IMPROVEMENTS IN CLEANING PRINTERS' INKING AND DISTRIBUTING ROLLERS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henderson, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CLEANING PRINTERS' INKING AND DISTRIBUTING ROLLERS, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR.
39
Sealed the 7th March 1873, and dated the 11th September 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henderson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th September 1872.
I, JOHN HENDERSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN CLEANING PRINTERS' INKING AND DISTRIBUTING ROLLERS, AND IN
THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in cleaning the inking
and distributing rollers used in printing, consists of a machine having
a series of horizontal revolving cylinders with roughened or grooved

page_text: surfaces which are used to impart a rotary motion to such inking rollers
as may be placed upon them to be cleaned.
The rollers are kept in position above the cylinders by suspended
stoppers, against which they are pressed by their gravity and by the
rotation of the cylinders. These stoppers are covered by a brush or
sponge.or other suitable material, the brush being stationary while the
roller is rotating.
.
The cylinders are placed at slightly varying levels, so that the first
shall be higher than the second, and the second higher than the third.
The hollow or intervening spaces between the cylinders are filled up to
form an incline level, or nearly so, with the tops of the cylinders.
When a roller is revolving on the top of the first or highest cylinder,
it may when released roll freely down this incline to the second
cylinder, and similarly from the second to the third cylinder.
The first cylinder revolves in a trough of caustic ley or other cleansing
agent, or it may receive a charge of ley by hand, brush, or other means,
or the printers' roller when laid on the top of the cylinder may similarly
receive a charge of ley. While the roller is rotating by virtue of its
contact with the revolving cylinder it is brought to bear against the
brush or platform with the sponge surface which is suspended over the
cylinder, and the ley is by this means uniformly distributed over the
surface of the roller and incorporated with the ink adhering to it, which
is thereby dissolved.
The suspended brush is then swung back, and the roller rolls down
the incline to the top of the second cylinder, which is supplied with
pure water. Here it is brought to bear on a second brush in the same
manner as before, which washes off the ink and ley on its surface.
On disengaging the second brush the roller travels down the incline
to the top of the third cylinder, over which a corresponding brush is
suspended for removing the water from the surface of the roller. This
cylinder may be kept dry by means of a scraper of rubber or other
material pressing on its surface as it revolves.
When the roller is dried it is released from its position in the same
manner as before and descends the incline to a table, whence it is taken
up by the attendant and ready for use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henderson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENDERSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send
greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the 36th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henderson, Her special license,
that I, the said John Henderson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henderson, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time, and at all times thereafter during 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
CLEANING PRINTERS' INKING AND DISTRIBUTING ROLLERS, AND IN THE APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Henderson, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 John Henderson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
My said Invention relates to improvements in cleaning the inking and
distributing rollers used in printing, and in the apparatus employed
therefor.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner

page_text: in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, that is to say :-
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figure 1 is a vertical
section of my improved apparatus for cleaning printers' inking and
distributing rollers, and Figure 2'is a modified part of the same.
As shewn by the Drawing the apparatus consists of three horizontal
cylinders A, B, and C. respectively, constructed of either wood or metal,
and which are supported in suitable bearings formed in the framing D.
The horizontal cylinders A, B, and C, are geared together by means of
spur wheels, and are so arranged that by means of filling in pieces E
an inclined plane is formed level or nearly so with the upper surfaces
of the cylinders. In the filling in pieces E perforations a are formed
through which the ley and water used in cleansing the rollers runs off.
A. receiving table F is situated at one end of the machine, whilst at its
opposite end is placed a delivery table G. The cylinder A is caused to
revolve within a trough H which contains caustic ley or other cleansing
agent, or it may receive a charge of ley by hand, brush, or other means,
or the printers' roller when laid on the cylinder A may similarly receive
a charge of ley. When the ley becomes so saturated with ink as to be
unfit for further use it is discharged by means of a pipe b, to which a
cook is fitted.
Brushes or sponges I, J, and K respectively are attached to bars or
stoppers c, the bars or stoppers being suspended from and free to
swing on spindles d which are carried by the framing D. The bars or
stoppers c are connected by means of arms e to handles f, which are
provided with suitable stops and locking gear to keep the suspended
bars or stoppers c with the brushes I, J, and K in their proper positions
relatively with the horizontal cylinders A, B, and C. A printing roller R
is shewn placed in position on each of the cylinders A, B, and C, and
pressing by its own weight, and by the rotation of the cylinders A, B,
and C, against the brushes or sponges I, J, and K, the surfaces of the
cylinders A, B, and C, may be roughened or grooved, or they may be
covered with felt, flannel, or other suitable material, so that when
caused to revolve they shall with greater certainty impart the necessary
rotatory motion to the rollers R. Situated above the cylinder B is a pipe g,
having a series of perforations along the under side, from which issues
water in the form of small jets or spray and falls on the roller R. The
cylinder B is provided with a trough L for collecting the water falling

page_text: from the pipe g, or in lieu of the pipe g the trough L may contain the
water for cleaning the roller R, and an outlet h is provided from the
trough L. A scraper M of rubber or other similar material is placed
between the thicknesses of wood or metal, and is hung from pins or
studs i and brought to bear with sufficient pressure against the surface
of the third cylinder C by means of a weighted lever N, the object of
the scraper M being to remove moisture from the cylinder C. The
water collected from the surface of the cylinder C escapes by means
of perforations or channels formed in the scraper M, and is collected
in a trough k.
Figure 2 is a transverse section shewing another method of arranging
the third cylinder C, and the apparatus for removing moisture from
it. Under this arrangement the cylinder C is covered with felt, blanket-
ing, flannel, or other similar material m. A roller O is suspended from.
the pins or studs n, and brought to bear with sufficient pressure against
the surface of the cylinder C by means of a weighted lever P when the
water in the felt or other similar covering m will be pressed out.
In applying my improved apparatus for the cleaning or printers'
inking or distributing rollers the rollers are placed conveniently near
the receiving table F. The attendant then lays a roller R on the top
of the revolving cylinder A and against the first brush or sponge I, the
revolving motion imparted to it by the rotation of the cylinder A causes
some of the ley from the trough H to become evenly distributed over
the surface of the roller R and incorporated with the ink adhering to it,
which is thereby dissolved. The brush I is then swung back by the
attendant actuating the handle f into the position shewn by the dotted
lines at Figure 1, when the roller R will roll down the inclined plane
to the top of the second cylinder B, and against the second brush or
sponge J, where it rotates in the same manner. The water from the
pipe g falling on the roller R washes off the dissolved ink and ley, and
by swinging back the second brush J in the same way as the first the
roller R travels down the inclined plane on to the third or drying
cylinder C, and against the third brush or sponge K. By a similar dis-
engagement of the third brush or sponge K the roller R is allowed to
roll on to the delivery table G, and is there examined by the person in
charge, and laid aside in the roller rack of the cleaning room. The machine
herein-before described may be driven by hand or from a revolving
pulley, or by other mechanical means.

page_text: Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim the
various mechanical details herein-before described with reference to the
accompanying Drawings as forming, apart from the combination and
application thereof for the purposes described, any part of my Invention ;
but what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the arrangement of cylinders with or without a covering of felt,
flannel, or other similar material on which the printers' rollers are placed
and combined with a series of brushes, sponges, or india-rubber, or
other suitable material for the cleaning of printers' inking and distri-
buting rollers, as herein-before described and shewn on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henderson, have hereunto set