IMPROVEMENTS IN PERFECTING LETTER PRESS PRINTING MACHINES
Year: 1884

page_text: We JOHN HENRY BUXTON, Newspaper Proprietor, DAVIES BRAITHWAITE and
MARK SMITH, Printers Engineers all of the Guardian Printing Works, Manchester
in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of said invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN PERFECTING LETTER PRESS PRINTING MACHINES," to be as
follows:-
Our invention relates to a combination or combinations of mechanism for feeding,
printing on one side, reversing, and printing on the other side, and then delivering
and piling the perfected sheets all by automatic arrangements except that the
sheet to be printed upon, is first laid on the feeding board to a guage by hand.
The type "forms are arranged on a reciprocating carriage as usual and pass
under one impression cylinder which is large enough in circumference for two of
the largest sheets to be printed-The impression cylinder is geared up with the
type carriage by a rack and wheel same as in the Wharfdale Printing Machine, so
that it will receive a complete revolution and take an impression from the two
"forms" one on each sheet on the cylinder, and then stand, while the type carriage
returns and is inked for the next impression and a fresh sheet is fed.
The sheet is fed and gripped by grippers on the impression cylinder and is taken
off as in the Wharfdalo Printing Machine, and the perfected sheet is also taken off
when reversed, fed and printed, and is piled by a fly as in the Wharfdale printing
machine.
There are two sets of grippers on opposite sides of the impression cylinders and
they are arranged and worked as in the Wharfdale Printing Machine, the rod that
is actuated by a cam to bring the projection against the bowl to open the grippers
for the sheet fed is prolonged to the opposite side of the impression cylinder to act
at the same time upon the bowl for the grippers on the opposite side of the cylinder
for the reversed sheet.
The sheet when it is fed and has received its first impression is delivered by the
grippers upon the impression cylinder to the grippers of a taking off cylinder in
gear with the impression cylinder and this taking off cylinder delivers it to tapes
carried on rollers having their bearings in brackets secured on a board arranged to
oscillate on a fulcrum on the framing.
This board is oscillated by connections with any suitable cam making one
revolution for each revolution of the impression cylinder so as to bring a thin plate

page_text: projecting from its end into a position to receive the end of the sheet from the
taking off cylinder and then present its other end to the second set of grippers on
the impression cylinder to be taken thereby and receive the impression on the other
side at the same time as the first side of the next clean sheet is fed and printed,
thus one sheet is fed and printed on one side and the previous sheet is reversed,
fed and printed on the other side or perfected at each rotation of the impression
cylinder,
The tapes carried on the oscillating board take the sheet along the board until it
comes against a stop which is adjusted to leave the tail of the sheet in the position
to be fed to the grippers of the impression cylinder.
The rollers for the tapes are rotated by an endless band driven from any
convenient rotating part of the machine.
There is a roller carried on brackets from the oscillating table against which the
sheet comes in passing from the taking off cylinder to the tapes on the oscillating
board.
In some cases the roller last named may be carried in prolongations of the arms
for the roller which is made to press against the taking off cylinder and push the
sheet on to the tapes of the oscillating board the arms for which rollers are actuated
by connections with any suitable cam.
When the grippers having the perfected sheet pass the second taking off cylinder
it takes the sheet and delivers it by tapes on to the arms of a fly that piles the
perfected sheets upon a delivery table.

