CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING PRESSES
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
ULLMER, of the firm of Edwin and William Ullmer, of Fetter Lane, in the
City of London, Printing Press Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of
February One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edwin Ullmer, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Edwin
Ullmer, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others, as I, the said Edwin
Ullmer, my exors, admors, or 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
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING PRESSES;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso, that I, the said Edwin Ullmer, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
to be inrolled in Her 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edwin Ullmer, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described in
and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object to expedite the process of printing by
causing the same movement by which the table or bed is pushed out and in
beneath the platen of the press to effect at the same time the inking of the
type, whereby a considerable saving of labour and time is effected, and likewise
a saving in the space occupied by the press and inking table.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Figure 2, a plan, of the bed of a hand-
printing press with its appendages, constructed according to my said Invention;
A, A are the two rails upon which the bed C, which carries the type form, is
moved out and in; they are attached to the press by the inner ends A', A¹,
and are supported at their outer ends by a pillar B. D is the ink table, and
E the ink cylinder, both of which are attached to the bed C and move along
with it; F, F are two cheek pieces or carriages which are connected to the
rails A, A, by cross bars G, G, and thus occupy a fixed position in relation to
the table; H, H, are the inking rollers which have their bearings in the
cheek pieces F, F; I, I, are the distributing rollers, of which there may be
one, two, or more; K is the rounce with crank handle L, by which the sliding
in and out of the table is effected. When the table is pushed inwards the type
form passes beneath the two inking rollers H, HI, which have their bearings
in open upright slots, in which they are free to rise or fall, so that they
adjust themselves readily to the surfaces of the type and of the ink table.
When the bed has been fairly brought beneath the platen and into the
proper position for the impression being taken, then the inking rollers will
have passed over the surface of the ink table, and taken up a fresh supply of
ink for reinking the types for the next impression. The drawing out of the
bed causes the inking and the distributing rollers to. retraverse the ink table
and the inking rollers to pass over the surface of the types; but in order to
more effectually distribute the ink, the ink table is made to partake of a
movement from one side of the bed of the press towards the other, so that the
inking rollers may not traverse continually back and forward over the same
space. This shifting of the ink table is effected by the following arrangements :-
The ink table D is fitted into V-shaped grooves in the bed of the press
whereby it is capable of being slid from one side of the press to the other.
K, K, are two friction pulleys which are attached to lugs upon the ends of

page_text: the ink table, and bear against the cheek pieces F, F, on the guides L³, L³, L³;
as the bed is rolled into the press, the friction pulley K' bearing against the
guide L keeps the ink table towards the further side of the bed of the press;
when, however, the pulley K comes against the guide L³, then the ink table
is pushed towards the near side a certain distance. Again, when the same
pulley comes upon the guide L³, the ink table receives a further impulse
towards the near side of the bed of the press, but upon again running the bed
out from the press, the friction roller K' does not come against the guide L',
so as to cause a movement of the ink table in the reverse direction to take
place until the ink table has completely passed from underneath the inking
rollers. Thus, each time the bed is rolled out or into the press, the position
of the inking table is changed in relation to the surface of the inking
rollers, and thereby prevents any streakiness or blotching which would otherwise
appear upon the printing.
Figure 8 is an elevation of part of a framing of a hand-press, shewing
another method of effecting the change of position of the ink table in
reference to the inking rollers; F, F, are the cheek pieces, as before;
II is the inking roller, and D the inking table, which is mounted in V-shaped
grooves in the bed of the press, as represented in Figure 1; P is a screw
spindle, which works into a nut Q, formed upon the lower side of the ink
table; this spindle carries at one end a friction wheel R, which rests upon a
ledge S, formed upon one of the cheek pieces F. Every time the bed is made
to move either out of or into the press, the rolling of the wheel along the ledge
causes the screw spindle to revolve, and draw the ink table towards one side of
the bed of the press, or towards the other side, according to the direction in
which the bed is made to travel.
The rotation of the ink cylinder E, by which a continuous supply of fresh
ink is supplied to the distributing rollers and to the ink table, (by the dis-
tributing rollers coming in contact with it each time they pass over,) is effected
by means of the lever T, which is jointed at one end to the spindle of the ink
cylinder, the other end of it sliding upon a ledge U, connected to one of the
cheek pieces. When the bed has been fully brought into the press, the free
end of the lever T passing beyond the end of the ledge U, falls down by its
own gravity, and causes the click V, which is jointed to it, to pass over one or
more of the teeth of the ratchet wheel W, which is keyed to the spindle of
the ink cylinder. On the return of the bed in being rolled out of the press,
the free end of the lever T comes upon the ledge U, by which it is raised up,
and carries with it the click V, ratchet wheel W, and ink cylinder E, whereby

page_text: a fresh portion of the surface of the cylinder is supplied with ink, and pre-
sented to the distributing roller; X is the tympan, and Y the frisket, which
open the reverse way to the same parts in presses now in general use; they are
jointed together at the lower edge, and open like the leaves of, a book. Z is a
guide, by which, as the bed is drawn out of the press, the tympan and frisket
are brought up into the position represented in Figure 1, upon which the
workman opens up the tympan, which falls towards the press, and takes off
the printed sheet. He then puts on another clean sheet in the place of the
one removed, throws over the tympan, and rolls in the bed into the press,
upon which the tympan and frisket slide down the guide Z, and place the
paper ready to receive the impression upon the type. In larger presses, two
guides may be employed for raising the tympan and frisket instead of one, as
already explained, in which case there would be one placed on each side.
I generally prefer, in constructing presses according to my said Invention,
that the press should be so disposed that the length of the sheet instead of the
breadth may lay across the press, so that the bed may have to travel as short a
distance as may be. When the press is of a smaller size, and worked by a single
hand, then the rolling out or in is most conveniently effected by making the rounce
of such size that a single turn of the crank handle performs the operation;
but if the press is to be of a larger size, and such as two hands might be
employed upon, then the rounce may, with great advantage, be encreased in
dimensions, so that either the rolling out or in of the bed may be performed by
one half or any other portion of a turn of the rounce.
Figure 4 is an end view of a rounce and lever, which is suitable for the larger
sorts of presses. When two hands are employed, the pressman stands at the near
side of the press, and the other attendant or assistant at the further side. The
duties of the assistant are to roll the bed out and into the press, by which action
the inking of the types is also effected; he further removes the printed sheet
while the pressman supplies the clean ones. The lever B, in Figure 4, is fixed
upon the rounce spindle at the off side of the press, so that it may be situate
convenient to the attendant.
And having now described my said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I declare that the improvements which I claim as
constituting my said Invention are as follows:-
First, I claim the combining in one structure a hand-printing press and ink
table, with their respective appendages, in such manner, that the same move-
ment of rolling in and out the type form causes the inking of the types and
the distributing of the ink upon the ink table, as before described.

page_text: Second, I claim the employment in hand-printing presses, having arrange-
ments for inking combined therewith, of stationary inkings and distributing
rollers, as described.
Third, I claim, in respect of the method of working the ink cylinder, the
causing the free end of the lever by which the roller is turned to be actuated
by sliding upon a ledge or guide upon the framework, as before described.
Fourth, I claim the two several methods before described of causing the
cross movement of the ink table upon the bed of the press.
And fifth, I claim the method before described for raising, in hand-presses,
the tympan and frisket by means of guides when the bed is pulled out of the
press.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Ullmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, One thousand eight hundred