IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING MACHINES
Year: 1884

page_text: "
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PRINTING MACHINES which Invention has been communicated to me from
abroad by R. Hoe and Company, of the City County and State of New York in
the United States of America, Printing Machine Manufacturers, to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to print continuously on a web or webs so that
facilities are afforded for printing papers of various numbers of pages and to bring
the web or webs into the form of four page papers whatever be the number of pages
of which each complete paper is composed. This Invention consists in dividing
a web into two or more strips and printing different strips in different ways.
As is well known a web may be continuously printed on by a printing Cylinder
the whole of whose surface is not occupied by formes. The necessary conditions
for this to be done (unless a system of oscillating Cylinders is adopted) are firstly
that the circumference of the printing Cylinder is some multiple of the are occupied
by the formes and secondly that the web is passed under impression Cylinders
equal in number to the said multiple the distance of travel between successive
impression Cylinders being of course suitably arranged.
Suppose therefore that we have a printing Cylinder (call it p) round which are
placed 6 impression Cylinders aa & Then if p be entirely covered by formes,
the web must be passed round only one of the Cylinders a If half its surface be
80 covered the web must be passed round two of the Cylinders a; if a third, round
three; if a fourth round four, and so on. And in each case the web will be
continuously printed on.
Now suppose we have a web broad enough to have two or more formes abreast
printed on it and that before printing it we longitudinally split it into a corre-
sponding number of strips; then one of the strips may be passed round one only
of the impression Cylinders a another round two only, another round three only
and so on; and all the strips will be continuously printed on provided that the
section of the Cylinder which prints the strip which passes under only one
Cylinder is completely occupied by formes; that the section which prints the strip
passing under two impression Cylinders, has one half its surface occupied by
formes; the section which prints the strip passing under three, one third of its
surface and so on.
בד
1
011
+
T
1004

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRINTING MACHINES which Invention has been communicated to me from abroad
by R. Hoe and Company of the City County and State of New York in the United
States of America printing Machine Manufacturers and in what manner the same
is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :—
. The object of this Invention is to print continuously on a web or webs so that
facilities are afforded for printing papers of various numbers of pages and to bring
the web or webs into the form of four page papers whatever be the number of
pages of which each complete paper is composed.
This Invention consists in dividing a web into two or more strips and printing
different strips in different ways.
As is well known a web may be continuously printed on by a printing or forme
bearing cylinder the whole of whose surface is not occupied by formes. The
necessary conditions for this to be done (unless a system of oscillating or rising &
falling impression cylinders is adopted) are firstly that the circumference of the
printing or forme bearing cylinder is some multiple of the are occupied by the
formes and secondly that the web is passed under impression cylinders equal in
number to the said multiple, the distance of travel between successive impression
cylinders being of course suitably arranged.
Suppose therefore that we have a printing or forme bearing cylinder (call it p)
round which are placed six impression cylinders a a. Then if the cylinder p be
entirely covered by formes the web must be passed round only one of the
Impression cylinders a If half its surface be so covered the web must be passed
round two of the impression cylinders a if a third of its surface be covered the
web must pass round three impression cylinders if a fourth of its surface be covered
the web must pass round four impression cylinders and so on-And in each case
the web will be continuously printed on.
Now suppose we have a web broad enough to receive impressions from two or
more formes abreast and that before printing it we longitudinally split it into a
corresponding number of strips then one of the strips may be passed round one
only of the impression cylinders another round two only, another round three only,
and so on and all the strips will be continuously printed on, provided that the
section of the forme bearing cylinder which prints the strip which passes under
only one impression cylinder is completely occupied by formes, that the section
which prints the strip passing under two impression cylinders has one half its
surface occupied by formes, the section which prints the strip passing under three
impression cylinders has one third of its surface occupied by formes and so on.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to
the several figures on the annexed sheets of Drawings.
Figure 1 represents diagrammatically a side view and Figure 3 a plan view of so
much of a printing machine as is necessary to illustrate this invention Figure 2
being a section taken along the line y y figure 3.