page_text: We JOHN HENRY BUXTON, Newspaper Proprietor, DAVIES BRAITHWAITE and
MARK SMITH, Printers Engineers, all of the Guardian Printing Works, Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster do hereby declare the nature of said invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN "PERFECTING" LETTER PRESS PRINTING MACHINES and in what
manner the same is. to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
Our invention relates to a combination or combinations of mechanism for feeding,
printing on one side, reversing and printing on the other side, and then delivering
and piling the "perfected" sheets all by automatic arrangements except that the
sheet to be printed upon is first laid on the feeding board to a gauge by hand.
"
The type "forms are arranged on a reciprocating carriage as usual and pass
under one impression cylinder which is large enough in circumference for two of
the largest sheets to be printed-The impression cylinder is geared up with the
type carriage by a rack and wheel same as in the Wharfdale Printing Machine, so
that it will receive a complete revolution and take an impression from the two
"forms" one on each sheet on the cylinder, and then stand while the type carriage
returns and the type is inked for the next impression and a fresh sheet is fed.
The sheet is fed and gripped by grippers on the impression cylinder and is taken
off as in the Wharfdale Printing Machine and the perfected sheet is also taken off
when reversed fed and printed, and is piled by a fly as in the Wharfdale printing
machine.
There are two sets of grippers on opposite sides of the impression cylinders and
they are arranged and worked as in the Wharfdale Printing Machine, the rod that
is actuated by a cam to bring the projection against the bowl to open the grippers
for the sheet fed is prolonged to the opposite side of the impression cylinder to act
at the same time upon the bowl for the grippers on the opposite side of the cylinder
for the reversed sheet.
The sheet when it is fed and has received its first impression is delivered by the
grippers upon the impression cylinder to the grippers of a taking off cylinder in
gear with the impression cylinder, and this taking off cylinder delivers it to rollers
or tapes carried on rollers having their bearings in brackets secured on a board
arranged to oscillate on a fulcrum on the framing.
This board is oscillated by connections with any suitable cam making one
revolution for each revolution of the impression cylinder so as to bring a thin plate
projecting from its end into a position to receive the end of the sheet from the
taking off cylinder and then present its other end to the second set of grippers on
the impression cylinder to be taken thereby and receive the impression on the
other side at the same time as the first side of the next clean sheet is fed and
printed, thus one sheet is fed and printed on one side and the previous sheet is
reversed, fed and printed on the other side or perfected at each rotation of the
impression cylinder.
;

page_text: The tapes carried on the oscillating board take the sheet along the board until
it comes against a stop which is adjusted to leave the tail of the sheet in the
position to be fed to the grippers of the impression cylinder.
The rollers for the tapes are rotated by an endless band driven from any
convenient rotating part of the machine.
There is a roller carried on brackets from the oscillating table against which the
sheet comes in passing from the taking off cylinder to the tapes on the oscillating
board.
E
In some cases the roller last named may be carried in prolongations of the arms
for the roller which is made to press against the taking off cylinder and push the 1
sheet on to the tapes of the oscillating board the arms for which rollers are actuated
by connections with any suitable cam.
When the grippers having the perfected sheet pass the second taking off cylinder
it takes the sheet and delivers it by tapes on to the arms of a fly that piles the
perfected sheets upon a delivery table.
Fig 1 is a side elevation with parts of the framing broken away showing so
much of the mechanism as will be necessary for illustrating our invention.
The details of the mechanism and mode of actuating are mainly the same as
those well known in the Wharfdale Printing Machine.
a represents the feeding table, b inking rollers below it, c the feeding board,
d the impression cylinder, e the taking off and reversing cylinder, f the taking
off cylinder having tapes f¹ for delivering the sheet to the fly g having its axis
at g; h the delivery table or surface upon which the printed sheets are piled and b
are inking rollers under it.
All the parts above referred to by letters of reference are the same as or are
similar to those used in the Wharfdale Printing Machine where the impression
cylinder makes one complete rotation while the type carriage is moving one way
and stands while the type carriage moves back for the next impression.
It will be understood from what has been hereinbefore stated, that the grippers
on the taking off cylinder e take the sheet from those grippers on the impression
cylinder & which receive the unprinted sheet, and that the grippers of the taking
off cylinder take the sheet from the grippers on the impression cylinder, which
receive the sheet after being printed on one side and reversed.
It will also be understood that the taking off cylinders e and fare each geared
with the impression cylinder, same as the one taking off cylinder of the Wharfdale
printing machine is geared up with its impression cylinder, and in like manner the
taking off cylinders are a multiple of the impression cylinder.
In the example shown in the drawings the taking off cylinders are intended to
make four revolutions to one of the impression cylinder, and one revolution only of
each taking off cylinder e and fis operative the other three being empty, and
consequently the grippers on the impression cylinder only transfer to those on the
taking off cylinders, when they come opposite (or in conjunction) which is once for
each of the four revolutions of the taking off cylinders.
1
The grippers when the edge of the sheet is being passed from one set of grippers
to the other are actuated the same as in the Wharfdale printing machine, namely 4
a stationary cam surface secured to the framing acts upon the bowl on the crank.
of the gripper shaft of the impression cylinder to open the grippers and then allow
them to close, when the sheet is released, and a cam piece on the edge of the
impression cylinder acts on the bowl of the crank on the shaft of the grippers on
the taking off cylinder to open them to be ready to admit the edge of the sheet
and then allow them to close upon it.
In the arrangement illustrated, the. stationary cam piece, for operating upon the
bowl for the grippers, which take the unprinted sheet, acts on the outside of the
bowl and forces it in a. direction towards the axis of the impression cylinder, while
the stationary cam piece for the bowl of the grippers which take the sheet printed.

