Wilkinson’s Cylindrical Rotary Printing Press

A machine invented by Mr. Wilkinson, which works as follows:—The paper, being made of the proper width for the sheet intended to be printed, is wound upon a shaft in one continuous piece, in the same form as an ordinary roll of carpeting, and at the same time is damped so as to enable it to take a perfect impression. The type, which is slightly conical in form, is placed upon the surface of two cylinders, the circumference of each of which is exactly equal to the length of the newspaper to be printed. Each type is made in the precise line of the radius of the cylinder on which it is placed, and a small projection on one side of the type, with a corresponding indentation on the other, furnishes a means of locking the type together on the surface of the cylinder, so that it is impossible to displace them by the most rapid rotary motion. The machine, being set in motion by an ordinary power, the paper is unwound from its shaft by the action of an endless apron, by which it is carried forward and introduced between the first type cylinder and corresponding press roller, where the impression on one side of the paper is made. After the first impression, the paper is still carried forward, in a direct line, and immediately passes between the second type cylinder and press roller, by which the impression is made on the reverse side. The sheet being now printed on both sides, is still carried forward into the apparatus by which it is folded, and at the precise point when the folding process is completed, a heavy standing shears, by a single blow, separates it from its original roll, and it drops upon the floor a printed newspaper ready tor immediate distribution.