IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Tompkins Delavan Jermain, of Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Printer and Publisher, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY:"-A. com-
munication from abroad by George P.. Gordon, of Rahway, in the
State of New Tonsov United State of Amarion.
i
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Tompkins Delavan
Jermain at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with;
his Petition, on the 7th September 1871.
I, TOMPKINS DELAVAN JERMAIN, of Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Printer and Publisher, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY," to be as
follows:-
"
This Invention relates to that class of letterpress printing machinery
which is called or known by the name of the Gordon jobbing presses,
to which a Patent was taken by Henry Smith Cropper, 19th Sept. 1866,
1

page_text: No. 2403, a communication from Geo. Gordon, and which are used for
printing from small forms such as hand bills.
In the improved machine the form of type is placed in a vertical or
nearly vertical position, and is held in place in the machine by means of
a spring clip so that it can easily be removed and replaced. The
form is secured in a frame or chase, which is mounted on a rocking
shaft, so that it may be moved forward at the proper time for giving
the impression to the paper. This forward motion is given by a cam
piece on the rocking shaft of the inking roller frame, coming against
a knuckle lever at the back of the form frame. When these two parts
come together the form is thrust forward about half an inch, which
is sufficient to give the impression to the paper, when it is brought
down by the platen which is provided with a frisket to hold the paper
down, and is mounted on a vibrating frame which as it rocks will bring
the platen forward and downward and opposite to the form of type.
The platen is operated by means of a toggle joint, which when
straightened takes the thrust from the form.
As a modification of this part of the mechanism, the thrust may be
taken by a pair of vibrating arms which will be brought up against the
back of the platen at the proper time.
The inking rollers are mounted in bearings at the ends of spring rods,
which work in a swinging frame, mounted on a shaft or stud behind
the vibrating form frame or bed. The inking swinging frame is
connected by a link to a crank on the front shaft, so that as this latter
turns the inking frame is made to swing on its centre of motion and
carry the inking rollers up over the surface of the type to the moveable
distributing surface. The distributing surface may be made either
single or double, and may be provided or not with a fountain according
to the nature of the work to be done, but in all cases the distributing
surfaces are in the form of circular discs to which rotary motion on
their vertical axis is given by means of a pawl acting on a circular
ratchet rack.
For light work an ink fountain will not be required, as but a small
quantity of ink will be used on the job. A sufficient quantity for a
small job may be placed on a fixed plate situated above the rotating
distributing surfaces, and these latter may be supplied therewith from
time to time by means of a small hand roller.

page_text: It is preferred to use two rotary distributors arranged one above the
other with their faces towards each other, and at such a distance apart
as to admit the inking rollers between them. The two distributing
discs are geared together so that they will rotate in opposite directions;
and the inking rollers in advancing will rotate in contact with one disc,
and in retreating will rotate in contact with the other disc. By this
means the distributing' surface will be doubled in area.
If an ink fountain be used 'then an additional roller to act as a
carrying. roller from the fountain to the distributing surface must be
used.
In order to throw the machine out of gear and prevent the form of
type from printing although some of the parts may be in motion, a
hand lever is connected by a link to a stop lever, which when acted
upon will lift up the knuckle joint at the back of the vibrating form-
frame so as to prevent the cam piece on the vibrating shaft from coming
against it and driving forward the form. This arrangement will be
found very convenient when the machine is to be driven by power.
The labour of working the machine is however so light that it may
be easily driven by a boy, or by the attendant himself by means of a
treadle lever. When arranged in this way one man can. feed in the
paper, supply the distributing surfaces with ink, work the press, and
remove the printed paper.
"
-
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Tompkins Delavan Jermain in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 7th March. 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I; TOMPKINS
DELEVAN JERMAIN; of Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Printer and Publisher, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing, date the Seventh day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself; Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Tompkins Delevan Jermain, Her

page_text: 1
special licencé that I, the said Tompkins Delevan Jermain, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Tompkins Delevan Jermain, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY,"
being a communication to me from abroad by George P. Gordon, of
Rahway, in the State of New Jersey, United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Tompkins Delevan
Jermain, 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 Tompkins Delevan Jermain,
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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figure's
marked thereon (that is to say):
"
This Invention relates to that class of letterpress printing machinery
which is called or known by the name of "the Gordon jobbing presses
and which are used for printing from small forms such as hand bills,
and consists in various improvements whereby the construction and
operation of several of the working parts are modified and simplified.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a front view and Fig. 2 a
'side elevation of a Gordon press constructed according to the present
Invention; Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing some of the working
parts, and Fig. 4 is another sectional view showing a modification in the
construction of some of these parts.
In the improved machine the form of type'a, a, Figures 3 and 4 (and
shown by dots in Fig. 2), is placed in a vertical or nearly vertical
position, and is held in place on the bed plate 6 of the machine by
means of a spring clip or weighted catch c, Fig 2, so that the form a.

