Improvements in Printing Machines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Feb., 1894-Accepted, 10th Mar., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Printing Machines.
A communication by GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE, of the Town of Montell, in
the County of Uvalde and State of Texas, United States of America,
Mechanician.
1, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool and 6, Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster and 323 High Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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 self-feeding and self-delivering printing machine
which prints sheets and not webs; and its characteristic features are these,
namely the type-bed is stationary and a printing cylinder, with a flattened face
and a gripper, moves to and fro over the form of type. The blank sheets of paper
on the sheet-platform are seggregated, one by one, by a pneumatic-mechanical
"feeder" and presented to the gripper on the cylinder. The latter moves back
over the form, carrying the gripped sheet which is held up out of contact with the
types by a sheet-guard. In making this backward movement, the cylinder does
not rotate, being locked to its carrying-frame with its flattened face down or next
the type. On its forward, printing movement, the cylinder rolls over the form, the
sheet of paper being interposed and receiving the impression. When the gripper
arrives at the upper side of the cylinder (the latter rolling forward) a vibrating
delivery gripper moves backward, and, interposing its open jaws between the closed
jaws of the cylinder gripper, seizes the edge of the printed sheet at the moment
the latter gripper opens its jaws and releases the sheet. The cylinder continues to
rotate forward, and the delivery gripper moves forward at a speed corresponding
with the peripheral speed of the cylinder, thus carrying the printed sheet forward
and depositing it on an upper delivery platform.
After the cylinder has completed one rotation, it is again locked to its frame,
the gripper thereon is opened, and the cylinder moves a little farther forward so
that its jaws may take under the uplifted edge of the seggregated, topmost sheet
on the pile on the sheet-platform. This sheet is then seized and borne back as
before described.
The cylinder is mounted on an arbor provided with track wheels which run or
roll on track-rails on the type-bed, which rails are, by preference, made adjustable
so as to regulate the impression. These cylinder wheels roll back and forth, and,
to compel them to roll, a toothed wheel is fixed on the cylinder arbor and arranged
to gear with a rack secured to the type-bed or the frame.
The cylinder is drawn down by springs to provide pressure for printing, and
suitable inking mechanism is provided to ink the form of type.
The mechanism for locking the cylinder alternately to its frame (to prevent its
rotation) and to its wheels (to compel it to rotate) is carried by the cylinder and
its wheels, as is also the gripper operating mechanism.
These mechanisms are
actuated by cams mounted on the machine.
In case, for any reason, the cylinder gripper does not seize a sheet, the cylinder
remains locked against rotation and does not roll over the inked types. This
prevents the inking of the cloth or paper which covers the cylinder.

page_text: projects through a slot in plate 9 toward the wheel 9°. In this wheel is mounted
a rock-shaft 42, on the outer end of which is a crank 43, and on its inner end is
fixed an arm 44, seen in Figure 15. As the wheel rolls on its track, the crank 43
strikes a cam 45 (see Figure 44 and 4B), the shaft 42 is rocked thereby and the arm 44
strikes the stud 41 and, through it, actuates the toggle and sets free the bolt 30.
Then the spring shoots the bolt back, and the stud 33 enters the notch 46 and locks
the cylinder to the wheel 9°. To shift the bolt 30 in the opposite direction so as
to lock the cylinder to its frame and unlock it from wheel 9, the following described
mechanism is provided :-
Mounted on the inner face of wheel 9c is a slide 48, the outer end of which
plays in the keeper-plate 47, back of notch 46, and has a shoulder 49 (Figure 15^).
On the slide 48 is a stud 50, which plays in a slot in wheel 9, and on the outer face
of said wheel is pivoted an elbow-lever 51, one arm of which is coupled to the
stud 50 (Figure 15) and the other carries a roller 52. This roller strikes a cam 53
on the frame when the cylinder has made a complete rotation forward and thus
drives the slide 48 inward radially on the wheel 9. The shoulder 49 on the slide
takes behind the stud 33 and shifts the bolt 30 until its tip 31 enters the socket
on the frame, the toggle then straightening out and holding the bolt 30 in this
position as before described. Adjacent to the tip 31 of the bolt is a
notch 31 in the edge of the plate on the cylinder, and on the bar 9' is mounted a
spring pawl 31ª, to engage the notch in the cylinder and prevent any backward
rotation of the cylinder beyond this point. Figure 4A shows this pawl engaged.
The devices for opening and closing the cylinder gripper are at that end of the
cylinder where wheel 9cc is situated. The gripper and its operative mechanism are
best illustrated in Figures 12, 13, 19, 20, 21 and 22. In Figure 20, the mechanism
within the middle part of the cylinder is seen as if viewed from the left in
Figure 19.
