IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING PRESSES communicated to him from abroad.
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake of the firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING PRESSES communicated to him from abroad.
"
by Berthold Huber and Willis Kennedy Hodgman both of Taunton
Massachusetts, United States of America
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th September 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING PRESSES [A
communication to him from abroad by Berthold Huber and Willis Kennedy.
Hodgman both of Taunton Massachusetts, United States of America]
"
This invention relates to a color printing press in which are employed an
impression cylinder having two or more impression surfaces from one to the other
of which sheets are transferred, and a number of forms for operating in conjunction
with said impression surfaces.
The said invention consists partly in the combination in a printing press of an
impression cylinder having two or more faces each fitted with a set of grippers and
one or more series of wheels or one or more cylinders fitted with sets of grippers,
all arranged to take up a sheet from one printing surface of the impression cylinder
and transfer it onto another face of the same cylinder.
The said invention consists further in the combination in a printing press of an
impression cylinder having two or more faces each fitted with a set of grippers, a
series of wheels or a cylinder fitted with grippers and arranged for the double
purpose of delivering one sheet onto the fly or sheet piler and transferring another
from one face of the impression cylinder to another.
The said invention consists further in the combination in a printing press of a
bed having two or more forms, an impression cylinder provided with two or more
impression faces, each provided with a gripper, and one or more series of wheels
гр
:

page_text: or cylinders each fitted with grippers, all arranged to take up a sheet from one
printing surface of the impression cylinder and transfer it on to another.
The said invention consists further in the combination in a printing press, of an
impression cylinder having two or more faces fitted with grippers, one or more
series of wheels, or one or more cylinders also fitted with grippers, and ineans
whereby the impression cylinder, and the one or more series of wheels, or one or
more cylinders, will be raised and lowered in unison.
The said invention consists further in the combination in a printing press, of an
impression cylinder having two or more faces fitted with grippers, one or more
series of wheels or one or more cylinders, a feed board, and means whereby the
impression cylinder, the one or more series of wheels, or one or more cylinders, and
the feed board will be raised and lowered in unison.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Patent Office on the 25th March
1884.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and C Patent Agents,
A
Southampton Buildings London "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING PRESSES
communication to me from abroad by Berthold Huber and Willis Kennedy
Hodgman, both of Taunton, Massachusetts, United States of America
This invention relates to a color printing press in which are employed an
impression cylinder having two or more impression surfaces from one to the other
of which sheets are transferred, and a number of forms for operating in conjunction
with said impression surfaces
The said invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and consists
partly in the combination in a printing press, of an impression cylinder having
two or more faces each fitted with a set of grippers and one or more series of
wheels or one or more cylinders fitted with sets of grippers, all arranged to take up
a sheet from one printing surface of the impression cylinder and transfer it onto
another face of the same cylinder.
It also partly consists in the combination in a printing press of an impression
cylinder having two or more faces each fitted with a set of grippers, a series of
wheels or a cylinder. fitted with grippers and arranged for the double purpose of
delivering one sheet onto the fly or sheet piler and transferring another from one
face of the impression cylinder to another
It also partly consists in the combination in a printing press, of a bed having
two or more forms, an impression cylinder provided with two or more impression
faces, cach provided with a gripper and one or more series of wheels or cylinders
each fitted with grippers all arranged to take up a sheet from one printing surface
of the impression cylinder and transfer it on to another
It also partly consists in the combination in a printing press, of an impression
cylinder having two or more faces fitted with grippers, one or more series of
wheels or one or more cylinders also fitted with grippers and means whereby the
impression cylinder and the one or more series of wheels or one or more cylinders
will be raised and lowered in unison.
It also partly consists in the combination in a printing press, of an impression
cylinder having two or more faces fitted with grippers, one or more series of wheels
or one or more cylinders, a feed board and means whereby the impression cylinder,
the one or more series of wheels or one or more cylinders and the feed board will
be raised and lowered in unison.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Twenty fifth day of March in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty four
11711 DORT TAVE ral

page_text: ADDITIONAL SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of an Order of the Lord
Chancellor 19th May 1884.
In the drawings I have shewn the invention applied to two and four color
presses. I have however shewn the two-color press more elaborately and will
begin the description with it.
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation
Figure 2 is a side elevation, and
Figure 3 a cross section of a two-color cylinder press.
