Improvements in Apparatus for Feeding Paper to Printing and other Machines.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Feb., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 27th Nov., 1890-Accepted, 14th Feb., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Feeding Paper to Printing and
other Machines.
We, RANDAL CRESSWELL, of 5, Bedford Place, Russell Square, Merchant, and
MATTHEW HESLOP, of 100, Houndsditch, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention is supplemental to our Specification No. 28 of 1890 and refers to
apparatus for perfecting the same.
It consists of (1) an adjustable pressure bar, (2) supports or standards for the
radial adjustment of the vertical bar, (3) an arrangement for radially adjusting
the table to any given angle of inclination, (4) of inverting the mechanism so as to
feed the paper either from the top or bottom of the pile, and (5) a feed bar as a
substitute for the feed roller.
1. We construct an adjustable pressure bar with slots and connect it to the vertical
bar (described in the Specification above referred to) by means of studs or set screws
and spring washers. These slots admit of the pressure bar rising or falling vertically
against the face of the vertical bar. Upon the edge of the pressure bar we fix
stud pins, around which we place spiral springs, for pressing the said bar against
the pile of paper. These springs bear upon adjustable stops with sockets and set
screws, which slide on other vertical stud pins fixed on the edge of the vertical bar.
By the adjustment of these stops the pressure of the spiral springs can be increased
or diminished as required.
2. The supports or standards of the vertical bar are centred on the fixed bearings
of the roller spindle, and have curved slots with set screws for the radial adjustment
of the bar to the axial line of the roller.
3. The table is attached to hinges which embrace the spindle of the roller, and is
capable of radial adjustment to suit requirements without altering its axial relation
to that of the roller. We modify this arrangement when the mechanism is inverted
for feeding from the top of the pile of paper, by resting the said hinges on bearing
pins, and turning the table round to its opposite side so that the back side becomes
the front, and instead of attaching this front to the roller spindle, we connect it by
stud pins to the pressure bar, and thus the pressure bar and table rise and fall
together with the paper. We adjust the slope or incline of the table by means of
an overlapping slot-jointed-leg placed beneath it.
4. The whole apparatus consisting of roller, vertical bar, pressure bar, together
with their fittings, bearings, and supports can be inverted so that the roller may
operate when desired, above instead of below the bars, and the paper can therefore
be fed either from the top or bottom of the pile as preferred.
5. We modify our method of feeding the paper by employing a feed bar, flat,
segmental, or otherwise in section, its face being covered with rubber, instead of
the feed roller before described. The said feed-bar is operated by a reciprocating
link and cam motion.
This feed bar in its forward motion presses on the paper and pulls or pushes
it the required distance; and in its backward motion it rises off the paper.
Dated this 27th day of February 1890.
S. S. BROMHEAD,
97, Newgate Street, London, E.C., Patent Agent.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Feeding Paper to Printing and
other Machines.
We, RANDAL CRESSWELL, of 5, Bedford Place, Russell Square, Merchant, and
MATTHEW HESLOP, of 100, Houndsditch, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention is supplemental to our Specification No. 28 of 1890, and relates
to further improvements in the construction of apparatus for feeding paper to
folding and printing machines and for like purposes.
In our experiments to effect the perfecting of an automatic apparatus for this
purpose, we have been led by practical experience to prefer and develope that
form of apparatus in which the feed roller acts on the top of the pile of paper
instead of below, and we will now proceed to describe our apparatus in its perfected
form, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 shows an end elevation of the apparatus as fixed on the frame of a printing
press, and with the cam and lever connecting it to the cylinder of the press.
Fig. 2 shows a plan of the same but without the parts of the printing press shewn
in Fig. 1, and with the right side broken off.
It will be seen that we have in the apparatus as set forth in the drawings, all the
five main parts described in our Provisional Specification, although some of them
are modified, and there are one or two details in addition which we have found
requisite for the efficient working of the whole.
n, represents the frame or table of the printing press upon which our apparatus
is fixed. 0,
s¹ and y are the standards which support the bearings for the various
parts of the apparatus. m, m¹ are standards belonging to the printing press the
former supporting the cylinder l, and the latter the horizontal board k, which by
the motion of the press rises and falls at each revolution of the cylinder, carrying
upon it a horizontal bar fitted with guides or clips which receive the paper delivered
by the feeding apparatus and direct it to the cylinder.
