IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS POR PRINTING
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jonas Elsom Liller, of Bedford, in the County
of Bedford, Printer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
POR PRINTING."
Sealed the 20th August 1869, and dated the 22nd February 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jonas Elsom Liller
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd February 1869.
I, JONAS ELSOM LILLER, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford,
Printer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRINTING," to be as follows:-
According to these improvements a band passes around or over
and under a platten, by which platten pressure is imparted. A gripper
is attached to this band. A carriage bearing the "forme," type, or
printing surface travels under the platten, the band coming between
the platten and the "forme" or printing surface. Just before the

page_text: carriage travels to its place under the platten the gripper closes upon
the sheet which is to be printed, and the band carrying the sheet with
it presents it to the "forme" or printing surface as the "forme" travels
in. After the sheet has received pressure between the platten and
the forme it is carried back by the band, so that it may be withdrawn,
or it is delivered by means of the band to the required place.
One mode of effecting the delivery is by causing the printed sheet
to be caught at one of its edges between two plates which are attached
to two pairs of travelling bands or strips, and caused thereby to approach
each other and thus grip the sheet and hold it between them up to a
given point, at which point contact is destroyed, and the sheet. being
thus released falls to the required place.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jonas Elsom Liller in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JONAS
ELSOM LILLER, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, Printer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Jonas Elsom Liller, Her special licence
that I, the said Jonas Elsom Liller, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Jonas Elsom Liller, my 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
APPARATUS FOR PRINTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Jonas Elsom Liller, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,

page_text: and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Jonas Elsom Liller, 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 thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say:-
These improvements have reference to the manner of carrying the
sheets of paper or other material to be printed upon to and from the
face of the type, block, or other "forme" in printing machines where
the pressure is given by a "platen" or flat surface.
According to these improvements a band passes around or over
and under a platen, by which platen pressure is imparted. A gripper
is attached to this band. A carriage bearing the forme, type, or
printing surface travels under the platen, the band coming between the
platen and the "forme" or printing surface. Just before the carriage
travels to its place under the platen the gripper closes upon the sheet
which is to be printed, and the band carrying the sheet with it presents
it to the "forme " or printing surface as the forme travels in.
After the sheet has received pressure between the platen and the
"forme" it is carried back by the band, so that it may be withdrawn,
or it is delivered by means of the band to the required place.
One mode of effecting the delivery is by causing the printed sheet
to be caught at one of its edges between two plates which are attached
to two pairs of travelling bands or strips, and caused thereby to approach
each other and thus grip the sheet and hold it between them up to a
given point, at which point contact is destroyed, and the sheet being
thus released falls to the required place.
The improvements may be briefly described as consisting in the
employment of a band which is made to travel so as to present to the
face of the "forme" one of its surfaces and to withdraw it again at
required intervals. The sheets of paper or other material are placed
on the surface of the band (which is so presented and withdrawn), and
are thus carried to and from the required position.
The accompanying Drawings represent apparatus constructed accord-
ing to my Invention.

page_text: Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a portion of a printing machine
to which my improvements are applied; Figure 2 is also a sectional
elevation of the same.
Figure 1 shews the arrangement before the herein-after described
action takes place, and Figure 2 shews the apparatus when the sheet
of paper is in position ready for being printed.
a is a platen made to rise and fall at intervals for the purpose of
imparting pressure in the ordinary manner; bis the "forme" placed
upon a carriage c, which carries it backward and forward or under and
then away from under the platen a; m, shewn by dotted lines, is a band
made of printers' blanket; this band is placed over rollers f and y so
that it surrounds the "platen," and so that the upper surface of the
band or that which is at first above the "platen" may be made to travel
round until it arrives under the "platen" and over the place to which
the forme is carried. To one point on this band m is attached a
gripper G, which is made to open and close so that the edge of the
sheet of paper i being placed in it will be held by it, and the sheet
itself will be drawn along with the band when the said band travels
to the position already described. The point h of the band must be
determined by the distance between the front edge of. the "forme" from
the "platen" in their normal position, so that when the band and the
"forme" have travelled as described the gripper shall be immediately
before the front edge of the forme. The forme and the band being
made to travel simultaneously (in the directions shewn by the arrows)
to the position described, the sheet i is in consequence brought between
the platen and the "forme," as shewn in Figure 2, and is in proper
position to receive the impression. The platen at this juncture is
made to fall and give the requisite pressure, after which the "forme
returns to its original position; the band also travels back to the point
from which it was brought, and the printed sheet being carried along
with it may be withdrawn either by hand or by the above-described
delivery apparatus in which two plates are used, or by ordinary apparatus
which may be applied for that purpose.
"
The advantage to be gained from this arrangement is a facility of
supplying sheets to the machine at a much higher rate of speed than
can be obtained by existing arrangements in "platen " printing machines.
If found desirable the platen may be made stationary, and the "forme"
instead of being carried backwards and forwards may be carried upwards

page_text: and downwards, being urged upwards against the platen with sufficient
force to produce the requisite impression when the sheet has been
carried to the necessary position.
The various motions above mentioned may be communicated by means
of cams or other ordinary mechanical contrivances.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim as con-
stituting my said Invention, the employment in or application to
apparatus or machinery for printing of a band and gripper arranged,
travelling, and operating substantially in the manner described for the
purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jonas Elsom Liller, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
5
Witness,
M. HENRY,
68, Fleet Street,
London.
J. ELSOM LILLER. (L.S.)