IMPROVE- IN CYLINDRICAL CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHIC AND TYPOGRAPHIC PRINTING MACHINES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Conisbee, of 39 and 40, Herbert's Buildings,
Waterloo Road, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
IN CYLINDRICAL CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHIC AND TYPOGRAPHIC PRINTING
MACHINES."
-Sealed the 15th April 1868, and dated the 14th December 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Conisbee at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
December 1867.
I, WILLIAM CONISBEE, of 39 and 40, Herbert's Buildings, Waterloo Road,
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDRICAL CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHIC AND TYPOGRAPHIC
PRINTING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
In cylindrical chromo-lithographic and typographic printing machines I
construct a box, preferably of cast iron, open at the top only as described in the
Specification of Letters Patent, No. 254, granted to me under date the 28th
day of January 1863, such box being of suitable size to receive a lithographic
stone or forme of type or wood printing block as the case may be, and having
its under side provided with ribs or runners for enabling it to run on antifriction
rollers as used in ordinary cylindrical printing machines. For elevating the
lithographic stone, forme of type, or printing block to the requisite level in the
box for printing purposes in combination with an ordinary printing cylinder by

page_text: "
means of screws, the four holes for receiving the large screws are formed by
preference near the corners of the bottom of the box,and each hole is provided
with a chain wheel or what is commonly known as a "star" wheel having its
periphery formed with rays or projections goaring into a chain having links of
corresponding pitch. These wheels have bosses turned to fit the holes in
the bottom of the box, and I bore out the centre of each wheel and form
therein an internal right or left-handed wormnorthread, preferablyright-handed,
and of fine pitch which may be varied to suit the weight of stone, type, or block
to be elevated. The elevating screws are accurately cut to the same pitch as
the worms or threads in the chain or "star" wheels and are of sufficient
length to enable me to regulate the various thicknesses of lithographic stone,
type, or block to the required level for receiving impressions from a printing
cylinder of the ordinary construction. The plate for supporting the stone,
type, or block is attached to the upper ends of the four screws so as to prevent
any rotation of the latter on their axes, and for the purpose of giving motion
to the chain or "star" wheels in which the four screws fit I place at one end
of the box, but outside of it another chain or "star" wheel of the same pitch
but of smaller diameter than those inside the box. This latter wheel fits and
can revolve freely on a round stud, and its upper side or boss is provided with
a cross handle so fixed that the act of turning it causes the chain or "star
wheol itself to rotate. The lower end of the stud on which the chain or
star wheel rotates is of dovetailed form and is made to fit in a corresponding
slot forming a part of and projecting from the side of the box, and can be fixed
in position by means of a jamb nut which fits the stud above the dovetailed
end but under thestar wheel. The four chain wheels being in their proper holos
with the four screws in position, the chain is passed round the four wheels in
the box and also round the chain or star wheel outside thereof, holes being
formed in the end of the box through which the chain can pass and
work; the chain is cut to its proper length and rivetted to enable it to
embrace or gear with the five wheels, and the wheel stud outside the box is
pressed along the slot, so that when the chain is sufficiently tight the stud can
bo tightened, when it will be found that by turning the cross handle the whole
of the chain or star wheels and the screws therein will turn simultaneously
but without giving the intended elevating motion, to effect which I now adjust
the four screws to the same height horizontally and lift on the plate for
supporting the stone, type, or block, and which is by preference formed with
holes into which the ends of the four screws are secured by keys or feathers.
Near the upper end of each of the screws thore is a small collar on which the
plate rests to enable it to sustain the pressure to which it is subjected in the

page_text: process of printing; the extreme ends of the screws are made flush with the
upper surface of the plate.
In using the box for lithographic printing purposes only, I place on the
plate within the box a sheet of kamptulicon or printing blanket or other
semi-elastic material, and on this a piece of oil cloth or other suitable
material, and on this I place the lithographic stone from which it is intended
to print. Should the stone be a thick one, say from four to five inches thick,
it will be necessary to lower it in the box until the upper face of the stone is
at a proper level; this is effected by turning the cross handle so that the
whole of the chain or star wheels will revolve on the screws and lower the
plate which will be maintained in a truly horizontal position at all degrees of
elevation. Should it be required to use a thin stone, say two inches thick, or
a forme of type which is less than one inch high, or a printing block of any
kind, the plate may be elevated to the desired height by reversing the motion
of the handle. By these means I obviate the necessity of varying the packing
or underlay as commonly used in lithographic printing, and I am also enabled
to print from stone, type, or wood printing block having a raised surface in the
same machine by using the box I have here described in combination with the
ordinary printing cylinder.
In proceeding to describe the arrangements I adopt for damping the stone
in lithographic printing previously to its receiving the ink, I wish it to be
understood that they have reference only to giving moisture to the damping
rollers, which latter may be constructed and worked as ordinarily practised in
cylindrical lithographic printing machinery.
For damping the ordinary damping rollers I construct a box or trough by
preference of galvanized iron; this box or trough is in length equal to the
longest stone intended to be used, and is capable of holding water, being open
only at its upper part. The ends of the box or trough are provided with
bearings which receive the journals of a roller, so that when water is in the
box the roller is immersed therein, say about an inch, the ends of the roller
projecting to admit of a gut pulley for the purpose of receiving a slow rotative
action from a corresponding gut pulley fixed to the main shaft of the machine
by means of a gut band. Parallel with the side of the water box or
trough I mount in bearings a shaft on which I fix two arms, at the outer
ends of which I fit a wood roller covered with cotton cloth or other absorbent
material suitable for the purpose of receiving moisture, I place the ends of the
water box or trough on the side frames of the machine. The side of the box
is parallel with the printing cylinder, and a short distance from the rollers
which damp the stone, such rollers being in like manner parallel with the