page_text: Figure 4 is a side view and Figure 5 a section of another machine also illustrative
of this Invention and Figures 6. 7. 8. 9 and 10 help to explain the nature of the
Invention from a general point of view. Figures 11. 12. 13. 14. 15 and 16 shew how
the formes are placed on the printing cylinder of the machine illustrated by Figures 1.
2 and 3 Figure 17 shews how the formes may be placed when the machine illustrated
by figures 4 and 5 is employed for printing a ten page paper and tables WY
and Z indicate how the webs issue in the several cases to which they refor.
Figure 6 represents a printing or form bearing cylinder P¹ round which are
placed six impression cylinders a a If the cylinder P¹ be entirely covered by
formes the web must be passed round only one of the cylinders a. If half its
surface be so covered the web must be passed round two of the cylinders a if a
third of its surface be covered by formes the web must pass round three of the
impression cylinders a; if a fourth of the surface of the cylinder P¹ be covered
with formes the web must pass round four of the impression cylinders a and so on.
And in each case the web will be continuously printed on.
Now suppose we have a web broad enough to have two or more formes abreast
printed on it and that before printing it, we longitudinally split it into a
corresponding number of strips then one of the strips may be passed round one
only of the impression cylinders a another round two only of the said cylinders
another round three only and so on, and all the strips will be continuously printed
on, provided that the section of the form bearing cylinder which prints the strip
which passes under only one impression cylinder is completely occupied by formes ;
that the section which prints the strip passing under two impression cylinders has
one half its surface occupied by formes; the section which prints the strip passing
under three impression cylinders has one third of its surface occupied by formes
and so on. For example suppose that formes are placed lengthwise on a printing
cylinder as indicated by figure 7, and that its circumference is such that the
section q¹ is entirely occupied by the formes. Then the section p¹ necessarily has
half its surface, and the section n' one fourth of its surface occupied by formes. If
then we have a three breadth web and longitudinally split it before printing into
three strips along the dotted lines in figure 8 and conduct the strip P¹ round two
impression cylinders the strip Q¹ round one impression cylinder and the strip R¹
round four impression cylinders it will issue continuously printed on as indicated in
figure 8.
Again suppose formes are placed lengthwise on a printing cylinder as indicated
in figure 9 the section 8 being entirely occupied by formes, then one half one
third one sixth respectively of the sections 2 q p³ respectively will be occupied by
formes, and if a four breadth web is longitudinally severed before printing into
strips as indicated by the dotted lines in figure 10 and the strip P' (which is
supposed to be printed by the section p³) passed round six impression cylinders the
strip Q³ (printed by g) passed round three impression cylinders the strip R¹
(printed by 2) passed round two impression cylinders and the strip S2 (printed
by 82) passed round one impression cylinder, the web will issue continuously
printed on, as indicated by figure 10 It is evident that the circumference of the
printing cylinder may be such that the section q¹ (figure 7) or the section 83
(figure 9) has only one half or one third or other proportion of its surface occupied
by formes provided that the number of impression cylinders round which the
various strips pass are twice or thrice and so on times as numerous as when the
whole surface is so occupied-Moreover it is plain that the number of formes on
the sections may be interchanged Thus in (figure 9) the section p³ might have
three formes on it q² one forme 7 six formes and 8 three formes.
And it is also evident that when the surface of any section of the printing
cylinder is not wholly occupied by formes the said formes may be placed thereon
in two or more distinct portions instead of altogether as in figures 7 and 9.
Figures 1. 2 and 3 illustrate the application of the foregoing considerations to a
machine for printing a two, four, six, eight, ten or twelve page paper the formes
being placed lengthwise on the machine and no one of them being duplicated.

page_text: A B are the rolls of material to be printed upon CD the printing or forme
bearing cylinders P. M. L. H are impression cylinders in connection with the
printing cylinder C and T. R. GE are impression cylinders in connection with
the printing cylinder D.-F. S. K. N are large carrier cylinders, and Q. V smaller
carrier cylinders-X. X are cylinders for longitudinally severing the web A. The
longitudinal severance of the web must take place along a line distant from one
edge of the web by a third of its breadth, Of course if desired the cylinders X X
may be adapted to also sever the web along the line distant from the same edge by
two thirds of the webs breadth.