A A² are the side frames. A³ A' are the end cross-stays; and A³ is the centre
cross stay
B' is the bed. It slides on lips or ways provided on the side frames. B² B³ are
the two forms on the bed. B B are ink-tables on each end of the bed. The ink-
table B receives color from the inking apparatus R', and delivers it to the form
rollers R2 which in turn roll over the form B. The ink-table B5 receives color
from the inking apparatus R5, and delivers it to the form rollers R* which roll
over the form Bs. It will be noticed that the two forms B and B³ are so far apart,
that in the extreme end of the stroke of the bed the form rollers R³ touch neither
of the forms; that is, after they have rolled over the whole of form B³, they will
never come in contact with form B'. This forms an incidental part of this
invention. The gain by their arrangement is that the rollers R³ will not have to
be lifted up, as they would have to be if they were not placed where they are, or
if the space between the two forms were not sufficiently large. The same operation
takes place on the other side.
On the under side of the bed is a rack B in the well known form of the Napier
movement. D¹ is the reversing pinion fastened on a shaft D2 Said shaft is held
in a swivel box D³ on the frame end, and on the rack end runs in a square box D¹
which in its turn is arranged to slide up and down in the slotted hanger D³. It
also has a roller D° running on a straight part or rib of the rack inside of the teeth.
The pinion is held in its proper working position by this roller on one side and the
top and bottom of the slot in its hanger on the other.. How the pinion rises
and falls on the end teeth and by means of the shoe on either end that guides
the rollers during that interval is well understood and I lay no claim to it.
On the outside of the frame and in the centre of the swivel box is a pinion D7
fastened on the shaft D². It engages with a gear wheel Cattached to one of the
journals of the cylinder C, and is rounded off to allow for its swinging motion.
The cylinder C has two printing faces C and C³. The printing face C³ comes in
contact with form B2 only, and the printing face C³ only with the form B³.
The journal of the cylinder which is at the end seen in Figure 2 is the one on
which the gear-wheel C is mounted. This gear wheel meshes not only with the
pinion D' but also with a pinion E³. On the other journal of the cylinder is a
smaller gear wheel C³ that engages with a gear wheel T* mounted on a shaft
carrying transfer wheels T'.
F designates a series of fly fingers on a shaft F. Said By fingers vibrate
between a position tangential to the wheels T' and the fly-board. In the present
case it is operated by a pinion F³ that gears into teeth on a lever F. This lever is
in the form of a segment on one end, and on the other end it has a roller that
works in a cam F³ arranged on the longitudinal shaft F¹ making only one
revolution to one complete stroke of the bed. This shaft is driven by the worm E³
engaging with the worm wheel E. The shaft E derives motion from a crank Eº.
The driving pinion E³ gears into the large gear wheel C of the cylinder and
imparting motion to the latter. In practice the hand crank would be replaced by
pulleys and fly wheel.
The printing cylinder in this case makes two revolutions to one complete stroke
of the press; one while the bed is moving forward to print and another while the
bed is moving back. The cylinder, therefore has to be held down while printing

page_text: and to be lifted up when the bed is passing under it in the reverse direction.
This is accomplished by a rock-shaft I having excentric ends I* I* and deriving an
oscillating motion from an arm I connecting rod I and lever Iº. The latter has
a roller in its upper end, which works in a cam I. On each side of the press there
is a side rod 18 and 1º in whose lower ends the excentric ends of the rock shaft
turn and in whose upper ends the cylinder has its bearing. Near the cylinder
journals the side rods are guided by a stud or block so that the side rods can move
up and down but not sideways. The side rods are extended beyond the cylinder
journals and form a bearing for the shaft of the transfer wheels T¹. They support
the forward part of the feed-board K and also a rod 110. The latter forms a
support for the fly fingers when they strip off the sheet. The feed board K¹ near
the rear end swings on a pivot K² and being supported by the side-rods on the
forward end the latter will rise and fall with the cylinder. Each face of the
cylinder is provided with a set of grippers and so are the transfer wheels. The
grippers in each case rest on a shaft which has on one end a tumbler cam E¹ E' or E³
(Figure 6) operated in connection with a spring by studs that alternately throw
them open or close them. I have represented those studs by black dots in
Figure 6 and on an enlarged scale. They are arranged to be pushed forward and
back, that is in or out of reach of the tumbler cams.
