IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING PRINTING TYPES, AND IN. APPARATUS FOR RUBBING THE SAME
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT, to Henry William Caslon and George Fagg, both of
1. Chiswell Street, in the County of Middlesex, Type Founders, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING PRINTING TYPES, AND IN.
APPARATUS FOR RUBBING THE SAME."
Sealed the 12th September 1862, and dated the 1st April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry William Caslon
and George Fagg at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 1st April 1862.
We, HENRY WILLIAM CASLON, and GEORGE FAGG, both of Chiswell
Street, in the County of Middlesex, Type Founders,, do hereby declare the
nature of the. said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING PRINTING TYPES
AND IN APPARATUS FOR RUBBING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
Our Invention of "improvements in casting printing types, and in
apparatus for rubbing the same, relates, first, to the adaptation to the type
casting machine of an instrument or apparatus for breaking off the lump,
or piece of superfluous metal that adheres to the body of the type," when it has
been cast in the ordinary moulds or machines and which lump or piece
of extraneous metal is usually broken off from the type by hand.
This part of the Invention consists in adapting to the entrance or gate of
the mould or die a small instrument which when the molten metal has been
pumped or injected into the die comes down and divides or cuts off or nearly
so the extraneous lump or waste piece from the body or foot of the type.
This instrument may be made either to cut off the piece completely, or
merely partially to divide it, leaving the waste piece so slightly connected
with the type that upon removing the latter from the mould or die while

page_text: the waste piece is held back the latter will be broken off and fall out of the
machine while the type will be conducted down a channel into a suitable
receptacle below.
The type when delivered from the casting machine with the waste piece
broken off will still have some rough edges which are usually rubbed off by
hand.
The second part of the Invention has for its object to effect this operation
by mechanical means. The types to be operated upon are laid in rows side
by side andare fed forward bya belt. A reciprocating instrumentcomes forward
and pushes the type two, three, or more at a time forward on to a file
or roughened surface, over which they are drawn rapidly by an elastic
pad or cushion which is brought down on to them for the purpose. By
drawing the types forward over the roughened surface they will berubbed clean
on the under surface, and the types being carried forward are deposited on
an elastic pad at the end of the rubbing surface. Another rubbing surface
is then carried forward and rubs and cleans the upper side of the type,
which is then pushed off the elastic pad and is delivered out of the machine.
The cushion and rubbing surfaces are kept clear of the dust produced by the
rubbing operation by means of a moveable brush which is carried over the
surfaces during some of the motions of the other parts of the machine.
In order to hold and press the types firmly against the roughened rubbing
surfaces or files the elastic pads are pressed forward by means of suitable
mechanism connected with the driving shaft, and when it becomes necessary
to relieve the types from pressure, the elastic pads or surfaces are drawn
back. In order to prevent the types from passing continuously over the
same part of the roughened or rubbing surfaces the feeding apparatus has a
slight lateral shogging motion communicated to it, so that the whole width
of the rubbing surface will in turn be brought into operation. The same
effect may of course be produced by shogging the rubbing surfaces instead
of the feeding apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry William Caslon and George Fagg in the Great.
Seal Patent Office on the 1st October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
WILLIAM CASLON and GEORGE FAGG, both of Chiswell Street, in the County
of Middlesex, Type Founders, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Henry William Caslon and George Fagg, Her special license,
that we, the said Henry William Caslon and George Fagg, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Henry William
Caslon and George Farg, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, 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 CASTING PRINTING TYPES AND IN APPARATUS
FOR RUBBING THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Henry William Caslon and George Fagg, by an instrument in
writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one
of us, should 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 Patent Office within six calendár
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry William Caslon, on behalf of
myself and of the said George Fagg, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates, first, to the adaptation to type casting machines of
certain means for breaking off the lump or piece of superfluous metal that is
cast with and adheres to the body of the type when discharged from the ordi-
nary moulds or machines, and which lump or piece of superfluous metal is
usually broken off from the type by hand; and, secondly, to the arrangement of
apparatus for rubbing the sides of the cast type and thereby removing
the burr or rough edges at the angles of the body of the type.