Figures 11 to 16 inclusive shew arrangements of the formes on one of the
printing cylinders (the corresponding formes being of course similarly placed on
the other printing cylinder) according as a two, four, six, eight, ten or twelve page
paper is being printed.
To print a twelve, eight or four page paper the webs are passed through the
machine in the way shewn by figure 1 the webs being three two or one breadth
webs according as a twelve eight or four page paper being printed.
To print a ten page paper the web B is a two breadth web and is passed
through the machine as shewn in figure 1-The web A is a three breadth web and
having been longitudinally slit by the cutting cylinders X X the two breadth
portion is conducted through the machine as shewn in figure 1 while the one
breadth portion passes through it as shewn by figure 2 (i.e) it passes round all the
eight impression cylinders Figure 3 is a plan view of the machine when thus
printing a ten page paper.
To print a six page paper the web B is a one breadth web and is conducted as
in figure 1-The web A is a two breadth one and having been longitudinally
severed down its central line one part is conducted as in figure 1 and the other as
in figure 2.
To print a two page paper one single breadth web is employed and it is passed
through the machine as in figure 2.
The number breadth and relative positions of the webs in the six different cases
are exhibited in Table Y And if the numbers of the formes correspond with the
Dumbers in figures 11 to 16 the pages will be imprinted in the order exhibited by
Table Y-By varying the positions of the numbers in figures 11 to 16 the order of
the pages on the webs may of couse be varied and different arrangements will be
suitable for different folding mechanisms As the folding of the webs forms no part
of this Invention it is unnecessary to enter upon that subject It may however be
well to briefly point out that the webs on Table Y may be easily brought into four
page form Mechanism being provided for longitudinally slitting the webs into one
breadth strips as indicated by the dotted lines in the table-There should be a pair
of transverse cutting cylinders capable of cutting the web into sheets two pages
broad (measured in the direction of the motion) and long enough to cut a two
breadth web, and in connection therewith a folding mechanism capable of folding
two side by side streams in four page form the pages lying the same way up in
each stream-There should be another pair of transverse cutting cylinders capable
of severing the web into sheets one page broad (measured in the direction of the
motion) and long enough to cut a one breadth web. After cutting one sheet should
go direct to the before mentioned folding mechanism and the succeeding one pass
first through any suitable device which will transfer it laterally (without reversing
it) by just its breadth and then go to the before mentioned folding mechanism and
so on with succeeding sheets.
Now the strip 6" (Table Y) must be conducted direct to the aforesaid large pair
of cutting cylinders-The strip 61 must be transferred laterally by any suitable
device so as to come on the top of the strip b' and then pass to the large pair of
cutting cylinders The strip 63 should be transferred laterally underneath the
strip 6 and then pass to the large pair of cutting cylinders The strip a should be
transferred laterally on to the top of the strip a³ and then pass to the large pair of
cutting cylinders-The strip a¹ should be transferred laterally on to the strip a³

page_text: (the strip a' being between them) and then pass to the large pair of cutting
cylinders and lastly the strip a³ must be at pleasure able to be conducted to the
large pair of cutting cylinders or to the smaller pair.
By the above method the webs may be folded without any adjustment for
different numbers of pages further than when an eight or a twelve page paper is
being printed the strip a³ must be conducted to the large pair of cutting cylinders
and when a two, six or ten page paper is being printed it must be conducted to the
small pair of cutting cylinders.
Table Z exhibits a different order of the pages on the web and would require
different and in general more complicated manipulation to that indicated above.
It is evident that the circumference of either of the printing cylinders C, D may
be three or four or so on times the breadth of two formes instead of as in the figures
twice the said breadth the number of impression cylinders being correspondingly
increased.
Or instead the circumference of either of the printing cylinders C or D or both
may be exactly the breadth of two formes when only half the number of impression
cylinders would be required to what are shewn in the figures.
It is also clear that the axes of the printing cylinders instead of being parallel
might be inclined at an angle to one another.