page_text: on one side, acts to force the bowl in the contrary direction, that is, away from the
axis of the impression cylinder.
It is necessary to arrange that these two stationary cam pieces shall act only
upon the bowls for their respective grippers, and this is effected by making the
bowls large enough in diameter, and so that the widthway of one bowl, will be a
little more than its width further from the end of the impression cylinder, than
the other bowl for the other grippers, and by placing the edges of the stationary
cams to come opposite the bowls to be actuated by them, thus the bowl nearest the
end of the impression cylinder cannot come opposite to and be actuated by the
stationary cam surface for the other bowl, and the pin or stud in the crank for
the latter bowl will extend past the edge of the stationary cam for the other bowl
nearest the end of the cylinder, without touching its surface in passing the diameter
of the bowl extending beyond its pin or stud being sufficient to give the amount of
movement required.
In some cases the crank and consequently its bowl, for one set of grippers, is or
may be set to come nearer to, and the crank and bowl for the other set of grippers
further from, the axis of the impression cylinder, so that while in this case each
bowl is at the same distance from the end of the cylinder, and thus in the same.
plane of rotation, each bowl will be properly operated by its own stationary cam
piece without touching that for the other bowl.
The impression cylinder d according to our invention is of sufficient diameter to
suit two of the largest sheets intended to be printed, and is provided with two sets
of grippers which as before stated are formed, arranged and actuated as in the.
Wharfdale Machine except that as there are two sets of grippers and these are on
the opposite sides of the cylinder the grippers are opened to admit the sheets to be
fed to them and then closed by projections on a rod i extending across the end-
of the cylinder d, which rod i is made to slide to and fro endways by a cam making
one revolution for each revolution of the impression cylinder.
The taking off and reversing cylinder e is geared up with the impression cylinder d
to make by preference as before said four complete rotations to one of the impression
cylinder but the first, third and fourth revolutions of the cylinder e are empty or
non-operative so that its grippers only operate when they come opposite those on
the impression cylinder at its second revolution after the sheet is fed then receiving
the edge of the sheet fed, and taking it round with its printed surface against the
roller in the direction shown by the arrow, and by the time the grippers upon the
taking off reversing cylinder have got round into the position to deliver the edge
of the sheet the receiving and refeeding board is ready to receive it. The receiving
and refeeding board k is mounted on pivots having their bearings on the-
fraining.
There are brackets k³ and k³ at each end of the board k for carrying the bearings
of the rollers for endless tapes.
k' and k³ are rollers for the lower set of tapes the upper sides of the tapes passing
just above the surface of the table.k and the return or lower side of the tapes
passing below the table k, k and k³ are rollers for the upper set of tapes the lower-
sides of which work in contact with the upper sides of the tapes on the rollers k³
and . Motion is given to the rollers for the tapes by a grooved pulley k on the
end of the shaft of one of the rollers k* which pulley (3) is driven by an endless
band from any convenient rotating part of the machine, the endless driving band'
passes or may pass over guide pulleys rotating on one of the pivots k' on which the
board oscillates-The upper roller is or may be geared with the roller k by spur
wheels.
The board k and connected parts is oscillated by a cam in any convenient position,
making one revolution with the impression cylinder.-This cam acts upon a bowl
on a stud in an arm l' from a shaft in suitable bearings on the framing which
shaft has an arm or arms that comes under the board k or against a plate
secured. to the underside of the board for each arm ³ to act upon-There may be a
:

