An advanced press

From a theoretical point of view, the operation of the cylinder press is quite simple: the sheet, inserted by or loaded by means of a mechanical ‘sheet feeder’, rotates around a cylinder and meets the bed with the chase of the inked type; at the moment of contact, pressure is applied and printing takes place. Once printed, the sheet emerges from the back of the press. A closer look reveals the mechanical complexity of the press and the ingeniousness of who designed it. The ink is placed in the duct, from which it is transferred in a uniform amount via the vibrator roller to the distributing rollers, which gradually feed it to the roller that inks the form; unlike the manual press, the exact amount of ink to be used can thus be controlled from the outset, without having to add to each print. Once the press has started, the speed is such that the printing can be synchronised with the taking of the next sheet, the inking, the entry and exit of the bed and the exit of the sheet from the back.