In Sheet I.of the accompanying Drawings we have shown two arrangements
of parts for effecting the severance of the lump of superfluous metal from
the body of the type.
Figures 1 and 2 are side and front elevations of so inuch of a type casting
machine with our improvement applied as will serve to explain the nature'
and operation of the Invention, the moveable half of the mould being thrown

page_text: ;
up out of action the better to explain the construction of the parts. A is the
fixed die or half of the monld, and B the moveable die or half thereof. The
moveable die is attached to a swinging arm C having its fulcrum at Ci
affixed to the arm C is a bracket a onwhich is mounted a hook shaped rocking
plate 6. To the forward end of this plate is connected a finger c, which
slides in a guide formed for it in the bracket arm a. The object of this finger
is to advance at a proper time and move over the gate or entrance of the
mould and assist in severing the lump from the type. When the mould
B is brought down into position a curved and cranked bar D will enter the
recess formed in the hooked shape rocking plate b. This curved bar is
secured by a bolt to the slotted arm of a crank lever E, the other
arm of which enters a slot in the rock lever F furnished with a bowle
that lies in contact with a cam G. The rotation of this cam will
give a rocking motion through the levers F and E, and the cranked curved
bar D to the plate b, and thereby cause it to move the finger c to and fro
in its guide. The bar D is curved to allow of the type moulds when closed
being rocked towards. the metal supply cylinder to receive the jet of metal
without the position of the plate 6 being effected thereby. When the type mould
is being closed the finger c will be drawn to its backward position clear of the
surfaces of the moulds, and in that position it will remain until the dies open.
As the upper die rises it will carry with it the cast type, suitable provision
having been made in that die to secure adhesion, and the finger c will be
pushed forward over the lump as shewn at Fig. 2. So soon however as
the upper die B rises to the position shewn in red at Fig 1 the head of the
type by projecting as is well understood from the die (it being cast in a copper
matrix d, pressed up to the side of the mould) will come in contact with a
shoulder e on the stationary die, and the lump or superfluous metal being
retained in the die by the finger c, the type when hard metal is used in the
casting will be broken off and discharged fromthe die into a suitable receptacle
below. The finger c will then be withdrawn and the waste end or
lump will fall from the die. From this explanation it will be understood
that the severance of the waste metal from the body of the type will be
effected by an automatic operation.
"
Another mode of effecting this object, and designed chiefly for use when
soft type metal is employed, is shewn at Figures 3, 4, and 5 of Sheet I.
The action of this modification may be best described as a shearing off of
the superfluous or waste metal. The divided gate of the mould instead of
being formed with the dies as usualismadeseparate and capable of an indepen-
dent motion. Fig. 3 is a side view of a mould constructed according to

page_text: this modification, and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the lower die and Fig. 5 a
partial top view, shewing the levers for operating the gate.
a, a*, are the top and bottom dies, and b, b*, the parts that form the gate.
They are jointed to the dies and upon the part b bears an adjustable screw c,
which is carried by a rock lever d. The tail end of this lever is borne up by
a lever e, which may be operated in any convenient way according to the
construction of the machine to which the apparatus is to be fitted. The
part 6 is formed with a projection in the under side of which bears a spring
f. When a type has been cast by the injection of the metal through the
gate as usual the lever d will be rocked by the lever e, and the gate will
thereby be forced down, taking with it the lump or waste piece contained
therein; the top die will then rise, lift out the type from the bottom dies, and
discharge it as before described, while the waste piece falls out of the gate
by its own gravity. The part forming the lower half of the gate will be.
into position.
thrown up
The second part of the Invention, which relates, as before said, to improved
apparatus for effecting the rubbing or finishing of the body of printing types,
which operation has heretofore been effected by hand labour, is shewn in several.