S' is the closing stud for the tumbler cam E' at the point where the sheet is
taken and transferred. S2 is the opening stud on the same place and S³ is the
opening stud for the tumbler cam E¹ at the point where the sheet is switched off
on the fly. S is the closing stud for the tumbler cam E2 of the cylinder face C²
when it receives the transferred sheet. S³ is the opening stud for the tumbler
cam E and E³ at the time when the cylinder face C³ releases the sheet to be
delivered on the fly by the wheels T' and when the face C³ releases the sheet to be
taken by the wheels to be afterwards transferred on the face C. Se is the closing
stud at the point where the face C³ takes the new sheet from the feed board.
Those studs do not work every time. Of those six however two always work at
the same time, I have therefore, connected them in pairs. For instance when the
sheet is taken from the cylinder by the wheels then the studs S3 and S¹ work (that
is are projecting in). If the sheet is transferred from the wheels on the cylinder
then S and S' operate. When the sheet goes on the fly it is just about the time
the new sheet is taken from the feed board therefore the studs S³ and S° work
together. Those pairs of studs are pushed in and out by levers S7 S8 S⁰ which are
T-shaped on top and reach part way into two studs, which latter are cut out to
receive them as shewn in Figure 12. The lower ends of those levers are provided
with rollers working in box cams S10 S11 S¹ arranged on the shaft E¹.
In Figure 5 I have shewn the outline of the impression cylinder and wheels in
four different positions the period between each position is one half a turn of the
impression cylinder and the four positions represent the two complete turns which
the cylinder makes during one complete stroke of the press.
The first position is the same as shown in Figure 1 when the bed is on the
extreme end and is just beginning to go forward to print. In addition to
designating the faces of the cylinders C and C³ I here mark them 2 and 1
corresponding with the face that prints second and first color on the sheet. I have
therefore in this diagram face 2 with a sheet on; face 1 being as yet empty but
ready to gripe the new sheet as it moves forward.
In the second view of this diagram the sheet on the face 2 is printed and the
sheet is partly delivered on the transfer wheels from where it will go on the fly.
Face 1 has the new sheet on and is about to print.
In the third view of this diagram the sheet on face 1 is printed and the sheet is
partly delivered on the wheels while face 2 is empty.
In the fourth view the wheels have partly transferred the sheet which was
formerly on face 1 onto face 2 and face 1 is empty. At one half a turn of the
cylinder from this last position I find it again as in the position shewn in the first
view.

page_text: 1
From the above it will be seen that the office of the wheels T¹ is two-fold in the:
machine described. They take the sheet from face 2 (C) after having received the
second color and deliver it on the fly. Then they take the newly fed sheet with
one color printed on it from face 1 (C) and deliver it on face 2 (C³).
Where the device T¹ has this double duty I consider it preferable to have it
composed of wheels so that the fly fingers can reach into it. Where however, I
desire to accomplish by such a device only the transfer of the sheets from one face
to another I consider it best to make it in the shape of a cylinder for when it is in
that form the sheets will lay more smoothly against it
In Figure 7 I have shewn a two color press which has a series of wheels for
delivering the sheet and a cylinder for transferring the sheet from face 1 to face 2
and this combination of parts would be applicable to a press whose impression
cylinder makes only one turn at a complete stroke of the press as for instance a.
stop cylinder. As shewn it would be at about one half stroke and shews the new
sheet on face 1. Face 2 is printed and its sheet partly delivered on the lower
wheels with the object to go on the fly. The sheet which was previously on face 1
-is-partly delivered on face 2 by the small cylinder to receive its second color on the
next stroke.
In Figure 8 I have shewn a two-color two revolution press where the sheet is
delivered in front of the impression cylinder and the small cylinder acts also to
transfer the sheet. Figure 9 represents a four-color two-revolution continuously
rotating cylinder press. One turn of the impression cylinder is made while the bed
pushes from right to left and while the printing is taking place. The second turn
of the cylinder is made while the bed returns from left to right the cylinder being
raised and lowered as in Figure 1. The cylinder has four faces and the bed has
four forms.
