US881167A - Printing-machine. - Google Patents

Description

W. H. THOMAS.

PRINTING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR.11.1907.

Wm%ss|5s;{ I INVENTORI 55.1[5 fi I PATENTED MAR. 10, 1908.

' a SHEETSSHEET 1.

No..831,167. PATENTED MAR 10 1908 W. H. THOMAS.

PRINTING MACHINE WITNESSES:

/M- ATTORNEYS- UNITED STA WILLIAM H. THOMAS, or NEW YORK, N. Y];

PRINTINGMAZCHINE.

, Specification of Letters Patent.

"to. se ner.

' To all whom-it may concern: I Be it known that I, WiLLIlAM H. THOMAS,

'a citizen of the United States, residing at:

-cotton cloth and other fa rics, wood, tin

L. peats so long as to be unnoticeable,='except s the very expensive block printing process by hand. wo rk The unnatural, conventional.

. and artificialcharacter of'this class of Work cannot be avoided-by the present practices.

' I In thetprintiri gfof handkerchiefs, rollers of veryglargecircunrference may be used, but in .-pra'ctice the inconvenience of using large frollersgis so great that designs are rarely if everseen which do not repeat in less than twenty-five inches.

In typographicprinting, such as neWspaper work, the. engraving being forms I which arefastened to the surface of a suitable 'cylinder,'- the size of cylinder used may.

somewha greater and hence the repeat longer, in practice about fifty or sixty inches.

sdiAnything-rnuch greater than this, however,

l is "impracticableso fan as cyiinderprinting is 0on;c1 1f lfamrawars that prior. to my invention errai machines have been devised for printing infrequent repeats. Theseinnachines er'nploy sonie'foru: eiflexible belt, such as gleather or rubber, upon the surface of which the type or printing forms are fastened. "Th enlachines are used, however, for printnotbe'usefull 'employed fr'or the printing ,flexib echara .aperilfea ico" r father r paper or cloth has heretofore been Figure '1 1s a top :tudina -l section thereofgmi a portion of the chainofi-for P i to the metlind ofi-eennat myself to such use.

' time of a press havin ken matter, such-as letters, but they below. the former andgs f' anunbroken esign such as is desired for at; of the belt 'employedliniits the work to 10W grade, simple iprintmgs fre uent spaces duet 3th of t 1e engraved forms The disadvantages- 'n ualixbnl'tl' of flex ble material Il etreiverc dmenbyiemploying a chain, the section-aofiwvhihlriare at iron, steel or simil-arinateriial. .MBy-fsuch means I obtain a solidrinyielrling baseifor. the printing forms With-all:theaailvanta es of cylinder printing. Atytlr'ensame 'time able to make the repeat-zofstmt zleng l 1 sired by connecting sai LflliQSlYbYl-l form a chain. 1, 5-

The invention will be znntlerstood by'lreference to the 'accompanyirigzdrawin-gs irrwhich View; f bodyingmy invention {Fi with 55 ret'chin art centralil ongi sidegwiew of :plates. a1idone of the rollers or drums .WTBI'f-Whitlhilfi ispas sed; Fig. 4 a longitudinal sectional vieiwioiinthe i plane of the line 4-4 ;oi=.Eig: e,.fligsnihfli, 7 and 10 detail views ofenndificatiensnel ting ing the form plates; Fig. 8 a portions-0f .a-isurface printed by two, plates of the upper press- 0f 8O Fig. 1; and 9 a:p(irrtii1:- o printed surface. .3

Similar reference nueralssnidrcate snn' ar parts in the several views In its simplest forinlith'e nvent prises an impression cylinder andea s 'iofplates connected ge her tan-links as to constitute a chain, the. iprintingzziornisiibeing secured to said plates. ilelihaveishdwn in Figs. 1 and 2 two s11 0 &i $hDiw.serY=ing as acornplement to the othen-lt' plintnt e. complete design, -I done-t manypurposes a mach chain of form plates'may illustration of a multiple ables me to give a-desera, p tion as applied to such'pne, Him

singleg'dhaing Referring now to t e gawigggs flame, lnioo of the Lmachine supp 8i .Zar b the printing mechanis i Fi s. 1 and 2, comprises ,.W in ers 2 and 3, the latte web of pa er,.cotton clei tli ;or er may passrom the upper to the te der in proper working nelationath eitomiiz,

