IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING PRESSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George William Petter and Thomas Dixon Galpin,
both of Belle Sauvage Yard, in the City of London, Printers and Co-
partners, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING PRESSES."
Sealed the 7th February 1860, and dated the 22nd August 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George William Petter
and Thomas Dixon Galpin, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 22nd August 1859.
We, GEORGE WILLIAM PETTER and THOMAS DIXON GALPIN, both of Belle
Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, Printers and Copartners,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRINTING PRESSES," to be as follows:-
A shaft turned by any suitable power imparts motion through crank or
arm to lever beams, so as to cause the ends thereof to move through an
increased. space, and thus by connecting rods to move the type table to and
fro. A rack on the table gears into a toothed wheel fixed on the cylinder,
which is thus turned nearly through a revolution. Several teeth are absent
or removed in the wheel to allow the rack to move both ways, while the
cylinder and wheel move only in one direction. A friction break pressing on
the cylinder facilitates the stoppage thereof as it comes to the end of each
revolution. Each of the teeth of the wheel near the part from which they
are removed has the inner corner bevelled off to allow the motion of the rack,_
which has a moveable or tumbling tooth at each end taking into a recess in
the cylinder, so that one drives the cylinder fairly up to its point of rest, and
[Price 8d.]

page_text: the other starts it again. The cylinder is held fast while the table recedes by
a catch or catches released before another revolution is commenced.
The canvas and blanket are strained in separate bars, which may be tight-
ened by a key acting on the end of each, protruding through the end of the
cylinder.
The stop near the end of the laying-on board, or that end itself, sinks at the
proper time to allow the paper to be drawn on by the grippers.
The inking vibrator roller runs for some distance on the inking table, and
is hung on levers attached to a bar moved by a lever arm, which is adjust-
able so as to allow the roller to be raised to a proper height if the roller alters
in size. The laying-on board is hinged so as to turn up, when access may
be had to the type table, and the guard at the end of the bed is made easily
moveable to admit of forms being slid on the table.
-
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George William Petter and Thomas Dixon Galpin in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
WILLIAM PETTER and THOMAS DIXON GALPIN, both of Belle Sauvage Yard,
in the City of London, Printers and Copartners, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said George William Petter and Thomas Dixon Galpin, Her special license
that we, the said George William Petter and Thomas Dixon Galpin, our exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns,, or such others as we, the said George
William Petter and Thomas Dixon Galpin, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term therein ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might nake, 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 PRESSES," upon the
condition, amongst others, that we, the said George William Petter and
Thomas Dixon Galpin, their executors and administrators, should, by an
instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, 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

page_text: Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately, after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
..
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said George William Petter and. Thomas
Dixon Galpin, hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer
tained in and by the following statement, that is to say:
Our Invention consists in improvements in printing presses, by which, a
type table is caused by an oscillating lever beam to move under inking.rollers,
of which one is adjustable, and the table thus receives a proper supply, of
ink. A rack on the table is caused at certain intervals to gear into a cog-
wheel on a cylinder, so that the cylinder turns only in one..direction, and is
stationary while the rack returns, the paper is moved on the laying-on board
so as easily to keep its register, and be seized at the proper time by grippers
in the cylinder so as to be carried between it and the type, and delivered after
it is printed. A safety apparatus enables the cylinder to be kept from starting
when this is desired. The frame on which the printed paper is delivered can
be folded back to give access to the rollers, and the laying-on board may be
raised to allow access to the type table; the blanket and canvas on the cylinder
may be stretched separately, a guard at the end of the type table is removeable
to allow the forms to be shifted, and our patent form carriage enables these to
be' easily: transported..
" .:
In order. to describe the improvements clearly, we shall explain the whole
machinery of, the press, so far as this is material; by the annexed Drawings...
Figure 1 is a general. view of a printing press fitted with, our improvements,
and worked by hand power; Figure 2 is a general view of a printing press fitted
with our improvements, and worked by, engine power. Those two: Figures
are not referred to for a description, of the details of our Invention.In the
other Figures the same parts are marked with the same letters, Figure, 3. is
a-side view of a large sized printing press fitted, with our improvements, and
worked by engine power, as seen from the same side, as the press shewn, in
Figure 1; Figure 4 is a plan of the press shewn in Figure, 3;, Figure 5 is
part of the working machinery of a smaller press; Figure 6 is a view ona
larger scale of part of the inking. apparatus; Figure 7 and Figure 8 shew the
wheel end of the cylinder; Figure 9. shews. the break at the other end;
Figure: 10 and Figure 11 are respectively a, plan and side view of the grippers
and other apparatus in the, cylinder; Figure -12 shews-part, thereof op a larger
scale; Figure 13 and Figure 14 shew, the patent form. carriage. The press
will be described particularly with reference to Figures 3 and 4. In the first
place A, A, A, A, the framework, has on the upper part several horizontal,

