Improved Machine for Colouring Illustrations, Patterns and the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Dec., 1898-Accepted, 8th Apr., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Machine for Colouring Illustrations, Patterns and the like.
I, PHILIPPE ORSONI, of No. 3, Rue de la Sablière, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Printer and Publisher, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement.-
-
This invention relates to a novel machine designed to colour very quickly illus-
trations in periodicals or the like, which are printed in a large number of copies
also for fashion plates, maps and other coloured prints
Refening to the accompanying drawings:-
Figure illustrates an elevation of the machine, the front part of the frame
being removed
Figure 2 18 a detail view of a portion of the apparatus, not clearly shewn in
Figure 1
Figure 3 is a plan view In this figure the bed plate is not shewn, nor are
the bushes, nor the organs connected with their motion, further the frame, the
carrier and the inking iollers are only shewn diagrammatically
Figure 4 18 a transverse section on the line A-B of Figure 1
Figure 5 is a transverse section on the line CD of Figure 1
the apparatus relating to the motion of the brushes alone is illustrated.
Figure 6 is a tracing of the development of the operative edge of the cam 55
Figure 7 18 an alternative construction of the actuating mechanism of the
brushes
In this figure
Figure 8 18 a special arrangement for the attachment of the brush carrier
The machine comprises in its essential construction a paper carrier 1, formed of
thin sheet steel or other metal This paper carrier 1, which has the form of a
wide endless belt, or for convenience of construction of two jaiallel endless belts,
18 supported by the rollers 2, 3, of which the roller 2 conveys to the carrier the
special motions which will be explained further on The upper horizontal portion
of the paper carrier 1, is moreover, supported throughout its whole length by means
of a fixed table or bed plate 4 over which it travels. Upon the paper carrier
rests a frame 5, divided laterally into as many divisions 51, 5, 5 and so forth
as the machine is required to apply different colour+ In each of these divisions
there is placed and fixed by means of any suitable device a holder 7, bearing a
cut-out pattern or stencil, wluch leaves visible all the portions of the picture which
are to receive the coresponding colour This frame 5 18 absolutely fixed in
position in the horizontal direction, but it is capable of being raised vertically
to a short distance, above the paper carrier 1
the suitable moment by means of a system of bent 1ods 9 suitably guided at their
upper parts in the sides of the fixed table 4
The various divisions 51, 511, 511
This rising motion 18 produced at
and so forth of the frame 5 are produced by means of angle irons 5* connecting
transversely the two longitudinal sides of the fiame at its ends and some intermediats
Tirons 5b both of which serve as rails for the brush carrier The brush carrier
is formed of a long bar 10 extending the whole length of the upper horizontal

page_text: part of the paper carrier. This bar, which is capable of being moved transversely
above the frame 5 in the manner set forth hereinafter, caries a brush 11 above each
division of the frame, and is supported by flanged wheels 12 which revolve upon
the cross pieces 5", 5" of the frame, serving as rails. The bar 10 is moreover
carried upon the supports 15, each of which shades upon a guide bar 16 fixed above
the table. The brush carrier can thus move over the whole width of the frame 5,
this motion is produced by the successive action of the chains 13 and 14, two of
which are fixed on each side of the supports 15 which carry the bar 10 Upon one
of the sides of the machine, parallel to its longitudinal axis, there are placed the
inking rollers 17, the same in number as the frames 7, and each corresponding
to one thereof, the said rollers which are mounted loosely upon a common axle 18
dip at their lower part into vessels 20 containing the colours The amount of the
motion of the brush carrier 18 so adjusted that the brushes after having been moved
upon the frame are caused to adjust themselves and rest for a moment above the
rollers 17 with which they come in contact, in order to take up the colours
brush carrier is then supported by fixed plates which form prolongations of the
rails formed by the transverse pieces 5*, 5b and so forth of the frame Having thus
given a preliminary description of the essential parts of the machine, I will now
proceed to explain, with reference to various details, the manner in which the
same are put in operation
THE PAPER CARRIER
The
As has been stated before, the paper carrier, which in the machine illustrated
in the drawings is formed of two parallel endless bands, is set in motion by means
of the roller 2. For this purpose the roller has upon one of its ends a ring pro-