page_text: bowl on the arms to reduce friction if desired. The preponderating weight of
the board k and connected parts at that end causes it to always rest upon the
actuating arm or arts . The cam acts to oscillate the board k into two positions,
one in which it is shown in full line where it is supposed to be delivering the tail
end of the sheet which has been turned over by the taking off cylinder e to the
grippers on the impression cylinder d for the second or perfecting impression, and
the other position is shown in dotted line where the board and tapes and the thin
plate k at the end of the board are receiving the front end of the sheet from the
grippers of the taking off and reversing cylinder e.
The thin plate k* has spaces cut out of its edge to give room for the grippers to
pass clear, and has at intervals slight projections that will enter grooves in and
passing round the surface of the cylinder e so as to come slightly below the surface
thereof and thus get under the edge of the sheet and guide it with certainty on to
the thin plate k* and to the tapes. The roller e¹ the bearings of which are carried
in arms e from a shaft es having its bearings in the framing, rests upon the surface
of the taking off cylinder e and propels the sheet after the grippers have released it
between the tapes, by which it is carried along the board k until its edge comes
against an adjustable stop or stops when its tail end will be left in the position
to be fed to the grippers of the impression cylinder to receive the perfecting
impression the grippers of which draw the sheet from between the tapes when
the impression cylinder begins to rotate.
Fig 2 is a detached side elevation showing the oscillating board k in the position
for receiving a sheet from the taking off cylinder e and where another roller e* is
used to help to deliver the sheet to the tapes of the oscillating board. The bearings
of the additional roller et are or may be carried in slots formed in continuations
from the arms e so that when the board k lifts to receive the sheet from the
grippers of the taking off and reversing cylinder the lower roller will come under
and lift the additional roller e into the position shown in fig 2.
The slots in the arms e to permit the roller e' to be lifted away from contact
with the taking off cylinder e without lifting the roller so that the weight of
the latter will continue to act by contact with the roller k³ or tapes upon it to push
or roll the sheet along with the tapes so long as the table / remains in that position,
but before the sheet arrives at the stop the table k moves to the position for
feeding the tail end of the sheet to the grippers on the impression cylinder & when
the pivots of the roller e will rest at the lower part of the slots of the arms e².
A modification of the last arrangement described, consists in arranging the pivots
of the roller e in stationary bearings and using the roller e¹ arranged as shown
in fig 1.
The shaft e³ is actuated by a cam in any convenient position making one revo-
lution for each revolution of the impression cylinder, and the cam causes the roller e²
to be lifted clear of the cylinder e just before it ceases to rotate so as to leave the
sheet free to be drawn forward by the tapes, the cam bringing the roller e¹ against
the cylinder e at about the time its grippers take the edge of the sheet from the
impression cylinder.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed-We declare that what
we claim is
1. The arrangement of letter press printing and perfecting machines to print one
sheet on one side and perfect another sheet by the same impression cylinder at one
rotation such impression cylinder rotating intermittently in the same direction
substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The combination of a cylinder having grippers, with an impression cylinder to
take a sheet from the latter after it has received one impression and reverse it and
deliver it to mechanism to be refed to grippers on the impression cylinder and
perfected, substantially as herein before described and illustrated by the drawings..

page_text: 3. The combination and arrangement of an oscillating board or other surface
with rollers and tapes for receiving a reversed sheet printed on one side and
refeeding it to the grippers of the impression cylinder to receive the perfecting
impression substantially as herein before described and illustrated by the drawings.
4. The combination of an impression cylinder, a taking off and reversing cylinder
and an oscillating receiving and refeeding board, substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by the drawings.
5. The combination of an impression cylinder, a taking off and reversing cylinder
Oscillating receiving and refeeding mechanism, and a taking off cylinder for the
perfected sheet, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the
drawings.
6. The combination of automatic mechanism for feeding printing taking off, and
reversing receiving and refeeding perfecting, taking off and piling or delivering the
perfected sheets substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the
drawings.