IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Harrild and Horton Harrild, of Farringdon
Street, in the City of London, Manufacturers, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES."
Sealed the 10th November 1865, and dated the 15th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Harrild and Horton
Harrild at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 15th May 1865.
We, ROBERT HARRILD and HORTON HARRILD, of Farringdon Street, in the
City of London, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate particularly to these single cylinder printing
machines in which the cylinder after each impression is caused to rise, and is
again brought down to produce the following impression.
The first improvement relates to the plummer blocks of the cylinder shaft;
these are bored out, and the bearings in which the said shaft revolves which
are made to slide in the plummer blocks have their sides turned to correspond
with the portion of the plummer blocks which is bored. .
Secondly, the cylinder is raised and lowered in the following manner :-
Across the lower portion of the machine, and directly under and parallel with
the cylinder a shaft is supported in bearings; each end of this shaft is fur-

page_text: nished with a short crank, the pin of which works in a square-shaped block
which is free to slide sideways in a slotted eye formed on the lower extremity
of two rods, the upper extremities of which take hold of the bearings in the
before-named plummer blocks, and when the crank shaft is caused to
make a partial turn at the right intervals these rods draw down or raise up
the cylinder; the said rods are guided to maintain them vertical.
The cylinder is prevented from descending, when desirable, in the following
manner: On the before-named crank shaft is fixed a third and double-ended
crank, each end furnished with a pin; a cam on the driving shaft of the
machine is employed to cause the crank shaft to make a partial turn at the
right intervals for the purpose of raising or lowering the cylinder. The con-
necting rod of the said cam terminates in a "gab" which takes hold of one
of the pins in the said double-ended crank for the purpose of turning the
shaft. A lever also furnished with a gab, and united to the extremity of
the said connecting rod by a link when caused to turn on a centre which
supports it lifts the connecting rod gab out of gear with its pin, and brings
its own gab into gear with the other pin, this being effected when the
cylinder is up it remains up, the said lever being secured in its new position.
This same movement of the lever is employed to throw the cam on the
driving shaft of the machine which gives motion to the feed board of the
machine out of gear with the board, so that it ceases to act while the cylinder
remains up; this is effected by connecting the said lever by a link with the
connecting rod of the cam for actuating the feed board which it lifts out of
gear with a pin. A curved jointed lever is employed to open the grippers at
the right time, which lever is worked by the cam for giving motion to the
feed board. "Riders" are placed on the ink rollers, the spindles of which at
one extremity are screwed, and the screwed portion works in a nut which is
supported on the side frame of the machine, in consequence of which as the
riders are caused to revolve by resting on the ink rollers, they also receive a
motion in the direction of their length alternately in each direction as the
table of the machine comes and goes. A cam furnished with various grades
is employed to give motion to the vibrator roller. A roller is placed on each
side frame of the machine to facilitate the putting on and the removal of
the "form" from the machine. We cause the "ductor" or ink cylinder to
revolve by mitre gear which can be put out of gear with it by slacking a
friction washer, when the ductor may be turned by hand.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Harrild and Horton Harrild in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 15th November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
5. HARRILD and HORTON HARRILD, of Farringdon Street, in the City of London,
Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
-the said Robert Harrild and Horton Harrild, Her special licence that we, the
said Robert Harrild and Horton Harrild, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Robert Harrild and Horton Harrild,
our 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 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING
MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Robert
Harrild and Horton Harrild, or one of us, our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our, or one of our, 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 we, the said Robert Harrild and Horton Harrild,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
bereunto annexed, that is to say:-
These improvements relate particularly to those single cylinder printing
machines in which the cylinder after each impression is caused to rise and is
again brought down to produce the following impression.
The first improvement relates to the plummer blocks of the cylinder shaft ;
these are bored out, and the bearings in which the said shaft revolves which
are made to slide in the plummer blocks bave their sides turned to correspond
with the portion of the plummer blocks which is bored.
Secondly, the cylinder is raised and lowered in the following manner: -