-
On the back of the cylinder and under the feed-board are three series of transfer
wheels or three transfer cylinders. The upper series of wheels or cylinder has a
double function. It takes the sheet from face 4 of the cylinder after it is printed
and delivers it upon the fly. Next it takes the sheet from face 3 after it is printed
and delivers it upon face 4 to be printed. The middle series of the transfer wheels.
or cylinder takes the sheet off face 2 after being printed and transfers it to face 3
to be printed. The lower series of transfer wheels or cylinder will take the sheet
from face 1 of the cylinder after being printed and deliver it on face 2 to be printed.
In the drawing faco 4 of the cylinder is in the act of printing, and as, the
cylinder rotates the sheets on its four faces will each receive an impression from
the corresponding form. During the first turn of the impression cylinder after
printing the following operation of the several series of transfer wheels or cylinders
takes place.
The upper series of wheels or cylinder takes the sheet from face 4 and delivers
it on the fly; and then takes the sheet from face 3 and holds it. The middle series
of transfer wheels or cylinder takes the sheet from face 2 and keeps it and the
lower series or cylinder takes sheet from face 1 and keeps it. At this point there
is no sheet on the impression cylinder, but each of the series of transfer wheels or
cylinders holds one and keeps rotating waiting for the second turn of the impression
cylinder, when the upper series will deliver its sheet on face 4, the middle series on
face 3, the lower series on face 2 and face 1 will receive a sheet from the feed
board
In Figure 10 I have shewn the outline of a four-color, one-revolution press.
This is accomplished by employing four series of wheels or small cylinders.
Supposing it is a stop cylinder press then the position drawn is the one where the
cylinder is at rest and just getting ready to start.
Face 1 has just gripped the new sheet, the first color sheet is partly taken by the
upper series of wheels or cylinder which will afterwards deliver it on Face 2. The
second series of wheels or cylinder will take the second color sheet and deliver it
on face 3. The third series of wheels or cylinder will take the third color sheet
and deliver it on face 4.

page_text: The lower series of wheels or cylinder will take the fourth color sheet and deliver
it on the fly as indicated. In Figure 11 I have shewn the four-color one-revolution
arrangement as applied to a rotary press. I have here one printing cylinder with
four forms one impression cylinder with four faces, and four series of wheels or four
small cylinders. The action of the latter is exactly as the stop cylinder arrange-
ment just described I have here shewn the faces, however in a different position.
I find here sheet four just being delivered on the fly. Sheet three just about being
delivered on face 4. Sheet two has just been delivered on face 3. The upper
wheels are idling around waiting for face 1 etc.
Of course a color press could be made on the principle described in which two or
inore colors use the same face, for instance a four-color press with only two faces on
the impression cylinder. The colors could be so chosen that the colors that use the
same face of impression cylinder would not lap one another.
Instead of a number of series of transfer wheels or a number of separate transfer
cylinders I may employ a single cylinder having a number of arc shaped faces
circumferentially as long as the circumference of the separate transfer wheels or
cylinders and having grippers combined with each face.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents and the manner of performing the same I wish it understood
that I claim.
First. The combination in a printing press of an impression cylinder having two
or more faces each fitted with a set of grippers and one or more series of wheels or
one or more cylinders fitted with sets of grippers all arranged to take up a sheet
from one printing surface of the impression cylinder and transfer it onto another
face of the same cylinder, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Second. The combination in a printing press, of an impression cylinder having
two or more faces each fitted with a set of grippers, a series of wheels or a cylinder
fitted with grippers and arranged for the double purpose of delivering one sheet
on to the fly or sheet piler and transferring another from one face of the impression
cylinder to another, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Third. The combination in a printing press, of a bed having two or more forms,
an impression cylinder provided with two or more impression faces, each provided
with a gripper and one or more series of wheels or cylinders each fitted with
grippers all arranged to take up a sheet from one printing surface of the impression
cylinder and transfer it on to another, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
Fourth. The combination in a printing press of an impression cylinder having
two or more faces fitted with grippers, one or more series of wheels or one or more
cylinders also fitted with grippers and means, substantially as described, whereby
the impression cylinder and the one or more series of wheels or one or more cylinders
will be raised and lowered in unison, substantially as specified.
Fifth. The combination in a printing press, of an impression cylinder having
two or more faces fitted with grippers, one or more series of wheels or one or more
cylinders, a feed-board and means, substantially as described, whereby the impression
cylinder, the one or more series of wheels or one or more cylinders and the feed
board will be raised and lowered in unison, substantially as specified.
In witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Nineteenth day of May in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and eighty four.