IMPROVEMENTS IN LETTER COPYING PRESSES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tangye, of the Firm of Tangye Brothers,
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LETTER COPYING PRESSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tangye at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th January 1869.
I, GEORGE TANGYE, of the Firm of Tangye Brothers, of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN LETTER COPYING PRESSES," to
be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing and arranging the parts of
letter copying presses in the following manner:-The lower platten or
surface on which the copying book is placed while a letter is being
copied is supported on two hollow uprights fixed to the base plate of the
press, the said uprights being connected to the said base by joints which
permit the said uprights and platten to have motion through a small
angle in a vertical plane. The said lower platten is connected to the top

page_text: of the said uprights by means of joints which enable the said platten to
preserve its parallelism to the upper platten. The said upper platten is
supported by a screw working in a cross head, the said cross head being
fixed to the tops of two upright rods passing through the hollow uprights
carrying the lower platten. The said rods are jointed to the base plate
of the press, the axes of the said joints being parallel to and a short
distance from the axes of the joints supporting the lower platten.
When the plattens are turned on their joints by taking hold of the
hollow uprights the said plattens are made to approach to or recede
from one another in consequence of the want of coincidence of the axes
of their joints. In using the press the copying book and letter to be
copied prepared in the usual way are placed upon the lower platten, the
upper platten having been previously adjusted to the thickness of the
copying book by means of a hand wheel attached to the screw; by now
pulling forward the plattens by means of the hollow uprights the said
plattens are made to approach each other and compress the copying
book between them with great force and thereby copy the letter. By
loosing the uprights the plattens return to their normal positions, and
the copying book can be removed from the press.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, s
filed by the said George Tangye in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TANGYE, of the Firm of Tangye Brothers, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said George Tangye, Her
special licence that I, the said George Tangye, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Tangye,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and all times thereafter during

page_text: the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LETTER. COPYING PRESSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Tangye, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Tangyo, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in constructing and arranging the parts of
better copying presses in the following manner:-The lower platten or
surface on which the copying book is placed while a letter is being
copied is supported or two hollow uprights fixed to the base plate of the
press, the said uprights being connected to the said base by joints which
permit the said uprights and platten to have motion through a small
angle in a vertical plane. The said lower platten is connected to the top
of the said uprights by joints. The upper platten is supported by a
screw working in a cross head, the said cross head being fixed to the tops
of two upright rods passing through the hollow uprights carrying the
lower platten. The said rods are jointed to the base plate of the press,
the axes of the said joints being parallel to and a short distance from the
axes of the joints supporting the lower platten. When the plattens are
turned on their joints by taking hold of the hollow uprights the said
plattens are made to approach to or recede from one another in conse-
quence of the want of coincidence of the axes of their joints. In using
the press the copying book and letter to be copied prepared in the usual
way are placed upon the lower platten, the upper platten having been
previously adjusted to the thickness of the copying book by means of a
hand wheel attached to the screw; by now pushing or pulling forward
the plattens by means of the hollow uprights the said plattens are made
to approach each other and compress the copying book between them
with great force and thereby copy the letter.

page_text: Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in end elevation, and Figure 2 in side elevation
a letter copying press constructed according to my Invention. The same
letters of reference indicate the same parts in both Figures.
a is the lower platten or surface, and 6 the upper platten or surface,
between which the copying book and letter are compressed. The lower
platten a is supported on the hollow upright c, c, jointed at c², c, to the
bearing plates d of the press, the said uprights having motion through a
small angle on their joints. The axes of the joints are supported in
the said bearing plates d. On the bottom of each hollow upright care
arms c³, c, for limiting the motion of the said uprights, the said arms as
the uprights are moved in one or other direction coming against one or
other side of the bearing plates d fixed to the base plate &, as seen in
Figure 1. The said lower platten a is jointed at a to the uprights c, c,
for the purpose of enabling the said platten to preserve its parallelism
to the upper platten b. The joint at a consists of a conical socket in
the plate a³, in which socket the conical upper end of the upright c fits
loosely, as indicated in dotted lines. When pressure is put on the
platten a it turns on the joint a², the motion in either direction being
limited by one or other side of the socket coming against one or other
side of the conical head or end of the upright c. The upper platten 6 is
supported by the upright rods e, e, which pass through the hollow
uprights c, c, in the manner indicated in dotted lines, and are jointed
at e to the base plate d, as best seen in Figure 1. The joints e* of the
rods e, e, are situated parallel to and a short distance from the joints c*
of the hollow uprights c, c. The upper platten 6 is not connected
directly to the upper ends of the rods e but through the screw f working
in the cross head g fixed to the said rods e. By turning the screw f by
its hand wheel f* the upper platten 6 may be adjusted the required
distance from the lower platten a. By the positions of the joints c², e²,
of the plattens a, b, it will be seen that as the uprights c and rods e
of the said plattens are turned on their joints in one direction the said
plattens will approach to one another, and when turned on their joints
in the other direction will recede from one another. The parts of the
press are so balanced that the normal position of the press is that
represented in Figure 1. In order to copy a letter by the use of this

page_text: press the upper platten 6 is first adjusted by its screw to the thickness
of the copying book used, and the said copying book and the letter to
be copied prepared in the usual manner are placed on the lower platten a.
By now taking hold of the hollow uprights c, and pushing them forward
in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 1, the said uprights c
and the rods e turn on their respective joints, and the two plattens a, b,
approach each other, as indicated in dotted lines, and compress the
copying book between them with great force and thereby copy the letter.
After the copying book has been subjected to pressure for a short time
the parts of the press are returned to the positions represented in the
Drawing, and the said copying book can be removed from the press.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the improvements in letter
copying presses herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing, that is to say, the construction and combination of
the hollow uprights c, c, and rods e, e, for carrying the lower and upper
plattens or surfaces respectively of the press, the said uprights and rods
being so jointed to the base of the press that on turning them on
their joints in one or other direction the said plattens are made to
approach to or recede from one another for the purpose and substantially
as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tangye, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
GEORGE SILAW.
GEORGE TANGYE. (L.S.)