page_text: Across the lower portion of the machine, and directly under and parallel with
the cylinder a shaft is supported in bearings; each end of this shaft is fur-
nished with a short crank, the pin of which works in a square-shaped block
which is free to slide sideways in a slotted eye formed on the lower extremity
of two rods, the upper extremities of which take hold of the bearings in the
before-named plummer blocks, and when the crank shaft is caused to make
a partial turn at the right intervals, these rods draw down or raise up the
cylinder; the said rods are guided to maintain them vertical.
The cylinder is prevented from descending when desirable in the following
manner: On the before-named crank shaft is fixed a third and double-ended
crank, each end furnished with a pin; a cam on the driving shaft of the
machine is employed to cause the crank shaft to make a partial turn at the right
intervals for the purpose of raising or lowering the cylinder. The connecting
rod of the said cam terminates in a gab which takes hold of one of the pins in
the said double-ended crank for the purpose of turning the shaft; a lever also
furnished with a gab and united to the extremity of the said connecting rod
by a link when caused to turn on a centre which supports it lifts the con-
necting rod gab out of gear with its pin, and brings its own gab into gear
with the other pin; this being effected when the cylinder is up it remains up,
the said lever being secured in its new position. This same movement of the
lever is employed to throw the cam on the driving shaft of the machine which
gives motion to the feed board of the machine out of gear with the board, so
that it ceases to act while the cylinder remains up; this is effected by con-
necting the said lever by a link with the connecting rod of the cam for
actuating the feed board which it lifts out of gear with a pin. A curved jointed
lever is employed to open the grippers at the right time, which lever is worked
by the cam for giving motion to the feed board. "Riders" are placed on the
iuk rollers, the spindles of which at one extremity are screw-threaded, and
the threaded portion works in a nut which is supported on the side frame of
the machine, in conseqence of which as the riders are caused to revolve by
resting on the ink rollers they also receive a motion in the direction of their
length alternately in each direction as the table of the machine comes and
goes. A cam furnished with various grades is employed to give motion to
the vibrator roller; a roller is placed on each side frame of the machine to
facilitate the putting on and the removal of the form from the machine.
We cause the ductor or ink cylinder to revolve by mitre gear which can be
put out of gear with it by slacking a friction washer when the ductor may be
turned by hand.
Figure is a side elevation of the improved printing machine, the near

page_text: side frame being removed; portions of the machine are shewn in section;
Figure 2 is a front elevation; Figure 3, a back elevation; and Figure 4 a
plan of the machine; Figures 5 to 13 represent on a larger scale portions of
the machine, herein-after referred to. Similar letters refer to corresponding
parts in all the Figures.
The outer frame of the machine consists of two sides frames a and b and two
end frames c and d. The inner framework consists of the cross frame e, part
of which is shewn removed in Figure 4; on this cross frame at f, f, the two
"bearing bars" 9, 9, rest, while their extremities rest on the projecting pieces h
cast on the inside of the end frames c and d; i is a bracket in which is a
bearing for the driving shaft k, the outer bearing for which is in the side
frame a.
This bracket is bolted in front above and below to the end frame c
and at back to the cross stay Z, which stay is again bolted to the two side
frames a and b. The movable parts of the machine connected with giving
the impression consist of the impression cylinder m fast on the shaft n, which
latter is formed with journals at its extremities which turn in bearings o, o,
mounted in the plummer block p, p, in which they are free to slide up and
down. In the lower portion of these bearings the "impression rods" 22
are secured; these rods are formed each of two pieces which are united by the
right and left-handed nuts r, r, which allow of their length being adjusted.
The lower extremity of these rods is guided in the socks s, s, just above
which, and forged with the lower portion of each rod is a square-shaped eye t, t.
The lower portion of the cross frame e is cast hollow, and through the opening
thus formed a shaft u passes which turns in bearings w, u, one on each side
of the machine; the two extremities of this shaft are formed into cranks of
small throw, the crank pins a, a, being formed out of the solid shaft. Fitting
on each of these crank pius, and free to turn thereon, is a square-shaped
block y, y, which fits into and is free to slide sideways in the square-shaped
eyes t, t, in the impression rods 9, 9. is a cam on the driving shaft k;
a' is its connecting rod formed with a gab at b which fits the pin c² fixed in
one end of the double-ended lever d'; this lever is fast on the shaft u, so that
while the connecting rod a' is in gear with the pin c¹, the cam as it
revolves causes the shaft u to make a partial turn at the right intervals. The
outer extremity of the said connecting rod is united by the link e¹ to an
arm f, which is free to turn on the centre g¹ fixed in the near side frame a.
This arm is also furnished with a gab h', which on the arm being raised
engages the lower pin i¹ in the lever d¹. A rod is also attached to the said
arm, and is carried up to a short crank fast on the inner extremity of a
spindle m', which is free to turn in the pipe n' projecting from and passing

