CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR LETTER-PRESS PRINTING
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WILLS WAYTE, of the Morning Advertizer Office, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twelfth day of June, in the fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Wills Wayte, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said James Wills Wayte, my executors, administrators, 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 mentioned, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR LETTER-PRESS PRINTING;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said James Wills Wayte,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Wills Wayte, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
My improvements in machinery or apparatus for letter-press printing consist
in certain novel arrangements and constructions of the parts of two different
kinds of letter-press printing machines, (viz), those known by the denomina-
tion of platten printing machines, which are intended to execute the finer sorts
of letter-press printing, the form of types being laid upon one flat surface and
the impression obtained by the pressure of another flat surface, and those
constructions of machines in which the forms of types are laid upon a flat
surface, but the impression is given by the pressure of a revolving cylindrical
surface. These improvements may be considered under the following heads :-
Firstly, the construction of the mechanism by which the platten and the
table are brought together to produce the impression, those two surfaces being
both flat; secondly, the mechanism for woking the frisket frame, as applied
to the same machine; thirdly, the novel arrangement of the inking apparatus,
also applicable to the same; and fourthly, the mechanism by which a machine
having only one pressing cylinder is made to print a sheet on both sides,
technically called perfecting.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the platten
machine, having the improved parts appended; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of
the same, taken from the opposite side; Fig. 3 is a transverse elevation of the
same, partly in section; the respective letters of reference pointing out the
same part of the machine in all three Figures. The standards and general
framing of the machine are marked a, a, a, and the driving pulley or rigger b,
by which the rotary power is communicated to a pinion c, for. actuating the
several parts of the machine; this pinion c takes into a toothed wheel d, upon
the main shaft e, which carries the bolts or tappets of the toggle joint, by which
the table is raised and the platten brought down when the impression is given.
The construction of this toggle joint, and its mode of effecting the pressure,
will be best seen in the longitudinal section, Fig. 2, and will be further
illustrated by the transverse section, Fig. 3. The table f, f, of the ordinary
form and construction, receives the form of types upon its upper flat surface;
the platten g hangs over it, having a corresponding flat surface for giving the
pressure when the two are made to approach each other. The table is supported
by a short vertical stem h, connected at bottom by a joint to a right-angled.

page_text: lever i, i, pendant upon a pin j, fixed in the transverse bracket bar, which
forms a brace to the framing, and the table is guided in its ascent and descent
by angular ribs on its ends, working in vertical V-shaped grooves in the side
frames; the platten g is supported ears at its ends, bolted and screwed to
the tops of two vertical rods k, k, which slide up and down in sockets affixed
to the side frames, as seen in Figs. 1 and 3, and the lower ends of these rods
are connected by a cross head 7 (see Fig. 3). To the cross head a right-angled
lever m, m, is connected by a joint, this lever hanging upon a strong axle n,
affixed to a transverse bar at bottom of the framing. The other extremities
of the levers i and m have straps o, o, connecting them by joints to a right-angled
lever p, which carries a heavy weight for counterbalancing the moveable table
and platten, and this weight is made adjustable upon the tail of the lever, for
the purpose of counterbalancing the additional weight of the form when placed
upon the table. Pendant from the joint at the bottom of the stem / is an
arm q, forming the upper piece of the toggle joint, which arm is taken hold
of by the bolt or tappet pin on the main shaft e as it revolves, and thereby
causes the stem h, with the table f and form of types, to be raised; at the
same time the other tappet pin on the main shaft acts in a similar way on
the end of the other toggle piece r, which causes the cross head 1 to descend
and to bring down the vertical sliding rods k, k, and the platten g toward the
table, by which combined action the pressure is given. When by the rotation
of the main axle the tappet pins have escaped from the toggle pieces q, r, they
are brought back to the quiescent position shewn in Fig. 2, by weighted tail
pieces, which respectively fall against stops, and thereby retain the ends of the
toggle pieces in such positions as will allow the tappet pins to take hold of them
again when brought round by the rotation of the main shaft. The movements
of the frisket are produced by a tumbling shaft s, (seen in Fig. 3,) which shaft
is connected by an universal joint to the shaft of the pinion c, before mentioned,
and is thereby made to revolve; the reverse end of the tumbling shaft has
a pinion t, which takes into the teeth or pins of a mangle wheel u, mounted on
a transverse shaft, seen (broken) in Fig. 3, supported by bearings on the side
frames. Upon the outer end of the shaft of the mangle wheel is affixed a toothed
wheel v, taking into a pinion on the end of a transverse shaft w, which shaft
carries the two chain wheels x, x, whereby the frisket is conducted to and fro
There are four of these chain wheels x, x, x, x, two of them being shewn in Fig. 2,
and over these wheels two endless chains y, y, are extended, and by the ordinary
operation of a tumbling shaft acting in a mangle wheel, these chains are made
to travel to and fro with a reciprocating action. Studs z, z, set into the sides
of the chains at certain intervals, pass into upright slotted guides A, A, standing

