IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PRINTING PRESSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Henry Gardner, of West Harding Street,
Fetter Lane, in the City of London, Printing Machine Manu-
facturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PRINTING
PRESSES."- A communication from abroad by Victor Eugene
Mauger, of Reade Street, New York, in the United States of
America.
Sealed the 5th March 1872, and dated the 6th September 1871.
)
-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Henry Gardner
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 6th September 1871.
I, CHARLES HENRY GARDNER, of West Harding Street, Fetter Lanc,
in the City of London, Printing Machine Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER
PRINTING PRESSES," communicated to me from abroad by Victor Eugene
Mauger, of Reade Street, New York, in the United States of America,
to be as follows:-
Cylinders of cylinder printing presses are provided with grippers or
gripers for holding the paper or other material during the printing

page_text: process. When one cylinder receives sheets alternately from opposite
sides to carry them in opposite directions over the printing bed it must
be provided with two sets of grippers. The object of this Invention is
to construct and arrange apparatus in such manner that the cylinder
may be furnished with adjustable grippers for holding sheets of suitable
lengths.
The cylinder has
Radial spring grippers are employed, and are guided in moveable
tubes set or disposed in the cylinder, which is formed with perforations,
recesses, or apertures to receive them at intervals, so arranged that one
set shall be at a proper distance from the other set. Cams on the shaft
actuate the grippers so as to open and close them.
two or more rows or sets of apertures to receive the tubes. The grippers
may be cylindrical, or prismatic, or facetted, having hooks at the outer
end, their shanks fitting into the tubes and riding on the cams. Springs
draw them against the cams. When the shank ends reach the
depressions of the cams the hooks retain the sheet till the projecting parts
of the cams raise the grippers and release the sheet. All the grippers of
one set are in one row, 'the 'tubes being in one set of holes. The second
set of grippers may be of the above construction or may consist of
cranks on a vibrating rod. The interval between the two sets may be
regulated by screwing the 'tubes into another row of holes. The cylinder
shaft may rotate if the cams be mounted on a tube or box mounted
free on the shaft. The cylinder apertures not filled by the tubes can be
plugged.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 2
filed by the said Charles Henry Gardner in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HENRY GARDNER, of West Harding Street, Fetter Lane, in the City of
London, Printing Machine Manufacturer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
'fifth year of 'Her reign, did, 'for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Henry Gardner, Her special licence

page_text: that I, the said Charles Henry Gardner, my executors, dministrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Henry Gardner, 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 CYLINDER PRINTING PRESSES," communicated to me from abroad by.
Victor Eugene Mauger, of Reade Street, New York, in the United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Charles Henry Gardner, 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, 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.
1
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Henry Gardner, 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 accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say-
Cylinders of cylinder printing presses are provided with grippers or
gripers for holding the paper or other material during the printing
process. When one cylinder receives sheets alternately from opposite
sides to carry them in opposite directions over the printing bed it must
be provided with two sets of grippers. The object of this Invention is
to provide the printing cylinder of such two-feeder presses or machines
with adjustable grippers for holding therein sheets of suitable lengths.
1
The Invention consists in the use of radial spring, grippers, guided in
moveable tubes set or disposed in the cylinder, which is formed with
perforations, recesses, or apertures to receive them, so that one set of
grippers shall be at a proper distance from the other set of grippers.
Cams on the stationary central shaft actuate the grippers so as to open
and close them. The cylinder has two or more rows or sets of apertures
to receive the tubes. The grippers may be cylindrical, or prismatic, or
facetted, having hooks at the outer end, their shanks fitting into the

page_text: tubes and riding on the cams. Springs draw them against the cams.
When the shank ends reach the depressions of the cams the hooks
retain the sheet till the projecting parts of the cams raise the grippers
and release the sheet. All the grippers of one set are in one row, the
tubes being in one set of holes. The second set of grippers may be of
the above construction or may consist of cranks on a vibrating rod. The
interval between the two sets may be regulated by screwing the tubes
into another row of holes. The cylinder shaft may rotate if the cams be
mounted on a tube or box mounted free on the shaft, that is to say, so as
not to rotate with the shaft. The cylinder apertures not filled by the
tubes can be plugged.
The accompanying Drawings exemplify more particularly the manner
in which the Invention is carried into practical effect.
Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of a cylinder provided with
the improved gripper or griper attachment. Figure 2 is a side view
partly in section of the same.
.
A is a printing cylinder hung or mounted upon a stationary shaft B
so as to oscillate or work thereon when actuated by suitable ordinary
driving arrangements. a, a, are apertures or perforations formed in
the cylinder for the reception of tubes b, b, which serve as guides
and holders for the grippers. There are two or more rows of such
apertures a, a. C, C, are the grippers or gripers. They are adjustable.
They are made in the form of cylindrical or prismatic rods, and they
have hooks d, d, at their outer ends. The shanks or stems of the
grippers are fitted into the tubes 7, and they ride on cams D, D, which
arc mounted on the shaft B. e, e, are springs (shown as spiral springs,
though other springs may be used). These springs act against the
grippers, tending to draw them inward against the cams. Whenever the
ends of the gripper shanks arrive at the depressed portions of the cams
the gripper hooks d are drawn against the circumference or periphery
of the cylinder so as to hold and retain the sheet of paper till the
projecting parts of the cams raise the grippers and release the sheet.
All the grippers of one set are in one row, the tubes for guiding them
being screwed into one set of apertures a in the cylinder. The second
set of grippers on the same cylinder may be of the same description as
the grippers above described; or such second set of grippers may consist,
as in Figure 1, of cranks f, f, on a vibrating rod 9, which is pivotted to
the cylinder A like the grippers in common use. The distance or
.

page_text: interval between the two sets of grippers can be varied by screwing the
tubes 6 (with their contents) into another row of holes.
By this Invention two-feeder cylinder presses can be adapted for
acting on sheets of paper of various sizes. The shaft B may be made to
rotate if the cams are mounted upon a tube embracing the shaft but not
revolving on it. The apertures a (in the cylinder) which are not filled
by tubes 6 can be closed by plugs, which will thus leave the printing
face of the cylinder smooth and solid or unbroken. These plugs may be
applied or fitted into the apertures from the inner side, and fixed in any
suitable manner. The apertures or perforations a in the cylinder may
be arranged otherwise than in rows.
.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be carried into effect, I declare that I claim,―
First. The printing cylinder formed with apertures or perforations,
as herein set forth.
Secondly. The radial grippers or gripers C, C, riding on cams D, and
guided in moveable tubes 6, substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Henry Gardner, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
M. HENRY,
68, Fleet St.,
E.C.
C. H. GARDNER. (L.S.)