page_text: through the side frame a to which it is secured; o¹ is a handle fast also on
the spindle m', but outside the frame a, by which the said spindle can be
turned in the pipe n¹; p¹ is the type table, on each side of which are toothed
racks q, q', which gear into corresponding tooth wheels 2, 7, fast on the ends
of the cylinder m'; s¹, s¹, are friction rollers on which the said table is sup-
ported; these rollers are carried by the bearing bars g, g. Underneath the
table is a toothed rack t which gears into the traverse wheel ¹; w¹ repré-
sents a corresponding rack underneath, and also gearing into the traverse
wheel u', which is supported by the cross frame e; a¹ is a connecting rod,
one end of which takes hold of the centre y¹ of the traverse wheel and the
other of the crank pin in the driving wheel a; the said driving wheel is
fast on the shaft k. is a pinion which gears into the wheel a³, and is fast
on the shaft, which turns in the centres e², e, e², on the front end frame c;
f is a fly wheel fast on the shaft c, and g², g, the usual fast and loose
pulleys for the driving belt.
In giving the impression the mode of operation is as follows:-The wheel a³
being put in motion by the pinion be imparts a reciprocating motion to the
table p' through the interventions of the connecting rod at and the traverse
wheel u. While the table is travelling towards the driving wheel a² and the
impression is being given the cylinder m is drawn down on the form by the
rods q, q, which rods are actuated by the shaft u, which being partially turned
by the cam pulling the pin c' brings the two crank pins x, x, on their bottom
centre. When the table p is returning the action is reversed, the cam z
causing the shaft u to turn the opposite way, when the crank pins a, a, through
the rods q, q, lift the cylinder free from the form. To keep the cylinder
free from the form while desired the bandle o¹ is turned, which causes the
crank to turn, and by means of the rod k¹ lifts the connecting rod a¹ out of
gear with the pin c', and at the same time lifts the gab in the arm f¹ into
gear with the corresponding pin i'. The bandle o¹ being now secured the
shaft u is locked, and the cylinder m remains clear of the form while desired.
The framework connected with the inking apparatus consists of two side
brackets h, ha, which give support to the cross frame 13; k, s, represent the
roller forks. The movable parts consist of the ink cylinder 12, which turns
in bearings in the side brackets h², 'h²; on one extremity of this cylinder is
fixed a mitre wheel m², which gears into another n³ on the skewed pipe o; at
the lower extremity of this pipe a corresponding mitre wheel p² is fast which
is driven by a fourth wheel q on the outer extremity of the driving shaft k
The tube o is supported by and is free to turn on the shaft which passes
through it, and is furnished with eyes, oue of which, s, embraces the outer

page_text: extremity of the ink cylinder and the other t the driving shaft. On the
other extremity of the ink cylinder is fixed a cam u, which as the said
cylinder revolves actuates through a roller w³ on the arm a which is fast
on the spindle y the duct roller which is carried by the arms a³, a³,
which are also fast on the said spindle y². This spindle turns in bearings in
the brackets, h; is the knife; c,, the waver rollers; d³, d³, are the
ink rollers; and e³ is a screw rider which rests on the ink rollers, and turns
in brasses in the forks, ; f³ represents the ink table.
In the process of inking the action of the duct roller is governed by the
action of the cam u, which as it revolves lifts it for a longer or shorter
period into contact with the ink cylinder 12, and then allows it to descend on
The cam u² is formed
the ink table f when the latter comes underneath it.
with steps or grades of different lengths as shewn, on which the roller w can
be shifted at pleasure by slacking the set screws g³ which presses on the gib h³
which is used to prevent the arm turning on the spindle y. The ink
cylinder is driven by the shaft k through the intervention of the mitre
gear m², m², p, q. A friction washer 3 is applied to the mitre wheel q²,
which when forced against the back of it forces it against the conical shoulder A
formed on the shaft k, but should the knife be forced against the ink
cylinder with undue pressure the washer will slip and prevent accident; or
should it be desired to throw the ink cylinder out of gear with the shaft k,
it can be effected by slacking the nut 13; m³ is a pin passed through the
washer and into the shaft k by which the washer is driven; marks are made
on the washer and on the pass of the wheel q which must be made to cor-
respond when tightening up the nut 13. The screw rider is applied above
the ink rollers d³, d³, for the purpose of effecting more perfect distribution of
ink. Que extremity of the spindle of the said waver is threaded, and the
brass n³ in which it turns is formed with a corresponding internal thread, so
that as the ink rollers revolve they not only cause the rider to revolve, but
give it a reciprocating motion also.
The fixed parts connected with the process of feeding consist of the
brackets o³ and p; the latter supports the board q', on which the pile of paper is.
laid previous to being fed into the machine. The movable parts consist of the
table; the cross shaft, which in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 passes across the
lower part of the machine, and is supported in centres formed in the side
frames a and b, and in the modification shewn in Figures 5, 6, and 7, passes
immediately under the front edge of the table, and is supported at each
extremity in the centres ³, t, formed in the brackets 0%. On these shafts are,
fixed the arms u³, w, which in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 take hold of the vertical

