AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING
Year: 1821

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
PARKIN, of Skinner Street, Bishopsgate Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster,
the Twenty-fourth day of November, in the second year of His reign, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas Parkin, my exors, admors, and assigns,
His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Thomas Parkin, my exors, admors, and assigns, during the term of years
therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso, that if I, the said Thomas Parkin, shall
not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent,
and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease,
determine, and become void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Parkin, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in manner following (that is to say):-
My Invention of an improvement or improvements in printing consists in
an improved manner of applying and distributing (by means of an apparatus
herein-after to be described) the printing ink or colouring matter upon the
surface of types, blocks, plates, and tablets of every description which admit of
being inked or furnished with colour sufficiently to take prints or impressions
from, by means of a cylinder or roller passing over the surfaces of the said
types, blocks, plates, and other similar surfaces.
In order to render my Specification clear and intelligible, I have hereunto
annexed a Sheet of Drawings or Plans, wherein Figure 1 represents an hori-
zontal plan of the apparatus for applying and distributing the printing ink
or colouring matter upon types, blocks, plates, and other similar surfaces;
Figure 2, a side elevation of the apparatus; Figure 3, a cross section, to shew
some of the parts which are not visible in the other Figures; and Figure 4,
a detached part of the apparatus. Note.-The same characters or letters of
reference denote corresponding parts upon all the Figures.
A represents a square frame of metal, which is mounted so as to slide
freely backwards and forwards, being guided between a number of small
rollers b, the pivots of which rollers, turn in small standards attached to a
fixed frame of cast iron B by screws and nuts, so as to admit of raising or
lowering any one of the said rollers in order to adjust the position of the moving
frame A. c, c, represent two short pieces of metal which project from the cross
bar a of the moving frame A, being fixed thereto by screw nuts as seen in
Figure 1. The pieces of metal c, c, have holes through them to receive the.
screwed ends of short arms of metal, which project downwards, and are fixed by
nuts d, seen in Fig. 2; the lower ends of the said arms have round holes
formed through them to support the pivots or centres of the inking roller I,
which is made of an elastic composition similar to the inking rollers at present
in use in printing machines of various descriptions. The inking roller I receives
its requisite supply of ink or colour by passing over and rolling across the
narrow table or metal plate T; as the moving frame A is pushed in or drawn
out by its handle H, the ink or colour is distributed along the surfaces of
the table T by means of the small furnishing roller F being mounted in a
carriage so as to be capable of rolling along the surface of the table T in a
direction at right angles to the motion of the sliding frame A; the furnishing
roller F receives the ink or colour upon its circumference by coming into

page_text: contact with the ink boxes or reservoirs R¹, R³, situated at each end of the
table T, and containing a supply of ink or colour; the faces of the ink boxes
are covered with a fine wire grating or sieve, or otherwise with cloth, flannell,
or other similar material, through which the ink or colour finds its way slowly,
and is taken off upon the circumference of the furnishing roller F when the
said roller comes into contact with the gratings or faces of the ink boxes at
either end of its course along the table T. The furnishing roller F is made
of an elastic composition, similar to the inking roller I, or otherwise of leather
or other suitable material or substance, and is mounted upon a short axis, the
pivots of which axis work through holes formed in two plates of metal e, e;
the plates e, e, are connected together by screw bolts 8, s, passing through a
block of wood or metal inserted between them, so as to form a frame or carriage
for the furnishing roller to revolve in. The extreme ends of the plates e, e, are
adapted to receive small wheels or rollers r, r, seen in Fig. 3, which runs upon
the rail C of the fixed frame, which rail is parallel to the surface of the table T,
so that the circumference of the furnishing roller F may keep always in contact
with the surface of the table T, although it is capable of being moved along
from one end of the table to the other upon its rollers 1, 1. The pivots of the
furnishing roller are not inserted into round holes through the plates e, e, but'
have the liberty of sliding up and down a short distance in oblong long holes,
so that the circumference of the roller F may always accommodate itself to
the surface of the table T, along which it moves, the roller being kept down
sufficiently by its own weight. The upper part of the circumference of the
roller F is in contact with the surfaces of several small metal rollers, which
turn upon pivots between the plates e, e, through oblong holes, to allow them
to rise and fall slightly; those small metal rollers serve to distribute the ink or
colour more effectually upon the circumference of the furnishing roller F, and
thereby cause a more effectual distribution of ink or colour over the surface of
the table T, which is supplied by the furnishing roller F rolling along it as
before mentioned. The traversing motion of the roller F and its carriage
along the table T is effected as follows:-The pivots of the small rollers r, r,
have loops or shackels t, t, upon them, as seen in Figure 3; to these loops small
cords or catgut lines o and p are attached, which pass over pullies i, i, situated
at the ends of the cross rail C; the cords or lines o and p then return under
the rail C, and pass round small horizontal pullies k, k, fixed also to the rail C,
from whence the cords or lines proceed to two pullies m, m, (one only of which
is seen in the Drawing,) being placed close together in one frame, but so as to
turn round quite independent of each other; the frame of the pullies m, m,
is screwed to the fixed frame B; the two cords or lines o and p then pass

