IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY.
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Conisbee (the elder), of the Firm of William
Conisbee and Sons, of Herbert's Buildings, Waterloo Road, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING
MACHINERY.
"
Sealed the 8th July 1879, in pursuance of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, and
dated the 14th December 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Conisboe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th December 1878.
WILLIAM CONISBEE (the elder), of the Firm of William Conisbee and Sons, of
Herbert's Buildings, Waterloo Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineer. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY."
This Invention consists in the combination in one machine of apparatus for per-
forming three classes of printing, namely, printing from raised surfaces, printing
from lithographic stones, and printing from intaglio plates with fugitive ink, other-
wise known as doctor printing.
For these purposes on a suitable frame I mount what is called a coffin, able to
travel on antifriction rollers. This coffin contains a plate or table supported on
screws arranged to be turned simultaneously, so that the plate or table can be
elevated or depressed to suit the height of type, lithographic stone, or intaglio plate,
as the case may be. The coffin is suitably geared with an impression cylinder which
receives motion from the coffin, which is actuated through spur gear from a driving
shaft mounted in suitable bearings, as previously practised in typographic and litho-
graphic printing machines; I provide two connected cam shafts, the one furnished
with cams for working the typographic and lithographic apparatus, the other with
cams for operating the doctor printing apparatus.
For typographic and lithographic printing the machine is provided as follows:-
Over the driving and cam shafts is an ink container or duct with a suitable
taking off or vibrating roller working in two arms having bearings at each end in
ΓΡ

page_text: the doctor brackets, the roller having an up and down motion to enable ink to be
taken from the doctor roller and deposited on a suitable inking or distributing table
underneath. The said table is fixed to the box or coffin and is capable of travelling
with it. Distributing rollers are provided for distributing the ink after it has been
deposited on the inking table. Inking rollers are also provided for taking ink from
the inking table as it passes under them and depositing such ink on the surface of
the type or stone, as the case may be. When the machine is required to print from
type or block ordinary rollers clothed in ordinary composition are used with
ordinary typographic ink, but when the same machine is required for lithographic
printing these rollers are removed and rollers clothed in leather are substituted.
Proper lithographic ink is also substituted in the duct. The means employed for
typographic and lithographic printing are such as already known for such work.
For printing from intaglio or engraved plates of steel or other material I provide
apparatus operating as hereinafter described, dispensing for the time with the above
mentioned ink duct and its appurtenances, also the vibrating, distributing, and
inking rollers. On the frame I fix apparatus provided with a duct or ink container
which I place between the ink duct previously described and the printing cylinder,
but nearer the latter. Taking off rollers having an up and down action take ink
direct from the duct roller and deposit it directly on the engraved plate in sufficient
quantity to fill up all the engraved portions of the same. The engraved plate thus
inked is caused to pass under a distributing brush which works the ink into the
engraved parts of the plate. In the return movement the engraved plate passes
under a steel blade which cleans off all ink from the flat surface of the plate which
travels on under the impression cylinder to print the paper thereon. The plate
cleaning blade is caused to turn over on to a scraper, which then travels towards
and past the edge of the said blade, scraping therefrom the ink taken by the blade
from the engraved plate. The scraper is followed by a wiper, which cleans the plate
cleaning blade. The scraper being now over the ink duct the ink from it falls into
the said ink duct. The plate cleaning blade returns to position for again cleaning the
engraved plate, and in so doing its edge passes the final wiper or cleaner. This
however in some cases may be dispensed with.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Conisbee in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
July 1879.
«
WILLIAM CONISBEE (the elder), of the Firm of William Conisbee and Sons, of
Herberts Buildings, Waterloo Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineer. IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PRINTING MACHINERY."