page_text: press
parallel rails B, B, B, (Figure 4), which being fixed, support a rectangular
table C, C, C, C, that moves to the right and left on wheels guided by the
rails. The table consists of two parts, of which that to the left is the ink table,
and the other contains the types. The table is set in motion by connecting
its lower parts by one or more rods D, D, (dotted lines) to the ends of one or
more lever beams E, E, (only one is shewn in Figure 3), which lever beams
are caused to oscillate with proper speed by connecting rods F, F, attached
by pins G, G, to the arms H, H, of these two pins are shewn in Figure 4,
and one pin and one arm in Figure 3. The arms are rigidly connected with
a shaft I, so as to revolve with it, and they may either be two spokes of two
wheels, as in Figures 3 and 4, or they may be crank arms on the shaft which
carries only one wheel O, as in Figure 5. The advantages gained by these
arrangements are, that we are enabled to dispense with rackwork below the
table, and with bands or straps to move the table quickly through a great
space with a small motion of the prime mover, and consequently by a short
crank which need not project far to increase the length the
occupies in a room, and to make the machinery simple and compact.
The shaft may be turned by one or more cog wheels J, J, on a shaft K,
which may be turned by hand (as in Figure 1), or by some other power,
of which the driving wheel L is represented in Figures 3 and 4, as driven
by, a strap M, M, M, (Figure 3), brought into gear by the apparatus
N, N, N, N, N, as is well understood. The table C, C, C, C, is by its
motion to the left brought under an inking apparatus, shewn on a larger scale
in Figure 6. This consists of a framework P, fastened to the frame of the
press. A, A, and carrying Q, the ductor roller, turned slowly by the ratchet
motion R, R, R, R, worked by the cam S or in any suitable manner against
the lower part of this roller Q; thus charged with ink, another roller T, called
the vibrator, with an intermitting action, is caused to touch at intervals so as
to receive a supply. of ink, and then, by descending, to transfer this ink to the
upper part of the left-hand end of the table C, C, which comes underneath
the roller T at a proper time, after which the roller runs for some distance on
'the inking table. This operation may be managed in different ways, but that
we prefer is as follows:-The roller T is carried on arms clamped to the
shaft U horizontally placed across the end of the press; this shaft is moved by
the arms V, attached by rods to the ends of side levers W, W, which turn on
bearings at X, X, and are actuated by grooved or bevelled pieces on the sides
of the table, which press on the .ends Y of. K; side levers, at the proper
intervals. The arms in which T is carried may be adjusted from time to time
on the shaft U by a clamp, so as to place the roller in a position to com-