- and passes around two pairs of rollers lland 12, and the lower chain passes around similar blocks byscrews material to be printed upon is fed from a suitable drum or roll 5 around the impression cylinders and is wound u on a drum or roll 6,

or otherwise disposedxo after the printing operation.

The essential feature of my invention re sides in the construction and disposition of the several form plates. As shown, the forms 7 are secured. upon the convex side of plates 8 "of rigid material, said plates in practice having been made of iron or steel of sufiicicnt thicknesses not to be flexed or distorted when in use, the purpose being to present the printing forms to the impression cylinder u on a solid, unyielding base or support. n order to secure the advantages rollers 13 and 14. Thepairs of rollers 1.2.and 14 in reality coiistitute printing cylinders. The shafts of these rollers are carried in journal b Xes which'may'be adjusted in their stood.

The plates 8 are curved, on the arc of a circle con-es onding to that of the rollers over which they pass so that when advanced to printing position they will conform to and bear firmly 21 and 14. V

Any suitable arrangement ofbelting or gearing, may bB 'PIOVIdBd for driving the chains. As shown in the drawings] the power shaft '16 carries a pulley 17 which is I connected by belt 18 through pulley 19 with a shaft 20.- -The shafts 16 and 20 have-adustable} bearings in the machine frame and ave keyed thereon two pairs of pulleys'21 and 22' respectively, one pair of said, pulleys 2.1 -1?assin'g around one bf'the pulleys 21Iand 22 at one-side of the being. shown in machine, is an endless belt 23 which is. caused from pulley 22 around the'ends of'the form to travel in the direction of the arrow in engagernent with one endof the form so portngplates 8 as seen inlugs. 1 and 4; t at is,

su porting (plates 8 as the latter engage roller 11," an in engagementwith said 'lates until they leave the forward roller 12, t ence around pulley21 into engagement with the endfsdof plates 8 on the ower chain. A

Similar belt 24 -is in en agement with the pulleys 21 and .22 and t e form supporting plates Son the opposite side of the machine.

same? 15 as will be readily under against the peripheries of rollers I stituting the printlngl The belts 23 and 24 bear upon the ends of plates 8 with. suliicient force to cause them to move forward "to printing position without lost motion. The means described for driving the chains is, however, not essential,

as other means may be employed with equal facility. Whatever (:lriving means may be employed it is essential that the plates of the lower chain. shall be so disposed as to register properly with the portion of the design printed by the upper. plates, both horizontally and vertically. In Fig. 8 l have shown aportion of a con ventional design printed by two contiguous plates of the upper series, and in Fig. 9 a portion of the complete design, it being understood that these a'e only fragments. Fig. 8 shows a portion ,o'f the design as appearing at one end of the plate, and Fig. 9 a complete design as it appears at the other end of 35 the plate.

In practice the plate f the two series are so ad 3' ustedrelat'ively tm other that the design will be com let-ed by a plate of the lower series printing between the portions printed by two contiguous plates of the upper series.

By making the chains of suit able lengths, that is within practical working conditions, the length of the repeat may be anything desired. In a press constructed by me the chains are about ten feet in len th and the individual'form plates 8 about 've by thirty inches and the engraved forms 7 about three by twenty-four inches; These proportions, however, may be varied at will.

