A NEW IRON BED FOR MOUNTING STEREOTYPE OR OTHER PLATES, AND FOR SECURING SUCH PLATES IN THE POSITION REQUIRED FOR PRINTING FROM.
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Purdy Tickle, of 29, Sherborne Street,
Blandford Square, in the County of Middlesex, Printing Machine
Manager, for the Invention of "A NEW IRON BED FOR MOUNTING
STEREOTYPE OR OTHER PLATES, AND FOR SECURING SUCH PLATES IN THE
POSITION REQUIRED FOR PRINTING FROM.'
"
Sealed the 20th February 1872, and dated the 27th December 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Purdy Tickle
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th December 1871.
I, ROBERT PURDY TICKLE, of 29, Sherborne Street, Blandford
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Printing Machine Manager, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW IRON BED
FOR MOUNTING STEREOTYPE OR OTHER PLATES, AND FOR SECURING SUCH PLATES
IN THE POSITION REQUIRED FOR PRINTING FROM," to be as follows :-
-
The iron bed consists of a frame in which there is a number of T
shaped bars in a diagonal position, a space being left between each bar..

page_text: The stereotype or other plates are secured on the bed by clutches; the
clutches are fastned to the sides of the plates, and kept in that position
by screws passing down the space between the bars of the bed into nuts
placed there to receive them. The clutches are small oblong peices of
metal with studs to fit into the spaces between the bars of the bed to
prevent them turning when being screwed up, one side of the clutch
being shaped according to the edge of the plate to be secured.
By the use of this Invention any plate can be shifted or taken off
the bed without disturbing any other plate that may be on the same
bed, the plates being fastned to the bed independent of one another.
The plates can be also fastned to this bed in the same manner as
when screwed on to wood.
The advantage of this bed over the blocks now in use is the great
saving of time in making up, and in not requiring any furniture or leads
as in use now.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Purdy Tickle in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th June 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
PURDY TICKLE, of 29, Sherborne Street, Blandford Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Printing Machine Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert Purdy Tickle, Her
special licence that I, the said Robert Purdy Tickle, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Purdy
Tickle, my executors, administrators, and 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

page_text: "A NEW IRON BED FOR MOUNTING STEREOTYPE OR OTHER PLATES, AND FOR
SECURING SUCH PLATES IN THE POSITION REQUIRED FOR PRINTING FROM," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Purdy Tickle,
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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Purdy Tickle, 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 Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to an improved means of mounting and securing
stereotype and other similar plates in a printing press, whereby a great
saving of time and labor is effected, inasmuch as by my Invention
I am enabled to dispense with the ordinary chases, leads, and other
> pieces technically called "furniture" used for fixing the plates when
the same are mounted on the ordinary blocks.

page_text: equal thickness at all parts, that is to say, its top and bottom surfaces
must be parallel to one another to obtain an equal pressure on the plate
when working. B, C, D, E, are stereotype or similar plates attached to
bed A, to show the various fastenings, which may be employed.
The plate B is secured by metal clips c, shown separately on an enlarged
scale Figure 4. For this purpose the edges of the stereotype plate are
beveled, and the clip is also bent upwards as shown, so as to grip the
edge of the plate B and hold it securely in position. A stud c³ is raised.
at the back of clip c by punching or otherwise, the said stud c¹ being
intended to fit between the bars A¹, so as to allow clip c to slide along
the groove from or towards the stereotype plate B, with its raised edge
always parallel to the edge of plate B. The clip c is fixed by a screw d
passing through it and between the flanges of bars A¹ into a nut e in
the groove a at back, see detached view Figure 5, drawn on a larger
scale. The nut e is free to slide up and down said groove, but cannot
turn therein, so that the nut will be held whilst the screw d is tightened
up. A rebate b is planed along one side and end of the bed A to open
the ends of all the grooves a to permit the insertion or removal of the
various clips with their screws and nuts attached, without lifting or
moving the bed A from the press. By making the grooves in the bed
oblique or diagonal I am enabled to shift the stereotype or other plate
in any direction.
In some cases it may be convenient to apply clips c to either of the
edges of the frame A to hold a plate near the side of the bed, as
plate C for instance, the said clip being secured by a screw d passing
through a hole bored in the side of the bed A, into a nut e at back
placed in one of the grooves a (see Figure 6). D is a plate attached by
a clip c, shown separately in Figure 7, made plain without any stud at
back to admit of its being turned in any direction to fix a plate whose
edge is not parallel with the edge of the bed A.
I may also dispense with clip c, and pass the screw d through the
stereotype or other plate, as when the latter is screwed on to wood.
Plate E is shown attached in this manner. The screws pass between
the bars of the bed into a nut sliding in the groove a at back as before.
This method however affords less facility of adjusting the position of
the plate.
Figure 8 shows another form of clip to be placed at the corner of a
I late for holding both the end and side of the same. In this Figure the

page_text: nuts e are also shown of triangular form, which allows the nut to be
slid up to the extreme corner of the groove a for holding a plate close to
the edge of the bed. Each limb of the clip is slotted for the screw d to
pass through to allow of the clip being shifted freely in any direction.
In this Figure as well as in Figure 1, the bed is shown as ruled with
lines cut in the face and parallel to the sides of the same at equal
distances apart, whereby the plates to be fixed thereon may be readily
made to register, and guaging and straight edging are rendered un-
necessary. The sides ƒ of the bed which are plain are made narrower
than the other two sides in which the rebate 6 is made, and four similar
beds A may be combined with their edges f together to form a bed for a
plate of large dimensions. The bed A is fixed in the coffin of the press
by means of a side stick and quoin or other device in the ordinary
manner of fixing the chase hitherto employed, and similarly when
several beds are combined.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to
be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The bed A constructed with diagonal or oblique cross bars A¹
and intervening grooves a to receive sliding clips or fastenings c, all
substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth and illustrated in
the Drawings.
2ndly. I claim the sliding clips c of the various forms shown in the
Drawings secured to the bed A substantially as and for the purpose
herein-before shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Purdy Tickle, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.