views in Sheet II. Fig. 1 represents the apparatus in longitudinal elevation;
Fig. 2 is a plan view; Fig. 3 is a cross section taken in the liue 1, 2; and
Fig. 4, à cross section taken in the line 3, 4, of Figures 1 and 2. In these
views A, A, is the main framing; B, a V-shaped guide for supporting two
vertical slides C and D, the uses of which will be presently explained. E is
a sliding table, which has a slow endway motion imparted to it, and to which
is securely attached a bracket arm E¹. At F a stationary file is represented
secured to the main framing A, and intended to receive the types as they are
fed into the machine, and finish one side thereof. The opposite side is in
like manner finished by a file surface carried by the slide D. Mounted on
guide pullies, on the extremities of the bracket arm E', are vulcanized rubber
bands a, a, which form a kind of endless apron for receiving the type to be
cperated upon. This type, shewn in red in Fig. 2, is laid across the bands.
by an attendant, and by the rotation of the bands the type are carried forward
until they are brought under a vulcanized rubber roller b, which passes the
types forward under a fixed plate c, the hinder types pressing forward the
forward ones, as will be readily understood. When the foremost type has
come in a line with the file F it is pushed on to that file, the end of the file
being made smooth to permit of its sliding freely thereon. This endway
notion of the type is effected by a finger d, projecting from a slide d', which
is actuated through the instrumentality of a bowl d³ (as will be presently:

page_text: explained), carried by the slide C, on which slide is also mounted a pressing
pade that now comes down upon the type, and holds it in contact with the
file F, while by the back traverse of the slide C it draws the type towards
the rear end of the file, and finally discharges it on to a stationary padded
table. The slide C now moves forward again to effect, through its bowl d;
the discharge of a second type on to the file F. Simultaneously with the
forward movement of this slide C moves the slide D, which carries the file
surface for operating upon the upper side of the type. In passing the table f
this slide rubs the type lying thereon, it being kept in position by the end of
the file F, which presents a shoulder that it cannot pass, and by this means
the upper side of the type is rubbed or finished like the under side. Mounted
in a bracket arm attached to the rear end of the slide D is a rotary brush G,
which now, through the continued forward traverse of the slide, comes over
the finished type, and by its rotation brushes away the dust made by the files,
and also discharges the type on to a leather shute or receiver H, from which
it may be taken up by hand.
Having thus described generally the construction and operation of the
machine, I will proceed to explain the manner in which motion is commu-
nicated to the several parts.
I is the main driving shaft,furnished withfast-and-loosedrivingpulleys K, K;
for receiving motion through a strap from any prime mover. On this shaft I is
keyed a band pulley 1', from which proceeds a band I2 over guide pulliesi, i,i,
and a double guide pulley ¹, mounted on a bracket attached to the main
framing. This band I³ passes once around a pulley g on the axle of the
traversing brush G, then forward to a fixed guide pulley h, back to the
pulley, and so to the driving pulley I'; by this means, therefore, rotary
motion is communicated to the brush G. From the double pulley a
band k passes to a pulley ¹, keyed to a vertical screw shaft k² (see Fig. 3),
which rests in a footstep, and is supported at its upper end by a bracket from
the main framing. The screw of this shaft works into a worm wheel 6', keyed
to the shaft of the vulcanized rubber roller b, which, as before stated, takes
the type from the bands a, a, and passes them forward under the guide plate c
to the front end of the file F, the rotation therefore of the screw shaft gives,
through the worm wheel b', a slow rotary motion to the roller b. The rotation
of the bands a is obtained from a band pulley on the end of the worm wheelb¹
by means of a band a', which passes over and drives a pulley keyed to the
short shaft a², on the opposite end of which is keyed the outer pulley for
receiving the bands a. The inner pulley, which keeps these bands at tension,
is shown at a³, Figs. 2 and 3. The traverse motion of the slides C and Dis

page_text: obtained from the main driving shaft I through a connecting rod C, jointed
at its forward end to the slide C, and at its rear end to a poised crank arm C²
on the end of the shaft I. A metal strap connects the slides C and D.
together. For giving the motion to the finger d which pushes the type on to
the file F, the bowle d2 as it moves forward is caused to enter the forked arm
d3 of a crank lever carried by a bracket arm d¹. The arm d5 of this lever,
carries a crank pin which works in a fork projecting upwards from the slided"..
