IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Augustus Applegath at the
. Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th February 1866.
I, AUGUSTUS APPLEGATH, of Dartford, in the County of Kent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRINTING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in printing machines, and
is applicable to printing machines wherein rolls of paper are to be used.
In this class of machines it has been proposed to damp the paper as it
a roll previous to its receiving the impressions, and then to cut
or separate it. Now this Invention consists in so arranging or combining
the mechanism as to admit of the cutting or separating the paper as it
comes from the roll before damping and printing, whereby the cutting or
dividing damp paper is avoided. The paper in its course through the
machine is assisted or supported by means of tapes and rollers, such as are
ordinarily employed in printing machines. It is preferred that. the
"wetting" or damping should be by blankets and rollers, but it may be
otherwise performed; or in some cases it is convenient to leave small
portions of the paper undivided so as to keep the paper in a continuous
sheet during the damping and printing, such continuous sheet, however,
being very readily divided into separate sheets along the lines of the cuts
already made. Or in some cases I so arrange the damping apparatus, either

page_text: by employing rollers with spaces in them or otherwise, that the continuous
sheet of paper may
be left unwetted at the parts where it is to be cut, and
then after printing the paper the cutters are caused to divide the endless
sheet at the parts so left dry. The arrangement of the damping apparatus
may be greatly varied, and for cutting the paper it is preferred to employ
spaced cutters or knives so that the paper at each cut will not be absolutely
divided from side to side, but only at intervals across, leaving narrow parts
uncut which will retain the paper in the form of a continuous web whilst
it is passing through the damping and printing machinery; but this cutting
only at intervals across is not essential, as the cut may be complete from
side to side, and the paper after being cut may be aided in passing through
the machinery by tapes or otherwise in the ordinary manner.
The arrange-
ment of the cutting and damping apparatus preferred is as follows:-The
ends of the axis of a roll of paper are placed in bearings so as to admit of
the roll turning therein as the paper is progressively unwound therefrom.
The paper in its progress from the "roll" by preference passes between
two feed rollers and thence over the roller or surface on which the knife or
cutter, acts, and then the paper passes through the damping apparatus,
which consists, by preference, of a succession of rollers revolving in a
trough containing water, the paper passing alternately under and over such
'rollers. The paper before entering the printing machine is pressed, and is
then received into the printing machine, which is of any ordinary construc-
tion, and is printed, still retaining the form of a continuous web when
the cutting has been only at intervals across, and the printed paper will then
'be readily separated into sheets where the interval cuts have been made.
When the paper is to be cut after the printing as heretofore proposed then
machinery such as heretofore arranged may be employed for damping,
printing, and cutting, but in place of the paper being damped from end to
"end as heretofore it is to be left dry at the intervals where the cuts come,
and this may be done by having spaces in the rollers used for damping if
rollers be employed for that purpose; or a narrow strip of dry paper may be
otherwise protected from being damped when the other parts of the paper
are being damped, and by such means the cutting will be performed on dry
paper.
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