IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINES."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINES."-A communication
from abroad by Auguste Hippolyte Marinoni, of Paris, France.
Sealed the 24th December 1872, and dated the 5th July 1872.

page_text: delivered by mechanical means at four or more points, whereby the
difficulty in delivering the sheets in continuous paper printing machines
is obviated. By cutting up the paper before printing, the size of the
sheet may be altered without changing the printing cylinder, it being
simply necessary to retard the feed of the paper roll to diminish the
length of the sheet.
Separators are employed which conduct the sheets to the four
mechanical receivers, where they are divided in the longitudinal direction
of the machine after printing, they having been divided in the transverse
direction before printing, as above mentioned.
In the accompanying Drawing, A shows the bed of the machine;
B, side frames; C, C¹, rolls of continuous paper; D, D¹, dampers;
E, E¹, e, e', drums and rollers for drawing off the paper; F, F, cylinders
for cutting it up into sheets; G, G¹, drums which conduct the said
sheets to cylinders J, J, to be printed on both sides by the stereotype
cylinders H, H¹; K, K', cylindrical inking table; L, L, ink fountains;
M, first apparatus for separating or distributing sheets in different
directions, placed at the centre of the machine; N, eccentric by which
the same is operated; O, O, second sheet separating or distributing
apparatus placed towards either side of the machine; P, P', eccentrics
for operating same; Q, Q', mechanical receivers; R, R¹, tables for
receiving the printed sheets; S, S¹, rollers at which the sheets are
delivered from the machine; T, T', knives.
The machine is arranged to receive rolls of continuous paper, so that
whilst one is in use another may be supplied to replace it when exhausted.
The paper supplied from either of the rolls C, C³, passes in one direction
after leaving E, E', until it reaches the first or central separator M. The
paper from roll C, for example, is first passed through the damping
apparatus D' and then conducted between the drums E, E', and on the
machine being set in motion the paper which is held by the tapes passing
round said drums is carried along by the motion of the latter, and con-
ducted between the cylinders F, F¹, by which it is cut into sheets.
In the arrangement shown in the Drawing the paper is drawn off
simply by the aid of the tapes of drums and rollers E, E, e, e¹; but this
may be effected by mounting the roll of paper on a drum, which would
unwind a length at each revolution equal to the circumference of said
drum.

page_text: By either mode it will be evident that the rate at which the paper
uncoils will vary according to the diameters of the drums employed in
unwinding, so that sheets of different length may thus be printed in the
machine. The paper after being cut into sheets in passing between the
cylinders F, F, is conveyed by the tapes carried on drums G, G', to the
blanket cylinders J, J', to be printed on both sides.
The printed sheets are all fed towards the central or first separator M,
from which point they are distributed alternately to the right and left
to the side or second separators O, O', by the aid of an arrangement of
tapes carried on rollers moved to and fro by the eccentric N. Each
separator O, O', receives one-half only of the printed sheets, and by a
similar arrangement of tapes to that of the central separator distribute
the sheets alternately to the top and bottom receivers Q, Q', each of which
in the present instance consequently receives one-fourth of the printed
sheets.
By the employment of separators or distributors, as described, any
number of mechanical receivers may be adapted to one machine. The
sheets in arriving at the delivering rollers S, S¹, are cut in the longi-
tudinal direction of the machine by means of knives T, T', formed of
discs of steel, and working against rings also of steel fixed on rollers S, S'.
The circular knives may be thrown out of gear so as to allow the
sheets to pass out uncut, when desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent
. Office on the 4th January 1973.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark, Her special
licence that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Melville
Clark, my 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 “Im-
PROVEMENTS IN CYLINDER PRINTING MACHINES," a communication to me from
abroad by Auguste Hippolyte Marinoni, of Paris, France, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
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 I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say) :-
This Invention relates to improvements in cylinder printing machines,
in which continuous lengths of paper are employed.
According to this Invention the continuous paper is cut up into sheets
of any desired length before printing, and is delivered by mechanical
means at four or more points, the difficulty in delivering the sheets in
continuous paper printing machines being thus obviated. The paper
being cut up in the machine itself before being printed, the size of the
sheet may be altered without changing the cylinders, it being simply
necessary to retard the feed of the paper roll in order to diminish the
length of the sheet.
Dividers are employed, which conduct the sheet to the four mechanical
arms or "flyers," where they are divided in the longitudinal direction of
the machine after printing, they having been divided in the transverse
direction before printing, as above-mentioned.
In the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1 of which shows a front view
of the entire machine, A is the bed; B, side frames; C, C¹, rolls of

