Hand stamp with a self-inking device

There is disclosed a hand stamp including a self-inking device and comprising an inverting mechanism (10) for a character unit, the inverting mechanism being arranged in a housing (1) and including an inverting axle (9), wherein the inverting axle (9) extends through slots (24) in the housing (1) and is mounted with its ends in legs (8) of an actuating bow (2) guided on the housing (1), the ends of the inverting axle (9) being secured against axial displacement by aid of safety elements; for a simple mounting and dismounting of the inverting axle (9) and its stable support in axial and radial direction, it is provided that at at least one leg (8) of the actuating bow (2), a shaped body (12) provided as safety element is capable of being snapped into a recess (11) of the leg (8), and that the inverting axle (9) is held partly in the leg (8) and partly on the shaped body (12).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a hand stamp including a self-inking device and 
comprising an inverting mechanism for a character unit, the inverting 
mechanism being arranged in a housing and including an inverting axle, 
which inverting axle, starting from the character unit, extends through 
slots in the housing and is mounted with its ends in legs of an actuating 
bow guided on the housing, the ends of the inverting axle being secured 
against axial displacement by aid of safety elements. 
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART 
In known hand stamps of this type, the ends of the inverting axle of the 
inverting mechanism are mounted either in blind bores or in bores of the 
actuating bow, cf., e.g., AT 384 999 B (=U.S. Pat. No. 4,823,696 A), U.S. 
Pat. No. 3 783 786 A or U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,281 A, wherein commonly safety 
elements, such as Seeger circlip rings, rivets etc. are used for axially 
securing the inverting axle. Mounting and dismounting, respectively, of 
these safety elements is, however, comparatively time-consuming. Since in 
case of mounting the inverting axle in blind bores, the legs of the 
actuating bow may bend and thus the inverting axle may "snap out" of the 
blind bores, also there such safety elements, as mentioned, are utilized. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention has as an object to provide a hand stamp of the initially 
defined kind whose inverting axle can be mounted and dismounted in a quick 
and simple manner by simple means, and the stable mounting of which, both 
in radial and in axial direction, is to be ensured also if handled 
improperly. 
According to the invention, this object is achieved in that at at least one 
leg of the actuating bow, a shaped body provided as safety element is 
capable of being snapped into a recess of the leg, and that the inverting 
axle is supported partly in the leg and partly on the shaped body and thus 
is secured against axial displacement. By this design, the above-mentioned 
object can well be met. The shaped body serving as safety element can be 
produced at low cost from synthetic material, and during mounting of the 
inverting axle, after insertion of the latter it can simply be pushed in 
and fixed by snapping in, i.e. both manually and also by means of a 
machine. 
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention it is provided that 
the inverting axle at each of its ends includes a peripheral groove and in 
the portion of the peripheral groove is radially and axially held in a 
lower bearing shell which is formed in the region of the recess of the leg 
of the actuating bow, whereas a portion of the inverting axle adjacent the 
peripheral groove radially abuts on a projection of the shaped body. In 
the assembled state, thus the stable position of the inverting axle is 
ensured both in radial and also in axial direction by mutual locking of 
the shaped body, the leg of the actuating bow and the inverting axle, in a 
particularly simple and efficient manner so that the inverting axle then 
cannot be inadventently displaced, neither axially nor laterally. For 
supporting the inverting axle upwardly over a surface area it is suitable 
if the projection of the shaped body forms an upper bearing shell for 
radial journaling of the inverting axle. It may also advantageously be 
provided that the projection of the shaped body forming the upper bearing 
shell is designed to be finger-shaped. In this instance, the fingershaped 
projection acts like a locking bar for the inverting axle. Furthermore, 
the finger-shaped projection preferably is guided in the slot of the 
housing. By this, an additional longitudinal guide is formed for the 
actuating bow, and simultaneously also the radial contact area for the 
inverting axle toward the upper side is enlarged. 
It is also advantageous if at least a portion of the axle located adjacent 
the peripheral groove is radially journaled in a bearing shell 
additionally formed in the leg of the actuating bow. In this manner, an 
additional radial contact area for the inverting axle towards the bottom 
side is achieved. 
A preferred embodiment of the snap connection between the shaped part and 
the actuating bow is characterized in that the shaped body has knobs 
capable of being snapped into depressions formed in the edge of the recess 
of the leg. Here it is, furthermore, advantageous if the shaped body has 
longitudinal slots for an elastic deformation of the shaped body when 
being snapped into the recess. 
For an easy mounting and dismounting of the shaped part it is also suitable 
if the recess on the leg is formed to be downwardly open.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The hand stamp illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a housing 1 in a per 
se conventional manner, on which an actuating bow 2 having a handle 3 is 
guided, on the one hand, on a sleeve 4 moulded to the housing 1 and in 
which a spring (not illustrated) urging the actuating bow upwards is 
inserted, and, on the other hand, in lateral recesses 5 of the housing 1. 
The sleeve 4 has notches 6 in which a latching knob 7 can latch in. 
At the ends of the legs 8 of the actuating bow 2, an inverting axle 9 of an 
inverting mechanism 10 merely schematically indicated is mounted, the 
structure of the inverting mechanism being known and thus not requiring 
any further explanation. What is essential in this case is only that when 
the actuating bow 2 is moved downwards relative to the housing 1, 
inversion, i.e. pivoting by 180.degree., of a character unit not 
illustrated in detail in FIGS. 1 and 2 is brought about via the inverting 
axle 9. 
As is apparent from FIGS. 3 to 5, the actuating bow 2 comprises a 
downwardly open recess 11 at the ends of its legs 8, into which recess a 
shaped body 12 is inserted or snapped in, respectively. For this purpose, 
knobs 13 (cf. FIG. 5) are laterally moulded to the shaped body 12 which 
are capable of being snapped in latching depressions 14 formed in the edge 
of the recess 11. For mounting or dismounting of the shaped body 12 under 
elastic deformation of the same, longitudinal slots 15 are provided in the 
region of the knobs 13 which are open towards the lower side of the shaped 
body 12. 
The inverting axle 9 of the inverting mechanism 10 has a peripheral groove 
16 on each end. In the portion of the peripheral groove 16, the axle 9 
downwardly is mounted in a bearing shell 17 which is adapted to the 
diameter and the width of the peripheral groove 16 and formed at the end 
of the leg 8 of the actuating bow 2. In detail, the bearing shell 17, 
starting from the longitudinal axis 18 of the actuating bow 2, extends 
circularly over a central angle of approximately.+-.45.degree. and 
subsequently changes along a straight line into an inclined portion having 
an inclination of e.g. approximately 45.degree. relative to the 
longitudinal axis 18, whereby V-shaped rim zones of the lower bearing 
shell 17 are formed. The bearing shell 17 thus projects upwardly nose-like 
so as to engage in the peripheral groove 16. Thus, the inverting axle 9 in 
the portion of its peripheral groove 16 downwardly is supported over an 
angle of approximately 90.degree. in radial direction and over an angle of 
approximately 180.degree. in axial direction. The portion of the inverting 
axle 9 located adjacent the peripheral groove 16 in the direction towards 
the interior of the stamp additionally is downwardly mounted in a bearing 
shell 20 (cf. FIG. 3) formed in a projection 19 of the actuating bow 2, 
likewise over an angle of 90.degree. in radial direction. 
Upwardly, the inverting axle 9 is mounted in a bearing shell 22 formed in a 
flat-finger-shaped projection 21 of the shaped body 12, the bearing shell 
22, starting from the longitudinal middle axis 18 of the stamp, extending 
circular-arc-shaped over a central angle of approximately .+-.75.degree. 
and subsequently changing along a straight line into an inclined region 
leading away from the inverting axle 9 and having an inclination of 
45.degree. relative to the longitudinal axis 18, which is each located 
parallelly to and slightly spaced from the above-mentioned inclined region 
of the lower bearing shell 17. Thus, the inverting axle 9 including its 
axle head 23 following upon the peripheral groove 16 is upwardly held over 
an angle of aproximately 150.degree. as well as supported in radial 
direction. 
The projection 21 is inserted in a stepped portion 11' of the recess 11 and 
extends in axial direction beyond the inner side of the projection 19 of 
the actuating bow 2 so as to be guided in a longitudinal slot 24 of the 
housing 1, through which also the inverting axle 9 is guided. This 
provides an additional longitudinal guide for the actuating bow 2 on the 
housing 1. If such an additional guide is not desired, the projection 21 
may already terminate at the inner side of the projection 19 of the leg 8 
(or in front thereof), i.e. as compared to the illustration shown in FIG. 
3, it may be correspondingly shorter. 
The longitudinal slot 24 in the housing 1 is downwardly semi-circularly 
closed at 25 (cf. FIG. 4); yet, optionally, the longitudinal slot 24 may 
also be designed to be downwardly open. 
At the pedestal or contacting frame 26 of the housing 1, e.g. an 
antislipping device 27 of rubber or the like is attached (cf. FIG. 3). 
Mounting of the inverting axle 9 is effected such that it is inserted with 
its peripheral groove 16 into the lower bearing shell 17, "centering" 
being effected during insertion thereof by the V-shaped rim zones of the 
lower bearing shell 17. Subsequently, the shaped body 12 is pushed into 
the recess 11 and snapped in. Pushing in of the shaped body 12 is 
facilitated by the fact that the front-side rim of the projection 21 of 
the shaped body 12 is provided with a chamfer 28.