THE

LONDON JOURNAL,

AND

REPERTORY

OF

Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures,

CONJOINED SERIES.

No. CCLIX.

RECENT PATENTS.

To STEPHEN SOULBY, of Ulverston, in the county of Lancaster, printer, for improvements in machinery for letterpress printing.-[Sealed 1st October, 1852.]

THE principle of construction of the machine which forms the subject of the present invention, differs from the ordinary handpress, and also from the cylindrical or rotary machines now in use, in that the table and type-form are fixed and immoveable on the stationary frame which supports the whole of the machinery; and that the impression-roller, with the inking apparatus attached, is mounted in a travelling-frame, which runs. on V-guides, and is furnished with a hand-rail, whereby it can be drawn to and fro over the form, and thereby produce the impression on the paper, which is drawn in by the impression-cylinder.

In order to distribute the ink properly over the surface of the type, a zig-zag or endway motion is communicated to the inking rollers as they run to and fro over the type. The impression-cylinder is mounted in bearings at the end of a pair of levers, one of which is placed on each side of the travelling-frame; and these parts are so arranged, that when the frame is driven back to the feeding apparatus, in order to enable the impression-cylinder to take another sheet of paper from the pile on the table, the cylinder is lifted up, and passes over the form without touching the type; but immediately it lays hold of a sheet, and is drawn back again, it descends, and, on coming into contact with the form, rolls over the type, and by that means transfers an impression

VOL. XLIII.

A

from the type to the sheet of paper that was carried in. The advantage of this arrangement is, that the weight of the moving parts of this machine is considerably less than in those machines in which the table and form are driven under a cylinder; that consequently there is a great economy of working power, and that a machine constructed according to these improvements, can be easily worked by hand labour. The distance the moveable frame, with the impressioncylinder, has to travel, can be regulated to the length or size of the form required to be printed; and therefore the smaller the size of the form, the greater the number of impressions that can be worked within a given time. By the inking apparatus being attached to the frame which carries the impression-roller, it will only be necessary to drive the moveable frame the exact length of the form. The pressure of the impression-roller on the form is obtained, to a certain extent, by its own weight; and by the employment of levers connected to the moving frame of the machine, the pressure may be increased if required.

In Plate I., fig. 1, represents the machine in side elevation; fig. 2, is a plan, or bird's-eye view, as seen from above; and fig. 3, is a transverse vertical section of the same. a, a, a, is the fixed framework of the machine; b, b, is the moveable or travelling framework which supports the principal working parts, and is made to run in or on horizontal guides c, c, c, attached to the fixed framework. The impression-cylinder d, is mounted in bearings made in the lever-frame e, e, e, which turns on a centre e*, fig. 1. This centre or fulcrum being attached to the upright standards of the travelling-frame b, b, the lever-frame e, e, and impression-cylinder d, are caused to travel with it. The whole system of inking apparatus, consisting of the ink-trough i*1, distributing and inking-rollers i, i, i, and other parts, is also attached to the upright standards of the travelling-frame b, b: the upper roller i*2, is caused to revolve (as the frames b, and e, are moved to and fro) by means of the cord or band 1, passing round the pulleys 2, on the axle of the roller i*2. The ink-trough has a long narrow slot made along the bottom, so as to supply the ink to the first ink-roller: the inking apparatus is also furnished with a pair of additional rollers i*, i*, which are made to roll over the form of type, before and after the inkingroller, for the purpose of more evenly distributing the ink, and also taking up and removing any dust, dirt, or other extraneous matters that may get on to the surface of the type. The bed f, f, of the machine (and on which the form