The cylinder 9 is hollow and has a flattened and recessed face wherein is
mounted a rock-shaft 54, carrying the spaced gripper teeth 55, which close on
seats 56 at the margin of the recess. The gripper is beld closed by spring
pressure through mechanism seen in Figures 19 and 20. On the gripper-shaft 54
is a slotted arm 57, and on a bar 58, mounted in the end-plates of the cylinder, is
a rocking arm 59, coupled by a slot and stud 60 to the arm 57. On the bar 58
is a coil spring 61, attached at its respective ends to the bar and arm. This spring
holds the gripper closed. The tension of spring 61 may be increased by rotating
bar 58, the bar being held against back rotation by a pawl and ratchet in a well
known manner.
The gripper is opened by rocking the shaft 54 through mechanism illustrated in
Figures 22 and 224. On the outer face of the cap-plate 9 of the cylinder is a
crank 62 on the end of shaft 54, and on the said cap-plate is pivoted an
elbow-lever 63, the shorter arm of which is coupled to the crank 62 by a link 6+.
On the longer arm of lever 63 is a roller 65. When this roller is pressed inward
radially by a cam on the frame, the gripper is opened. This lever-and-crank device
effects the opening of the gripper by an easy movement. When the cylinder 9 has
rolled forward until the gripper is at the delivery point, as seen in dotted lines in
Figure 1, the gripper is opened by the roller 65 impinging on a cam 89, placed in
the proper position on some part of the frame; and, when the cylinder has completed
its rotation, said roller 65 impinges on a shifting-cam 66, seen best in Figures 1
and 5. This cam is first elevated so as to act on the gripper mechanism, and then
lowered so as not to open the gripper when the cylinder 9 moves back. The cam 66
Is carried by a swinging arm 67, and is upheld by a wedge 28" on the link 28.
the suction roller 16 moves back, this wedge moves under cam 66 and elevates it
into operative position, it being held in this position by a toggle composed of
links 68 and 69, the latter pivoted at 1*, When the toggle is straightened, a
prolongation 68*, on link 68, impinges on a stud 69" on link 69. The straightening
of the toggle throws an arm 69, on link 69, in the path of a stud 15° (Figure 1) in
the crank disc 15, and, as this disc rotates, the stud strikes said arm and "breaks "
As

page_text: delivery platform 7* and are tied together by a rod 79*. To the arm 79, as before
stated, are coupled, by links 80, the arms 17 and 17ª of the feed suction-roller 16.
At their upper ends, the arms 79 carry the delivery grippers, seen in detail in
Figures 8 to 11. Two brackets 81 are hung on rod 79x beside the arms 79, and
these brackets are tied together by a bar 83. On this bar are fixed at proper
intervals the fixed lower jaws 84 of the grippers, each of which has also a movable
upper jaw 85, fixed on a rock-shaft 82, mounted in the brackets 81. A spring 86
about the shaft 82 near a bracket 81 (Figure 9) serves to close the grippers which,
when opened, are held open by a toggle, as seen in Figure 8. This toggle
comprises links 87 and 87*, pivotally connected, respectively, to a bracket 81 and to
a lever 88 on the shaft 82. At the knuckle of the toggle, a stud 87 in one link
engages a slot 87 in the other. On the link 87 is a cam or block 87° at its lower
edge, and the lower end of arm 88 carries a roller 88*. When the delivery grippers
move over toward the cylinder 9 to seize the edge of the printed sheet, the lower
fixed jaws 84 of the delivery grippers enter between the seats 56 and take under the
edge of the sheet while the upper jaws 85 pass above or over the edge of the sheet.
At this moment, the cylinder gripper is opened by the impingement of the roller 65
on the cam 89 on the frame, and simultaneously the cam or block 87° on the link 87
impinges on a cam 90 on the machine frame which "breaks" the toggle upward and
allows the spring 86 to instantly close the jaws of the delivery grippers on the
sheet. This position of the delivery grippers is indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1.
The delivery grippers now move forward, carrying the printed sheet and moving
with it at the same speed that the cylinder rolls forward and frees it, thus keeping
the sheet slightly strained until it is free from the cylinder, when it is brought over
the delivery platform 7*.
The roller 88 on the lever 88 now rides over a cam 91
fixed on the frame, and this has the effect of rocking the shaft 82, opening the
grippers and setting the retaining toggle as represented in Figure 8.
At the front margin of the platform 7* are upright pins 7, and the delivery
gripper jaws play between these pins which serve to even the front edges of the
sheets. To prevent the sheets from flying off the platform when being rapidly
delivered, guards 92 are employed. These are mounted on the frame. In order
to avoid injury to the delivery grippers by contact with the non-rotating cylinder,
in case the latter should be moving forward without a sheet, the printing
cylinder 9 is provided at one end with a buffer-plate 93, and the swinging framic,
which carries the delivery grippers, has a curved cam 94 (Figures 8 to 11) which
impinges on this plate 93 under the conditions named, and throws up the grippers
by causing the brackets 81 to swing on the rod 79*. In order to cushion the blow,
the cam 94 is pivoted on the rod 83, and is held against rotation about the rod by
a spring 95 on the adjacent bracket 81, which bears on a stud 95" on the cam.
This spring will yield if the pressure is too great.
THE SUCTION ROLLER.