vided with four notches 21 placed at one quarter of a circle distance one from the
other. Upon the axle 22 of the said dium 2, there is loosely mounted a lever 23,
having at its end a catch 24 arranged to engage successively in each of the said
notches 21. The prolongation 25 of the said catch 24 18 articulated to the end
of a connecting rod 26, which rod is attached at its other end to the pivot 27 of
a wheel 28 The radius of this wheel 28 is arranged to correspond exactly
to one displacement of the lever 23, equal to one quarter of a revolution It will,
therefore, be understood that if the wheel 28 receives a continuous rotary motion
in the direction of the arrow, (Fig 1) it will carry with it the roller 2 as long as
the pivot 27 is passing through its upper half turn, whilst during its passage
through the lower half turn, it will simply push back the lever 23, the catch 24
being raised, and consequently leaving the dium 2 stationary in the position in
which it has just been placed, all disturbance of the said roller 2 18 moreover
prevented by means of the catch 29, attached to the frame, which catch engages
in the corresponding notch of the roller 2 In order that during the succeeding
motion the revolution of the roller 2 should not be prevented by this catch 29,
there is provided a prolongation 39 attached to the lever 23 which prolongation
raises the catch 29 out of the notch in which it rested when the rollei is required
to be moved The development of a quarter of the circumference of the roller
corresponds exactly to one division of the frame, so that each time that the roller
makes a quarter turn, the paper or periodical 18 moved by the carrying belt, and
passes under the next division of the frame The wheel 28 18 keyed upon a
shaft 30 which has at its other end a tooth wheel 31 gearing with the pinion 32
and an intermediate shaft 33, which shaft receives its own motion by means of the
wheel 34 and the pinion 35 from the shaft 36, which is in turn driven by means
of the belt pulley or the like 37 The paper carrier moves by spaces corresponding
exactly to the development of one fourth of the circumference of the roller, and
the spring clips 38 serve to attach and to carry the paper along with the motion
of the carrier In order to assure the absolutely mathematical correspondence of
the motion of the carrying belt (which is of the greatest importance for the register)
the roller 2 bears four conical studs which engage in holes of the same size
pierced in the paper carrier 1, which carrier 18 strengthened at these points by an
increased thickness of metal. The adhesion of the paper carrier 1 to the roller 2

page_text: 18 secured without causing unnecessary tension, by means of the little flanged
wheel 40 which 18 applied beneath the roller 2. The other roller 3 serves only to
support the
paper carrier, and revolves loosely upon its axle
A suitable arrange-
ment 18 made use of for causing the position of this axle to vary according to
requirements, in order to regulate the tension of the paper carrier.
THE FRAME.
It has been already stated that the rising motion of the frame is produced by the
system of rods 9 placed beneath it
Reference being made to Figure 2, it will be seen that these rods are connected
to the parts 41, which are in turn articulated to the ends of the levers 42, keyed
upon the shaft 43
This shaft has near one of its ends another lever 44, pro-
vided with a roller 45, which rests upon the cam 46 keyed upon the shaft 30.
This cam 46 possesses a part of small diameter, corresponding to the lower position
of the frame, and a part of greater diameter opposed to the first and corresponding
to the raised position of the frame; each double motion of rising and falling
of the frame consequently corresponds to a quarter tuin of the roller, and con-
sequently to the advance of the paper carrier by one division. The cam 46 18
keyed upon the shaft 30 so that the motion of the frame is produced at the same
time as the motion of the paper carrier, but commencing slightly before the same
in order that the paper carrier may be free when its motion commences
THE BRUSHES.
The movement of the brushes is effected by means of the chains 13, 14 in the
manner hereinafter described, reference being made to Figures 1 and 5. The
two chains 13 placed at the same side of the bar 10, which carries the brushes,
are each fixed at their other end to a wheel 47, having a double groove in which
they can roll up This wheel 47 18 loose upon the shaft 48 The same arrange-
ment is applied to the two chains 14, fixed on the other ade of the bar 10. It is
consequently only needful to cause the rotation of one of the wheels 47, for example,
to occasion the motion of the brushes from right to left, and then the actuation
of the other wheel 49 will cause the motion of the brushes from left to right;
when the wheels 47 and 49 are stationary, the brushes remain motionless.