page_text: can easily be removed and replaced by merely throwing back the
catch and lifting out the form.
The form secured in a suitable frame or chase and mounted on the
bed plate of the machine requires only a very slight forward motion
to bring it into position to impart the impression to the paper. To this
end the bed plate is mounted on a lever or arm 6', which works on a
rocking shaft b², so that it may be moved forward at the proper time
for giving the impression to the paper. This forward motion is given
by a cam piece d, Figures 3 and 4, on the rocking shaft e¹ of the inking
roller frame e, e, e, Fig. 2, coming against a knuckle lever f, Figures 3
and 4, at the back of the form frame and bed plate 6. When these two
parts d and come together the bed plate 6 with the form a thereon
will be thrust forward about half an inch which is sufficient to bring it
into position to give the impression to the paper when the latter is
brought down by the platen g, which is provided with a frisket / to
hold the paper down. The platen g is mounted on a vibrating
frame g¹, g¹, which as it rocks on its centre of motion g² will bring the
platen g forward, and downward, and opposite to the form of type, as
shewn in Figures 3 and 4. The platen frame is mounted on the
shaft g as its centre of motion, and is counterbalanced by a heavy
weight * on its lower arm. The platen g may be operated by means
of a toggle joint i, i, as shewn in Fig. 4, and which when straightened
brings the platten up from the recumbent position shown in Fig. 2 and
by dots in Fig. 4 to the vertical position indicated by the black lines in
Figures 3 and 4, so that it will be ready to take the thrust from tho
form a when the latter is thrust forward by the cam d and knuckle
lever f.
As a modification of this part of the mechanism the thrust may be
taken by a pair of vibrating arms j, j, Fig. 3, and shewn by dots in
Fig. 2. These arms j, j, arc cast on or form part of a shaft j¹ (extending
across the machine as shewn in Fig. 1) and on the same shaft is cast
or fixed a lever or arm 1, provided at its end with a pin or stud which
works in a cam groove k¹ in the cam plate k. The cam plate / in the.
face of which is formed the grooved cam k¹, shewn by dots in Figures 2
and 3, is provided on its periphery with teeth into which gear the teeth
of a pinion m on one end of the main shaft n, which is actuated by
means of the treadle lever o, the connecting rod o¹, and the crank n' on
the end of the shaft n. As the cam plate k rotates the cam groove k¹

page_text: acts on the lever and thereby moves the shaft j¹ on its axis, and brings
up the vibrating arms j, j, into the horizontal position shewn in Fig. 3 so
that their outer ends will be brought against or opposite to projecting
pieces on the back of the platen.
The inking rollers e², e², Fig. 2, are mounted in bearings at the ends
of the spring rods e³, e³, which work in one swinging frame e mounted on
the shaft or stud e¹, behind the vibrating form frame or bed 6. The
swinging inking frames e, e, are keyed on to the rocking shaft e¹, on the
outer end of which is a crank arm or lever g, Figures 1 and 2, which is
connected by a link p to a crank pin fixed on the face of the cam
plate k, so that as this latter rotates in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2,
the link P will push back the crank arm 9 and thereby cause the inking
frame e, e, to swing on its centre of motion e¹ and carry the inking
rollers e², e², up to and over the surface of the type in the form a, to
the movable distributing surfaces r, r, above. The ink distributing
surface may be made either double, as shown at r, r, in Figures 1 and 2,
or single, as shewn at ¹, Fig. 5, and they may be provided or not with
a fountain according to the nature of the work to be done, but in all cases
the distributing surfaces are in the form of circular discs, to which rotary
motion on their vertical axes is given by means of a pawl r³, acting on a
circular ratchet rack r³, mounted on the axle of the circular disc r or r¹.
The pawl is mounted at the upper end of a bell-crank lever t, the
other arm of which is acted on by a cam t¹ (shown by dots in Fig. 2),
mounted on the shaft e¹, so that as the latter rotates and causes the
swinging inking frame e to carry the inking rollers e³ up over the
surface of the form of type the circular distributing surfaces are
made to move round a few inches on their centre of motion.
For light work an ink fountain will not be required as but a small
quantity of ink will be used on the job. A sufficient quantity for a
small job may be placed on a fixed plate s situated above the rotating
distributing surfaces r, r, and these latter may be supplied therewith
from time to time by means of a small hand roller.
It is preferred to use two rotatory distributors r, r, arranged one above
the other, as shewn at Figures 1 and 2, with their faces towards each
other, and at such a distance apart as to admit the inking rollers e, e,
between them. By this means the ink distributing surface will be
doubled in area. The two distributing discs », r, are geared together by
the wheel u, so that they will rotate in opposite directions, and the

