Improvements in or relating to Frining Apparavus.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 12th Jan., 1895
Improvements in or relating to Frining Apparavus.
A communication by CHARLES SEARS, of 1221, Lexington Avenue, Cleveland,
in the State of Ohio, United States of America, Manufacturer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of The Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, and 31, High Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to the printers' art, and it consists of a typographical
make-ready and the process of preparing the same. The object is to do away
with the now commonly employed methods, such as underlaying, over-laying and
cutting away portions of the tympan; and to cheaply and expeditiously produce
for any type form a make-ready, whereby said form may be printed with
substantially even pressure.
The invention consists first in the process as follows, to wit, (1) covering the
platen or cylinder with a plastic material, such as papier maché, and securing over
the same a plurality of sheets of paper, thereby forming the tympan; (2) then,
with the type form locked in the press, making an impression of said form upon
the tympan with a pressure preferably in excess of that which will clearly define
every character in the form, and sustaining or frequently repeating said pressure
until the plastic material has set; and finally removing one or more of the said
sheets of paper.
The invention also consists in the product of said process, viz.: a make-ready
having a hard base and one or more sheets of paper secured over the same, said
base and cover sheets having depressions corresponding in position and depth
with the position and elevation of the characters in the form above the level of the
lowest characters therein.
In the drawing Figure 1 is a plan view of the platen press, with the described
tympan secured thereto; Figure 2 is a sectional view of the same, showing also
a line of type with exaggerated inequalities in height in the act of making the
impression therein; and Figure 3 is a sectional view of the make-ready in condition
for use with the line of type above it.
In the practice of this invention, a tympan is first secured to the platen or
cylinder as the case may be, in the following manner, viz. Upon the platen C or
cylinder is first secured a thin covering A of plastic material, of which papier
maché is to be preferred. This plastic material should be as stiff as possible while
still retaining its susceptibility to receive the impression, for the reason that
thereby the make-ready may more quickly be ready for use. Next, a plurality of
sheets B of paper are tightly secured over said plastic covering. Next, after the
type D is locked in the press, an impression of said form is made upon the
described tympan. Every character in the form should be clearly defined upon
the tympan, and when this is done, it is clear that every character which is raised
above the lowest character in the form will have made a depression in the tympan,
and the depth and position of these depressions will necessarily correspond with the
elevation and position of the type making them. I prefer to employ an excessive
pressure so that every character in the form will make a slight depression in the

page_text: tympan, but it is not believed that this excessive pressure is an essential feature of
the process. It may be said however, that the most successful results are attained
by the employment of the excessive pressure.
The pressure of the type form upon the tympan is maintained or frequently
repeated until the plastic base is thoroughly set. In a platen press it is preferred
to maintain the pressure by holding the form and tympan in contact. In a drum
cylinder press this is impossible, and substantially the same result is obtained by
running the press constantly until the plastic base is set, and this method may
likewise be pursued with the platen press. By thus maintaining or repeating the
pressure, the shrinkage of the plastic base in drying is not permitted to distort it.
When the plastic base is set, one or more (as may be necessary) of the sheets of
paper are removed, and the make-ready is in condition for use. By the removal
of the top sheets, the sharp angles in the surface are removed, and the superficial
area of the separate depressious is increased, but their proportionate depth is not
changed. In the absence of sharp angles on the make-ready, the paper upon
which the form is subsequently printed, is not sharply or injuriously bent during
the printing act.
The make-ready prepared in the manner above described consists of a hard base
and one or more coverings of paper,-both base and covering sheets having
depressions which correspond in relative positions and depth with the relative
positions and elevations of the characters in the type form.
This method of preparing a make-ready for a type form solves the difficulty which
has heretofore been unsolved, viz., how to print on a hard tympan, and thereby do
fine work, with the product of the linotype machines, typograph machines, and
other machines of like character. The characters in a form made up of type bars
are invariably more irregular then in a form made up of separate type. None of
this irregularity can be remedied by under-laying. Consequently the preparation
of a make-ready for such a form has been a long tedious and expensive operation;
and it is believed no practical success has heretofore been attained in printing
from type bar forms except with a soft or blanket tympan.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The herein described process of preparing a typographical make-ready which
consists in first securing to the impression receiving part of a printing press
(platen or cylinder) a base of plastic material; then securing tightly over this
base a plurality of sheets of paper, thereby forming a tympan; then with the type
form locked in the press, making an impression from the form in said tympan, and
maintaining or repeating said impression until the plastic base is set; and finally
removing one or more of the sheets of paper, substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
-
2. A typographical make-ready, consisting of a hard base and one or more
coverings of paper, both base and paper having depressions formed therein
which correspond in relative depth and position with the relative height and
position of the characters on the type form,-substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
Dated this 3rd day of December 1894.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents.