Paper folding machineIn 1856, the first practical U.S. folding machine to fold book and newspaper sheets was patented by Cyrus Chambers, Jr. of Pennsylvania (No. 15,842). It made three right angle folds to produce a sixteen page folded signature. The machine was installed in the Bible printing house of Jasper Harding & Son, Philadelphia, Pa. Although the accuracy of early folders was poor, with hand folding still predominating for better grade work, development of the folding machine after 1862 was rapid, and in 1873 a machine was patented that would fold a 16-page section and one of 8 pages, inset the latter, and paste it in place. That same year devices to cut and slit paper as it went through the machine were introduced. |
