CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF PRINTING PRESSES
Year: 1832

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
DAY, of Gate Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the Parish of Saint Giles's in the
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Lithographic Printer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of March, in the second year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Day, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Day, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Day, my executors, administrators, 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 mentioned, 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 THE CON-
STRUCTION OF PRINTING PRESSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso, that I, the said William Day, shall cause a particular description of
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Corrt 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 there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Day, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, is particularly described and ascer-
tained by the following description thereof, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say :-
My improvements in the construction of printing presses have for their
object a means or mode of relieving any extraordinary resistance that may
occur when the power of the press is brought into operation in the act of
giving an impression, which is accomplished by affording a small degree
of elasticity in the pressure through the peculiar construction of the frame of
the press and its attachments. The method in which I effect this object is
by constructing the standard or frame of the press in two detached portions,
that is, forming the upper parts of the side standards with the cross head in
one piece, and the lower parts of the side standards and the bed of the press
in another piece, thus separating the frame of the machine about the middle
in a horizontal direction. These two parts of the press I connect, so as to
form the entire frame, by means of pins passed through sockets with powerful
springs, in the manner shewn in the Drawing hereto annexed. Fig. 1 is a
side elevation of one of my improved presses, designed for lithographic printing;
Fig. 2 is a back view of the same. a, a, a, is that portion of the standard,
with is cross head, which constitutes the upper part of the frame; b, b, b, is
the other part of the frame, consisting of the lower portions of the standards
and the bed; these two parts of the frame are connected by pins c, c, passed
through ears d, d, extending from the upper portion of the standards, and
similar ears e, e, extending from the lower portions of the standards; the
upper end of each pin is confined by a screwed cap f, and round each pin,
below the ears e, a helical spring g is placed, which is confined in that situation
by the nut h at the bottom. When the press is not in action, as at Fig. 1,
the force of the springs keep the two parts of the frame close together, but
when the power of the press is brought into action by running the stone in, as
at Fig. 2, then the resistance causes the upper part of the frame to rise, which
it is allowed to do by the compression of the springs. I have exhibited two
springs on each side of the press, but I do not intend to confine myself to any
precise number, neither do I consider it a matter of any importance whether
the springs stand above or below the ears of the frame; but would observe, that
they must be made capable of adjustment as to their elastic form. I have not
particularly described the parts or modes of working a lithographic press, as
machines of that kind are already well known. Lastly, though I have only

page_text: shewn in the Drawing a press capable of lithographic printing, yet it will be
obvious that presses for printing from types, blocks, or plates may be con-
structed in a similar manner, that is, by separating the frame into two parts,
and connecting the parts by springs.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Day, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.