IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustus Applegath, of Dartford, in the County of
Kent, for the invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES."
Sealed the 22-d March 1858 and dated the 6th October 1857
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustus Applegath at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th October 1857.
I, AUGUSTUS APPLEGATH, of Dartford, in the County of Kent, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in printing machines, suitable
to be used for printing newspapers, in which the matter to be printed is
arranged in columns. In arranging large forms of type on cylinders, great
difficulty is experienced in locking up the forms securely, and in order to do
this more effectually I some years ago invented a machine in which each form
of type was divided into two parts, which were mounted on two separate type
cylinders, each of which had alternate columns of the form mounted on it;
thus one cylinder had the first, third, and fifth columns, and the second cylinder
had the second,fourth,and sixth columns of the page. The printing cylinder
or cylinders were in contact with each of the type cylinders, and the paper as
it passed round the printing cylinder received impressions from each type
cylinder, and the columns printed by the second cylinder fell into the spaces

page_text: between those printed by the first cylinder. By arranging the form in this
way, that is to say, by removing every alternate column to a separate printing
cylinder, I was enabled to get at every side of each column,so as to lock it up
securely; but this arrangement involves several practical difficulties.
Now, my present Invention consists in arranging the whole of the form on
one printing cylinder in such a way that every side of each column is as
accessible as when it was arranged on two, as already described. For this
purpose I separate the form into two parts,as before, and place them one after
the other, on one cylinder so as to be at a third of its circumference apart, and
the other third of the cylinder is used as a surface on which to distribute the
ink. In contact with this type cylinder a series of printing cylinders revolve,
each one-third of the diameter of the type cylinder. On to these cylinders
the paper is fed, and it has,as will be seen, to remain while its cylinder makes
two revolutions before the impression is complete; this being the case, the
usual way of holding the paper to the surface of the cylinder by means of
tapes becomes inapplicable, and in place thereof I employ clamps on the
cylinder, which, when the paper is fed up to them, seize it, and hold it until
the impression is complete, but then open and allow the paper to be taken
away by a system of tapes, the end of the paper being raised off the surface
of the cylinder, so that it may be so taken by an instrument which then comes
into action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Augustus Applegath in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTUS
APPLEGATH, of Dartford, in the County of Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Augustus Applegath, Her especial licence that I, the said
Augustus Applegath, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Augustus Applegath, 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

page_text: Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Augustus Applegath, 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 In-
vention, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Augustus Applegath, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in printing machines suitable
to be used for printing newspapers, in which the matter to be printed is
arranged in columns. In arrauging large forms of type on cylinders, great
difficulty is experienced in locking up the forms securely, and in order to do
this more effectually, I some years ago invented a machine in which each form
of type was divided into two parts, which were mounted on two separate type
cylinders, each of which had alternate columns of the form mounted on it;
thus, one cylinder had the first, third, and fifth columns, and the second
cylinder had the second, fourth, and sixth columns of the page. The printing
cylinder or cylinders were in contact with each of the type cylinders, and
the paper as it passed round the printing cylinder received impressions
from each type cylinder, and the columns printed by the second cylinder fell
into the spaces between those printed by the first cylinder. By arranging
the form in this way, that is to say, by removing every alternate column to
a separate printing cylinder, I was enabled to get at every side of each
column so as to lock it up securely; but this arrangement involves several
practical difficulties.
Now, my present Invention consists in arranging the whole of the form on
one printing cylinder, in such a way that every side of each column is as
accessible as when it was arranged on two, as already described. For this
purpose I separate the form into two parts, as before, and place them one after
the other on one cylinder, so as to be at a third of its circumference apart, and
the other third of the cylinder is used as a surface on which to distribute the
ink. In contact with this type cylinder a series of printing cylinders revolve,
each one-third of the diameter of the type cylinder; on to these cylinders the
paper is fed, and it has, as will be seen, to remain while its cylinder makes two
revolutions before the impression is complete. This being the case, the usual