page_text: up and over two pullies n, n, fixed in like manner in one frame, screwed
also to the frame B, but so as to turn round independent of each other;
both of these pullies are shewn in the plan, Fig. 1, where one of the catgut
lines marked o is represented as attached directly to the cross bar a* of
the moving frame A, and the other catgut line marked p is carried over a
pulley q, which is mounted in a frame projecting from the cross bar B* of the
fixed frame; the line p then returns and is attached to the cross bar a* in the
same manner as the line o.
.
'
The operation of this system of pullies with the cords or catgut lines is as
follows: When the moving frame A with the inking roller I is pushed quite
in by its handle H, the furnishing roller F, with its frame or carriage, is at one
end of the table T, in which situation the surface of the furnishing roller F, is
pressed into contact with the face of the ink box or reservoir R', to take a
supply of ink or colour, as before mentioned; but when the moving frame A
is drawn out by its handle H in the direction of the arrow, shewn in the
Figures 1 & 2,) the catgut line o being fastened to the cross bar a* is pulled,
and draws the small carriage along upon its rollers r, r, in the direction shewn
by the arrow in Figure 8, and rolls the furnishing roller F over the table T,
spreading or covering the surface of the said table with ink or colour. At the
period when the moving frame A is drawn out to its utmost extent, the small
carriage and furnishing roller F will have arrived at the other end of the
table T', and the circumference of the furnishing roller F will be pressed in
contact with the face of the ink box or reservoir R³, so as to procure a new
supply of ink or color, in the manner herein-before described. In this state
the moving frame A is pushed in by its handle II in an opposite direction
to the small arrows in Figure 1 and 2, which pulls and draws the catgut line p
over the pulley q, and by means of the pullies n, m, k, and i, before mentioned,
causes the carriage and furnishing roller F to traverse or roll the whole length
of the table T, thereby spreading the ink or colour in an even and regular
manner upon its surface, which ink or colour is taken up upon the circum-
ference of the inking roller I, when the moving frame A is pushed in or drawn
out by its handle H, by the said roller passing and returning across the breadth
of the table T in a direction perpendicular to the traversing motion of the fur-
nishing roller F. By this means, the ink or colour would be spread or
distributed equally upon the surface of the inking roller I, so as to be capable
of furnishing or inking the surface of types, blocks, plates, and other similar
surfaces, (over which the said inking roller might be passed,) in an uniform
manner, to produce a good impression from and without much labour, since the
same motion of drawing out and pushing in the moving frame A and inking

page_text: roller to distribute the ink or colour upon types, blocks, plates, and other
similar surfaces, causes the furnishing roller F to furnish a fresh supply of ink
or colour upon the table T, to be taken up by the inking roller I the next time
of its passing across the said table; V in Fig. 1 represents a flat plate of metal,
which is firmly secured in the fixed frame B, and is adjusted exactly in a plane
with the table T for the inking roller I to pass over in its motion, in order to
insure a more perfect distribution of ink or colour over the surface of the said
roller; the plate V is not placed in contact with the edge of the table T, but is
fixed so as to leave a narrow slit or parallel groove for one of the plates e of
the carriage of the furnishing roller to slide in, as shewn in Fig. 1, and also in
the section, Fig. 4; but in some instances I make the table T and plate V in
one entire piece, as represented by the Figure 6 on the Drawing, in which
case the rollers r, r, of the carriage of the furnishing roller run between guides.
or ribs formed upon the rail C and underside of the table T, so as to be guided
steadily in their motion, the pivots of the furnishing roller F being supported
by one of the plates e of the carriage only, which plate is made stronger, as
seen by the section, Fig. 6, and is cranked or turned over the table T, in order.
to support both the pivots of the furnishing roller F. I sometimes make the
faces of the ink boxes or reservoirs of a concave form, corresponding to the
curve of the furnishing roller F, as represented by R in Fig. 5, by which means
the ink or colour is conveyed better upon the surface of the said roller; and in
some instances I place a piece of soft cloth, flannel, or other similar substance
against the gratings or surfaces of the ink reservoirs, through which substances
the ink or colour finds its way slowly and more uniformly. than with the
gratings alone. 61, 61, represent two small standards, which are fixed by nuts to
the plate V; they are each furnished with two pulleys, between which the fore-
part of the moving frame A enters when drawn out, so as to be guided and
supported in its motion; the standards b', 6', are made open on one side, as
shewn in the Fig. 3, to allow the cross bar a of the moving frame A to pass
without obstruction.
This apparatus is applicable to most description of printing presses, and
may be placed either behind the press or in front or elsewhere, as may be
found most convenient (according to the nature of the press to which it is to
be applied), always observing that the apparatus is fixed in such a position
that the surface of the table T and plate V may form one level plane with the
surface of the types, blocks, plates, or other similar surfaces which are on the
press, and are intended to be furnished with ink or colour to print from, so
that the inking roller I may roll or move freely from off the plate V across
the surface of the types or other similar surfaces, and return again.

page_text: Having described the apparatus in such manner as to enable persons con-
versant with such matters to put it in practice, it remains for me to state what
I claim as of my Invention, and I hereby declare that I do not claim the use
of elastic inking rollers for furnishing ink upon types or other similar surfaces,
or for the fixing of the said rollers in a moving frame to roll over the types or
other similar surfaces (generally), but only in the particular arrangement of the
parts of the apparatus as herein-before described; at the same time I make
claim generally to the employment of the small furnishing roller F, herein-
before described, which moves or rolls along a table or plate for the purpose of
supplying ink or colour to the same, in a direction perpendicular (or nearly so)
to the motion of the inking roller I, thereby furnishing or distributing the ink
or colour more uniformly over the table T, whence it is taken up by the inking
roller I, and by which it is distributed over the types, blocks, and other similar
surfaces, so as to ensure an equality of colour in printing. The transverse
motion may be given to the furnishing roller F in many ways, still producing
the same effect; the form and proportions of the various parts of the apparatus
may be varied according to the discretion of the workman, as well as the
materials of which the same may be made.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Parkin (party hereto), this
Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and twenty-two.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-two.