Improvements in Means or Apparatus Employed in Printing from Stencils.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Nov., 1991
Complete Specification Left, 10th Aug., 1892-Accepted, 1st Oct., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus Employed in Printing from
Stencils.
I, DAVID GESTETNER, of 70 and 71 Chiswell Street, in the City of London,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
The invention has for its object the combination with a paper stencil stretching
and printing frame, of means for passing the said frame to and fro under a printing
roller, or vice versa; of means for automatically lowering such printing roller on to
the stencil for printing, and of raising the said roller off the stencil after the printing
has been effected; of means for supplying and properly distributing the ink to such
printing roller; of means for automatically raising the stencil stretching frame
and stencil above the printing table to enable a sheet of paper to be laid on such
table for printing, and to enable a printed sheet to be removed therefrom; of means
for automatically pushing or throwing off the printed sheet from the printing table;
of means for enabling the printing table and stencil stretching frame to be readily
removed out of action; and of means for enabling the inking and printing rollers
to be placed in contact with each other for the purpose of effectually distributing
a fresh supply of ink before allowing the stencil stretching and printing frame to
pass in contact with the printing roller.
In carrying my invention into effect, I prefer to give a to and fro motion to the
stencil stretching and printing frame, for which purpose it is mounted on a table
and suitably guided to enable the saine to work smoothly to and fro thereon.
Attached to such stencil stretching and printing frame, is a toothed rack and a
cam surface having switches for the purpose hereinafter referred to, or such rack
and cam can be carried by a supplemental frame to which the stencil stretching
and printing frame is removably attached.
On each side of the table is a standard carrying bearings for the axle of the
inking roller, a cross bar on which the ink distributing or "waver" roller, carrying
bar slides, a cross bar carrying arms in which the printing roller is mounted, and
springs acting on the ends of a pair of levers attached to such latter cross bar for
the purpose of pressing the printing roller firmly on to the stencil when printing.
Or such springs may be dispensed with and the printing roller may be pressed
on to the stencil simply by its own weight or by other suitable means.
One of such standards carries the axle of a toothed wheel gearing into the before
mentioned rack, an axle having an operating handle, a pinion gearing into the said
toothed wheel, and a toothed wheel gearing into a toothed wheel on the axle of
the inking roller, an axis carrying a lever having a stud at its free end which works
in connection with the before mentioned switched cam surface attached to the
stencil stretching and printing frame, and which lever is connected by link to a
lever on the bar carrying the printing roller and acts to raise and lower the latter
as required, a hinged cam lever and a stop acting therewith to act in connection
with a stud or projection on the stencil frame, so that in the motion, in one direction,
of the said frame, the stud will run up said cam lever and raise the frame, whilst in
the contrary motion, when inserting the frame into position, the said stud will freely
pass said cam lever. The said standard also carries an axis forming the centre of a
lever, one end of which is in position to act upon one of the levers connected with
the printing roller to raise the latter into contact with the inking roller, whilst the
other end of said lever has a stud entering the groove of a cam lever also mounted
on said standard, by which the printing roller can, when desired, be raised into
contact with the inking roller, or be permitted to fall away therefrom.

page_text: The inking roller has on one end thereof, a cam groove in the form of two screw
threads crossing each other and joining at the ends, in combination with which acts
a swivelling projection carried by the bar of the distributing or "waver" roller, to
give a to and fro motion to the latter the distributing roller or the inking roller
is so mounted as to enable the several rollers to be readily separated from each
other when the apparatus is at rest. One or a pair of lever arms or wipers is or
are acted upon a cam, stud, or spring, or by any suitable means, in the rising of
the stencil frame, to cause it or them to push or throw off the printed sheet
from the printing table in readiness for a non-printed sheet to be again placed
thereon.
A fixed stop at the rear and a spring stop in the front, limit the motion of the
frame in either direction, whilst by depressing the spring stop, the said frame can
be readily removed from the rest of the apparatus.
The stencil stretching and printing frame, with the exception of the additions
herein before referred to, is similar to those ordinarily used with paper stencils, and
when removed from the apparatus can be used for printing by hand in the ordinary
manner, with the addition that it will act to deliver the printed sheet as before
described.
