Automatic Feeder.—

The most important invention we have seen recorded for a long time is described in our exchanges this month. The boon for which machine-minders have sighed so long— a practicable automatic feeder—seems to be near at hand. Ingenious pneumatic and electrical contrivances have been devised; but they have not only been costly, but have had defects which debarred them from general use. Messrs Cleathero (engineer) and Nichols (printer) have patented an attachment which is described in some of our home exchanges, and figured in the B. and C. Printer and Stationer, which in conjunction with the now familiar flyer, renders a Wharfedale or similar machine entirely automatic. No change is made in the machine beyond the removal of the ordinary feed-board. India-rubber revolving disks are brought to bear on the edge of the paper, and these draw out slightly the top sheet. By an ingenious motion, corresponding with that of the layer-on when he « fluffs » the paper, the sheet is sent back a little, curving it and causing it to be separated from that immediately below it by a current of air. To get it into the grippers afterwards is simple enough. Thick or thin papers may be fed equally well, a simple system of weights giving the requisite adjustment, so that no time is lost in changing from a heavy job to a light one, or vice versa.