page_text: continuous paper; D, D', dampers; E, E', e, e¹ drums and rollers for
drawing off the paper; F, F', cylinders for cutting it up into sheets;
G, G¹, Figure 3, drums which conduct the said sheets to the blanket
cylinders J, J', to be printed on both sides by the plates on cylinders.
H, H¹; K, K', cylindrical inking tables; L, L', ink fountains; M, first
apparatus for dividing or distributing the sheets placed at the centre of
the machine; N, eccentric, by which the same is operated; O, O', second
sheet dividing or distributing apparatus, placed towards either side of
the machine; P, P', excentrics for operating same; Q, Q', mechanical
flyers or receivers; R, R', tables for receiving the printed sheets;
S, S', rollers, at which the sheets are delivered from the machine;
T, T, knives; X, X', ductor rollers; Y, Y¹, vibrators or transferring
rollers; Z, Z, distributing rollers; V, VI, inking rollers.
The machine is arranged to receive two rolls of continuous paper, so
that whilst one is in use another may be supplied to replace it when
exhausted. The rolls of paper coiled on spindles are placed on the
machine at C, C', and in unwinding the paper is passed over one of the
dampers D or D', and then between rollers E, E', from which point it
takes exactly the same course, whether coming from C or C₁, so that it
will suffice to describe the action of the machine with reference to one
roll, the other operating in an exactly similar manner. For example,
the paper from roll C first passes over a roller d', turning by contact
with a roller D immersed in a trough containing water. The water is
taken off roller D by the small roller d', and deposited on the paper
for the purpose of damping the same. The paper thence passes under
roller du, and afterwards between the drums E, E¹, and rollers e, in the
direction indicated by the arrows to rollers e¹, e¹, where it is delivered
to the cylinders F, F, which cut it up into slicets. The cylinder Fis
provided with a saw blade, placed between two metal bars fixed on
springs, said bars being made to slightly project from the cylinder, see
detached view, Figure 2, drawn to a larger scale. The cylinder Fis
also provided with two bars, which in this case are fixed, but also pro-
jecting from the cylinder and exactly corresponding with those of
cylinder F. When the two bars of cylinder F meet the bars of F', they
become compressed, and the saw blade is disengaged and enters the
space between the bars of cylinder F', thus severing the paper. The
cylinders F, F', make the same number of revolutions as the cylinders
H, H', consequently a sheet will be cut off for every revolution of
'

page_text: cylinders H, H'. The drums E, E', unwind from the rolls at each
revolution a length of paper equal to their circumference, and on setting
the machine in motion the paper is conducted. by means of tapes over
rollers d¹, d, drums E, E¹, e, e, e', e¹, between the cutter cylinders F, F¹¹.
From the foregoing it will be seen that as the length of the sheet is
dependent on the size of the drums E. E', it may be readily changed by
varying the diameter of the latter or changing the gearing so as to vary
the surface speed of said drums.
In the arrangement shown the paper is unwound by draft simply, but
it may also be effected by mounting the roll of paper on a cylinder,
performing the same number of revolutions as the impression cylinders,
and unwinding at each turn a length of paper equal to its circumference.
The length of the sheet would in this case also vary according to the
diameter of the cylinder, by contact with which the roll of paper is
unwound.
The paper after being cut into sheets at F, F¹, is conveyed by
the tapes over rollers g, g', and the small rollers x, x¹, to the blanket or
impression cylinders J, J', and the sheets are thence all conducted
between the rollers m, m. The sheets in passing over cylinder J are
printed on one side by the plates of cylinder H, and passing thence to
cylinder J¹ are reversed, that is to say, the side which has been printed
by cylinder H is applied on cylinder J', and the blank side receives an
impression from cylinder H', which is also provided with plates. The
sheets after being printed on both sides are passed between the two
rollers m, m, whence they are conveyed in succession to the four flyers
or mechanical receivers.
The paper after being cut up into sheets may be conducted to the
blanket cylinders J, J', by means of drums disposed immediately above
the same and of equal diameter, as shown in Figure 3, but I preferably
employ the arrangement shown in Figure 1 of the Drawing, in which
I dispense with drums G, G³, and conduct the sheets direct to the
printing cylinders by means of the small rollers x, x¹, as shown. By
this arrangement the cylinders J, J', are rendered easy of access, and I
am enabled to obtain the finest impressions for book work, vignettes, and
other kinds of printing in these machines.
It will be seen that the arrangement of the tapes is slightly varied
when cylinders G, G', are not employed.

