IMPROVEMENTS IN COPYING PRESSES AND APPARATUS THEREWITH CONNECTED."
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Jacob Sidney Sammons at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th May 1880.
(
JACOB SIDNEY SAMMONS, of the City and State of New York, United States
of America. IMPROVEMENTS IN COPYING PRESSES AND APPARATUS THEREWITH
CONNECTED."
Heretofore letters and other matters written with copying ink have been
impressed upon thin moist paper to take a transfer of the ink, and for this purpose
heavy metal presses have been employed.
The object of this Invention is to dispense with the heavy and cumbersome
copying press, and to make a comparatively light press that will apply to the
copying book or sheets a more uniform pressure over the entire surface.
I employ a bed which is preferably of wood with metal end pieces, and a platen
above this also of wood with metal end pieces; these metal end pieces connect the
bed and platen, and there are screws and slots and clamping pieces with teeth by
means of which the bed and platen are firmly connected, and the distance
between them varied as may be required to suit different thicknesses of books with
which the press is to be used.
The pressure of air from a bellows or pump is made use of for applying the
force to the book that is required for making an off set or copy from the ink to
the moist paper. This pressure is applied by means of an air bag, into which the
air is forced, and said bag is between the book and the platen, and acts with the
required force, and with great uniformity, because the bag accommodates itself to
the shape of the book, and the air being of uniform pressure throughout, exerts the
same force on each part of the book.
The air forcing device is preferably upon the top of the platen, and enclosed
within a metal cup; a small circular bellows of india rubber with its lower edge
confined in a circular recess in the platen I find to work well. The lever by which
this is operated is pivoted upon the cap piece, and presses upon the centre of the
upper part of the bellows. There is an inlet valve to the bellows and an outlet
valve in the opening, that passes through the wood platen to the india rubber neck
of the air bag.
An escape valve is provided, and a press button to open the same, so that the air
may be allowed to escape after the copy has been made.
In order to lift the air bag out of the way I use an open metal frame, over which
is stretched a piece of enamel cloth or similar material. The edges of this frame

page_text: pass up into grooves in the platen, and there are springs that tend to lift this frame
and the air bag, but these yield as the bag is expanded by the air pressure.
The water holder for the brush, by which the sheets of thin paper are to be
moistened, is preferably placed upon the platen; it is a vitrified cup of an oblong
shape with a rib near the top of one edge, and the opposite side inclined inwardly.
The cover is held up by springs near each end, and one edge of the cover is beneath
the rib at one side; the other edge of the cover is lifted by the springs against the
under surface of the inclined side of the cup.
When the brush is to be dipped into the water it is laid upon the cover, and the
cover springs downwardly, admitting the brush to the water in the cup, and as the
brush is withdrawn the spring cover removes the surplus moisture, and the brush
is ready for use in moistening the thin paper.