IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BLACKING OR COLORING THE BORDERS OF PAPER AND ENVELOPES, AND ALSO FOR GUMMING THE LATTER
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Charles Henderson, of 6, Southampton Buildings,
Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR BLACKING OR COLORING THE BORDERS OF PAPER AND
ENVELOPES, AND ALSO FOR GUMMING THE LATTER." A communication from
abroad by Achille Duret, of Angoulème, in the Department of Charente, in the
Republic of France.
'
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Charles Henderson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th January 1881.
ARTHUR CHARLES HENDERSON, of 6, Southampton Buildings, Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BLACKING OR
COLORING THE BORDERS OF PAPER AND ENVELOPES, AND ALSO FOR GUMMING.
THE LATTER." A communication from abroad by Achille Duret, of Angoulème, in
the Department of Charente, in the Republic of France.
The object of this Invention is to color letter paper and envelopes with borders
as well as cards and so forth in any desired color, black or otherwise, the charac-
teristic features of novelty in the apparatus being,―
1st. All the several operations are inechanically performed.
2nd. The application and limit of color on the border of the sheet to be edged
being regulated, the width of border being limited by the sheet which is above it.
3rd. In the combined mechanism for distributing and bordering the sheets one
by one by superposing the first by the second, the latter by the third, and so on
in succession, arranging them in stages one above the other, so as to leave two
sides of each sheet visible, the width being regulated according to the depth of
border required.
The principal parts of the mechanism consist of a sheet distributer, a driving
shaft and pulleys, and eccentrics mounted on this shaft, one of which governs the

page_text: sheet distributer by its backward and forward motion delivering the sheets one by
one; another is connected by a fork to a sliding cylinder running between two slides
supported by cross bars.
The cylinder is provided with a tube, which puts it in communication with a
pneumatic pump actuated or not by the machine; the cylinder is also furnished with
a second tube, which latter terminates in two branches whose ends are supplied
with india rubber. Within the cylinder two air tight pistons work mounted on a
shaft fixed to a support; a joint and screw allow it a certain play. An orifice in
the cylinder communicates with the free air.
The sheets of paper are arranged in piles on a table or plain surface, which rises
mechanically as the delivery of the paper takes place.
In front of the table and sheet distributer are two rollers working and supported
in blocks and turning with great velocity.
The following is the action of this part of the apparatus:
When the eccentric connected with the forked piece before named of the sliding
cylinder completes its back course the tubes (terminating the branches of the paper
distributer) are above the pile of sheets the pistons of the cylinder unmask its
orifices one of the sheets is drawn by the air's action.
The eccentric then conducts the cylinder forward and then one of the pistons
unmasks the air opening of the cylinder. The sheet is abandoned and is immediately
taken by the rollers; these throw it to the other side in the branches of a square
which is the marking organ.
When the square alluded to is below, the rollers in front of the paper distributer
shoot a sheet. When it is raised the projected sheet is drawn along by an endless
cloth.
One of the eccentrics bears at its rod at one end two small shafts, each armed
with what may be termed pushers, whose object is to lead the sheet exactly in the
angle of the square. Another eccentric actuating a lever by its rod imparts a
rotary motion to the roller of the endless cloth sufficient to draw the cloth in.
proportion to the border or edge to be spread with color.
Beyond the square the sheets are piled in stages one above the other, and are
held by two pressing rollers whilst a roller brush (whose brushes are inked in
the ordinary manner) applies the color to the exposed edges of the sheets. And
still further in advance another brush varnishes the borders presented to it.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Arthur Charles Henderson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th July 1881.
ARTHUR CHARLES HENDERSON, of 6, Southampton Buildings, Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex. 'IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR BLACKING AND
COLORING THE BORDERS OF PAPER AND ENVELOPES, AND ALSO FOR GUMMING
THE LATTER." A communication from abroad by Achille Duret, of Angoulème, in
the Department of Charente, in the Republic of France.
The machine for bordering paper and envelopes, the subject of the present
Invention, is not simply for blackedging paper and so forth, but is intended for
coloring the edges of letter and other paper with any shade desired, as well as
for cards, such as menus, baptismal notices, or in any way that the Invention may
be usefully and advantageously employed. The Invention is essentially novel;
1st, in that all the successive operations commencing with the preséntation and
taking of the sheet by the apparatus terminating with the inking and drying of
the paper are all mechanically performed under special conditions. The operator
placed before the machine has merely to watch it; 2nd, in the application and
limit of the color on the border of the sheet to be edged being regulated the width
of border being limited by the sheet which is above it; 3rd, the mechanical_
combinations conceived by their principle, and in their detail constitute the
characteristic features on which the claim is based. The machine is shown in
side elevation, Fig. 1, and in plan, Fig. 2; Figs. 3 and 4 show in longitudinal and
in horizontal section the distributer of the sheets to be edged. By Fig. 12 another
arrangement for this same object is shown; Figs. 5 and show by vertical section
and plan the bordering mechanism; Fig. 7 is a detail of the automatic mechanism
which raises the pack or pile of sheets to be edged, and presents them to the
distributer as fast as the work goes on; Figs. 8 and 9 show in two views the
mechanism used for making the edge or border on different sized sheets; Figs. 10
and 11 show the mechanism for stopping the machine as soon as there is a failing
in the arrangement and distribution of the sheets to be edged. The frame of the
machine for edging two sheets at a time is formed of the cast iron supports a, a¹,
a², as, which unite between them two and two the cast iron beams a* and a³, which
can be more or less lengthened as required. On this frame suitably strengthened
by tie pieces are arranged and fixed the various parts composing the machine. In
front the driving shaft b receives two pulleys, one fixed, the other loose, and for
edging a sheet the eccentrics c, c, d, e, e¹, and in rear of the frame the eccentric f.