page_text: The inking apparatus is composed of the ink fountains L, L'; X, X',
ductor rollers rotating in the ink troughs; Y, Y', vibrating rollers which
are alternately in contact with rollers X, X', and inking tables K, K',
the latter having continuous rotary motion. The ink is thus deposited
on the inking tables K, K', by the aid of ductor rollers X, X'. The
rollers Z, Z, Z, Z¹, Z¹, Z', turn in contact with tables K, K', and have
also a sideway motion for distributing the ink; V, V¹, inking rollers
rotating in contact both with the tables K, K', and the plates on the
cylinders H, H', which rotate in the contrary direction to K, K'. The
inking rollers V, V, V, VI, receive a continual supply of ink from the
inking tables K, K', for inking the plates.
66
Having thus described the manner in which the paper is supplied to
the machine, cut up into sheets, printed on both sides and conducted
to the rollers m, m, it remains to explain how the sheets are delivered
to the four flyers" or mechanical receivers. Below the rollers m, m, is
placed the first sheet divider M, consisting of two longitudinal sliding
frames carrying four rollers n, n, i, i. These slides have a movement
imparted by an eccentric N, in such manner that the rollers n and i are
alternately brought under the rollers m, m.
In the position shown in the Drawing, the rollers n, n, correspond
with the two rollers m, m, and the printed sheet will pass between the
tapes on n, n, and be conveyed thereby between the two rollers which
are on the left hand divider O. When on the contrary eccentric N
brings the two rollers i, i, under rollers m, m, the sheet will pass between
the tapes on i, i, and be conducted to the right hand divider O¹. Thus by
the aid of divider M, the sheets are alternately conducted to either end of
the machine. The side divider O is composed of two vertically moving
bars carrying two rollers over which the tapes from n, n, pass. The said
vertical bars are operated by eccentrics P which give an up and down
motion thereto. In the position shown in the Drawing, the two rollers
carried on the bars of the divider O are opposite the two rollers u, u,
consequently the sheet will pass between the latter in the direction
indicated by the arrows to the arm or flyer Q, by which they are laid on
table R. In the lower position of the sliding frames the two rollers
carried thereby are brought opposite the rollers 7, r, whereby the sheets
passing through n, n, are conducted between », r, following the direction
indicated by the arrows until they arrive at the flyer Q, by which they
are laid on the table R'. A similar distribution of the sheets is per-

page_text: formed by the divider O¹, which conducts the sheets alternately to
flyers Q and Q¹º.
It will thus be seen that each flyer Q, Q, Q¹, Q", receives only one
fourth of the printed sheets.
With dividers arranged in the above manner there may be any number
of "flyers" placed on the machine, as desired.
The sheets on reaching the delivering rollers S, S², S¹, S¹³, are cut in
the longitudinal direction of the machine by the knives T, Tº, T', T",
formed of steel discs working against steel rings fixed on rollers S, S², S¹,
S¹² These circular knives may be thrown out of gear to allow the sheet
to pass through without being cut, if desired.
I would remark that the sheets being cut before printing are from the
time they are severed from the roll in exactly the same condition as if
supplied to the machine in separate sheets. The machine may thus be
converted into a "hand feeder" by providing it with feeding boards from 1
which the sheets are fed by hand to the cylinders F, F¹, E, E¹. The
cylinders F, F, in this case simply serve as entering drums.
The machine may be arranged for 2, 4, or 6 feeders. The cylinders F, F¹,
which cut the paper into sheets, and also the rollers g, g', beneath the
same may be grooved to receive the tapes as shown in Figure 2, the saw 2
blade being recessed at the points opposite the grooves to avoid cutting
the tapes.
In using thin paper with the arrangement illustrated in Figure 1, it
- may happen that the sheet does not always frcely engage in the tapes
passing over rollers g, g¹, whereas by the arrangement of tapes shown in 2
Figure 2, the sheets will not fail to engage in the tapes which conduct
them to the printing cylinders, whatever may be the kind of paper
employed.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as the Invention a
to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent.is,―
1st. The arrangement of the machine for and mode of employing
continuous paper cut up into sheets before printed so that the length
of the sheet may be varied without changing the cylinders, substantially
as set forth.

page_text: 2ndly. The use and application of one or more sheet dividers operating
as shown and described, by which means as many mechanical arms or
flyers as necessary may be adapted to the machine.
3rdly. The arrangement of apparatus for cutting the sheets in the
direction of their length after being printed, said sheets having been
previously severed from the rolls of paper by the machine before printing,
substantially as shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have here-
•
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of January, in the
right hundwad and coventy three
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)