page_text: printing cylinder. When it is required to give moisture to the last named
rollers, the roller carried by the two arms before mentioned having been
charged with moisture by resting on the uppersurface of the roller in the water
box or trough is carried over by turning the shaft on which its two arms are
fixed so that it is brought in contact with the rollers for damping the stone,
which rollers being clothed in suitable material in the ordinary manner will
absorb from the wet roller the amount of moisture that may in the judgment
of the attendant be deemed necessary to sufficiently damp the stone. I prefer
to employ a top roller or rider placed between but resting on the damping
rollers for the purpose of receiving the damp from the clothed roller, and
thence giving it off to the damping rollers which may be two or more in
number, preferring two.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Conisbee in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th June 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, WILLIAM
CONISBEE, of 39 and 40, Herbert's Buildings, Waterloo Road, in the County
of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Conisbee, Her special license that I, the said William
Conisbee, iny executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Conisbee, my executors, adininistrators, 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 "IMPROVE
KENTS IN CYLINDRICAL CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHIC AND TYPOGRAPHIC PRINTING MACHINES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Conisbee, my
executors or administrators, by an instrumentin writing under my, or their,or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describo and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention,and in what manner thesame was to be perforined,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately aftor the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Conisbee, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, reference being had to the accompanying Sheetof Drawings
which form a part of this Specification, and in which the same letters of
reference relate to similar parts in all the views:-
Incylindrical chromo-lithographicand typographicprintingmachines Icon-
struct a box, preferably of cast iron, open at the top only, as described in the
Specification of Letters Patent, No. 254, granted to me under date the
Twenty-eighth day of January One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three,
and shewn at a in Figs. 1 and 2 on Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings,
such box being of suitable size to receive a lithographic stone or forme of
type or wood printing block, as the case may be, and having its under side 6
provided with ribs or runners c for enabling it to run on antifriction rollers, us
used in ordinarycylindrical printing machines. For elevating the lithographic
stone, forme of type, or printing block to the requisite level in the box for
printing purposes in combination with an ordinary printing cylinder by means
of screws, the four holes for receiving the large screws d are formed by pre-
ference near the corners of the bottom of the box a in machines intended to
be used only for stones of the full size which the machine will accommodate
but when stones of various sizes are intended to be used in the same
machine I prefer that the four screws & should be situated at some little
distance from the corners of the box a, as shewn in Fig. 2, so as to bring the
points of support nearer to the centre of the impression when using small
stones.
Each hole is provided with a chain wheel, or what is commonly
known as a "star" wheel e, having its periphery formed with rays or pro-
jections gearing into a chain f, having links of corresponding pitch. These
wheels have bosses g turned to fit the holes in the bottom of the box, and I
bore out the centre of each wheel and form therein an internal right or left
handed worm or thread, preferably right-handed, and of fine pitch, which may
be varied to suit the weight of stone, type, or block to be elevated. The
elevating screws d are accurately cut to the same pitch as the worms or
threads in the chain or "stal wheels e, and are of sufficient length to enable
me to regulate the various thicknesses of lithographic stone, type, or block to
the required level for receiving impressions from a printing cylinder of the
ordinary construction. The plate h for supporting the stone, type, or block is
attached to the upper ends of the four screws so as to prevent any rotation of
the latter on their axes, and for the purpose of giving motion to the chain or
"star" wheels in which the four screws fit, I place at one end of the box a,