The eccentric & governs the mechanism which takes the sheets of paper to be edged
and distributes them one at a time to the following organs :-This mechanism
consists (see Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4) of a cylinder g bearing a three way cock h, which
by the part h' communicates with a pneumatic machine, and which by the tubes
h2, h3, is present above the pile of sheets i. To the key of the tap h the bar d¹ of
the eccentric is connected, which turns it by the action of two projections which
stop the cylinder g in front and in rear. This cylinder mounted with gentle.
friction on a fixed slide is displaced in a rectilinear sense drawn by the eccentric d,
the key of the tap being fitted closely in the tap h. When the eccentric d is at the
end of its course the cylinder g is stopped by its rear projection; the tap h opens
communication with the pneumatic machine by the tubes h2, h3, above the pile of
sheets. The eccentric d is in motion, and as the key of the tap is difficult to move,
it drives the cylinder g in front as far as the stop projection; then continuing its
effect it turns the key, which cuts off the communication with the pneumatic
machine and makes the tubes h³, h³, communicate with the atmosphere. This

page_text: latter result compels the sheet to fall, but as just at this moment it comes in
contact with two rollers placed one above the other, n, n¹, which turn quickly, it is
taken by these rollers and thrown by them to the other side in the bordering
mechanism. The eccentric returns leads the cylinder in rear where it stops at the
posterior projection; the eccentric then acts on the tap to effect a vacuum in the
tubes h2, h³, and so draw a fresh sheet. The pneumatic machine may be moved
by any convenient means or by any mechanical combination, receiving motion
from the driving shaft b; Fig. 12 shows the bar of the eccentric d¹ furnished
with two pistons i, ¹, moving in the cylinder 9, which latter bears the tube h
with ends h2, h3; an orifice h¹ communicates with the atmosphere, and the
pipe g' puts the cylinder g in connection with the pneumatic machine. When
the eccentric d is at the end of its course the ends h2, h3, are above the
sheets to be edged, and the pistons i, ³, have unmasked the orifices h and g¹,
and hence an aspiration of the sheet. The eccentric conducts the whole in
front of the machine, the cylinder g being for the purpose adjusted in slides.
When the sheet-reaches-the-rollers-n, n-a-projection-stops-the-cylinder,-and-
the eccentric still making the pistons advance and closes g₁ and opens h¹, and
hence the escape of the sheet. In. returning, another projection stops the cylinder
whilst the pistons still move, for re-establishing the communication from g¹ to h.
The eccentrics c, c¹, give the intermittent motion of rise and fall to the bordering
mechanism which regulates the position of each sheet delivered by the rollers n, n',
and applies it to the preceding sheet leaving on the two sides of this sheet the
margin desired on which the border of color is to be placed. The borderer com-
prises a square K which the eccentric c raises and lowers, and a plate K¹ which
the other eccentric c¹ animates also with an up and down motion. On the plate K¹
are fixed the supports 1, 1, on which the arms o, o¹, with rollers q, q¹, turn; these
latter move in a hollow of the plate K' under the impulse of two eccentrics e, e', of
the driving shaft. Before explaining the action of the bordering or edging
mechanism it should be mentioned that in rear of the rollers n' a roller » is placed,
on which an endless cloth R passes, coming from an extreme roller 1, and which
cloth is stretched as required by another roller 2. The translation of the endless
cloth is intermittent; the eccentric f actuates the roller r by means of a click and
spring work on the "Dobo" principle f¹ which may be regulated as desired, so as
to draw the band or endless table a distance equal to that of the width of border
required. The same transmission of motion which causes a continuous rotation of
the rollers n, n¹, turns also two rollers x, x¹, between which the sheets pass on
leaving the bordering mechanism, and likewise sets in motion a brush 8, and the
inking roller s which turns in an inker s². Figures 8 and 9 show that the axes of
the organs 8, 8', are supported by cast iron supports 83, 84, which can be slid on the
frame a³, a³, so as to conform the position to the size of the sheets to be edged. At
the end of the frame a³, a³, two small rollers are arranged, t, t¹, between which the
sheets that have been bordered and dried pass (since there is a long course after
inking at s, s¹); these rollers support the sheets whilst they are brushed by a brush t²
with a rapid movement which burnishes the color. Below the brush t² and roller l
the sheets of paper fall into the receivers u, with apertures u¹ for facilitating the
removal by band of the heaped up sheets. The sheets to be edged are placed on a
table p, Figs. 1 and 7 fixed on a piece or vertical support p¹ which is guided so as to
slide vertically. The plate or table p and its support p¹ are balanced by a weight p².