page_text: flat rods w³, w³, on the upper extremity of which the table rests, and in the
arrangement shewn in Figures 5, 6, and 7 the front edge of the table rests
directly on them. In Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 a³ is a lever fast on the shaft s3;
y is a cam on the driving shaft k, the connecting rod of which takes hold
of the lever by the gab a at its extremity; this rod is united by the
link to the rod ¹. In Figures 5, 6, and 7 a corresponding arrangement is
shewn the connecting rod is here attached to one arm of the bell crank c',
the other arm of which passes through the gab a' in the rod d' (shewn broken
at e¹) takes hold of the lower extremity of the lever f*. Near the gab a', and on
the side next the bell crank ca roller g* formed with an outer flange sup-
ports the said rod; this roller is attached in the manner shewn to the
handle o represents the gripper bar, and 2, i, the grippers; is the
lay bar, the two extremities of which are secured by the holding-down bolts
of the plummer blocks, P. p. One extremity of the gripper bar passes through
the cylinder end, and is furnished outside with a short arm or crank 1', which
carries a roller m; n' is a movable incline free to turn on the centre o*, which
centre is fixed in the plummer block. In Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 this incline
is connected to the upper extremity of one of the vertical rods w³ by a pro-
jecting arm p', in which is a pin which works in a slotted hole in a projecting
piece q' on the incline n. In Figures 5, 6, and 7 the said incline is attached
by the link to the arm u³ on the cross shaft s³.
Before the grippers
the table together
The process of feeding is thus carried on:-The sheet being laid with its
front edge against the stops s', s', on the lay bar as the cylinder m revolves
the roller m on the end of the gripper bar comes in contact with the incline n',
which causes the grippers *, *, to open or leave the edge of the cylinder
against which they are always pressed by the spring u.
reach the under side of the paper the cam y³ causes
with the sheet to rise, and on reaching the horizontal position as shewn the
table stops, and the cylinder returning causes the grippers to close against
the edge of the cylinder, and so presses the paper against it. The closing of
the grippers is facilitated by the incline n being drawn back out of the way
of the roller m' by the rising of the feed board in consequence of its connection
in the one case with the vertical rod w³, and in the other with the arm u³, to
which it is attached by the link r.
When it is desired to keep the cylinder free from the type, the handle o' is
turned so as to lift the connecting rod a' out of gear; it also lifts in the one
case by means of the link & the connecting rod
on the shafts, or it lowers the roller g in the
the rod d' to fall out of gear with the lever f,
out of gear with the lever a
second modification, & allows
when in both cases the fee.!

page_text: board, together with the gripper opener or incline n', are thrown out of gear
also; represents the apparatus for "pointing;" is the take-off board
supported by the brackets y', y'.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim as our
"Improvements in Printing Machines,-
First, constructing the plummer blocks receiving the bearings for the axis
of the cylinder, in manner herein-before described.
Second, the combination and arrangement of machinery, herein-before
described, for raising and lowering the cylinder, and for maintaining it raised
from the type when and as required..
Third, the mode of driving the ink cylinder, of regulating the supply of
ink as described, and the adaptation of a friction washer to the ink cylinder.
Fourth, the employment of a screw rider above the ink rollers, as
described.
And, fifth, the arrangement and combination of parts, substantially as
described for actuating the feed board, and the method of so coupling the said
parts with the cylinder disconnecting gear, that one handle on being turned
throws the cylinder, the feed board, and the gripper opener simultaneously
out of gear, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Harrild, for myself and on behalf
of the said Horton Harrild, have hereunto set my hand and seal,
this Fourteenth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-five.
ROBT. HARRILD. (L.S.)