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William BullockAmerican inventor
Country:
 USA |
Content:
- William Bullock: Inventor of the Rotary Printing Press
- Inventions and Business Ventures
- Development of the Rotary Printing Press
- Tragic Death
William Bullock: Inventor of the Rotary Printing Press
Early Life and EducationWilliam Bullock was born in Greenville, New York, in 1813. Orphaned at a young age, he was raised by his supportive brother. After working with his brother in an iron foundry and operating machinery, Bullock developed a keen interest in mechanics. By the age of 21, he had established his own machine shop in Savannah, Georgia.
Inventions and Business Ventures
Despite inventing a shingle machine, Bullock was unable to successfully market it and was forced to close his business. He subsequently moved to New York, where he invented a cotton press, hay baler, seed sower, and metal lathe. His grain drill earned him an award from the Franklin Institute in 1849.
Bullock then entered the newspaper industry as editor of "The Banner of the Union" in Philadelphia, later relocating to Catskill, New York.
Development of the Rotary Printing Press
In 1853, Bullock began working on a hand-operated, wooden printing press with an automatic feeder. This concept evolved into a larger press that he built for "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly" in 1860.
Moving to Pittsburgh, Bullock further refined the printing press, creating the "web rotary press." While Richard March Hoe had invented a rotary printing machine in 1843, Bullock significantly improved upon Hoe's model.
Bullock's web rotary press utilized continuous rolls of paper, automatically fed onto receiving reels, eliminating the laborious task of manual loading. It featured self-regulating mechanisms, printed on both sides of each page, and folded the paper. A later model incorporated a serrated knife that swiftly and precisely cut the rolls into individual sheets. The press could print up to 12,000 sheets per hour, with later improvements increasing that speed to 30,000 per hour.
Tragic Death
Bullock's triumph was tragically cut short. On April 3, 1867, while adjusting one of his presses at the "Public Ledger" newspaper in Philadelphia, his foot became entangled and was crushed in the machinery. Gangrene developed and, on April 12, 1867, Bullock died during the amputation of his leg. He was buried in Union Dale Cemetery in Pittsburgh.