page_text: way of holding the paper to the surface of the cylinder by means of tapes
becomes inapplicable, and in place thereof I employ clamps on the cylinder,
which, when the paper is fed up to them, seize it, and hold it until the
impression is complete, but then open and allow the paper to be taken away
by a system of tapes, the end of the paper being raised off the surface of the
cylinder, so that it may be so taken by an instrument which then comes into
action.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Sheet 1, Figure 1, is a side elevation of a printing machine; Figure 2 is a
plan of the type cylinder, as if cut open and unrolled; Figure 3 is a plan of
a convenient chase for newspapers. The same letters of reference apply to
these Figures, and to all the other Figures in Sheets 2, 3, and 4. A is the
'type cylinder, supposed in Figure 1 to be 120 inches in circumference; B is
the type, placed in columns or separate parts; C are the chases, in which the
type is securely held by set screws; 1) is a spaco, of about one-third of the
cylinder A, upon which the ink or color is distributed; E, the ordinary
"bearers," which serve to steady the impression; F, the common "lifts,"
which raise the inking rollers from the distributing surface to the type; G, the
usual inking rollers, which act against the type either by gravity, or by coiled
or other springs, and they are to be used with the customary carriages; 11 is
the usual vibrating roller, which conveys the ink from the ductor or reservoir I;
K, is the framing; L is the ordinary feed drum, which is connected with the
paper cylinder by shafts and bevil wheels, or in some other usual manner;
M is the feed roller, which is commonly driven by the feed drum, by fine
toothed wheels; N is the dropping roller, of the ordinary kind and action;
O is the feed board, upon which the paper to be printed is placed; P is the
mpressing or paper cylinder, which in Figure 1 is one-third of the type
iylinder A, and being connected with it by toothed wheels, it makes three
revolutions to one of the cylinder A.
The foregoing parts and the manner of their action have been repeatedly
described, and have been in use for many years, and forming no part of my
present Invention; they need no farther explanation, and they are combined
here so as to exhibit the peculiar intentions of this Patent in the most simple
manner. Figures 4 and 5 (Sheet 2) shew the manner of conducting the
paper from the feed board to the paper cylinder by the double set of tapes
Qand R, which pass around the feed drum and the feed roller; the small

page_text: roller S has shallow grooves cut in its surface about six inches apart and
1wide. T is an iron bar fixed across the machine, and has attached to it
slips of thin copper or other metal, which lie in the grooves of the roller s,
and are curved so as to guide the sheet of paper to the roller U and to the
cylinder P, which is moving in the direction of the arrows; the conveying
tapes Q and R then leave the paper, and return as indicated by the arrows!
As soon as the fore edge of the sheet of paper has passed the roller U, the
grippers W are closed down upon it and hold it until it has received the
impressions from all the separated parts of the form, which is effected by two
revolutions of the paper cylinder, the sheet being held so as to revolve twice
with the paper cylinder by the grippers only,and without any marginal tapes,
the sets of endless tapes V and X serving merely to keep the sheet smooth
upon the cylinder.
The sheet being thus printed, it now has to be detached from the paper
cylinder,and this is effected in the following manner:-When the grippers W
arrive (after the complete printing of the sheet) at the point (a,) either in the
second or third revolution of the paper cylinder, they are opened, so as to
permit the fore edge of the sheet of paper to be raised by thin silk ribands
which lie beneath the paper on the printing cloth of the cylinder P,to which
one end of each riband is attached, and the other end is attached to a light
iron or steel rod (c,)which I call a "lift er, "and which has its upper cid bent
or made at an angle with the stem, as shewn; of these "lifters," a proper
number is fixed upon a moveable spindle (d) within the paper cylinder; the
spindle has a short arm (e,) which, as the cylinder revolves, occasionally acts
against a pin attached to the bar (2), seen in Figure 6, and which causes
the lifters to describe part of a circle, so that the ends to which the ribands
are attached by elastic cords, raise orlift the edge of the sheet of paper over the
small rollers (9,) which are held in carriages proceeding from the bar (h); and
the endless tapes(i,) which are driven by the roller gassisted by the outer set
of tapes X,which are only partly shewn in Figure 4, carry the sheet to the
roller, where it is delivered upon the taking-off board, seen in Figure 1.
The action of the grippers and lifters are further explained by diagrams on a
larger scale in Figures 6, 7, and 8, Sheet 3. The spindle to which the
grippers W are attached has a small toothed pinion W*, which works into
a toothed quadrant A*, whose spindle is furnished with a strong spring (s,)
which revolves against the compound cams (n and m,) so that when the two
cams are in contact, they cause the spring (acting through the quadrant and
pinion) to keep the grippers close down upon the sheet of paper
with some
force,but when they are separated, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, the spring