page_text: inking rollers e², e², in advancing will rotate in contact with one disc,
that is to say, the lower one as they run along the guides w, w, and in
retreating they will be lifted up by the guides w, and will. rotate in
contact with the other or upper disc.. This, lifting motion of the
guides 10 is effected by means of a stud pin 1, fixed on the face of the
cam plate k*, which by means of the rod or link will draw down an
arm x', on the axle of which is a snail x², which by bearing against a
bowle on the frame of the guides w, w, will lift up the latter and thus.
cause the inking rollers to rotate in contact with the upper disc as above
mentioned.
In order to obtain access to the double distributing surface shewn in
Figures 1 and 2 the upper disc r is mounted in a moveable frame which
is capable of being lifted up on the centre pin 2 by the handle 2. When.
raised it may be held in the elevated position by the catch 3 which will
lay hold of the tail 4 of the upper frame. The attendant may then
supply more ink by means of his roller, as already explained.
If an iuk fountain be used then an additional roller to act as a
carrying roller from the fountain to the distributing surface must be :
employed. An arrangement of this kind is shewn at Fig. 5 in
which e, e, is the swinging frame for carrying the inking rollers as in
the former instance, but in this Figure only one circular distributing
surface is employed. The ink fountain consisting of a trough and roller
revolving therein is shewn at y, Fig. 5. A carrying roller z is mounted
at the end of an arm jointed to the swinging frame e, and is held in place
by a coiled spring. As the swinging frame e moves upwards the
roller is carried to the fountain roller to receive its supply of ink,
which on its return it. distributes over the surface of the circular
distributing plater, to which an axial motion is communicated by the
pawl and ratchet wheel ³ in the manner already explained in
reference to Figures 1 and 2.
:
In order to throw the machine out of gear and prevent the form of
type from printing, although some of the parts may be in motion, a
hand lever vis connected by a link v¹ to a stop lever v², which when
acted upon will lift up the knuckle joint f, Figures 3 and 4, at the back
of the vibrating form frame b, so as to prevent the cam picce d on the
vibrating shaft e¹ from coming against it and driving forward the form a..
This arrangement will be found very convenient when the machine is to
be driven by power.

page_text: The labour of working the machine is however so light that it may
be easily driven by a boy or by the attendant himself, by means of the
treadle lever. When arranged in this way one man can feed in the
paper from the table wo*, Fig. 2, supply the distributing surfaces r, r, r,
with ink by means of the roller and plate s, work the press by the
treadle lever, and remove the printed paper; if considered desirable the
machine may be worked by power, leaving to the attendant the task of
supplying and removing the paper and attending to the supply of ink.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, and having explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to
me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the mode herein set forth of
mounting and working the platen and bed plate of the machine.
I also claim particularly the combination of the cam piece d, and
knuckle joint or lever f, or their equivalents, with the throwing-off gear,
whereby the forward motion of the bed plate and form of type may be
arrested instantaneously without stopping the other motions of the
machine.
Second. I claim the use of two ink distributing surfaces in com-
bination as set forth, and I also claim the mode or modes herein set
forth of effecting a proper and uniform distribution of the ink, so that
the inking rollers may be properly supplied.
.
:
In witness whereof, I, the said Tompkins Delevan Jermain, have:
hercunto set my hand and scal, the Sixth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-