This Invention consists in the combination in one machine of apparatus for per-
forming three classes of printing, namely, printing from raised surfaces, printing
from lithographic stones, and printing from intaglio plates with fugitive ink, other-
wise known as doctor printing. For these purposes on a suitable frame I mount
what is called a coffin able to travel on anti-friction rollers. This coffin contains a
plate or table supported on screws, arranged to be turned simultaneously so that the
plate or table can be elevated or depressed to suit the height of type, lithographic
stone, or intaglio plate, as the case may be. The coffin is suitably geared with an
impression cylinder which receives motion from the coffin, which is actuated through
spur gear from a driving shaft mounted in suitable bearings, as previously practised
in typographic and lithographic printing machines. I provide two connected cam
shafts, the one furnished with cams for working the typographic and lithographic
apparatus, the other with cams for operating the doctor printing apparatus. For
typographic and lithographic printing the machine is provided as follows:-
Over the driving and cam shafts is an ink container or duct with a suitable taking
off or vibrating roller working in two arms having bearings at each end in the
ductor brackets, the roller having an up and down motion to enable ink to be taken
from the ductor roller and deposited on a suitable inking or distributing table
underneath. The said table is fixed to the box or coffin, and is capable of travelling
with it. Distributing rollers are provided for distributing the ink after it has been
deposited on the inking table. Inking rollers are also provided for taking ink from
the inking table as it passes under them and depositing such ink on the surface of
the type or stone, as the case may be. When the machine is required to print from
type or block ordinary rollers clothed in ordinary composition are used with ordinary
typographic ink; but when the same machine is required for lithographic printing
these rollers are removed and rollers clothed in leather are substituted; also other
rollers for damping the stone are employed. Proper lithographic ink is also sub-
stituted in the duct. The means employed for typographic and lithographic printing
are such as already known for such work. For printing from intaglio or engraved
plates of steel or other material I provide apparatus operating as hereinafter
described, dispensing for the time with the use of the above-mentioned ink duct and
its appurtenances, including the vibrating roller, and also with the distributing and
inking rollers, which I remove from the machine. On the frame I fix apparatus
provided with a duct or ink container, which I place between the ink duct pre-
viously described and the printing cylinder, but nearer the latter. Taking off
rollers having an up and down action take ink direct from the duct roller and
deposit it directly on the engraved plate in sufficient quantity to fill up all the
engraved portions of the same. The engraved plate thus inked is caused to pass
under a distributing brush, which being operated as hereinafter described, works the
ink into the engraved parts of the plate. In the return movement the engraved
plate passes under a steel blade which cleans off all ink from the flat surface of the
plate, which travels on under the impression cylinder to print the paper thereon.
The plate cleaning blade is caused to turn over on to a scraper, which then travels
towards and past the edge of the said blade, scraping therefrom the ink taken by
the blade from the engraved plate. The scraper is followed by a wiper which cleans
the plate cleaning blade. The scraper being now over the ink duct the ink from it
falls into the said ink duct. The plate cleaning blade returns to position for again
cleaning the engraved plate, and in so doing its edge may pass a final wiper or
cleaner. This however in some cases may be dispensed with.

page_text: Fig. I. is a side elevation of a machine embodying my improvements.
Fig. II. is a longitudinal vertical section of the machine.
Fig. III. is a plan of the machine.
Fig. IV. is a cross section of the machine.
Fig. V. is a longitudinal section shewing parts of the machine arranged for litho-
graphic printing. 1-1, are side frames; 2, cross frames; 3 is the impression
cylinder; 4, the coffin; 5 is the moveable plate or table on which the forme of type,
or the wood block, or stone, or engraved plate, as the case may be, is mounted;
6 is the main spur wheel; 7 is the pinion for driving the same; 8-8, are the
traverse wheels for driving the coffin 4 by means of the top and bottom racks 9
and 10, in which said wheels gear, as shewn clearly in Figs. II. and IV.; 11 is the
connecting rod connecting the main spur wheel 6 to the wheels 8; 12 is the main
driving shaft; 12" and 12ª are respectively fast and loose pulleys thereon; 13 and
13 are the two connected cam shafts; 14-14, are brackets or frames to carry the
doctor blade or scraper, they also carry the ink duct used when printing from
engraved plate; 15 is the ink-duct roller; 16-16, are the inking rollers, carried by
brackets 17 and actuated by lever arms 18, one fixed at each end of a shaft 18*, to
which rocking motion is imparted through a lever arm 18" operated through a con-
necting rod 18° from a cam on the shaft 13; 19-19, are two levers (forked) to carry
a scraper 20 and an india rubber wiper 21, and pivotted by a cross bar 22 carried
by the brackets or frames 14, and operated by means of the lever 23 and cam
rod 24 connected to cam 25 on the shaft 13; 24* is a spring connected at one end
to rod 24, and at its other end to the framing 1 to keep the "cam" roller in contact
with the cam; 26 is the doctor blade carried between two plates 27, and hung
from the shaft 28 by arms fixed on that shaft, which is actuated by pinion 29,
which itself is actuated by a segmental rack 30 pivotted to the frame at 31, the
lower end being connected to cam rod 32, operated by means of cam 33 fixed on
shaft 13, so as to impart reciprocating radial motion to the rack 30; 34 is a brush
for working the ink into the engraved parts of the plate; 35 are guides for carrying
the brush, which is worked backwards and forwards by means of levers 36 pivotted
on a cross shaft 37 carried by the main framing. The shaft 37 and lever arms 36
are worked by means of a lever arm 38 fixed on the shaft 37, and having recipro-
cating radial motion imparted to it by a rod 39 connected to a cam 40 fixed on the
shaft 13; 40 is a cross stay for the brackets or frames 14, with three set screws
to regulate the angle of the doctor blade 26, for which the said set screws form
stops or abutments; 41 are rollers for the table or coffin to run on; 41* are
grooved roller rails for the rollers 41 to run in; 42 are brackets carrying the
additional ductor roller and ductor used for letter press or lithographic purposes,
which for convenience may be made removable. The arrangement is shewn more
fully in Fig. V. 43 is the ductor roller; 44 is the vibrating ink roller operated by
lever 45 from the eccentric 46 on shaft 12; 47 is the marble inking slab or
table carried on a frame fixed to the end of the coffin 4; 48 are brackets carrying
the ink distributing rollers 49; 50 are the brackets for carrying the inking
rollers 51; 52 are the brackets for carrying the damping rollers 53 which are
used when printing from stone; 54 are brackets for carrying the impresion
cylinder 3.
