Whether one inventor or another succeeds in distancing his rivals, it is matter, says The Journal of Gas Lighting, for sincere congratulation among the friends of gas lighting that so much attention is being concentrated upon the improvement of gas burners for all purposes. This is an open field which affords scope for more workers than have yet entered upon it, and there is the certainty of substantial reward to whoever can realize a worthy advance upon the established practice.
NEW BINDING MACHINES.
The accompanying cuts represent two new machines for binding together books and pamphlets. They are the invention of Messrs. Brehmer & Co., and are now much used in England and Germany. The material used for binding is galvanized iron wire.
Machine Operated by Hand (Fig. 1).--This machine serves for fastening together the pages of pamphlets through the middle of the fold, or for binding together several sheets to form books up to a thickness of about half an inch.
It consists of a small cast-iron frame, with which is articulated a lever, i, maneuvered by a handle, h. This lever is provided at its extremity with a curved slat, in which engages a stud, fixed to the lower part of a movable arm, c, whose extremity, d, rises and descends when the lever handle, h, is acted upon. This maneuver can be likewise performed by the foot, if the handle, h, be connected with a pedal, X, placed at the foot of the table that supports the machine, as shown in Fig. 2. The lever, i, is always drawn back to its first position, when left to itself, by means of the spring, z.
IMPROVED BINDING MACHINE.
The staples for binding have nearly the form of the letter U, and are placed, to the number of 250 or 300, on small blocks of wood, m. To prepare the machine for work, the catch, a, is shoved back, and the whole upper part of the piece, b, is removed. The rod, e, with its spring, is then drawn back until a small hole in e is perceived, and into this there is introduced the hook, f, which then holds the spring. The block of wood, m, filled with staples, is then rested against a rectangular horizontal rod, and into this latter the staples are slipped by hand. The upper part of the piece, b, is next put in place and fastened with the catch, a. Finally, the spring is freed from the hook, f. When it is desired to bind the pages of a pamphlet, the latter is placed open on the support, g, which, as will be noticed, is angular above, so that the staple may enter exactly on the line of the fold. Then the handle, h, is shoved down so as to act on the arm, c, and cause the descent of the extremity, d, as well as the vertical piece, b, with which it engages. This latter, in its downward travel, takes up one of the staples, which are continually thrust forward by the rod and spring, and causes it to penetrate the paper. At this moment, the handle, h, makes the lever, n, oscillate, and this raises, through its other extremity, a vertical slide whose head bends the two points of the staple toward each other. The handle, h, is afterward lifted, the position of the pamphlet is changed, and the same operation is repeated. When it is desired to form a book from a number of sheets, the table, l, is mounted on the support, g, its two movable registers are regulated, and the sheets are spread out flat on it. The machine, in operating, drives the staples in along the edge of the sheets, and the points are bent over, as above indicated.