Page:The Art of Bookbinding, Zaehnsdorf, 1890.djvu/38

8 fed by a girl, who places the sheet to points, the arm lifting up at given periods to allow placing the sheet. Another arm carrying a long thin blade descends, taking the sheet through a slot in the table, where it is passed between rollers; another set of rollers at right angles creases it again. The rollers are arranged for two, three, or more creasings or folds. The sheets are delivered at the side into a box, from which they are taken from time to time. The cut is one of Martini's, and is probably the most advanced.

Gathering.—A gathering machine has been patented which is of a simple but ingenious contrivance for the quick gathering of sheets. The usual way to gather, is by laying piles of sheets upon a long table, and for the gatherer to take from each pile a sheet in succession. By the new method a round table is made to revolve by machinery, and upon it are placed the piles of sheets. As the table revolves the gatherer takes a sheet from each pile as it passes him. It will at once be seen that not only is space saved, but that a number of gatherers may be placed at the table; and that there is no possibility of the gatherers shirking their work, as the machine is made to register the revolutions. By comparing the number of sheets with the revolutions of the table, the amount of work done can be checked.