page_text: pensate for the inequality in its surface caused by wearing, shrinking, or other
causes, and the length of the arc through which the roller T moves, that is,
the amount of pressure with which it is caused to rest on the table and on
the roller respectively may be regulated by adjusting the lengths of the
arms V, V, and W, W. Again, in Figures 3, 4, a, a, a, are rollers called
distributors, which serve to equalize the distribution of the ink over the table,
so that when it runs to the right, under the rollers b, b, b, b, those take up ink
in proper quantity, and when the table runs back to the left, the type table
(that is, the part of table C, C, C, C, next the right hand) receives the ink from
the rollers on the types. When the rollers are required to be removed for
any purpose, the delivery board d, d, may be turned upwards into the position
of the dotted lines e, e, and the rollers being lifted out of their bearings, may
conveniently be placed in the brackets provided for them. Along the upper
part of one edge of the table a rack f, f, (seen best in Figures 7 and 8)
extends for a considerable distance, and it is so arranged in connection with
the cog wheel 9, 9, fixed on the cylinder, as to cause the cylinder to turn whilst
the table moves to the left, but while the table moves back to the right, the
cylinder remains stationary. By this motion of the cylinder, the paper to be
printed is drawn from the laying-on board, carried down to the type, and
delivered after it is printed, at the left-hand side of the cylinder. The manner
in which we effect this intermittent motion of the cylinder is as follows-The
cog wheel or cogged rim g, g, has several teeth absent from its circumference
so as to leave a space, and there is a recess in the cylinder marked h,,some-
thing like a tooth in appearance. The tooth on each side nearest this recess
has its inner corner bevelled off; those teeth are marked j and k. Near .each
end of the rack there is a tumbling tooth, which yields while the pressure
between it and a tooth on the wheel is exerted during the movement of the
rack from left to right, but becomes rigid when the table moves the other
way, so that the rack turns the wheel when it passes 'one way, but does not
move it when it returns. One of these tumbling teeth on the right hand is
marked i, Figures 3 and 7; its upper end is higher than that of any of, the
fixed teeth on the rack, and thus, when it. is moving to the left, this and will
catch against a tooth on the wheel which would not be touched by any of the
fixed teeth on the rack, and will thus continue to turn the wheel further than
any of these teeth would have done by giving a final. impluse to the tooth k.
The top of is bevelled off on the right (see Figure 7), so that when it is
moving to the right, and meets a tooth of the wheel, the tumbling tooth i will
yield, and will not move the wheel. Again, at the other end of the rack on
the left hand, the other tumbling tooth (Figures 3 and 8), constructed

page_text: similarly to that described, will yield as the rack passes to the right, but will
take into the recess, and mect a projection , shaped partly like a tooth
(Figure 3) as the rack passes to the left, and thus turns the cylinder until
the other teeth of the rack gear into the teeth on the wheel, and thus continue
the motion. The effect of the two tumbler teeth may, therefore, be described
as follows: While the rack passes to the right, the recess h is opposite the
fixed teeth of the rack, and the teeth i and k are therefore not touched by
them, while the teeth i and l yield as they pass, and during all this time the
cylinder is steady. But when I has moved to the right of the tooth i, the rack
stops, and begins to move to the left; the tooth catches k, and starts the
cylinder (a catch to be presently described being just then released), and the
fixed teeth on the rack drive the cylinder until the tooth i coming at the end
gives the cylinder a final impulse, and drives it fairly up to its point of rest, at
the same time removing j above the reach of the fixed teeth, and allowing the
catch (to be described) to stop the cylinder before bas come down low enough
to be caught by any of the fixed teeth, and thus by the means described we
are enabled with one rack to move the cylinder, and to dispense with the
inconvenience of an arm outside the plummer block.
When it is desired to prevent the rack from turning the cylinder as it begins
its motion from right to left, a safety apparatus may be employed in connection
with the tooth (see Figure 8), by which when the handle m is turned to the
position shewn by the dotted line, the bar n is raised so as to catch the lower
end of the lever on the tooth I, and thus lower the upper end of the tooth, and
cause it to pass the projection k and tooth ; without touching them. The
motion of the wheel is restrained and kept steady by a constant friction
break o (shewn separately in Figure 9), fixed at the end of the cylinder
marked o, in Figure 4. This prevents the wheel and cylinder from turning
by the mere momentum of such a heavy mass moving at considerable speed,
but to ensure the stoppage of the cylinder at the proper point and for a certain
time the catch p (see Figure 8) is fixed to the framework, and projecting partly
within the end of the cylinder it falls upon and holds the projecture d, until it
is released by the action of the lug , which is carried at the end of the table,
and moves to and fro with it. The same operation which releases the catch p,
and thus leaves the cylinder free to revolve, brings into operation also a second
temporary brake S (Figure 8), pressing on the cylinder shaft so as to prevent
the cylinder from any uncertain motion between the release of the catch and
the action of the tooth 1.
We shall now describe that part of our Invention which relates to the cylinder
as it carries the paper to the type. This cylinder is marked t, t. In Figures

