IMPROVEMENTS IN LITHOGRAPHIC AND OTHER PRINTING PRESSES
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALPHONSE DE
TROISBRIOUX, of Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of April, in the fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alphonse de Troisbrioux, my exors, adiñors, and assigns Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Alphonse de Trois-
brioux, my exors; admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alphonse
de Troisbrioux; my exors, adñiors, and 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 that part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain'
and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, the
Invention communicated to me by a certain foreigner residing abroad, of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LITHOGRAPHIC AND OTHER PRINTING PRESSES;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Alphonse de Troisbrioux,
shall particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, and shall cause the same to be enrolled in Her

page_text: said 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alphonse de Troisbrioux, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, and by the Figures and
Drawings therein referred to, and hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
The said Invention consists in the construction of a press, and in a peculiar
arrangement and combination of parts and apparatus connected therewith,
for the purpose of obtaining impressions from cylinders of stone, and of other
suitable materials, as for instance, a metal cylinder, or a cylinder covered with
metallic plates, the pattern or device being drawn and arranged on the surface
of the cylinder, by any of the known methods.
. And in order to explain the said Improvements as completely as possible, I
will proceed to describe the construction of a press, and the arrangement of
parts which has been found to answer extremely well.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Sheet 1, Figure 1, represents a front elevation of a double acting lithographic
printing press, one half thereof being in section; Figure 2, an end view of the
same; Figure 3, an end view of the inking apparatus. Sheet 2, Figure 4,.
represents a back elevation of the driving gear; Figure 5, a detached elevation
of the regulator; Figure 6, a detached longitudinal section taken through the
several cylinders, by which the course of the sheet of paper is clearly
represented, together with the relative positions of the cylinders. A, A, the
frame of cast iron, at the upper part of which standards B, B, are securely
bolted, slots being formed therein for carrying the stone cylinders C, C*, and
damper cylinders D, D; E, E, plummer blocks, or bearings, for supporting
the hollow cast-iron cylinders F, F*; around these cylinders an endless band
or skin G passes, and turns continually therewith, the same being kept in
close contact by pressure from the adjustable weight (H), placed upon one
end of the lever I, the other end thereof pressing against the tension roller K;
L, a jointed link, one end of which is connected to the aforesaid lever, and the
other end to the scraper M, which extends across the whole breadth of the
skin or band; this scraper forms an important feature in these improvements,
as the correctness and clearness of the print depends entirely upon the proper
working of the same. The band which has hitherto been used is of calves'
skin, and the part of the scraper in contact with the band is made of hard

page_text: wood, as ebony, placed between two plates of metal, as seen in Figure 6.
When the pressure is applied to the scraper, the skin or band G will be
brought into close contact with the stone cylinders C, C*, and as the band
advances, the friction between the surfaces of the band and stone cylinders
which are kept in forced contact, will cause the stone cylinders to revolve upon
their fixed axes, motion will thence be imparted to the damper cylinders D, D,
which are in contact with the stone cylinders, and from thence to the metal
cylinders N, N, which are in contact with the damper cylinders. The metal
cylinders N, N, contain water, and have small perforations in the direction of
their length through which the water passes, an arrangement being provided
for regulating the quantity of water supplied to the damper cylinders D, D.
The damper cylinders are covered with a woollen cloth, which absorbs the
water, and distributes the same uniformly upon the stone cylinders; 1, 2, 3,
three inking rollers, around which an endless band or skin passes, and is kept
in contact with the surface of the stone cylinder, which revolving, imparts
motion thereto; the endless band or skin passing over a series of rollers
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and communicating with a roller 10; upon the axis of this
roller a toothed wheel 11 is keyed, taking into a corresponding wheel 12
fixed upon the axis of the roller 13, this roller is in direct communication with
the trough 14 containing the printing ink. To regulate the quantity supplied
to this roller adjusting screws 15, 15, are caused to act against the back of
the trough, by the withdrawing or advancing of which the quantity of ink is
regulated; 16, a forked lever, the upper extremity of which is mounted upon
rods 17, 17, extending across the whole width of the frame; 18, a small
roller having its axis supported by the lower extremities of the vibrating
levers 19, 19, situated at each side of the framing 20, the upper extremities of
which are secured upon the rods 17, 17; it will be seen, upon referring to the
Drawing, that the furnishing roller 18 is about one-fourth of the diameter of
the rollers 10 and 13, for the purpose of disposing readily of the ink, and as
the supply thereof is only required at intervals, this roller 18 is caused to rock
or vibrate by pins 21 and 22, suitably placed against the inner surface of the
toothed wheels 11 and 12, as represented by the Drawings; it will appear
evident that, upon motion being imparted to these wheels, the pins fixed
thereto will be brought into contact successively with the prongs of the forked
lever 16, whence the necessary rocking or vibrating motion will be produced.
28, a roller which takes its bearing upon the rollers 4, 5, being for the purpose
of uniformly distributing the ink upon the skin or band; this is effected by pins
being fixed against the outer surface of the toothed wheels 11, 12; pieces of
cord being attached thereto, pass over pullies 24, 24, and are made fast to the