If now the shaft 48 be actuated by a continuous rotary motion communicated
to it by means of the gear wheels 34 and 50, the revolution of the wheel 47 is
effected by the clutch mechanism 51, and that of the wheel 49 by the like
mechanism 52 The parts 51 and 52 being fixed at the two ends of the shaft 48,
it is only needful to cause this shaft to move longitudinally in the one or the
other direction, to engage the one or the other mechanism. The intermediate
position of the shaft 48 will give the position of release, that is to say, the wheels 47
and 49 are stationary, and consequently the brushes also The longitudinal
motion of the shaft 48 is produced by means of the forked lever 53, the roller 54
of which rests constantly upon the edge of a cam 55 keyed upon the shaft 30
The development of this cam (see Figure 6) as well as the speed of rotation of the
shaft 48 must be such that the different motions of the brushes are produced at
the time required, and in such a manner that their double motion be made whilst
the frame 5 18 stationary upon the paper carrier, and that their position upon the
inking rollers takes place during the rise of the said frame 5 The rotation of
the inking rollers 18 produced by means of the cam 56, the shaft 57, the arms 58
and 59 connected together by the rods 60 and a system of rack and pinion This
motion can be regulated for each roller, separately, by altering the point of the
Junction of the corresponding arms 58 and 59 with the bar 60
THE OPERATION OF THE MACHINE
The foregoing explanations have set forth the operation of the parts of the
machine in general, and this will now be made more clear by describing the opera-
tion of printing a periodical or the like from the moment of its insertion into the
machine up to its exit therefrom The paper which is taken upon the table 61

page_text: of the machine is placed by the operator under the two clips 38 of the paper carrier,
which are at this moment practically in the vertical axis of the roller, and which
clips are at that moment raised by the pressure of the frame or of projections
fixed thereto. This operation 18 effected during the period when the drum 18
stationary corresponding also to the lowest position of the frame, 5, and to the
displacement of the brushes 11 above the same. It should, moreover, be remarked,
that the two clips 38 alluded to are at this moment raised by means of the pro-
jections fixed to the frame striking, when said frame is in the lowest position,
upon the prolongations of the clips and thereby opening them. During this
period, the catch 24 places itself in the corresponding notch of the roller 2,
which is then revolved a quarter turn, as already explained. The paper carrier 1,
haa consequently been moved on for the space of one division, and the paper carried
with it (the clips released by the frame having immediately gripped the paper)
is placed under the division 61 of the frame. This motion is moreover aided
by the rising of the frame, and is effected at the proper time by means of the
organs already described. As soon as the paper carrier has completed its motion,
the frame is again lowered upon it, and the stencil of the holder 7 is applied to
the paper
There then occurs a stationary period for the paper carrier and the
frame, and during this time the brushes previously charged with colour by contact
with the inking rollers, pass over the frame and colour those parts of the puper
left exposed by the stencils The combination of the same motions is then re-
produced, the paper passes into the second division 5" of the frame, and receives
there a second coat of colour; it then passes into the third division 5111, and so
forth, until it has travelled to the further end of the paper carrier As soon as
the paper emerges from the last division of the frame, it is seized by the taking-off
mechanism 62, which delivers it upon a table 63 arranged to receive it
This
taking-off mechanism may be of any suitable kind, and actuated as may be
desired As soon as the first paper passes from the first division of the fiame
to the second, another copy is placed upon the roller, and arrives subsequently
to occupy the first division of the frame and so forth, so that there are always
upon the machine as many copies as there are colours In the machine which
is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the frame contains five divisions
which admit of the application of five different colours to the paper It is obvious
that on the same principle machines may be made for any other combination of
colours, either more or less in number As has been already said, in the machine
illustrated the paper carrier 1 is formed of two parallel endless bands placed at
a suitable distance apart, but the carrier might also be formed of a single band of
the requisite width The means which have been described for producing the
transverse motion of the brushes may be replaced by the alternative, which is
illustrated in diagram in Figure 7 A transverse shaft 65 placed above the machine
and driven with a continuous rotary motion, bears a cam 66 in the groove 67 of
which engages a terminal roller 68 of a lever 69 keyed upon the shaft 70
outline of the groove 67 18 such as to produce at a suitable time a partial alterna-
tive rotation of the shaft 70, which effects the required movement of the brushes
For this purpose, the shaft 70 bears fixed at suitable points by means of sleeves or
the like, bars 72, each of which engage freely with their other end into a corre-
sponding socket 73 attached to the brush holder 10. It will be seen that the
alternating rotary motion of the shaft 70 transmits a rectilinear alternating motion
to the brush holder, the bars 72 sliding in the sockets 73
The
Figure 8 illustrates a modification in the method of attachment of the bar 10,
supporting the brushes, for the purpose of causing the said brushes to slope in the
direction of the motion, which may be of advantage for the perfect execution of
the work For this purpose, the bar 10 is pivoted to the lever 74, which is itself
pivoted to the socket 15, after which are attached the driving chains 13, 14; in
this manner the brushes in consequence of their friction upon the surface incline
naturally during the work, the amount of inclination being regulatable by means
of the set-screws 75.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The improved machine for colouring illustrations and the like, having an
endless paper carrier in combination with a frame bearing stencils corresponding
to the different colours which are to be applied to the paper, and having a moving
system of brushes distributing the colours over those portions of the paper suc
cessively left exposed by the stencils, substantially as described and shewn
2 In a machine for colouring illustrations and the like, such as is set forth in
Claim 1, the arrangement for effecting the motion of an endless band acting as
a paper carrier, produced by a ratchet lever acting upon one of the rollers support-
ing the said paper carrier, substantially as described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawing.
3. In a machine for colouring illustrations and the like, substantially as set
forth in Claim 1, the method of effecting the to and fro motion of the brushes by
the aid of chains, by means of the mechanism, substantially as hereinbefore
described and shewn
4 In a machine for colouring illustrations and the like, such as is set forth in
Claim 1, a to and fro motion for the brushes produced by an upper shaft actuated
by a special cam, substantially as hereinbefore described and shewn
5. In the machine for colouring illustrations and the like, set forth in the
preceding claims, the arrangement for effecting when requisite any desired slope
of the brushes during the working, substantially as hereinbefore described and
shewn.
Dated th. 20th day of Danombor 1000