page_text: descends into the low part of the cam »,as indicated by the dots in Figure6,
and its pressure being removed from the grippers, they are suddenly drawn
open by coiled or other springs(r) within the cylinder P,as shewn in Figure 5.
The cam (n) is bored, so that the spindle of the cylinder may revolve within it,
and it is connected with the frame F by two bolts passing through thimbles
at B*; the cam m is also supported by the spindle, and bored, the whole being
rather oval, to permit it to be moved to and from the cam (n) by the hinge C*,
seen in Figure 7. o*,a cam upon the spindle of the large bevil wheel (p,) acts
upon the piu (o,) which passes through the frame into the cam m, which it
forces into contact with n, and keeps the grippers closed, when the cam o* has
passed to its low part, the strong spring(q,)seen in Figure 7,draws it back,as
shewn in Figures 7 and 8; the grippers require to be closed during two
revolutions of the paper cylinder, and opened when the sheet has to be
detached, and kept open until the fresh sheet has arrived at the roller U.
The arm e on the spindle of the lifters acts against the pin f, which is fixed by
a nut and washer in the chased hole in the upper part of the iron bar 2, which
is hinged to the frame at 3, as seen at Figures 6 and 8. There is a pin 5
which passes through the frame, and is fixed into the iron bar 2, but cranked
a little, so as to be below the chased hole; the end of the pin 5 is acted upon
by the cam D upon the spindle of the bevil wheel p, which advances the
pin f, so that it may be in contact with the arm e, when the paper is to be
detached,and it is withdrawn by the strong spring 4, seen in Figure 7, when
coiled or other springs b within the cylinder P' draw the lifters down into their
normal position.
Sheet 4 contains diagrams, shewing how machines made on this principle
of fixing the separated parts of a form upon the sa ne cylinder may be used
for printing in colours. Figure 9 represents the type oylinder, A and the
paper cylinder P; in this case the type cylinder is supposed to be twice
the circumference of the paper cylinder, which will have to make two revo-
lutions while the type makes one. The space for distributing the ink is
divided into two parts, one for one coloured ink, the other for a different colour,
as seen in Figure 10. The inking rollers for the two colours have their small
brass wheels placed at different widths, as seen in Figure 11, and there are
two sets of lifts upon the cylinder A corresponding with the brass wheels upon
the rollers, so that the rollers for one colour may never act upon the type
printing with the other colour. The lifts a,a,of the red color being so high as
to raise the black rollers c above the red type and red distributing surface,
when they pass under the black rollers, and the lifts b, b, in like manner raise
the red rollers d over and above the black type and distributed part, and it is

page_text: evident that thus the sheet will issue printed in two colours from a form or
subject divided in various parts and placed upon one cylinder. Figure 12
shews the same principle extended to five colours; in this case the paper
cylinder P is one-fifth of the type cylinder A, and there must be five sets of
lifts to suit the different colour rollers, and also five places for distribution, but
which are not shewn in the Drawings. Figure 13 is a different arrange-
ment of five colours, by having five small drums upon which to distribute the
coloured inks. The various sets of lifts must be made high enough to keep the
various inking rollers in contact with the drums when the rollers are not
imparting colour to their respective parts of the form; the drums may be kept
in motion by bands or by wheels, and the colour may be imparted to them in
any convenient manner. When the separated parts of the form are flat or
segmental, the paper cylinder must have a projection beyond its periphery
corresponding with the depression of the segment, and when that is con-
siderable, the wheel of the type cylinder must be made with segments, and
the wheel of the paper cylinder to correspond.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine mysel
to the details herein described, nor do I claim any of the separate mechanical
parts; but what I claim is, the combining mechanism as herein described,
whereby the form of type is divided into parts and placed on a single type
cylinder with suitable inking apparatus, as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustus Applegath, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
GEO. PITT.
AUGS APPLEGATH. (L.S.)