympan frame D. D. D, revolves; D, D, D
the tympan frame, with three tympans upon it, each having a frisket of the
ordinary construction, but with spring joints as aforesaid; the friskets are
not shewn. E. the platten moving upwards and downwards in the vertical
grooves F, F; G, the type table, which also moves upwards and downwards
guided by the vertical grooves H. H; I is a strong spindle turning on the
bearings K, K. in the sides of the frame, and having two cranks L, L, which.
by means of the connecting rods M, M, alternately raise and depress the type
table G, while two opposite cranks N, N, upon the ends of the spindle I. by
means of the outer connecting rods O. O, alternately raise and lower the
platten E. the impression being made when the type table and platten approach
each other at p. When the type table is sufficiently depressed the types are
inked by inking rollers, which are caused to pass over them either by hand or
by any convenient mechanism. P. a toothed wheel fixed to the tympan frame
D, D, D, having three projecting arms h, h, h; Q is a toothed wheel, having
upon its spindle a toothed segment. S and wiper ; R is a toothed wheel fixed
upon the end of the spindle 1, it drives the wheel Q and the segment S. which
causes the wheel P to advance one-third of a revolution for every revolution
of R, by which the tympans are successively brought to
sheet of paper is laid on, to p where it is printed, and to
It is necessary to observe that I do not intend to limit
of revolving tympans here shewn, or to this particular construction, or mode
of communicating motion to the same.
the place where the
where it is taken off.
myself to the number
And, whereas, in explaining the use and application of the various improve-
ments in machines for printing, which are the subjects of my Patent, I have
been obliged to shew and describe many parts of machines which are already
known or are in use. I hereby declare that I do not claim any such paris as my
Invention, but that I claim, as my Invention and Patent right, the diagonal
position of the rollers across the distributing surface; the flexibility of the
distributing surface; the inking roller or rollers attached to endless revolving
chains, &c., &c.; the prism or cylinder with flattened. sides for giving the im-
pression, and the revolving prismatic tympans. And I hereby further declare
that. I do not intend to limit the application of the above improvements to the
plans or methods contained in this Specification, but that I claim my Patent
right to all of them in every case in which they may be applied to machines
for printing.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighteenth day of August, in
the year of our Lord 1823, .the aforesaid Augustus Applegath came before
our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Eighteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord Onc
thousand eight hundred and twenty-throo