IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRINTING AND EMBOSSING
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Langdon Davies, of 87, Queen's Square,
Bloomsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for. the Invention
of'" IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRINTING AND EMBOSSING."
the.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Langdon Davies
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
7th August 1860.
I, CHARLES LANGDON DAVIES, of .37, Queen Square, Bloomsbury, in the
County of Middlesex,: Gentlemen, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRINTING, AND EMBOSSING," to be as
follows:-
:
My Invention relates to apparatus principally applicable for printing or,
embossing address cards, but which is also applicable to printing and em
bossing larger surfaces, such as show cards or any stiff substance.: The cards.
to be printed. are placed in a box or receptacle being just sufficient. to contain:
the area of the card to be printed. This receptacle of the blank cards is;
mounted in position, so that the lowest card when projected 'therefrom shall
enter between a pair of small cylinders by which the printing is performed.
For printing alone I make one of these cylinders plain, while the other has
engraved on its 'surface in relief the device or letters to be printed, and may

page_text: be of boxwood, gutta percha, metal, or other suitable material. For address
or business cards the cylinders may be very small, it being simply necessary
that the circumference should a little exceed the length of the card to be
operated on. If for printing only, I apply the ink or coloring matters to the
relief surface to be printed by an inking roller, which is driven by contact
therewith, and which roller is simply of the length sufficient to embrace the
surface to be printed, and does not effect contact,. or ink. the ends of that
cylinder which are of same diameter as the surface to be printed. The
inking roller is also fed by other rollers from the reservoir of ink or color in
the ordinary manner of inking rollers in printing machines. The plain
cylinder, which I place above the other, is of same diameter, and pressed
down upon it.by springs or screws, by which it may be adjusted to the thick-
ness of substance to be passed between them. The cards to be printed are of
sufficient width to cover-the relief surface, as also some portion of the
marginal ends of this printing.cylinder, by contact with which and between
such marginal: ends & the upper cylinder the card is pinched & drawn through
the machine...
יז יד
In order to feed up the cards one at a time, I arrange a slide to-traverse
lengthways in the bottom of the card receptacle, and on which the cards fall in
succession; they are propelled forwards by the 'contact of a step or projection
on this slide until they pass between the cylinders, which being worked at.
same time take hold of the card and carry it through between them, and at:
same time print or emboss it.. I give motion, to the feeding slide by the
printing cylinder, projections on which take hold of rods connected with "the
feeding slide, advance it a certain distance, and then release it, when it is
carried back in readiness for the succeeding operation by springs, weights, or
otherwise. The printing surface niay be produced by engraving; or it may be
a stereotype bent round to form a cylindrical printing surface, or it may be an
impressed surface of gutta percha.
If this apparatus is to be used for embossing, the upper cylinder must be:
engraved & sunk to receive the relief of the other cylinder. If printing
and embossing are to be performed simultaneously, the parts of 'the cylinders
must be suitably prepared and arranged, and the machine. furnished with
inking rollers or sections thereof, of a width just equal to the parts to

page_text: SPECIFICATION. in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Langdon Davies in the Great Seal Patent. Office
on the 7th February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
LANGDON DAVIES, of 37, Queen's Square, Bloomsbury, in the. County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting..
...WHEREAS Her..most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the 'Seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of. Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give.and grant unto me, the
said Charles Langdon Davies, Her special licence that I; the said Charles
Langdon.Davies, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Langdon Davies, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRINTING AND EMBOSSING,". upon the con-
dition. (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Langdon Davies, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Langdon Davies, do hereby
declare the nature of, my said Invention, and in what manner. the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures.marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to apparatus principally applicable for printing and
embossing address .cards, but which is also applicable to printing and em-
bossing larger surfaces, such as show cards or any stiff substance. The cards
to be printed are placed in a box or receptacle superposed on each other, the
receptacle being just sufficient to contain the area of the card to be printed.
This receptacle of the blank cards is mounted in position, so that the lowest
card when projected therefrom shall enter between a pair of small cylinders by
which the printing is performed.. For printing alone, I. make one of these

