The “Columbian” press was the first important American improvement. It was invented by George Clymer, of Philadelphia, and is shown in his British Pat. No. 4,174 of 1817. A compound lever was employed for applying the power. The “Washington” press was patented in the United States by Samuel Rust, April 17, 1829. In this press (see [Fig. 123]) the platen is forced downwardly by a compound lever applied to a toggle joint and is raised by springs on each side. The bed is run in and out by turning a crank on a shaft which has a pulley and belt passing around it.
As so far described the presses were worked by hand power. An important step in the advancement of this art was made by the introduction of power presses worked by steam. These arranged the type on the surface of a cylinder. Probably the earliest form of rotary cylinder press is that invented by Nicholson, British Pat. No. 1,748 of 1790. Its main features are described as follows: ““The types, being rubbed or scraped narrower toward the foot, were to be fixed radially upon a cylinder. This cylinder with its type was to revolve in gear with another cylinder covered with soft leather (the impression cylinder), and the type received its ink from another cylinder, to which the inking apparatus was applied. The paper was impressed by passing between the type and the impression cylinder.””
The first practical success, however, in rotary steam presses was achieved by König, a German, who in 1814 set up for the London Times two machines, by which that newspaper was printed at the rate of 1,100 impressions per hour. He obtained British Pat. No. 3,321 of 1810, No. 3,496 of 1811, No. 3,725 of 1813, and No. 3,868 of 1814. König’s machine was in 1827 succeeded by that of Applegath and Cowper, which was simpler and more rapid.
Many improvements upon the methods for handling the paper were subsequently devised, and double cylinder presses were made which were able to print 4,000 sheets an hour. In 1845 the firm of R. Hoe & Co., which had already been for years engaged in the manufacture of printing presses, brought out the Hoe Type Revolving Machine. The first one of these was placed in the office of the Philadelphia Ledger in 1846, and had four impression cylinders, printing 8,000 papers per hour. The constantly increasing circulation of newspapers, however, continued to make insatiable demands for more rapid work, and to meet this demand the Hoe company in 1871 brought out their continuous web press, in which the paper was furnished to the machine in the form of a roll, and after being printed was separated into sheets. This principle of action gave promise of unlimited speed, and required important reorganization in all parts of the machine. To meet these conditions of increased speed more rapid drying ink had to be produced to prevent blurring, paper of uniform quality and strength had to be made, means had to be devised for printing the opposite side of the web, and severing devices for cutting the web into sheets were needed, but perhaps the most important feature was the device called a gathering and delivering cylinder, whereby the papers could be gathered and disposed of as fast as they could be printed, and much faster than human hands could work. This was the invention of Stephen D. Tucker, and it is the mechanism upon which the speed of the modern press depends, for it would obviously be useless to print papers faster than they could be taken from the machine in proper condition. Many patents were taken by Messrs. Hoe & Tucker covering various improvements, prominent among which were No. 18,640, Nov. 17, 1857; No. 25,199, Aug. 23, 1859 (re-issue No. 4,429); No. 84,627, Dec. 1, 1868 (re-issue No. 4,400); No. 113,769, April 18, 1871; No. 124,460, March 12, 1872; No. 131,217, Sept. 10, 1872. The first rapid printing press of the Hoe Company was set up in the office of the New York Tribune in 1871, and its maximum output was 18,000 an hour. This marked the great era of rapid newspaper printing, and following it many further improvements, such as devices for folding and counting the papers automatically, have been added, until to-day the great Hoe Octuple Press, shown in [Fig. 124], is the wonder of the Nineteenth Century. It prints 96,000 papers of four, six, or eight pages in an hour, or at the rate of 1,600 a minute, and these papers are not only printed, but in the same operation and by the same machine are cut, pasted, folded, and counted automatically. Fifty miles of paper of the width of an ordinary newspaper pass through it each hour from its several rolls. The machine weighs over 60 tons, and is composed of about 16,000 parts, and yet its touch is so deft, and its members so delicately and accurately adjusted that it does not tear the tender sheet as it flies through the machine—so fast that one-fifth of a second only is required to print a page.
FIG. 124.—HOE OCTUPLE PRESS. PRINTS, CUTS, PASTES, FOLDS AND COUNTS NEWSPAPERS AT RATE OF 1,600 A MINUTE.
The latest development in the printing press has been in color printing, which has recently been introduced in the illustration of some of the largest daily newspapers. Such a press contains from 50,000 to 60,000 parts, and its cost is from $35,000 to $45,000.
Collateral with the development of the printing press are three important branches of the art—stereotyping, paper making, and type setting.