CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR PRINTING, RULING, AND DAMPING PAPER FOR VARIOUS PUR- POSES
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BRITTEN, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Icr
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-seven, in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Britten, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John
Britten, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I,
the said John Britten, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR PRINTING, RULING, AND DAMPING PAPER FOR VARIOUS PUR-
POSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said John Britten, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
my Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, 'the said
John Britten, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation (that is to say):-
My Improvements in Machinery or Apparatus for Printing, Ruling, and
Damping Paper for various Purposes consist,-
Firstly, in improvements in machinery or apparatus used in letter-press
printing.
Secondly, in machinery for printing paper-hangings.
Thirdly, in an apparatus for printing progressive numbers in the process
called "reading in patterns" used principally in the carpet manufacture.
Fourthly, in an improved method of fixing the pens used in machines for
ruling parallel lines upon paper.
Fifthly, in an apparatus applicable to damping postage stamps, labels, and
for other similar purposes.
And, sixthly, in a modification of the above for damping the leaves of
copying books or other sheets of paper.
For the better explanation of my Invention, I have attached to these
Presents a Sheet of Drawings representing my several improvements, and
their application for printing, ruling, and damping paper.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the working parts of a printing
machine for printing one side of the sheet at a time. a, a, is part of the
framing of the machine, and 6 is the main driving shaft upon which is to be
placed a fly wheel of the requisite weight, to which is to be attached a winch
handle for working the machine by manual labour, or steam or other power
may be applied to work the said shaft. Upon the driving shaft 6 is fixed the
principal distributing roller c, and two levers or cranks d, d, (one at each side
of the machine) which impel the "frisket" and inking roller carriage e, e, by
means of the rods f. f. The type table g is stationary, and the platten h
slides up and down in the slot a+, a+, of the framing. The rise and fall of
the platten is effected in the following manner:- -Upon one end of the cross
shaft i, two cranks and m are fixed, and at the other, one crank corresponding
to the crank m. These cranks m, m, are connected to the platten / by rods
n, n. The crank is connected to the lever d on the main driving shaft by
the link o and rod p. The pin which connects the link o and rod p being
guided along the curve dotted line by the radius rod q, it will be obvious that
if the connecting rod p and link o were of one piece the lever d, d, would
scarcely move any further in the direction of the arrow then the position
shewn in the Drawing; but their being jointed allows the lever d, d, to
continue its revolution. The same effect may be obtained in various ways;

page_text: for instance, causing the connecting rod p to shorten like a telescope, or the
pin which joins the connecting rod p and crank I may be made to slide in a
slot cut in the crank 1, being guided by a radius rod similar to the rod q. In
Figure 2 the crank d upon the driving shaft is made to act upon a toothed
segment r, gearing into a spur pinions, upon the end of the impression shaft i.
These and other methods may be adopted, but I consider that shewn in
Figure 1 the best. t is the bank for holding blank sheets, and u for printed
sheets; v is a claw for holding the blank sheet when placed ready; w is a
rod or shaft extending across the "frisket", and having "gripers" attached
to it in the usual manner. Besides the downward motion which is common
to all "friskets" that are separate from the type table, the frisket in this
machine is so arranged as to have a backward and forward motion on the
carriage. The frisket is kept forward by a spring; but when the "frisket a "
comes under the platten, the end of the rod w comes against a projecting
piece y fixed to the framing, by which means the frisket is held stationary
during the impression, without the necessity of bringing the carriage to a dead
pause. The machine is worked as follows:-A sheet is projected a proper
distance underneath the claw v. The attendant having done this is at liberty
to leave it and lay hold of the sheet last printed, which will be receding from
under the platten. He retains the edge of this sheet in his hands until the
finger y*, coming in contact with the pendant catch z, causes the gripers
which are attached to the frisket to relax their hold of the sheet, which the
attendant lays on the bank u. The further passage of the carriage carries the
finger beyond the influence of the catch, and thereby releases the gripers
on the frisket, which spring upon the edge of the sheets projected from under
the claw v, and draw it 'under the press. The catch has free motion in the
direction of the arrow, but cannot move any further the reverse way than the
position it now occupies.
Figure 2+ is a Diagram shewing another arrangement of single "platten"
machine. a is the frisket, and 6 the type table, connected together by endless
straps or chains c, c, passing over pullies d, d. The object of this arrangement
is, that as the frisket and type table both slide in separate guides in different
directions, the platten need not be raised much higher than in the common
hand press.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of part of a machine for printing both sides
of the sheet at one operation. a, a, is the framework, and b, 6, are the two
"plattens" fixed to the framework; c, c, are the two type tables fixed
together by the rods d, d, sliding through the lower platten b. The type
table c, c, may be made to rise and fall in any convenient manner, and the