page_text: but outside of it, another chain or "star" wheel e' of the same pitch and
diameter as those inside the box, or it may be of smaller diameter. This latter
wheel fits and can revolve freely on a round stud j, and its upper side or boss
is provided with a cross handle k, so fixed that the act of turning it causes the
chain or "star" wheel e' itself to rotate. The lower end of the stud j, on
which the chain or "star" wheel e' rotates, is of dovetailed form, and is made
to fit in a corresponding slot m, forming a part of and projecting from the
side of the box a, and can be fixed in position by means of a jamb nut n
which fits the stud 2 above the dovetailed end but under the "star" wheel e¹.
The four chain wheels e being in their proper holes with the four screws d in
position the chain is passed round the four wheels e in the box a and also
round the chain or "star" wheel e', outside thereof, holes o being formed in the
end of the box through which the chain cau pass and work. The chain is cut
to its proper length and rivetted to onable it to embrace or gear with the five
wheels, and the wheel stud outside the box is pressed along the slot, so that
when the chain is sufficiently tight the stud can be tightened, when it will be
found that by turning the cross handle the whole of the chain or star wheels
and the screws therein will turu simultaneously, but without giving the
intended elevating motion; to effect which I now adjust the four screws d to
the same height horizontally, und lift on the plate for supporting the stone,
type, or block, and which is by proference formed with holes, into which the
ends of the four screws are secured by keys or foathers
Near the upper
end of each of the screws there is a small collar l', on which the plate rests
to enable it to sustain the pressure to which it is subjected in the process of
printing; the extreme ends of the screws are made flush with the upper surface
of the plate.
P.
In using the box for lithographic printing purposes only 1 place on the
plate within the box a sheet of kainptulicou or printing blanket or other
semi-elastic material, and on this a piece of oilcloth or other suitable material,
as well understood by lithographic printers, and on this I place the litho
graphic stone from which it is intended to print. Should the stone be a thick
one, say, from four to five inches thick, it will be necessary to lower it in the
box until the upper face of the stone is at a proper level. This is effected by
turning the cross handle k, so that the whole of the chain or star wheels e will
revolve on the scrows d and lower the plate h, which will be maintained in a
truly horizontal position at all degrees of elevation. Should it be required to
use a thin stone, say, two inches thick, or a forme of type which is less than
inch high, or a printing block of any kind, the plate inay be elevated to
the desired height by reversing the motion of the handle k. The position of
One
h

page_text: the plate having been adjusted the handle may be kept from being acci-
dentally turned by tightening the nut z. By these means I obviate the
necessity of varying the packing or underlay, as commonly used in litho-
graphic printing; and I am also enabled to print from stoue, type, or wood
printing blocks, having a raised surface in the same machine by using the box
and elevatingapparatus I have heredescribed in combination with the ordinary
printing cylinder.
In proceeding to describe the arrangements I adopt for damping the stone
in lithographic printing previously to its receiving the ink, I wish it to be
understood that they have reference only to giving moisture to the damping
rollers, which latter may be constructed and worked as ordinarily practised in
cylindrical lithographic printing machinery.
same.
Fig. 3 (Sheet 2) is a side elevation of part of a lithographic printing
machine with my improvements applied thereto, and Fig. 4 is a plan of the
The general arrangements of those parts of the machine which are
not herein particularly described, may be similar to that of the machines
referred to in the Specification of my former Patent, No. 254, of One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three. I would remark that Figs. 3 and 4 are
drawn to a smaller scale than Figs. 1 and 2, the latter being to a scale of
about 3 inches to a foot, and shewing an arrangement of apparatus more par-
ticularly designed for adjusting the level of the printing surface in machines
of a smaller class than that for which the apparatus, shewn in Figs. 3 und 4,
is arranged, and which Figures are drawn to a scale of 1 inch to a foot or
thereabout.
For damping the ordinary damping rollers.a,I construct a box or trough r,by
preference of galvanized iron. This box or trough ris in length equal to the
longest stone intended to be used, and is capable of holding water, being open
only at its upper part. The ends of the box or trough are provided with
bearings which receive the journals of a roller t, so that when water is in
the box the roller t is immersed therein, say, about an inch, the end of the
rollert projecting to admit of a gut pulley u, for the purpose of receiving a
slow rotative action from a corresponding gut pulley fixed to the main shuft
Parallel with the side of the
of the machine by means of a gut band u².
water box or trough r I mount in bearings a shaft v, on which I fix two
arms ', on the outer ends of which I fit a wood roller w covered with cotton
cloth or other absorbent material suitable for the purpose of receiving moisture.
The ends of the water box or trough rare shewn placed on the inking roller
carriage, which arrangement I much prefer, altho' they may be placed on the
side frames of the machine. The side of the box r is parallel with the printing

page_text: cylinder A and a short distance from the rollers which damp the stone, such
rollers being in like manner parallel with the printing cylinder. When it is
required to give moisture to the last-named rollers the roller w carried by
the two arms v¹, before mentioned, having been charged with moisture by
resting on the upper surface of the roller t in the water box or trough ris
carried over by turning the shaft on which its two arms o' are fixed, so that
it is brought in contact with the top roller or rider y placed between but
resting on the rollers 2 for damping the stone, which rollers being clothed with
suitable material in the ordinary manner will absorb from the wet roller y the
amount of moisture that may in the judgment of the attendant be deemed
necessary to sufficiently damp the stone. I prefer to employ the top roller or
rider y placed between but resting on the damping rollers x for the purpose of
receiving the damp from the clothed roller w, and thence giving it off to the
damping rollers as described, altho' in some cases it may be dispensed with.
'T'he damping rollers may be two or more in number.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the samo is to be performed, I would remark
that the details shewn admit of more or less inodification to suit the require-
inents of particular cases, as will be readily understood by competent persons,
and further, that I lay no claim to any of the mechanical parts separately;
but that what I do claim is, the combination and arrangement of apparatus
and mechanism herein described for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Conisbee, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
W. LLOYD WISE,
Patent Agent,
Chandos Chambers,
London, W.C.
W. CONISBEE.
(L.B.)