The foregoing parts k, l, m, m', n, belong to the printing press and not to the
feeding apparatus, and the parts which connect the two and convey the motion from
the axle of the cylinder are the chain , and chain wheels g, g, and the lever d, and
cam e, the action of which is hereafter described. There is also in the front of our
apparatus a hinged sloping board; which rests on the board k, and rises or falls
with it. Its function is to assist in guiding the paper towards the cylinder before the
vertical bar i, in front of the pile of paper.
r, is the table of our apparatus on which the pile of paper to be fed, p, is placed.
It is furnished with side strips t, t, and has the backboard v, in one or more parts
with its adjustable slide or slides w. The front edge of the table adjoins the fixed
vertical bar i, over the top of which the paper is passed sheet by sheet up to the
front line.
The table r, has on each side the journals, lying in an open bearing on the
standard s'.
It is thus able to swing as on a pivot, and as its forepart bears the weight of the
paper as well as that of the roller or drop bar a, it has a tendency to be depressed
in front and elevated behind. This tendency is controlled by the counter action of
a tension spring in the rear, or of expansion springs in front, so that it is gently
pushed upward in front, and thus keeps the pile of paper at such a height as to be
always level or nearly level with the top of the bar and so that it may be con-
veniently acted on by the feed-roller a. This roller a is not entirely covered with
india-rubber, but has two or more raised bosses b, in the centre of which is the
projecting india-rubber band c. In place of the bosses metal rollers with teeth or
milled edges may be employed. There is no novelty in this roller, and we do not
claim it as our invention. It is journalled in open slots in the standards o, and

page_text: caused to revolve by the chain and chain-wheels h, g, before mentioned. In
consequence of the levers d, which embrace it at each end, and of the action of the
cams e, on the said levers, the roller a, is sometimes allowed to fall on the pile of
paper, and is sometimes lifted above it, whereby its action on the paper is inter-
mittent, and it is arranged to push forward a sheet of paper at the moment required
to keep proper time with the printing press. An important part of our invention
is the following method of disengaging the top sheet of paper from the pile, and
thereby ensuring that only one sheet shall be delivered at one time. In the narrow
side of the cam which is in contact with the end of the lever during the time that
the roller is operating on the pile of paper, there is formed a slight depression f,
which as it encounters the lever, causes for an instant a slight corresponding
depression of the roller a, and of the paper beneath it. The result is that as the
roller a, rotates and impels forward the top sheet of paper, this sheet is momentarily
stopped by the vertical bar i, which is now during the instant of depression, above
the level of the pile and consequently the paper is caused to buckle or fold at its
edge, and thereby separate itself from the sheet beneath. The next instant the
paper rises above the level of the bar i, and passes onward to the press.
At or near the centre of the top of the pile of paper is placed the transverse
horizontal pressure-bar x, which is adjustable in vertical slots in the standards y,.
and which checks any tendency of the paper to become disarranged, or to rise above
the desired level.
This bar can be fixed in any desired position by means of the feather nuts z.
Our apparatus can be easily arranged to feed several piles of paper at once, by
dividing the table n, longitudinally with guide strips, and also adding additional
backboards with slides r.
The feed roller a, would then be furnished with additional india-rubber rings c,
or with metal rollers as before mentioned to impel the paper forward, two being
needed for each pile of paper.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. In a paper feeding apparatus the combination of the pivotted table and springs,.
the vertical bar i, the feed-roller a, the horizontal bar a, with their respective
journals standards or guides, the backboard v, the wheels and chain g, h, the
lever d, the came with its depression f, substantially as herein explained and
set forth.
2. In a paper-feeding apparatus the general arrangement and position of parts,.
as herein explained and set forth.
Dated this 27th day of November 1890.
S. S. BROMHEAD,
97, Newgate Street, E.C., Agent for Applicants..