page_text: cylinders plain, while the other has engraved on its surface in relief the device
or letters to be printed, and may be of boxwood, gutta percha, metal, or other
'suitable material. For address or business cards these cylinders may be very
small, it being simply necessary that the circumference should a *little exceed
the length of the card to be operated on. If for printing only, I apply the
ink or coloring matter to the relief surface to be printed, by inking rollers,
which are driven by contact therewith, and which are simply of the length
sufficient to embrace the surface to be printed, and do not effect contact or
ink the ends of that cylinder which are of same diameter as the printing
surface. The inking roller is fed by other rollers from a reservoir of ink or
color in the ordinary manner of inking rollers in printing machines. I dispose
a plain cylinder immediately below the printing cylinder, which is pressed
down upon it.by springs or screws, by which it may be adjusted to the thick-
ness of substance to be passed between them. The cards to be printed are of
a sufficient width to cover the relief surface, as also some portion. of the
marginal ends of. the printing cylinder, by contact with which and between
such marginal ends and plain cylinder the card is nipped and drawn through
the.machine.
In order to feed up the cards.one at a time, I arrange. a slide to traverse
lengthways in the bottom of the card receptacle, & on, which the cards fall in
succession; they are propellel forwards by the contact of a step or projection
on this slide until they pass between the cylinders, which being worked at
same time take hold of the card and carry it through between them, and
perform the printing or embossing operation. I give motion to the feeding
slide by the printing cylinder, projections on which take hold of rods connected
with the feeding slide, advances it a certain distance & then release it, when it is
carried back in readiness for the succeeding operation by springs, weights,.or
otherwise. The printing surface may be produced by engraving, or it may be.
a stereotype, or.cast of type metal, or other metal bent round to form a cylin-
drical printing surface, such as gutta percha, for instance.
If this apparatus is to be used for embossing, the upper cylinder must be
engraved and sunk to receive the relief of the other cylinder. If printing and
embossing are to be performed simultaneously, the parts of the cylinder.must
be suitably prepared and arranged, and the machine furnished with inking
rollers or sections of a width just equal, to the part to be printed..
DESCRIPTION OF' DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1. represents a side view of an apparatus complete for printing &

page_text: is an end view, and Fig. 3, a.lateral vertical section of the same; while Figs.
4, 5, 6, & 7,.represent the parts in detail to be herein-after referred.to.
a, a, is the chamber or receptacle into which the cards, are to be. placed
previous to printing, this chamber fits the cards somewhat closely, and so as.to
keep them in proper position superposed on each other, and free.to descend
therein for the feed, or supply while. printing. This, case; is; fitted with a
slide b, shown separately in plan at Fig. 4, and end view at Fig. 5; this slides
along the bottom of the. case to a certain extent, and recedes into a small
chamber c.extended rearward from the case to; receive it, the backward
movement being performed till, the small step 1, 1, is just beyond the ends
of the cards in the case, the shoe part 2,2, being under the end of the lowest
card at this time. A slot d is provided at the opposite end, of case a,.of a
suitable. width to permit the card to pass, as also of sufficient depth for free
passage of the lowest card, but such as to prevent, the escape of, the one above
it also.. The slide 6 has a reciprocating motion imparted to it. in the one
direction to draw out the card by means of the side bars or connecting. rods
e, e, actuated by the printing .cylinder, and in thė, reverse direction by. means
of springs f,f, which draw the slide 6 backwards rapidly, and in readiness to
take hold of the next card in succession. The. rods e, e, take on to studs or
pins g, g, of the slide b,,and work through, loops or guides.h fixed on the.side
of the box a, which control the position and limit the rise and fall of rods e; e;
they being at all times raised by slight springs k, k. The springs f, f,are also
attached at. one end to the studs. g, g, and at the other to pins i, i, fixed to the
rear part of c. 1, 1, are standards carrying the printing: and embossing part of
the apparatus, it consists of a cylinder.m having type or other surfaces.in
relief. arranged on it as desired to be printed; it is mounted in movable
bearings 'n, n, pressed down by screws o; o, so as to force the printing roller
down.with greater or less force on. the roller p receiving the pressure, which is
of wood or metal.covered with india-rubber, or other suitable material to
receive the pressure of the type or other printing surface in, making, the
impression on the card. The ends of the plain .cylinder bear against the
enlarged ends of the printing cylinder, and thereby at all times regulate:the
pressure on the type or printing surface. 9, r, s, are the inking rollers, & s
having surfaces of composition, as usual for such purposes. These rollers are
mounted in bearings carried by the extensions 11, 1; of the frames.l,.in which
the two upper ones are free to rise and, fall, and are pressed..down, and
regulated. as may be required by small screws u, U. The upper roller:q;
which is of wood or metal, is in contact with the ink, contained in the chamber t;
there being, no bottom to that receptacle where the roller abuts on it, and