page_text: 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, although called a cylinder, it is in fact incomplete,
because there is a longitudinal cut nearly from one end to the other, see
Figure 10, and in connection with this are the 'grippers, soon to be described.
The blanket bar and the canvas bar, each being separate and inside the cylinder,
may be separately tightened up, being turned with the ratchet and pauls, at
the Figure 11, as may easily be understood. The paper to be printed is laid
on the laying-on board as usual, and just before it is to be delivered to the
cylinder to be thereby carried over the type, the stop near the end of the laying-
on board sinks to allow the paper to be drawn on by the grippers, as will be
presently described. The paper may then be placed in the required position,
and it passes down to the left between two adjustable guages v, v, Figures 3
and 4 (best shewn in Figure 4), until the left-hand edge w, Figure 12, slips
over the end of the board, and passes a short distance within the longitudinal
opening in the cylinder which is then opposite to the end of the board, and the
paper then encounters a long bar (shewn in section in Figure 12, and in
plan in Figure 10). This bar or stop is attached to the cylinder, being carried
on pieces attached to the gripper bar or the grippers, or separately to the
cylinder. The first plan is shewn in Figure 12. The distance of the bar from
the opening through which the paper comes can be adjusted so as to let the
desired amount of margin of paper be admitted to be clasped. The grippers
are flat finger-like pieces carried on the gripper bar z, which reaches from end
to end inside the cylinder. This bar is caused to turn round slightly at proper
intervals by the action of a bevelled travelling piece A, a, Figure 11, working
the lever B, b, which acts with the spring C, c, in the interior of the cylinder.
The paper is thus taken hold of by the grippers pressing against the edge of
the opening in the cylinder. In order to keep the edge thereof from curving
up, there are two adjustable curved guides, of which one is shewn D, d, in
Figures 3 and 12, while the other is at the opposite end of the cylinder. Two
similar guides are marked E, e, Figure 3, (and another at the opposite end of
the cylinder), are so placed that when the paper has been carried round the
cylinder, and the loose end of it hangs nearly vertical on the left hand of
the cylinder, it shall not get entangled in any of the rollers or be otherwise
disarranged. Besides the foregoing means to secure the paper in its proper
position, we are enabled to apply a further security for ensuring a perfect
register by the fact, that as the paper in this machine passes under the cylinder
in order to be printed, if one side is already printed it will lie uppermost on
the laying-on board. This security is a register guide, which consists of two
curved adjustable rods or wires F, J, and G, g, Figure 3, attached to the
guide bar, and the lower ends of which reach close to the paper at certain

page_text: points, which may be made to correspond with any selected printed letters or
marks on the paper, and thus enable the person at the laying-on board easily
to direct the register. When the type table is run out to the right, and it is
desired to arrange or remove the form, part of the laying-on board H, h, being
hinged, may be raised into the position I, i, in dotted lines, so as to allow
easy access to the type table, and the guard at the end of the framework
being made moveable, the form may be easily slid off horizontally.
Figure 13 is a side view, and Figure 14 a plan, of our patent form carriage,
which consists of a strong frame on wheels, so poised and constructed as to
enable the workmen conveniently to place in it a form, and to remove it from
the press or bring it thereto as may be required.
The printing press, with our improvements, having been explained, we
desire to claim the following as our Invention:-
The method of moving the table of a printing press by connecting rods and
lever beams worked by pins on wheels or crank arms, as described.
The adjustable inking roller, with intermittent 'action, and running on the
inking table, as described.
The table working the cylinder and wheel by-one rack, so as to cause them
to turn only in one direction, as described.
The cylinder restrained in its motion by a break driven home by a tumbler
tooth stopped by a catch, and held by a break until again properly started
by artumbler.tooth on the same rack, as described.
The safety apparatus for preventing the motion of the cylinder at starting,
as described. .
The canvas and blanket separately strained by bars, which can be tightened
as required in the manner described.
Thie, stop attached to the cylinder, the gripper bar, or the grippers.
The adjustable points for easily guiding the register in printing paper on
both sides:
In witness whereof, we, the said George William Petter and Thomas
Dixon Galpin, have hereto set our hands and seals, this
day of
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.