Year: 1897

page_text: WALTER REID Astor Estate Office Victoria Embankment London W.C. Housekeeper
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:--
It has a straight platform & is 1.ft. 1.in. long 6.ins wide 31 deep. the front part is
raised half an inch for 6.ins down. The main lever is about 4.ins. above & 2.ins below
the centre pivot. at which is attached inside a half circle half of which is cogged the
upper part of the lever is bent inwards from both sides so as to form a handle in the
centre. The damper is of rubber in thick 5 long & two ins wide, is hollowed in
front the shape of the gummed part of the flap of the envelope & is attached to a
plate that runs in a groove at each of the upper part, which is wood, at the top &
in the centre of it is an adjustable screw, the whole is attached to the platform by
4 levers about 2ins long 2 in front of the main lever & 2 behind the latter having a
half circle cogged at the bottom.
The closer & presser which is in front of the main lever, is of wood .ins. thick
covered on top with thin rubber also at the bottom with thicker is 3ins wide &
6.ins. long, at the centre of each end is attached a shaped lever having a centre pivot.
the bottom part of which is connected to the bottom part of the main lever by a bar
having a stop joint in it. It has also a damp tray behind the main lever and a pull
out spring attached to the closer & presser.
I, WALTER REID, Astor Estate Office, Victoria Embankment, London. W.C.
Housekeeper, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
My invention relates to an improved construction of envelope damper and closer.
The apparatus consists of a frame carrying a platform or bed, a damping tray, a
damper, a closer and presser and a main lever acting upon the damper and closer
and presser by suitable gearing and connections so that the damper shall first damp
the gummed part of the flap of the envelope and then retire after which the closer
and presser is operated to turn the flap over on to the body of the envelope and press
it down. The damper jis mounted on two levers at each side of the frame and the
closer and presser is mounted on a pair of levers, one at each side, so shaped as to
avoid injury to the envelope.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into
effect I will describe the same in connection with the accompanying drawings in
which
Fig 1 is a plan of the damper and closer showing an envelope in position thereon
but with the damper and closer and presser in their non-operative positions.

page_text: Fig: 2 is a like view showing the damper over the flap of the envelope in the act
of damping the same.
Fig: 3 is a like view showing the damper returned to its damping tray and the
closer and presser advanced to the position it would assume after having turned over
the flap of the envelope and in the act of pressing it down.
Fig 4 is a side elevation, Fig: 5 is a longitudinal section and Fig: 6 is a rear
view of the damper separately.
a is a platform carried by the support or frame a¹ and having the front part on
which the envelope x is placed raised somewhat above the rear end thereof. The
rear part of the platform a carries a damping tray 6 formed of metal and fitted
with an absorbent pad b¹ supplied as required with water. c is the damper which.
is made of India rubber or other suitable material and is attached to a plate c¹ which
fits in a groove c³ at each end of the upper part or damper holder c². The damper
holder c² is formed with a slot c through which passes a screw c5 fixed to the
plate c¹ and by means of which aided by the clamping nut c³ the damper c can
be adjusted to suit different sized envelopes.
The front edge of the damper is shaped to correspond approximately with that of
the gummed part of the envelope x when opened out flat as shown in Fig: 1.
The damper c is carried by two levers d. d¹, on each side of the frame; these
levers are pin jointed at their upper ends to the damper whilst the lower ends of the
levers d are fixed to the shaft e and the lower ends of the levers d' are pin jointed to
the frame a¹. The closer and presser f is carried by levers f¹ pin jointed thereto
at their upper ends and fixed at their lower ends on the shaft f2, said levers f¹ being
so shaped or curved as to avoid injury to the envelope when pressing the closer and
presser f thereon. The closer and presser f is preferably formed of wood covered on
the top with thin rubber or otherwise protected from damp whilst the bottom face is
of thicker rubber, felt or other suitable material f* to offer an elastic surface to
press the envelope flap x¹. g is the main or operating lever; it is fixed on one end of
the shaft g on which is fixed a mutilated toothed wheel g² which by gearing into the
mutilated toothed wheel e¹ fixed on the shaft e will when the main lever g is moved
in the direction of the arrow g³ move the damper c from the damping tray b,
see Figures 1, 3, 4, 5, to its damping position, see Fig: 2; when the damping
operation has been performed, the lever g is moved in the direction of the arrow g
which motion will first return the damper c to the damping tray and then, by means
of the link f pin jointed to the wheel fixed on the shaft f2, cause the closer and
presser to move to the position shown at Fig: 3.
In such notion the closer and presser will first turn the gummed flap x¹ over on to
the body of the envelope and then press it firmly down. A spring fe attached to the
closer and presser fand to the frame a' assists the motion of such part f.
The link f3 is provided with a pin f5 located in the slot g5 of the wheel g² to permit
of motion being separately given to the damper c and closer and presser f.
By returning the lever g to its central position the parts c and ƒ are returned to
their non-operative positions.
h is an adjustable gauge fixed by the binding screw h¹ to the platform a to suit
envelopes of various dimensions.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
An envelope damper and closer, constructed, arranged and operated, substantially
as herein set forth.
Dated thin 10th do..
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