page_text: travelling in the directión indicated by the arrow, any excess of ink taken up
by the roller-q is scraped off by the doctor v, and retained in the receptacle t;
the roller q turns in close contact with the roller r, and, therefore, transfers a
greater or lesser amount of the ink on its surface to roller r, and this again in
like manner to roller 8, which is in contact with the printing cylinder m, the
whole three being driven by rollers q'; r³, s, covered with elastic material, and
fixed on the axes of the inking rollers, which are in frictional contact with the
marginal ends of the roller m, and their frictional contact with each other.
The ink thus taken up by roller q becomes' properly regulated and distributed
before being transferred to the type or printing surface, as well understood
with reference to printing machines. It will be observed, that the inking
rollers are of a breadth less than the distance between the plain or marginal
ends of m, so as to avoid inking those surfaces. The rods e, e, before
mentioned, have each a notch w, and on the ends of cylinder m are projecting
studs or pins 'x, which, at each time they come round by the revolution of m
take simultaneously into the notches w, w, and pull the rods e, e, and with
them the slide b, thereby projecting the card at the slot d-before mentioned;
and as represented at Fig. 3; the card so projecting is nipped between the
marginal ends of the cylinder m and the plain cylinder p, and is carried
through between those cylinders and delivered in front, and so receives on one
side the impression of the type or printing surface. Immediately the card
has been pinched between the cylinders, and a proper hold taken of it, the pins
,, release the notches w, w, by reason of the shape of the pins, which are
semi-cylindrical; so long as the flat part of a has hold of the notch it is
retained, but the revolution of cylinder m causes them to turn the round parts
into the notches, which slip therefrom, and start back by reason of the force of
the springs f, as before explained, the slide 6 taking up its position to
discharge another card at the succeeding revolution of the cylinder m, which
is printed as before; in this manner from six to ten thousand-cards may be
printed in an hour. The apparatus is driven by a winch handle y on the axis
of m at a uniform speed. z,, are projecting ribs inside chamber a, to
prevent the edges of the cards touching-the sides of the chamber a through-
out; these ribs & may be movable, in order to change them for thicker ones,
in case
of.
any variation in the sizes of the cards to be printed; in this way the
same machine may be used for several sizes of cards. For show cards and
other large surfaces of cardboard, or other stiff material to be printed, the
machine must, of course; be of proportionate size, and a printing surface m, of
wood, used for the purpose, as indeed it may so in any case, as a boxwood
cylinder m, will answer the-purpose for address cards. The slide band rods.e, e;

page_text: may be caused to assume their backward position by a spring f¹, shown dotted,
instead of springs f & k, the ends of rods e being cranked, as seen dotted, to
effect the double object.
In using this apparatus for printing and embossing, such may be effected
by forming the lower cylinder p with metal parts, to correspond with the
marginal ends of m, see Fig. 6, & forming in relief on the one and
hollow in the other any suitable ornamentation which it is desired to produce
by embossing on the card, which will be effected at same time as the printing.
I have represented a further illustration of this in Fig. 7, which represents the
rollers m & part of p. In addition to the embossing ends I bave shown a
surface in the middle of its breadth, for the purpose of embossing the central-
part of the card; the middle of roller p is similarly furnished with a metal
surface, having the raised and embossed surface thereon of the pattern or
ornament desired to be produced on the card. It will be observed, that the
inking roller s is such, that it applies no ink to the embossing surfaces.
Embossing may be performed without printing in this apparatus by merely
removing the inking rollers.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the-
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the arrangement and com-:
bination of parts herein-before described and represented in the Drawings
annexed, or any mere mechanical equivalents, for the purposes of printing and
embossing cards and other similar surfaces, as herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Langdon Davies, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
W. CLARK, Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane, London.
C. LANGDON DAVIES. (L.S.)