At the commencement when the pile of sheets is placed on the table p, the weight
of the sheets is also balanced by a weight, small shot, or otherwise placed in the
cup m, the suspending cord or chain of which m¹ is wound round a guide m² in
archimedian spirals. On account of the geometrical principle of the archimedian
spiral curve, whatever may be the rise of the table p from the diminution of the
sheets of paper, the weight m always acts with a lever arm strictly in proportion
to the weight of the sheets, thus the table p and the sheets of paper are always in
equilibrium with the weights p² and m. The table p and the sheets it supports
are arrested in ascension by a projection which obliges the upper sheet to present

page_text: itself well on a constant level with the sheet takers h2, h3. Having explained this,
and it being remembered how the sheets are taken one by one, and being shot one
by one by the rollers n, n³, beneath the plate K¹ of the bordering mechanism, the
following is how this latter works:-At the moment when the sheet leaves the
rollers n, n', the square K rests on the endless cloth R which consequently is
stationary. The sheet of paper projected at an angle in front falls more or less
regularly in the square K, but then the eccentrics e, e¹, act successively to push this
sheet by the rollers q, q', first in one direction and then the other, so as to lead the
sheet exactly in the angle of the square. This done, 1st, the plate K¹ and the
pushers q, q, rise; 2nd, the square rises afterwards; 3rd, the endless cloth R is set
in motion to cause the advance of the sheet with all those preceding it; 4th, the
square descends; 5th, the next sheet is projected by the rollers n, n'; and, 6th, the
plate K¹ with pushing devices q, q', descends. The sheets thus regularly super-
posed are maintained by the rollers x, x', whilst the brush & deposits the ink on
two sides. Below the brush s the sheets circulate with the endless cloth R, and
reach the rollers t, t¹, dry, to receive the friction and polishing action of the brush t².
The sheets fall into u edged on two sides, it suffices to give them a second passage
through the machine to edge the other two sides. Instead of two pushing rollers q, q',
which push the sheet just in the angle of the square, one only need be employed
taking care to transform the rotary motion which it receives from the eccentrice into
a composite motion
directed first on one side of the square and then on the
other. Finally a safety mechanism is adapted to the machine which automatically
stops all movements when a sheet is badly placed, or that it does not reach the
edger K, K; Figs 10 and 11 show this mechanism. On the driving shaft b is a
cam with double curve. A lever 62 oscillates at 63 bearing a small balance 6*,
whose arms present themselves to two openings 65 of the table or the plates K, K¹,
which apertures should be closed when the sheet is well placed in the square; but
if the sheet is not well placed, or if it does not present itself, the balance b* falls
down and compels the lever 62 to follow the slight eccentricity of the cam b¹. At
the end y of the lever 62 another lever y¹ rests, which remains hooked to another
disengaging lever z as long as the end y follows the large eccenticity b'; but when
this end slides on the small eccentric 61 (the sheet badly edged), the unhooking
of y and z takes place, and the disengaging of the friction pulleys is effected
immediately, and the machine is stopped.
Having thus described the Invention and method of putting it into practice the
inventor claims,―
1st. The ensemble and the details of the several mechanisms which combine for,
1st, distributing the sheets to be edged one by one; 2nd, edging the said sheets as
herein described; 3rd, inking the borders; 4th, drying them; 5th, applying friction
to burnish the borders, all movements co-ordinate with the movement of trans-
lation of an endless cloth for piling the sheets by placing them one above the other
for being edged, as described and as represented in the accompanying Drawings.
2ndly. The mechanism for distributing the sheets by pneumatic suction, with the
balance arrangement always keeping the table and pile of sheets in equilibrium, as
described in respect of Figs. 1 and 7.
3rd. The margin or edge regulating mechanism with pushing rollers and
regulators of the position of the sheet, which latter is taken from the distributer
by aid of two rollers n, n¹, which shoot it into the edge regulator Figs. 1, 2, 5, 6.
4th. The inking mechanism which may be moved to draw it to the edger or
borderer in accordance with the dimensions of the sheets to be edged.
5th. The brushing and polishing mechanism for burnishing the borders. after
inking and drying.
6th. The intermittent movement of translation and "dobo" click movement of
an endless cloth, the said movement being in combination with that of margining.
7th. The ungearing mechanism which is self acting and stops the whole machine

page_text: when a sheet is badly edged, or when a sheet does not reach the borderer
Figs. 10, 11.
8th. The application of the general principle of the machine for bordering the
paper with black edges, or coloring edges of paper of all sorts, and also for
spreading the gum on the closing parts of envelopes, memorandums, and so forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Charles Henderson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
A. C. HENDERSON.
(L.B.)