When using two series of form plates the loo connecting links 9.1nay be such'as to permit the plates of a given series to abut or ap-' proach each other when traveling between the supporting rollers.

is drawn taut, the plates being at that time their maximum distance apart as indicated 1 in Fig. I

As beforestated, .my invention contemplates the use of a'single series-of form plates. 11o

n such case provision is madefor drawing the plates together as they pass into working relation with the impression cylinder so as to prevent any break in the printing surface.

his is easily accomplished by. some form of link connection such as shown in Fi s. 5, 6, 7 or 10. In the form shown in 1g. -5 each plate 8 is formedwith a depending car 24 carrying a stud by which said plate is pivotally'connected to an elbow link 25 on theimmediately following plate. When assing between the supportin rollers theinks 25 assume the position indicated at'the right-hand of Fig; 5. In order to properly position the form plates-I secure-curved 12 guides 26 to 'the spokes of the rollers con-- i cylinder. The guide 26 is so. positioned. t

passinto engaglement with the rollers 12-the ower' ends of t.

That portion of the Y chains passing around the printing cylinders:- 105 at as'.the form plates e links. 25 will be thrown up- 1 6 ward therebycausing the corresponding plate to close upon the immediately preceding plate thus forming a continuous cylindrical surface as clearly indicated at the left of Fi 5. 'In Fig. 6 a slightly different form of lin connection is illustrated. In this form the plates are connected by links 29 having integral lugs or projections 27 pivo'tally connected at a point above the periphery of the and rigidity of cylinder printing, and at the plates. positionthe links 29 will be drawn apart but when the plates pass into contact with the rollers 12 the links 29 will be drawn togetherthus closing the gap between contiguous plates.

In Fig. 7 another form of link. connection is illustrated somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 5. In this form the links 9 are connected-to ether by a couple consisting of a substantialy T-shaped link 28 and a short link 30. The curved guideplate 26 is used for the purpose of rocking the'link .28, or causing itHto assume such position as to draw the plates together. The chain of F ig: 10 is similar to that of Fig. 3,'the gap between two contiguous plates being bridged by a wedgeshaped plate 31 as they pass. around the rollers 12.

The bridge plates 31 are forced above the periphery of plates 8 when. the chain is horizontal and are gradually drawn down into place as a chain passes around the printing cylinder. A

. The ink or coloring matter is furnished to the forms through suitable-rolls 29'.v

The present invention secures the solidity same time enables the making of the repeat as long as may be desired Within practical working conditions. When in printing position the chain is as rigid as the surface of a cylinder, whereas when not in printing position the chain is' as flexible as needbe. Furthermore, there is nothing indefinite or un certain as to the relative positions of the various sections of the chain when ready to print. as is the case with belts of leather, rubber -or other flexible material. Each section of the chain or form plate falls into posi- When traveling in their horizontal tion without no ticeable deviation, hence the various parts of the design registerp'roperly.

While I have shown two ,chains of form plates, it is to be understood that Imay use three or more such chains each constructed and mounted in the manner above described, and cooperatingwith a corresponding impression cylinder. A press having three or more chains is more suitable for color work.

What I claim and desire to secure b Letters Patent is: v

1. In a printing machine, an impression cylinder, an endless chain consisting. of a plurality of form plates connected together by links, means for bringing said plates successively into working relation with the impression cylinder, and means for moving adjacent plates into abutting relation when in printing position to present an'unbroken cylindrical surface.

2. In a printlng machine, impression cylinders, an endless chain adapted to cooperate with each of' said cylinders, each of .said chains consisting of a plurality of connected form .plates, and means for moving said chains so as to bring the plates thereof into working relation with a correspondingimpre'ssion cylinder, the-plates of one chain being disposed relatively to those of the other that the impressions from one series of plates are other.

3. In a printing machine, an impression cylinder, an endless chain consisting of -a' plurality of form plates conne'cted' to ether by a couple consisting offa substantia yT- complementalto those of the shaped link and ashort link, said links being pivotally'conn'ected together, and means for rocking the T-link. to cause contiguous plates to abut. v

-In testimony whereof I' have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. v

WILLIAM H. THOMAS.

Witnesses:

ROBERT W. ASHLEY, CHARLES S. Jones.-

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