I have above described the construction of stencil printing apparatus in which
the frame is caused to move to and fro under the printing roller, but it will be
readily understood that by slight modifications the said frame could be made
stationary, and to and fro motion could be given to the printing and other rollers,
and I would remark that the arrangement of the apparatus may be modified without
departing from the peculiar character of my invention.
Dated this 10th day of November 1891.
DAVID GESTETNER,
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus Employed in Printing from
Stencils.
1 DAVID GESTETNER of 70 and 71 Chiswell Street in the City of London
Manufacturer 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:—
The invention has for its object the combination with a paper stencil stretching
and printing frame of means for passing the said frame to and fro under a printing
roller, of means for automatically lowering such printing roller on to the stencil
for printing and of raising the said roller off the stencil after the printing has been
effected, of means for supplying and properly distributing the ink to such printing
roller, of means for automatically raising the stencil stretching frame and stencil
above the printing table to enable a sheet of paper to be laid on such table for
printing and to enable a printed sheet to be removed therefrom, of means for
automatically pushing or throwing off the printed sheet from the printing table, of
means for enabling the printing table and stencil stretching frame to be readily
removed out of action and of means for enabling the inking and printing rollers to
be placed in contact with each other for the purpose of effectually distributing a
fresh supply of ink before allowing the stencil stretching and printing frame to pass
in contact with the printing roller.
And in order that my said invention may be clearly understood and readily
carried into effect I will proceed aided by the accompanying drawings fully to
describe the same.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan, Figure 2 is a side view and Figure 3 is an end view of a
stencil printing apparatus constructed according to my invention.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of parts showing some of the parts in section and
some in a different position from that shown in Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a plan of the printing roller and of its lever frame separately.
Figure 6 is a horizontal section drawn on the line 1 1 of Figure 1.
Figure 7 is an internal view of the gear standard showing some parts in section.
Figure 8 is a sectional elevation of the parts carrying the ink distributing roller.
Figure 9 is a sectional elevation of parts for giving the to and fro motion to the
ink distributing roller.
Figures 10 and 11 are respectively a side elevation and a plan of one of the levers
separately.
Figure 12 is a side view, Figure 13 is a plan, Figure 14 is a back view and
Figure 15 is a detail view of apparatus for pushing or throwing off the printed
sheet from the printing table.
In all the figures like parts are indicated by similar letters of reference.
a is the stencil stretching and printing frame which is generally constructed
in the manner well understood but with the additions or alterations hereinafter
referred to.
In carrying my invention into effect I give a to and fro motion to the frame a
for which purpose it is mounted on a table band is suitably guided to enable the
same to work smoothly to and fro thereon as hereinafter described.
al
The frame a as shown in the drawings has two dowel holes a formed in one side
of its base a to pass on to two dowels e' fixed in a slide or frame c carrying
toothed rack 2 and a cam surface having switches etc for the purpose hereinafter
referred to.
This slide or frame c is formed with one edge square and the other bevelled to
work between correspondingly formed guides 62 fixed on the table b, but it may
be otherwise guided. The side of the frame a opposite to that connected with
the slide or frame c is supported on a smooth rail ³ fixed along that side of the
table b.
By this means the frame a is guided so as to be enabled to move smoothly to and
fro on the table b.
It will be evident that instead of removeably connecting the frame a with the
slide or frame c, rack e² and cam c³, c, c, it may have the rack 2 and cam c³, c², c³
permanently fixed thereto but this latter arrangement is not so satisfactory as that
previously described.
To the sides of one end of the table bare fixed standards d in which are formed
bearings for the axles or trunnions e² of the frame or cross bar e' the arms or
levers of which carry the inking roller e; in each of the standards d d are fixed
cross bars or rods ff on which slides the bar or frame g¹ carrying the ink distri-
buting or waver roller g, and a spring e is mounted on a stud 2 of each of such
frames d; one end of each of such springs acts on a projection e³ from one of the
arms or levers 3 whilst the other ends thereof are capable of being placed in one
or other of the series of catches d³ on each of the standards d d to regulate the
strength of such springs which latter are for the purpose of pressing the printing
roller e firmly onto the stencil when printing.
The springs et may however be dispensed with and the printing roller may be
pressed onto the stencil simply by its own weight or by other suitable means.