Having thus described my compound machine, I will now describe the modes of
using it for performing the three several classes of printing hereinabove referred to,
namely, typographic printing, lithographic printing, and printing from intaglio plates,
known as doctor printing. For typographic printing the forme of type or of
block, or of both, as the case may be, is mounted on the adjustable plate or table 5.
The brackets 14 and apparatus carried by them are removed, and the brackets 50
with their rollers 51 are mounted on the frames 1, as represented in Fig. V The

page_text: brackets and rollers 48 and 49 are likewise mounted on the frame 1, as snewn in the
same Fig. V. The brush 34 is taken out of its guides 35, this brush being used only
when printing from intaglio plates. The parts being arranged as in Fig. V., ink is
now put into the duct 43*, the duct roller 43 is worked round a few times to cover it
with ink, then the vibrating roller 44 is put in, which roller being during the
working of the machine elevated and depressed by means of the eccentric 46, takes
a supply of ink from the duct roller 43, and deposits the same on the inking table
or slab 47, on which the distributing rollers 49 distribute such ink subsequently as
the inking table or slab 47 passes under the inking rollers 51, they take ink off the
said table or slab and transfer the same on to the face of the type as the coffin
passes under them. For lithographic purposes the same parts of the machine are
used except that the composition rollers 44, 49, and 51 are removed, and other
rollers covered with leather are substituted. The damping rollers 53 in the
brackets 52 are now also used, their office being to wet the stone as it is carried
under the said rollers by the coffin, the adjustable table or plate 5, in which is
lowered to the requisite extent to make room in the coffin 4 for the stone, and it
will be observed the arrangement of the machine is such as to afford every con-
venience for adjustment by the elevating or depressing the table or plate to suit
any thickness of stone as in the most approved lithographic machines. To print
from intaglio plates with fugitive ink I proceed as follows:-
I remove the brackets 50 (Fig. V.) and mount, as shewn in Fig. I., the brackets 14
containing the doctor apparatus complete. I also mount the small brackets 17,
carrying the rollers 16, connect the latter to the bell crank lever 18 (Fig. 1.), put
the small pinion 29 on the cross bar 28 into gear with the segmental rack 30, place
the brush 34 in the guides and connect it to the lever 36. The fugitive ink is now
placed in the ink duct 15*, and the inking rollers 16 are rubbed with a wet sponge.
It is also advisable to charge the brush 34 with ink before starting. The engraved
plate is fixed by screws to the adjustable table or plate 5 in the coffin 4, and the
gut is put on for driving the duct roller 15. The operations of, and all in con-
nection with laying on the sheet, gripping, if giving the impression and delivering,
the printed sheet are the same when printing from intaglio plates as when printing
from type or stone. The angle at which the doctor blade 26 shall operate is
determined by the positions of the cross stay 40* and its set or adjusting screws,
but the angle does not require altering except when changing doctor blades and
putting in a blade, which differs in strength or flexibility from that removed.
When the apparatus is in operation the scraper 20 and wiper 21 will clean the ink
or color off the doctor blade, and deposit it directly into the ink duct 15* for re-use
without the exposure to evaporation which obtains when using cleaning cylinders
or rollers, as heretofore. Thus my doctor blade cleaning apparatus by reducing the
exposure of the ink or color, as above described, facilitates the keeping the ink or
color of an equal consistency, so as to secure uniformity in the tint or color of the
work produced. My apparatus also enables the edge of the doctor blade to be
readily examined, cleaned, and made smooth by the application of oil stone or
otherwise, as required, without its being necessary for these purposes to disconnect
or take out the doctor blade.
Having described the nature of my said Invention, and explained the manner of
carrying the same into practical effect, I hereby declare that what I consider to be
novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me under the
Letters Patent herein before in part recited is,-
1. The combination in a printing machine of apparatus and mechanism whereby
such machine is rendered suitable for performing three classes of printing, namely,
printing from raised surfaces, printing from lithographic stones, and printing from
intaglio plates with fugitive ink, otherwise known as doctor printing, all sub-
stantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated.
2. The method of working the ink into the engraved parts of the intaglio plate
by means of a distributing brush, operated mechanically as described and shewn,

page_text: 3. The method of cleaning or removing ink or color from the plate cleaning blade
or doctor knife by the use or employment of a scraper or cleaning blade in con-
junction with a wiper, both operated mechanically substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Conisbee, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.