page_text: ends of the roller 23, whence, as the wheels 11, 11, revolve, the pins which
actuate the roller being placed in opposite directions, and at opposite sides of
the machine, will have the effect of sliding the same across the surfaces of the
rollers (and skin) 4 and 5, and uniformly distributing the ink thereon; a
knife 25 being situated at the underside of the skin or band for removing the
'superfluous ink; 26, a screw, having a lever attached thereto, for causing
tension of the skin or band when necessary, the roller 2 having a similar
arrangement for the same purpose. a, the main driving shaft, upon which is
keyed the fly wheel 6, for equalizing the motion of the machine; upon one end
of this shaft a winch c is fixed, power being applied thereto imparts motion
to a pinion d, fixed upon the other end of the driving shaft; this pinion takes
into a spur wheel e, keyed upon the axis of the hollow cylinder FX, and gearing
into a corresponding wheel f, imparts motion thereto.
8
The operations of the machine are as follows:-The paper being placed
upon the table
in a fit state for printing, the roller h being previously raised
(by an arrangement hereafter described) the workman introduces the sheet of
paper, when by the depression of this roller, which is provided with endless
tapes i, i, passed around a portion of each extremity thereof, the paper is
firmly held and advanced (in the direction of the arrows) by the endless skin
or band G, motion being imparted thereto as hercin-before described, when, by
the pressure of the lever I, the scraper will be brought into close contact with
the under side of the band, by which the paper will be firmly held, and
uniformly pressed against the stone cylinder, causing the same to revolve, and
consequently taking the impression therefrom. This being done, the sheet is
then conducted in the direction of the arrows until it is brought into contact
with the other stone cylinder C*, when, the pressure being applied to the
scraper M, the verso is obtained. But in order that the sheet may come right
for the verso, spur wheels O, P, connected to the stone cylinder at a¹ are
employed, which being of corresponding diameters ensure a perfectly uniform
and similar motion of the stone cylinders, which are likewise of corresponding
diameters. To regulate the band which conducts the paper to be printed, a
spur wheel Q is employed. This wheel revolves loosely upon the same axis
as that upon which the spur wheel O is keyed, and is driven by a pinion R,
which receives motion from the wheel O, as represented by the Drawing.
S, a cam fixed to the arms of the wheel Q. This cam is caused to act
against a friction roller T, situated at one end of the vibrating lever U, having
its fulcrum at V, the other end of which carries the axis of the receiving
roller . It will appear evident that as the wheel Q revolves the cam will
act successively upon the friction roller T, by the raising and depressing of

page_text: which the necessary motion is obtained. In order that the stone cylinders
may be used as their diameters become reduced, the same may be lowered by
means of the screws and nuts W, W*, a screw X being situated at the end
of the fixed axis around which the cylinders revolve, screws Y being employed
for adjusting the damper cylinders. Z, a lever for removing the pressure
from the scraper when necessary, as represented by the Drawings. The
machine as represented in the Drawings, as above described, is a double
printing press; that is, both sides of the paper or substance to be printed
receive the impression during the passage of the said paper or substance
through the press. But it is evident that the machine may also be used as
a single press; that is, one cylinder only being printed from. The arrange-
ment above described may be applied to printing several colors, either from
the same or different cylinders, without departing from the principle of the
above Invention of communicating motion to the printing cylinder by the
forced contact of a band in motion, and of imparting motion from the printing
cylinder to the other parts of the apparatus. The arrangements herein-before
described are adapted more particularly for printing from the surface of the
cylinder, but the general arrangements and principle of the said improvements
will also serve as a press for printing from engraved cylinders, the damper
cylinder being removed, and the well-known apparatus for inking and clean-
ing the cylinder, according to the process of calico and other printing, being
supplied.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be and may be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I am aware of stone cylinders with axes passing through them having been
attempted to be used before for the purposes of lithography, but such attempts
have, I believe, failed. I do not, therefore, claim the exclusive use of stone
cylinders for lithography in whatever manner the same may be applied, nor do
I claim the exclusive use of any of the several parts herein-before described,
except when such several parts shall be employed for the purposes of the said
Invention, as above described, and herein-after more particularly mentioned;
but I claim,
Firstly, the exclusive use for the purposes of lithographic printing of a
cylinder of stone, moveable on pivots, and receiving and communicating motion,
as above described.
Secondly, I claim the exclusive use of the apparatus or general combination
and arrangement of parts herein described for the purposes of printing.
Thirdly, I claim the exclusive use, for the purposes of printing, of the

page_text: arrangement herein described, whereby the printing cylinder receives its
motion from contact with the surface to be printed.
Fourthly, I claim the exclusive use of the arrangements herein described,
whereby the printing cylinder is made to receive motion, and to communicate
motion to the apparatus for transferring the ink or coloring matter to the
printing cylinder.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alphonse de Troisbrioux, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and forty-two.