The standard d carries the axle h of a toothed wheel gearing into the rack c²
an axle i having an operating handle (not shown) mounted thereon, a toothed
wheel on the axle i gearing into the toothed wheel ', the axle of a toothed
wheel gearing into a toothed wheel k¹ on the axle of the inking roller k, an axis /
carrying a double armed lever l, having a stud l² at the free end of the arm (³ which
:

page_text: works in connection with the before mentioned switched cam surface 3 whilst the
arm acts on the underside of a projection e³ on one of the arms e³ of the printing
roller frame e¹ to raise said frame when required for which purpose the stud 12 is
acted upon automatically by the cam surface ³, c', e when the apparatus is being
used for printing. The standard d also carries the axis of a hinged cam lever m
and a stop m' acting with such cam lever which latter acts in connection with a
stud or projection a³ on the stencil stretching frame a so that in the motion in the
direction of the arrow, Figure +, of the stencil stretching and printing frame a
the stud a³ will run-up said cam lever m and raise the frame at whilst in the motion
in the contrary direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 2 when inserting the
frame a into position, the stud a³ will freely pass said cam lever m merely turning
the latter somewhat on its axis. The standard d is also provided with an axis n¹
carrying a lever n one end of which is in position to act upon a stud 15 carried by
the arm of the lever whilst the other end of such lever has a thumb piece n²
by means of which the printing roller e can, when desired, be raised by hand into
contact with the inking roller & or be permitted to fall away therefrom. This
lever n is employed when it is desired to ensure a proper supply of ink to the
printing roller e previous to placing the stencil stretching and printing frame a in
position in the apparatus in which case the thumbs piece n of the lever n can be so
far depressed as to enable that end of the lever n to be passed underneath the stop
or catch on the standard d by which means the printing roller e can be retained
in contact with the inking roller k when by means of the operating handle, not
shown, rotary motion can be given to the axle i which by the gear wheels i, j and
will communicate rotary motion to the inking roller k and through contact therewith,
to the printing roller e. The inking roller : has on one end thereof a cam groove
in the form of two screw threads crossing each other and joining at their ends in
combination with which acts a swivelling projection g² carried by the bar g¹ of the
distributing or waver roller g to give a to and fro motion to the latter. The ink
distributing or waver "roller g is mounted in a frame g³ centred in the arms g
of the bar or frame g¹ to enable the roller y to be separated from the roller when
the apparatus is at rest which separation is effected by acting upon the frame g³ by
hand or by a projection from a cover (not shown) which is placed over the apparatus
when the latter is not in use; the printing roller e also automatically, falls out of
contact with the inking roller when the stencil stretching and printing frame a is
drawn out against the spring stop with the frame a¹ in its lowered position when
the apparatus is out of use and is to be put away with its cover on.
:6
A stop cfixed to the rack acts to limit the motion of the frames a and c to the
rear by travelling to the inner end of the groove d in the frame d whilst a spring
stop acts to limit the forward motion of such frames; by depressing the spring
stop the frames a and c can be readily removed from the rest of the apparatus.
The lever n is provided with a stud stop at which passes through a curved slot d
of the frame or standard d so that when the frames a and c are removed out of their
working positions with the rack e² to the left of the stop n' and the lever n is held
in its depressed position the frame a cannot be passed underneath the printing
roller e until by raising the lever n the stop n is removed out of the way of the
rack and the roller e is liberated so as to render it capable of printing.
Referring to Figures 12 to 15 I will now describe the apparatus for pushing o
At one corner of the
throwing off the printed sheet from the printing table a.
table near one hinge of the frame a', or it may be at each of such corners,
mount in bearings ', carried by a plate o, the axle p of a lever arm or wiper p
the axle p' is capable of moving up and down in its bearings o' and of turning partly
round therein, it is fixed in a block p² which is acted upon by a spring p³ to keep
the wiper or lever arm p normally in the position shown by the full lines in Figure 1
and to return it to such position after it has been moved to the position shown by
the dotted lines in such figure.
The spring palso acts to raise the said lever arm or wiper p to, or slightly
above, the level of the top of the printing table a³ when by the action of the cam

page_text: and stud a³ the stencil stretching frame a has been raised to the position shown at.