As therefore the bowle d2 traverses within the forked arm, that arm will be
caused to rock and thereby traverse the slided'in its guides and thrust forward
the finger dat the proper time for discharging the type on to the file surface F.
In order to bring down and retain the pad e, in contact with the type on the
file surface while travelling back with the slide. C, the pad is mounted on a
sliding stem e', which works in a guide fixed to the slide C. Bearing on the
upper end of this stem is an adjusting screw carried by a rock lever e² which
has its fulcrum on the guide bracket; jointed to the opposite end of this rock
lever is a sliding bar e3 working in suitable guides on the slide C, and jointed
to the lower end of this sliding bar is a tumbling piece e4, which carries at its
lower end a small friction bowle. This bowle works over a raised bar e5 ou
the main framing,and during the forward progress of the slide C,the tumbling
piece is drawn loosely over the bar. When however the back traverse
commences the tumbling piece will be forced into an upright position, thereby.
driving up the sliding bar e³, the effect of which will be to press down the
adjusting screw of the rock lever e² on to the stem e' of the pad e, and thus
depress the pad e and cause it to press upon the type last pushed forward on
to the file surface F. The continued backward motion of the slide will enable
the pad e to draw the type over the file F as before mentioned and discharge
it on to the table f. Having effected this operation, the pad will be caused to
rise by means of a coiled spring surrounding its stem, the tumbler meanwhile
having arrived at the end of the raised bar e5 and thereby removed the upward
thrust from the rock lever and allowed the spring to act. A similar motion
to that described, for the pad e is imparted to the table f, for the purpose of
pressing the type up against the file surface carried by the slide D, which
surface, as before mentioned, operates upon and finishes the upper side of the
type. This table f is carried by a vertical stem f¹, and is held down by a
coiled spring. An adjustable screw carried by a rock leverf2 having its fulcrum
on the stem guide which is attached to the main framing, serves to press up
the table when required. This rock lever f2 is itself operated by a rock lever
f³ (see Fig. 1), which enters a slot in the lever f2, and carries at itso:her end
a bowle that bears a cam f on the driving shaft. The fulcrum of the lever ƒ³

page_text: is carried by a bracket pendent from the framing A, and as the lever is locked.
by the cam it will raise the table f, and keep the type in contact with the:
rubbing surface of the passing slide D. When however that slide has acted,
the rock lever will allow the table to fall into the position for receiving another
type.
In order that the successive types may take different lines of traverse over
the pile surface F, a continuous lateral motion is given to the table E. This is
effected by mounting it on guides, and connecting it by a link 7, with a vertical
crank shaft l', carried by the main framing. At the lower end of this shaft is
keyed a ratchet wheel into the teeth of which takes a click which is carried
by a loose arm 13. As the slide C moves forward it strikes against this arm
and causes the click to drive round the ratchet wheel a certain distance; a
spring when the slide retires, throws back the arm to its quiescent position.
This action being repeated, the crank shaft will be caused slowly to rotate,
and thus shift each successive type into a different position relatively to the
file surface F, thereby causing each portion of the surface to act in turn
upon the successive types.
Having now described the nature of our Invention of improvements in
casting printing types, and in apparatus for rubbing the same, and having
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be under-
stood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent, we claim, first,
the means above described for removing the lump or piece of super-
fluous metal from the body of the type before or in the act of releasing the
type from the moulds; and, secondly, the arrangement of machinery above
described, for finishing the type by an automatic rubbing action.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry William Caslon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the First day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
H. W. CASLON. (1.s.)