page_text: up from the frisket frame B; hence it will be perceived that as the chain goes
round in one direction, the studs z, z, having passed into the slotted guides
A, A, will draw the frisket frame B along, which slides in grooves upon the
upper edges of the side frame of of the machine; and when the frisket
frame has proceeded so far as to allow the studs to pass up out of the slotted
guides, the frisket frame will then remain quiescent, which takes place at the
time that the impression is being given. This interval of rest allows time for
laying on a fresh sheet, and when the contrary rotary movement of the mangle
wheel by which the chain is conducted in the reverse direction takes place, the
frisket will in like manner be conducted back again, and the fresh sheet
receive its impression. The inking rollers C, C, C, turn on axles mounted in
eyes at the outer parts of certain links of the endless chains; and as they are
conducted to and fro by the chains through the agency of the mangle wheel,
as before described, they receive their ink from a distributing surface D,
which is fed from a ductor E at the top of the frame by the distributing
rollers F, F, F, F, which travel from end to end of the machine upon hori-
zontal rails G, G, and as the inking rollers in the lower part of this circuit
pass over the form they communicate their ink to the surface of the types.
9,
A side elevation of a cylindrical printing press is shewn at Fig. 4, the
mechanism of which is mounted in a frame a, a, a. A rigger b is fixed upon
the end of a short shaft c, carrying a pinion d, which takes into the toothed
wheel e on the shaft of a cam wheel f; a tumbling shaft is connected by an
universal joint to the shaft c, and at the other end of this tumbling shaft there
is a pinion taking into a horizontal mangle rack g, which rack forms the bottom
rail of the frame h, h, carrying the table and form of types A, B. Hence, as
the pinion of the tumbling shaft works in the upper and lower sides of the rack
it drives the table to and fro. On the side of the table there is another
horizontal rack taking into a toothed wheel on the shaft of the pressing cylinder
k, by means of which, as the table passes along to and fro, a reciprocating
rotary motion is given to the pressing cylinder. The sheet to be printed is fed
in and taken hold of by gripers i, and by the horizontal progress of the table
the sheet is brought round such a distance as exactly to meet the first line of
the form A of types placed upon the table. The axle of the pressing cylinder
is mounted in plummer blocks, supported by vertical rods I, I, which slide up
and down in sockets affixed to the side frames, the lower ends of these rods
being acted upon by springs m, m, which force them upwards. An infinite
lever or knee joint formed by two pieces n, n, bears against studs set in the
side frames, and is supported below by a brace affixed to the vertical rods 7, 1.
An arm p extending from the axle of the lower piece n has an anti-friction

page_text: roller, which works against the periphery of the cam wheel f, and hence as the
larger radius of this cam wheel come into operation upon the end of the arm p, it
will be depressed, and the two portions of the infinite lever or knee joint n, n,
be brought into a straight line, thereby drawing down the rods I, 1, and the
pressing roller k, and producing the impression. The table by these means
will be carried to the opposite end of the frame to that in which it is seen
in Fig. 4, and the tumbling shaft now acting upon the other side of the
mangle rack will cause the table to return, and the pressing cylinder to
revolve in the reverse direction. The first described rotary motion of the
pressing cylinder will have brought the edge of the printed sheet of paper up
to the tape rollers q, q, which are turned by a band from the motive shaft c,
and these rollers and their endless tapes turning in opposite directions will
take the sheet round the roller r, and deliver. it between the rollers s, s,
again on to the periphery of the pressing cylinder, ready to receive the
impression on its reverse side from the form B.as the table returns, the depres-
sion of the cylinder being effected by the same means, as before described;
the inking in this being effected as in all other cylinder machines.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Wills Wayte, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Eleventh day of
December, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid James Wills Wayte,
came before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Eleventh day of December, in the year above written.