Figure 4 and by the dotted lines in Figure 12. The frame a carries, near one or
both of its hinged corners, a plate q on which is mounted a tumbler cam q' which
is acted upon by a spring 92 to keep it normally in the position shown at Figure 12
against a stop 3. When closing the frame a on to the table as a pin pt attached
to the block p2 passes on the inner side of the projection on the tumbler cam g' and,
in doing so, turns the latter on its axis, then when said pin p' has passed the said
tumbler cam the latter immediately resumes its normal position, also in the closing
of the frame a on to the table as the part a' of such frame acts upon an arm p³
fixed on the lower end of the axle p¹ to depress the latter and consequently the lever
arm or wiper p below the level of the table a; then, when in the action of the
apparatus the frame at is raised, the outer side of the projection on the tumbler
cam pushes against the pin p and thereby turns the lever arm or wiper p to the
position shown by the dotted lines in Figure 13, the spring på at such time acting
to raise the lever arm or wiper p as before described. The block p², in one position
of the lever arm or wiper p, rests against the stop p and the motion of such wiper p
is limited in the other direction by the stop p³.
The stencil stretching and printing frame with the exception of the additions
hereinbefore described is similar to those ordinarily used with paper stencils and
when removed from the apparatus can be used for printing by hand in the ordinary
manner with the addition that it will act to deliver the printed sheet as before
described.
The action of the apparatus is as follows: Supposing a sheet of paper to be
printed upon has been placed in position below the stencil the axle is rotated the
gearing is thereby set in motion so as to pass the stencil stretching and printing
frame a underneath the printing roller e for printing; in the motion of such frame a
in such direction the printing roller e is at first raised by the right end of the cam
surface c³, then the switch et by enabling the projection 12 of the lever 7 to pass
below the cam surface e permits the printing roller e to fall onto the stencil where
it continues to act until the projection of the lever reaches the left end of the
came, when it will pass from underneath such cam past the switch e; then on
reversing the motion of the gearing the frame a will be caused to travel to the left,
the projection will rise up the outside of the switch and will then travel on the
upper side of the cam c³ and switch c and in such position the lever will raise
the printing roller e from off the stencil and carry it against the inking roller & to
receive a fresh supply of ink, the other parts of the apparatus will act as hereinbefore
described to distribute the ink to raise and lower the stencil stretching frame and
to eject the printed sheet, a fresh sheet of paper is then placed on the printing
table when the operations will be repeated.
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 general arrangement and combination of apparatus to be employed in
printing from stencils, substantially as herein shown and described.
2. In stencil printing apparatus the combination with a stencil stretching and
printing frame moved to and fro, of the arrangement of parts for carrying the
printing roller and the mechanism whereby the said printing roller is automatically
lowered on to the stencil and away from the inking roller when the frame carrying
the stencil is moving in one direction and whereby the said printing roller is also
automatically raised off the stencil and into contact with the inking roller, to obtain
its supply of ink, when the stencil carrying frame is moving in the contrary
direction substantially as herein shown and described.
3. In stencil printing apparatus having a moveable stencil carrying frame and a
printing roller and inking roller as above referred to, the combination of an ink
distributing or waver roller operated substantially as herein shown and described.
4. In stencil printing apparatus having a moveable stencil carrying, frame, a

page_text: printing roller, an inking roller and an ink distributing roller, operated as herein
described, the combination therewith of means whereby when it is desired to
supply and distribute the ink to the printing roller previous to placing the stencil
carrying frame in action, the printing roller can be raised into contact with the
inking roller and the said printing roller, inking roller and distributing roller
continuously rotated in one direction in contact with each other, and a stop to
prevent the stencil carrying frame from being pushed forward with its rack into
gear with the toothed wheel driving the same substantially as herein shown and
described.
5. In stencil printing apparatus having a moveable stencil stretching and printing
frame and an inking apparatus as herein described, the mounting of the ink
distributing roller in such manner that it can be readily separated from the
inking roller when the apparatus is not in use substantially as herein shown and
described.
6. In stencil printing apparatus having a moveable stencil stretching and printing
frame, the combination with the stencil stretching frame of a stud a³ and a cam
lever m to automatically raise such stencil stretching frame in the return motion
after the printing has been effected and to again lower such frame when after
a fresh sheet of paper has been placed on the printing table, the printing frame
is again moved in the direction for printing substantially as herein shown and
described.
7. In stencil printing apparatus, the combination therewith of apparatus whereby
an arm or wiper is caused to automatically push or throw the printed sheet off the
printing table substantially as herein shown and described.
DAVID GESTETNER,
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents.