IMPROVEMENTS IN PADS AND APPARATUS FOR INKING STAMPS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Henry Creswell, of Devonport, in the County
of Devon, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PADS AND APPARATUS FOR
INKING STAMPS."
Sealed the 26th October 1858, and dated the 11th May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Henry Creswell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th May 1858.
I, GEORGE HENRY CRESWELL, of Devonport, in the County of Devon, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PADS
OR APPARATUS FOR INKING STAMPS," to be as follows:-
I construct a stamping pad by incans of a band passing over a flat table and
round a roller or rollers beneath. The roller is provided with small spikes, or
is made rough, so that when it is turned round it moves the band with it.
I construct the band of leather, with a piece of cloth sewn to it at the edges,
and I insert between the leather and the cloth a piece of flannel or other
woollen material, on which printers' ink or other suitable mixture is thickly
spread. The pad is moistened from time to time with oil, which is introduced
into a tube in the lid of the box or block in which the apparatus is mounted.
This tube bas a slit or perforations through which the oil flows on to the band.
By turning the roller the band is drawn under the tube and in contact with a

page_text: rubber or brush fixed in the casing, by which means the oil is distributed, and
the pad is brought into a proper state for use. The stamps are inked by
pressing them upon the flat surface of the pad upon the table. This mode of
applying the ink or colouring material is also applicable to cylindrical or other
pads as well as to that herein-before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Henry Creswell in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HENRY CRESWELL, of Devonport, in the County of Devon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Henry Creswell, Ier special licence that I, the said George Henry
Creswell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Henry Creswell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PADS AND APPARATUS FOR INKING STAMPS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Henry Creswell, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Henry Creswell, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
In the ordinary mode of constructing pads for inking stamps, a pad or
cushion is formed of several pieces of cloth or other fabric, and the liquid ink
or colouring material is applied to the surface and spread with a brush. In
my improved pads, printers' ink or other thick or pasty colouring material is

page_text: used, and a piece of drugget or similar material is thickly spread or saturated.
with it, and placed under the cloth surface of the pad, which is moistened
occasionally with sweet oil rubbed or brushed into it, which softens the ink, and
causes it to work up or soak into the upper cloth, and keep it in a proper
state for inking the stamps which are pressed upon it. This mode of con-
structing pads is applicable to fixed or moveable pads, and to flat and
cylindrical and other pads. When applied to a revolving or moveable pad,
I prefer to combine with it a fixed brush or rubber, and a slit or perforated
tube or vessel for applying the sweet oil to the pad.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is an elevation, and Figure 2 is a
plan, of an apparatus in which one of my improved pads is arranged so as to
present a flat or nearly flat surface; Figure 3 is a longitudinal section, and
Figure 4 is a transverse section, of the same. The same letters refer to
similar parts in each Figure.
A is a block of wood, hollowed out in the middle and closed or covered at the
ends by two pieces of wood B and C; D is a roller furnished with small spikes,
and having a handle E on its spindle; F is a block of wood supported by the
ends B and C, and carrying a cushion of cloth and leather or other suitable
material on its upper surface; G is a piece of strong webbing, such as is used
for saddle girths, the ends of which are sewn together so as to form an endless
band; upon this band is placed the pad, which consists of a strip of leather a
and a strip of cloth c sewn together at the edges, and containing between
them a strip of drugget or flannel b, which is thickly spread or saturated with
printers' ink or other suitable mixture. The ends of the leather and cloth are
sown tegether so as to form an endless band. By turning the spiked roller D
the bands G, a, b, c, are caused to move over the fixed cushion on the block F
and round the roller D. II is a brush which is fixed in the block A, and
against which the pad rubs when in motion; I is the lid or cover of the
apparatus. In this cover is fixed a tube with a slit or perforations, as shown
in Figures 5 and 6, or in lieu of the tube an oil vessel is formed by a cavity d
made in the cover, and closed at bottom by a plate e with a slot or perforations;
f is a stopper for closing the cavity. The outer cloth c of the pad is well
pressed or rubbed down upon the inked drugget b, so as to force the ink into
the cloth. The cover I is shut down upon the pad, and a little sweet oil is
poured into the cavity d, and the handle E is turned round; the oil is thus
spread upon the cloth c, and is well distributed and rubbed into it by the
brush II; the ink is thus softened, and the pad is then fit for use. The stamps
are inked by pressing them upon the flat surface of the pad. When the pad
becomes dry or exhausted by use, it is again brought into a proper state by

page_text: applying the sweet oil and turning the handle as before. As the drugget
holds a large quantity of ink, the pad may be repeatedly renovated, and will
last for a long time. When completely exhausted, the drugget may be
removed and again charged with ink and replaced, or a new drugget or a
complete new pad may be introduced.
This improved pad is equally applicable to cylindrical apparatus, such as
that shewn and described in the Specification of certain former Letters Patent
granted to me, and bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-seven. The oil may be applied in the same manner
by the tube or plato with perforations or slits.
Figure 5 is a plan, and Figure 6 is a section, of a tube with several per-
forations in the bottom, and with an aperture in the top for the reception of
the oil; this tube being fixed in the lid or cover of the apparatus acts in the
same manner as the cavity d and plate e, in Figures 2, 3, and 4. The pad
may be constructed in a disc form or in a rectangular form, and may be
moved or caused to slide with a continuous or reciprocating motion under a
brush or rubber and a slit or perforated oil tube, so as to soften the ink and
act upon the pad in the manner herein-before described.
Figure 7 is an elevation, and Figure 8 is a plan, and Figure 9 is a section,
of a simpler pad constructed in a similar manner. K is a block of wood,
which has a groove on the exterior and is hollowed in the interior; L is a
cushion of vulcanized caoutchouc cemented on the block K; a is a thin sheet
of gutta percha, to preserve the caoutchouc from direct contact with the
greasy ink; b is a piece of drugget saturated or spread with printers' ink;
and c is a piece of cloth, which is stretched over it and secured by a cord or
lacing g, and is well rubbed or pressed upon the inked drugget. This pad
is moistened from time to time by spreading a little sweet oil upon it and
rubbing it in with a brush.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim is,-
First, constructing pads for inking stamps by means of a piece of drugget
or similar material covered or saturated with printers' ink or other thick or
pasty colouring material, and covered with cloth in such manner that the ink
or colouring matter may be softened and caused to soak through the cloth by
the occasional application of oil to the surface, as herein-before described.
Second, constructing apparatus for inking stamps with a pad of cylindrical
or other form, made and charged with ink or colouring material in manner
herein-before described, in combination with a slit or perforated oil tubo or

page_text: vessel and a brush or rubber, and so arranged that the pad can be caused
to revolve or move under or in contact with the said oil tube or vessel and
brush or rubber.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Henry Creswell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
G. H. CRESWELL. (L.S.)