The American Printer: A Manual of Typography: Containing practical directions for managing all departments of a printing office, as well as complete instructions for apprentices; with several useful tables, numerous schemes for imposing forms in every variety, hints to authors, etc.MacKellar, Thomas
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The American Printer: A Manual of Typography: Containing practical directions for managing all departments of a printing office, as well as complete instructions for apprentices; with several useful tables, numerous schemes for imposing forms in every variety, hints to authors, etc.
MacKellar, Thomas
Graphic design (Typography); Printing -- United States -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.; Printing industry -- United States
The invention of steam printing presses rendered books and periodicals so
cheap that the progress of knowledge was amazingly accelerated; and soon
the capacity of the cylinder press proved unequal to the work of printing
the enormous editions of some of the leading newspapers of the world; and
the first successful invention to meet the exigency was made by Col.
RICHARD M. HOE, of New York, in the Type-Revolving Printing Machine, of
which we give an engraving. It is, as its name indicates, on the rotary
principle; that is, the form of type is placed on the surface of a
horizontal revolving cylinder of about four and a half feet in diameter.
The form occupies a segment of only about one-fourth of the surface of
the cylinder, and the remainder is used as an ink-distributing surface.
Around this main cylinder, and parallel with it, are placed smaller
impression cylinders, varying in number from four to ten, according to
the size of the machine. The large cylinder being put in motion, the form
of types is carried successively to all the impression cylinders, at each
of which a sheet receives the impression of the types as the form passes.
Thus, as many sheets are printed at each revolution of the main cylinder
as there are impression cylinders around it. One person is required at
each impression cylinder to supply the sheets of paper, which are taken
at the proper moment by fingers or grippers, and after being printed are
carried out by tapes and laid in heaps by means of self-acting flyers,
thereby dispensing with the hands required in ordinary machines to
receive and pile the sheets. The grippers hold the sheet securely, so
that the thinnest newspaper may be printed without waste.
The ink is contained in a fountain placed beneath the main cylinder, and
is conveyed by means of distributing rollers to the distributing surface
on the main cylinder. This surface being lower, or less in diameter, than
the form of types, passes by the impression cylinder without touching.
For each impression there are two inking rollers, which receive their
supply of ink from the distributing surface of the main cylinder: they
rise and ink the form as it passes under them, after which they again
fall to the distributing surface.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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