Or again the formes may be distributed among three printing cylinders for.
example as shewn in the Specification of Patent No 2847 June 16th 1882-Thus
referring to figures 2 and 5 of the said Specification in order to print a 10 page
raper the web N° 1 must be a two breadth web and conducted as shewn in figure 2
of the said Specification and the web No 2 be a three breadth web which after
longitudinally slitting must be conducted, two breadths of it as shewn in figure 2
and one breadth of it as shewn in figure 5 of the said Specification And of course
the lengths of the circumferences of the printing cylinders A B C may be other
than is there shewn Thus the cylinder C may be once or twice or four times and
50 on the breadth of two pages instead of three times.
My Invention is also applicable when the formes are all placed on one printing
cylinder as shewn in the Specification of Letters Patent N° 1127 dated March 27th
1875 Figures 4 and 5 illustrate an application to this case.
Ps is the printing or forme bearing cylinder D³ the impression cylinders on one
side of the machine and E³ those on the other side, T3 indicating the turning
apparatus X3 X³ are the longitudinal cutting cylinders for cutting the webs, each
web being cut into three one breadth webs-Each of the turners T³ must not be
(as in the aforesaid Patent) a single turner adapted to reverse one broad web but
must be what may be called a kind of triplicate turner which will reverse, without
lateral transfer, each of the three strips.
Table W exhibits the number breadths and relative positions of the webs for
printing any paper from two to twelve pages inclusive and by suitably arranging
the formes on the printing cylinder the pages may appear on the webs in the order
indicated by the table-Thus if the formes are arranged on the printing cylinder
as in figure 17 the webs will be printed as in Table W indicates for a ten page
paper.
The course of the webs in the various cases is easily understood.
For a four, eight or a twelve page paper two webs are employed each being a
one, a two, or a three breadth web according as a four, an eight or a twelve page
paper is being printed and the webs pass through the machine as indicated by
figure 4.
For a two page paper one one-breadth web is employed and it passes through
the machine as shewn in figure 5-For a six page paper the web B is a one breadth
web and its course as indicated in figure 4 the web A is a two breadth web one
strip of which passes through the machine as in figure 4 and the other as in
figure 5-For a ten page paper the web B is a two breadth web and each strip
goes through the machine as indicated in figure 4. The web A is a three breadth
one, two of the strips going as indicated in figure 4 and one of them as in figure 5

page_text: After printing the webs may be brought into folding form by any suitable devices.
As before remarked it is needless to enter on that subject as the present Invention
does not relate thereto-By modifying the turners T3 so that each strip is not
separately reversed, and by correspondingly changing the order of the formes on
the printing cylinder the order of the pages on the web may be caused to differ
from that shewn in Table Z and possibly an order may be obtained more convenient,
for after folding processes, than the one here shewn.
The circumference of the printing cylinder P³ may of course be twice or six
times or more times the breadth of two formes instead of four times as in the
figures.
It is evident that the longitudinal severance must be made before the web is
completely printed on but that the mechanism for the purpose may be situated
anywhere so long as the web reaches it before the course of different portions
becomes different Thus in figures 4 and 5 the cutting cylinders X3 X³ may be
placed at any convenient point of the webs traverse between the roll A and the
pointe Again in figures 1 and 2 the web A may be longitudinally severed
anywhere between the roll A- and the carrier cylinder V which is close to L
It is also obvious that all the foregoing applies when the webs are transversely
severed before printing the sheets being suitably conducted between tapes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
First In a printing machine a forme-bearing or printing cylinder (long enough
to receive two or more formes abreast) on which a plurality of formes are fixed in
such a way that the number of them in the direction of the cylinder's motion is not
the same for each section of the cylinder substantially as herein before described.
Second-In a printing machine the combination of a printing or forme bearing
cylinder (long enough to receive two or more formes abreast) on which a plurality
of formes are fixed in such a way that the number of them in the direction of the
cylinders motion is not the same for each section of the cylinder, with mechanism
for longitudinally splitting or severing a web (or sheets in tapes) before it has been
completely printed on, and impression and carrier cylinders whereby the severed
strips (or sheets) are continuously printed on, but do not all pass round the same
number of impression cylinders and do not all receive impressions from the same
number of formes all substantially as described.
1 TOOK
J. HENRY JOHNSON,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.