of type f*, f*, is placed) is stationary, but is adjustable from beneath by the set screws g, g, two of which are placed on each side of the machine. The paper to be printed is fed into the machine from a table j, j, which is supported at one end of the stationary framing. When the machine is to be worked by steam-power, the travelling-frame b, b, with the inking apparatus i, i, and the impression-cylinder or roller d, together with its appendages, is moved backwards and forwards over the stationary form of type, by means of the adjustable cranks, rods, and levers k, k, and l, l, which are actuated by the gearing below. The crank-arms and levers are slotted, in order to allow of the extent of motion of the frames b, and e, being varied, to suit the size of the form of type. One end of the arms of the lever-frame e, e, is connected by means of a vertical arm m, to the slotted rods 1, by means of the stud n. There is a square steadying-piece, (shewn by dots in fig. 1,) which, by running in the guides c, maintains the arms in a horizontal position, and yet admits of the arms being pushed back out of the vertical line, as shewn by dots in fig. 1. At one end of the rods l, is a slot o, which works on a pin p, fixed on the side of the upright standards of the travelling-frame b,-the other end of the rod 1, being pierced with holes, so as to allow of the frames being worked at all times as near the paper-board j, as possible. The length of the slot o, is capable of being adjusted by means of the set screw q, for the purpose of regulating the length of the action of the rods l, in bringing the arms m, into the dotted position, when raising the printing-roller. To the lower part of the travelling-frame b, is bolted an arm r, which supports a vibrating lever s, the upper end of which is forked, and embraces a rod which is connected with the spindles of the two distributing-rollers i, i, which distribute the ink over the surface of the composition-rollers, whereby the form of type is supplied with ink. The lower end of the lever s, is also forked, and embraces a horizontal rod or bar t, which is fixed to arms projecting from the side standards of the machine, and is placed obliquely, as shewn in the planview; so that as the travelling-frame b, moves to and fro, and carries with it the vibrating-lever 8, 8, the latter may be vibrated on its centre, and thus made to communicate a zigzag motion to the distributing-rollers i, i. It will now be seen that when the rods 1, 7, are drawn back in the direction of the arrow, the end of the lever-frame e, will be pulled down by the link m, into the position shewn by dots in fig. 1, and will consequently raise up the opposite end of the lever

frame, and lift the impression-roller d, above the level of the form of type f*. The travelling-frame b, may then be pushed forward over the form of type to the paper-table j, to allow of the impression-roller or cylinder d, taking in another sheet of paper. The edge of the sheet of paper is pushed forward by the attendant to a certain mark on the table, so as to allow the tapes and rollers on the rod u, to take hold of the sheet. To facilitate this operation, the rod u, is mounted in rocking-arms v, v, and has an up-and-down or lifting motion communicated to it by means of the connecting-rod w, which is attached at one end to the arms v, and at the other end to the vertical arm m. It will now be understood, that when the rods 7, 1, are drawn back in the direction of the arrow, the impression-cylinder d, will be lifted up, and the rollers and tapes on the rod u, will be raised from the surface of the impression-cylinder or roller; then, by pushing forward the travelling-frame b, up to the paper-table j, the edge of the sheet of paper will be inserted between the small rollers of the rod u, and the impression-cylinder; and when the arms 1, 1, are drawn back again, their first action will be to pull back the vertical arm m, and thereby cause the rollers of the rod u, and also the impression-cylinder, to descend, and assume their original position. By this means the small rollers of the rod u, press the paper on to the impressioncylinder; and, as the latter is made to rotate by friction of contact with the fixed wooden rails placed upon the plate f, (but not shewn), the paper is carried round the impressioncylinder, and is, by the onward motion of the travelling-frame b, b, brought into contact with the form of type, which has been previously supplied with ink by the rollers of the inking apparatus; which, both at their forward and backward motion, are made to roll over the type. From this arrangement and construction of the working parts, it will be seen that the pressure of the impression-cylinder on the type is not due simply to its own weight, but, being mounted at one end of a vibrating lever, the pressure of the cylinder is increased by the power necessary to be exerted in moving the travellingframe and all its appendages. To prevent the printing-cylinder d, from bumping up and down when passing over the forms of type, by reason of its entering the spaces between the pages of the form, and thereby spoiling the impression, guide-rails are placed alongside of the form, for the ends of the printingcylinder to run upon; or, if preferred, rollers or wheels, as at z, fig. 1, may be mounted at one end of the lever-frame e, and made to run on V-guides, so as to support the frame e,