page_text: method of laying on the sheets is as follows:-The blankets or "tympans" are
to be attached to the "plattens," and the friskets to be suspended about half an
inch from the blankets, in such a manner as to admit of their being pressed into
contact with the blankets. e and fare two cylinders having two chains (repre-
sented by the two dotted lines g) passing over them, one passing over cach
end, and coupling the cylinders e and f together. Each of the chains g should
he in length exactly four times the circumference of one of the cylinders, and
they are connected together by four light bars of steel or other metal,
h,,,, placed equidistant, extending across the machine in the direction
of the cylinders. Enlarged views of one of these bars h with gripers attached
are shewn at Figures 4, 5, and 6.
Figure 4 shews an end view with the "griper "i in the position it would
be in when at , with the griper closed, and holding the edge of the sheet;
and Figure 5 shows the position at h when just about to spring upon the
fresh sheet.
Figure 6 is a plan view of one end of the bar h with the "griper" in the
same position. The spur wheel & receives rotary motion by any convenient
means. This wheel is one fifth larger than the other wheel 1, but has teeth
upon four fifths of its periphery only. When the cylinders e and f have made
ouc revolution, and brought the blank sheets over the type tables c, c, the
stud m is caught in the catch n, thus holding the cylinders stationary; at the
same time the blank part of the wheel & comes opposite the wheel 1; the type
tables c, c, are then caused to rise in any convenient manner, and give the
impressions. Three sheets are in the press at one time, one receiving its first
impression, one resting around the cylinder f, and one receiving its second im-
pression. The sheet is laid on at h, where it is seized by the griper, and
carried at three intervals through the machine in the direction of the arrows,
and delivered printed on both sides below the cylinder e. The gripers are
caused to release their hold of the sheet by the part of the "griper rod"
coming against the curved guide p. p'.
Figure 7 is a front view of the guide p, p, by which it will be seen, that
when the part o of the griper rod has passed the part p¹ of the curved guide, the
crank will come into contact with the curved guide p. p', which will have
the effect of throwing the griper into a more completely inverted position, as
shewn at Figure 5.
q
Figure 8 is a section of part of a machine for printing paper hangings.
a, a, is the framing to which the table b, b, is fixed; c, c, is the printing
block, sliding in slots in the framing, being raised and lowered by the cam
d, de, e, is the pad upon which the color is distributed, and which slides

page_text: in longitudinal slots in the framing; manual or other power being applied to
the shaft, is to be communicated thence to the shaft g, by a strop or other
convenient means. The rotation of the cam h will, by means of the lever i
and link k, push the pad e, e, under the block c, c, as shewn in the Drawing;
the part of the cam d then lowers the block c upon the pad to receive its
color; the block c then rises, and the pad e, e, is withdrawn by means of the
balance weight 1, when the block c again descends, and gives the impression.
Figure 9 is a side view, and Figure 10 a section of part of an arrange-
ment of mechanism for printing progressive numbers in the process called
"reading in" patterns, which is a modification of the apparatus now in use
for numbering railway tickets, the principal difference consisting in the method
of working the type wheels, which in this machine is effected by means of a
rack a, in connection with a pointer b, and gearing in the spur pinion c.
The pointer 6 is moved to and fro over the pattern by the attendant. The
squares in the pattern being numbered, the type wheels must be so arranged
that when the pointer is over a certain square they will print the correspond-
ing number. The pinion c must be of such a size that the passage of the
pointer 6 over ten squares shall cause the said pinion to revolve once, when a
stud or tooth e on the inside of the unit wheel d gives a tenth of a revolution
to the toothed wheel f, which being in gear with the tens wheel 9, causes it to
revolve one tooth, thus bringing a fresh type forward for printing. The same
system is adopted with the hundreds wheel h.
Figure 11 is a side view of an apparatus for holding the pens in ruling
machines both parallel and perpendicular, and also enabling them to be varied
in their relative distances at the option of the attendant. a, a, a, a, are a
series of levers similar to what are commonly called "lazy tongs," to the lower
rivets of which the penholders or sockets b, b, b, b, are attached, the upper
rivets sliding in the slots c, c, c, c. Thus it will be seen that the ruling pens
may be thrown closer together or distended, by compressing or drawing out
the levers a, a, a, a. Of course it will be evident that this arrangement will
only be applicable in those cases where all the lines are required to be equi-
distant.
Figure 12 is a section of a small apparatus for the purpose of damping
paper previous to affixing postage stamps or labels, or for damping the stamps
or labels themselves. a, a, represents a glass vessel, with another vessel b
inverted therein. The vessel b is entirely covered with cotton, velvet, or some
other capillary material, which presents a flat surface at the part c. To make
this apparatus ready for use, take the vessel b out and soak it in water until the
capillary material becomes thoroughly moist; then fill the vessel 6 with water,
invert the glass vessel a over it, and place the apparatus in the position repre-

page_text: sented in the Drawing. The part c will present a damp surface for the
purposes aforesaid as long as any water remains in the vessel.
Figures 13 and 14 represent a modification of the above applicable to
damping the leaves of copying books, and for other similar purposes; Figure
13 being a transverse section, and Figure 14 a side view, of one end of the
a, a, is a cylindrical vessel of brass or other metal, and b, b, are two
horizontal plates inserted into the cylinder, and forming a longitudinal neck.
c, c, is a tongue of cloth, felt, or other capillary material, passing double
between the plates b, b, and returning up the sides, makes the joints between
the edges of the cylinder a and plates b, b, water-tight. The cylinder or reser-
voir a being filled with water at any convenient aperture, the tongue of felt or
cloth c, c, when once thoroughly damp, will remain so as long as any water
remains in the vessel a, a. The method of using the apparatus is to invert
it, and upon drawing the tongue of felt or cloth c, c, over the paper, a sufficient
amount of dampness will be imparted to it.
Having now described the nature and object of my said improvements, I
desire it to be understood that I claim as my Invention,―
Firstly, as regards printing paper, the particular construction and arrange-
ments of machinery employed for that purpose, as shewn in the Drawing
annexed, and herein-before described.
Secondly, the method shewn and described of keeping the pens used
in ruling machines perpendicular and parallel to each other.
And, thirdly, the adaptation (as above described) of capillary attraction to
the purpose of damping paper.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Britten, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Tenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.