Under some conditions, the plain, perforated suction roller 16, seen in Figure 6,
will serve, but, in order that this roller shall work well, the sheet being fed should
be wide enough to cover all of the perforations 16ª in the series or row. To enable
the machine to print narrow sheets which will not cover the end perforations of the
series, the construction of Figure 23 may be employed. Within the roller 16 is
fitted a tube 16%, which is capable of being rotated axially within the roller by
inserting a pin in one of a series of holes 16, in a flange on the tube. In this
tube are several rows of holes, either of which may be brought to register with
the row of holes in the roller; but each successive row of holes in the tube 16* is
abbreviated by having one less hole at its end, and, in consequence, by moving the
inner tube far enough for the second row of holes therein to register with those in
the roller 16, the two end holes in the row in the roller will be closed or stopped
out; similarly, by turning the tube until the third series or row of holes therein
is brought into play, two holes are stopped at each end of the row in the roller 16,

page_text: and so on. The tube 16 may be rotated by inserting a pin in one of a series of
holes 16 in a flange on the tube.
In Figures 25, 26 and 27, another form of this device is shown wherein the
roller 16 has a flange 96, in which is mounted a hinged detent 97, and the tube 16*
has a similar flange 98, having in it a series of notches 99 to receive the detent 97
and thus lock the tube and roller together in any position set. These notches are
so placed that, when the tube and roller are locked together, some one of the
series of holes in the tube will register with the series of holes in the roller.
The impression may be regulated in any manner desired. In Figure 24, means
are shown for raising and lowering the tracks on which the cylinder wheels roll,
and this serves to regulate the impression. The track has an inclined lower surface
which matches an incline on the bed 8", and a screw 100 serves to move the track
end wise for adjustment.
The cams on the machine will have such a form and be so set as to properly
effect and time the movements of the parts.
The type-bed is represented herein as inclined, but this is not essential to the
invention;
it might be horizontal, or be inclined at a less angle than is shown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A printing machine wherein a printing cylinder provided with a gripper
moves to and fro over the type on a type-bed, said cylinder turning on its axis
during a part of its movement and moving without turning during the remainder
of its movement, whereby said cylinder draws the sheet from the sheet-platform
over the type and then produces the impression by rolling over said sheet, as set
forth.
2. A printing machine of the character described in Claim 1, having automatic
means, such as described, for locking the printing cylinder against rotation during
its rearward movement, for compelling it to rotate axially during the major part of
its forward movement, and for operating the gripper on the cylinder at the proper
times, as set forth.
3. A printing machine of the character described in Claim 1, having an
automatic feeder for feeding sheets to the gripper on the cylinder and a
delivering mechanism for automatically delivering the sheets as printed, as set
forth.
4. A printing machine of the character described in Claim 1, having a sheet-
guard to hold the sheet up from the inked faces of the types while the sheet is
being drawn over the type-bed by the cylinder, as set forth.
5. A printing machine of the character described in Claim 1, having an inking
mechanism, the rollers of which follow the printing cylinder in its motions to and
fro over the type on the type-bed, as set forth.
6. A printing machine of the character described in Claim 1, having an
automatic device connected with the cylinder, which prevents the rotation of the
cylinder during its forward movement unless there is a sheet held in the gripper on
the cylinder, for the purpose explained.
a
7. In a printing machine of the character described in Claim 1, the combination,
with the printing cylinder, of a feeding mechanism for the sheets comprising
vibrating suction roller arranged over the sheets to be fed, an air-exhauster
connected with said suction roller, and a seggregating blade which vibrates with
the suction roller and takes under the edge of the top sheet when the latter is
lifted by the roller, as set forth.
8. In a printing machine of the character described in Claim 1, the combination,
with the printing cylinder, of a feeding mechanism comprising the yielding
platform for the sheets, the vibrating suction roller, its air-exhauster, the vibrating
seggregating blade, and means for depressing the platform while the cylinder is
drawing the fed sheet from under the suction roller, as set forth.

page_text: 9. In a printing machine of the character described in Claim 1, the combination,
with the printing cylinder, of the sheet-delivering mechanism, comprising a
vibrating delivery gripper and means for opening and closing said delivery gripper
automatically at the proper times, as set forth.
10. In a printing machine of the character described, the mechanism described
for effecting and regulating the impression of the printing cylinder on the types in
the form, as set forth.
11. In a printing machine of the character described, the special sheet-guard
described, connected with the printing cylinder and adapted to move out of the
way automatically when the cylinder rolls forward in printing, as set forth.
12. In the feeding mechanism for the sheets, the vibrating suction roller 16
having a series of holes as described, the means for exhausting air from the roller,
and the means for closing or stopping out some of the end holes in the roller, all
combined and arranged to operate substantially as set forth.
13. In a printing machine of the character described, the special locking
mechanism on the cylinder and its wheels whereby the cylinder may be locked to
its frame or to its wheels, at will, the act of unlocking from one part serving to
lock it to the other part, as set forth.
Dated this 1st day of February 1894.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents.