Improvements in Machines for Making Postal-cards, Envelopes, and the like, and for Packing the same.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 4th June, 1889-Accepted, 14th Dec., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM HENRY BUNCE, Manufacturer, of
No. 128, Wayne Street, Jersey, New Jersey, DWIGHT SLATE, Machinist, of
No. 59, Buckingham Street, Hartford, Connecticut, and JAMES RODDA,
Machinist, of No. 19, Seyms Street Hartford, Connecticut, all in the United
States of America.]
Improvements in Machines for Making Postal-cards, Envelopes, and
the like, and for Packing the same.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
This invention relates to the class of machines that have heretofore been used for
making envelopes, postal-cards, paper wrappers, and the like, and, in the form herein
described, the machine relates particularly to a postal-card machine. The object of
the invention is to provide a machine that shall automatically arrange in packages
of any predetermined number, the articles, as postal-cards or envelopes, that may be
made, printed or otherwise operated upon by the machine, and then secure these
packages with a wrapping band of suitable material, and in the same machine
provide for the automatic counting of individual articles, or of the number of
packages.
The within described machine that embodies our improvements, as a whole, consists
of a supporting frame with several rotary shafts, bearing intermeshing cog-wheels,
and cams operating on levers and like parts, that make up the automatic device for
receiving the cards, for feeding the piles of cards to the banding mechanism, and
also the several mechanisms for feeding, banding, pasting and delivering the cards
and packages supplied to the machine; and the several devices are so combined and
arranged in one structure as to be capable of performing their respective functions, in
a measure, independently of any co-operation, and the several parts and mechanisms
are capable of adjustment with relation to the individual and also to the collective
action of the several mechanisms.
The improvements consist in the combination of the several parts making up the
feeding mechanism, the banding mechanism, the gumming mechanism, and in details
of the combination and arrangement of the several parts making up these mechanisms,
as more particularly hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.
Referring to the drawings:-
Figure 1 is a side view in side elevation of a Kidder printing-press, with our
improved machine attached and connected thereto.
Figure 2 is a plan or top view, on enlarged scale, of part of our improved machine,
showing part of the feeding and banding mechanism.
Figure 3 is a rear view of the machine with parts cut away.
Figure 4 is a detail side view in vertical section of the machine, on plane denoted
by line - in Fig. 3, and showing the pocket-clearing levers in side view.
Figure 5 is a detail view in vertical section of the bed of the machine showing the
levers that lift the pocket-clearing devices.
Figure 6 is a side view of our card machine as a whole.
Figure 7 is a detail view on enlarged scale of the tape-guide and its supporting
arm.
Figure 8 is a detail top view of these latter parts.
Figure 9 is a detail view in vertical section through the tape-guide on plane -

page_text: Figure 10 is a view in vertical longitudinal section of part of the frame of the
machine on a plane near the roll of banding tape, the tape-shears being omitted for
the sake of clearness.
Figure 11 is a detail side view on enlarged scale of the grasping pincers of the
banding mechanism.
Figure 12 is a detail front view on enlarged scale of these pincers.
Figure 13 is a detail plan view on enlarged scale of the tape-shears and connected
levers.
Figure 14 is a détail front view of part of the frame of the machine showing the
shears in rear view and the shear-operating cams and levers, and also part of the
levers of the banding mechanism.
Figures 15, 16, 17, and 18, are detail views on enlarged scale of the banding and
gumming devices in several positions.
Figure 19 Sheet 6 is a detail view on enlarged scale of the clamp on the main
driving shaft.
Figure 20 Sheet 6 is a detail view in cross-section through this shaft on
plane a¹
a of Fig. 19.
The machine now about to be described, and to which the said improvement is
appurtenant, is a machine for making postal-cards. The machine is applicable to any
other analogous purpose. The paper stock is, to begin with, upon a roll, and is of a
width sufficient for making a number of postal-cards; it is fed into and through the
printing-press in the form of a continuous sheet, and is by such press properly
printed with the postal-card emblems. The printing-press shown in the accompanying
drawings is a so-called Kidder" press. After the paper is printed, it is, as it moves
along, slitted lengthwise, and after such lengthwise slitting, it is, by a reciprocating
knife, divided into lengths, and the divided parts are postal-cards proper. These
postal-cards drop into pockets, and after a pre-determined number of them have been
deposited in a pocket, they are moved forward out of the pockets and into the grasp
of a lateral feeding device, which by a step-by-step movement, feeds the packages
laterally each package as it comes to the proper point in the lateral feeding, is bound
with a paper tape, the ends of which are pasted together. After this, the package of
postal-cards, thus bound with a paper tape, are, by a continuation of said lateral
feeding, fed off the end of a table into a proper receptacle. Meanwhile the register
counts the packages.
In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes the paper stock whereof the
postal-cards are made this paper stock is fed through the printing-press, and mean-
while printed with the proper emblems and legends of a postal-card. This wide band
of paper stock is slitted lengthwise, after being printed, by means of rotary cutters,
and the slitted sections of this paper stock are divided into proper lengths for postal-
cards by a reciprocating knife: and when the pieces pass through the reciprocating
knife and drop down from it, they are postal-cards proper, properly printed and of the
proper size. They drop into the pockets d. When the desired number of postal-
cards have dropped into each of these pockets (in the present case twenty-five cards)
the pocket-clearing device operates, pushing the postal-cards out of these pockets and
into the grasp of the lateral feeding device.
THE POCKET CLEARING MECHANISM.
The letter E denotes the pocket-clearing mechanism as a whole, e denotes the
clearing lever, the upper end of which is furnished with fingers e¹, one for each of
said pockets, which fingers come in contact with and move the postal-cards out of the
pockets d, the bottoms or floors of the pockets being slotted longitudinally for the
travel of such fingers; the lower end of the lever e is broadened and jointed on each
side to the arms which are clamped at their opposite ends to the rock-shaft ful
that is pivoted in bearings on the bed of the frame A of the machine. This connection
of the lever e and the arms ff¹ is to enable the said fingers to have the necessary

page_text: up-and-down motion that forms a part of the motions made by the fingers el in
clearing the pockets, and this up-and-down motion is given by cam g fast to the
shaft and bearing against friction roll on pin f³ on the upper end of the lever f
which is pivoted to the rock-shaft at its lower end and connected to an upright
branch by a bolt passing through slotted openings in the parts, which means of
connection permits adjustment of the upper end of the lever f¹ towards or from
the shaft h. The proper back and forth vibration of the said fingers el at the
upper end, is given by the cam g' also fast to shaft and co-operating with a roll
on the adjustable pin e" on the lever e (shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings.) The
friction rollers on lever e and lever fare kept in contact with the bearing faces
of the cams by the yielding pull forward and downward of the diagonal spring i.
The shaft his so timed in its revolutions relative to the movements of the
reciprocating knife that the fingers of the pocket-clearing device, starting from
the position shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, move the postal-cards forward out
of the pockets d after twenty-five cards have been deposited in each pocket; and
the movement of said fingers is, first, forward carrying the cards out of the
pockets; second, downwards dropping below the cards; third, backward, and fourth,
upward again into position to again move the next lot out of the pockets.
The reciprocating knife c is provided with spring fingers, one for each pocket,
which, when the knife moves down, bear with a yielding pressure upon the postal-
cards and hold them securely in the proper place during the operation of cutting.
The packages of cards when moved out of the pockets d are given into the keeping
of the lateral feeding mechanism.
The letters n, Fig. 2, denote arms, all clamped to the pivot shaft o that is
supported in bearings on the back edge of the table A¹, so that the free ends of
these arms can rise and fall; and until the cards are moved into the keeping of
the lateral feeding device, the free ends of the arms n lie, by gravity, (of course
a spring might be used) on the table A'. The arms n may all be connected
together by a rod or bar of extending parallel with the shaft o: when a lot of
postal-cards is moved forward out of the pockets d, it is moved into pocket-spaces P
between two of these arms n; at the right time the arms n all move laterally to
the left the distance of one pocket-space, carrying all the lots of postal-cards one
remove to the left then the free ends of the arms n rise so as to be disengaged
from the postal-cards, move backward one remove to the right, and drop down
where they were at first; the movements of the shaft o and arms n to the right
and left, are given by the rotary cam r, (see Fig. 3) acting through the levers,
the spring holding the friction roll on the end of the arms s¹ of the lever sin
proper contact with the cam r; the up-and-down motions of the arms n are given
by the cam u on shaft h, through the medium of the lever vand connecting-rod w
that has on its top the side-bearing z acting against the bar of which connects the
several arms n together.
It will be readily understood that, as the lateral feeding device continues to operate,
the packets of postal-cards come successively one after another to be at the left of
that arm n which is furtherest left in the series. From such position the packets are
removed, one by one, still farther to the left and there held stationary and bound with
a paper tape. A part of this last movement is given by the usual leftward movement
of the lateral feeding device, and an additional part is given by a supplemental feed
device.
The letter a denotes a pusher, hung on the pusher-rod b', which rod reciprocates
at proper times in its bearings in the arms n, and is held in normal position by the
spring cl as the lateral feeding device is moved in the manner already described
toward the left, the lever d', at a proper time, strikes the stop and the opposite
end of this lever, bearing against a collar 611, (which is on the pusher-rod) gives
the pusher at an additional and independent impulse of its own upon the packet
of postal-cards, moving it to the place where it is bound with the paper tape.

page_text: THE BINDING MECHANISM.
The binding tape is preferably a paper tape, is denoted by the letter g¹, is wound
in the form of a roll, which is on the non-rotary shaft h', and is held steady in position
by cheeks,, which are also non-rotary, and one of them is made removable for the
purpose of permitting the insertion in place of a new roll of paper tape.
The shaft and cheeks just referred to are made non-rotary, as just described,
that they may have a frictional contact with the roll of binding tape, and assist in
keeping it from unwinding with undue and hurtful rapidity. The letter j¹ denotes a
pivoted friction pawl, the free end of which lies by gravity in contact with the
periphery of the roll of tape, and also assists in keeping that roll from unwinding
with undue speed. The tape is drawn from the roll, already described, down
through the guide ₁, which is provided with a spring ", that bears against the
tape, to the end that it shall not be pulled through this guide any faster than the
uses of the device below requires. After the laterally feeding device, acting in
conjunction with the pusher a¹, has fed one of the packs of cards into the position
where it is to be bound with the tape, such pack is then to the right of the
vertical plane of the guide k¹ at this point the ends of a pair of pincers rise
through a hole in the table, grasp the end of the tape, just below the guide k¹,
and retreating below the table carry the end of the tape with them, drawing out
past the guide k¹ a sufficient length of the tape for winding the succeeding package
of cards.
The letters m¹ m¹ denote the two levers of the grasping pincers, (see Figs. 10, 11, 12);
each is pivotally hung upon a slide n¹ having vertical reciprocation in the ways o'; a
link pl is pivotally attached at one end to a projection from the slide n', and it is
pivotally attached at the other end to a connecting-rod 1, the lower end of which rod
is pivotally attached to the pivoted lever s¹¹ which bears upon its side a friction roll
co-operating with the rotary cam t¹, held to contact therewith by the spring u;
as this cam just mentioned rotates, the lever s rises and falls, and, through the
medium of the connecting-rod 1, gives the grasping pincers their requisite.
up-and-down movement; the link p¹ has, in its operation of the connecting-rod,
an independent up-and-down movement of its own between the two stop-pins v² v¹,
projecting from one of the grasping pincers m¹, and this is for use in connection with
the opening and shutting of the grasping pincers; the lower end of the grasping
pincers are formed into the cams w¹, and a tappet-pin ', borne in the link
co-operates with those on the link, and when the grasping pincers are at the uppermost
limit of their vertical play they are open; when the connecting-rod r¹ begins its
downward movement it has the said independent play of its own between the stop-
pins vv, and during this independent play it brings the tappet-pin 2¹ into contact
with the can surfaces w¹, and thereby closes the grasping pincers upon the paper-tape;
this grasping of the pincers upon the paper tape is continued until the grasping
pincers are at the lowermost limit of their vertical play, and until the connecting-rod 1
begins its upward movement, in the first part of which the tappet-pin removes its
pressure from the cam surfaces w and the spring all opens the grasping pincers and
holds them open until they are again closed for the purpose of grasping a fresh end
of the tape; the spring 6 running from the slide n¹ to the connecting-rod r¹ aids in
making certain the proper independent vibratory motion of the link p'. After the
grasping pincers have reached the downward limit of their vertical play and thereby
drawn down through the guide k¹ a sufficient length of tape for binding a pack of
cards, the tape is severed just beneath the guide by shears, the levers of which are
denoted by the letters cc (Figs. 2, 13, and 14), and are pivoted on a pivot-pin d
and made to close for cutting purposes when properly permitted by the spring ;
these shear-levers are held apart until a cutting action is desired by the rotary pin-
cam f, the proper rotary vibration of which is given by the cam g' acting through

page_text: the lever and the connecting-rod 2", the lever /“ being held to proper contac
with the cam g by the spring
This feeding of the end of the tape down through the table in sufficient lengths for
binding a pack of cards takes place before the packet of cards to be bound thereby is
fed to the leftward of the guide k¹ by the supplemental feed device. When the pack
of cards which is next to be bound is fed from right of the guide k¹ to left of the guide k¹,
it carries with it and doubles upon itself the length of tape which has just been fed and
cut off from the main roll for that purpose; (see Figs. 15, 16, 17 and 18). Contact
with the table folds the tape against the under side of the package while contact with
the vibrating finger kl correspondingly folds the tape upon the upper side of the
package. The retaining finger just referred to consists of a lever k pivoted in the
frame and in this instance upon the standard bearing the roll of binding tape at k³.
A spring o connected with the standard, and at that end of the lever k¹¹ opposite
the package-retaining end, serves to hold said retaining or folding end against the
package. An arm fast on the end of a rock shaft 2 having a vibratory motion
imparted to it by means of the rotary cam m" though the lever M gives the proper
movements to said retaining finger. This retaining finger is generally down; when
a pack of cards, in its leftward feed, comes under the point of this retaining finger, it
is temporarily raised, that the pack may get under such point, when the finger again
drops and remains dropped until another pack is to be entered under its point. How
the upper end of the severed length of tape is folded down upon the top of the pack of
cards by the retaining finger k, has been already described, and how the lower part
of the length of severed tape is folded against the under side of the pack of cards by
contact with the table as the pack is fed to the leftward.
The operation and means by which the free extremity of the lower end of the length
of severed tape is brought up on the side of the pack of cards, gummed, and pressed
down to contact with what was the upper end of the severed length of tape, are as
follows: The letter p¹¹ denotes a folding finger which underlies the free extremity of
the lower end of the tape, after the tape is severed from the roll, and has been partly
folded about the package; (see Fig. 15): this folding finger rises at the proper time
and carries the free end of the tape last mentioned upward along the side of the pack
of cards, both it and said free end of the tape projecting above the top of the pack of
cards; the necessary vertical movement of this folding finger is given by the rotary
cam, acting in conjunction with the lever 1, (held to contact with the cam by
spring u), which lever t carries the folding finger. When the folding finger is
near the upper limit of its vertical play, it stands vertically projecting above the top
of the pack of cards, and between it and the pack is the free end of what was the
lower part of the severed tape, (see Fig. 16), also extending vertically above the top
of the pack of cards: now, this upward extending end of the paper tape is gummed
by a device shortly to be described, after which the folding finger turns down flatly
upon the top of the pack of cards and presses this gummed end of the tape upon the
upper surface of the other end of the tape uniting the two firmly and permanently
through the agency of the gum or mucilage: the folding finger pl is pivotally hung
in or upon (a piece attached to) the lever t", and the spring constantly tends to
turn the folding finger down flatly upon the top of the pack of cards as described,
and for the purpose described, and just as soon as the folding finger rises high
enough in its vertical play so that its joint above the level of the top of the
pack of cards, this spring v, turns it flatly down upon the top of the pack of
cards and in so doing gums the ends of the tape together as already described :
while the folding finger is lying flatly upon the top of the pack of cards, and
pressing the gummed end of the tape into contact with the other end, a presser
lever comes down upon the top of the folding finger (see Fig. 18), with a
considerable pressure for the purpose of effectuating the contact between the gummed
end of the tape and the ungummed end. This presser lever is operated by the
cam through the medium of the lever a³, connecting rod at, and arm a³,
latter being. fast to the same shaft, a, that bears on its opposite. end: the presser
lever w; (see Fig..14)..
11
the

page_text: THE GUMMIng Device.
The letter d³ denotes a reservoir of mucilage, into which the lower end of the
wiper e descends (see Fig. 16), at the proper time, and as it rises it carries on its
free end a little of the mucilage; as it rises the pivoted gummer 63 extending at this
time substantially horizontally, moves laterally, meets the free end of the wiper e³,
takes from it by contact (see Fig. 15) a little of the mucilage, retreats backward
laterally, and then turning down rotarily, comes in contact with the end of the tape
(see Fig. 16), which at the time is extended upward vertically along side the folding
finger p, and deposits thereon a little of the mucilage, after which it turns upward
rotarily to what may be called its normal position. The gummer 63 is pivoted on an
arm on the rock shaft g³, which rock shaft is held backward in what may be called
its normal position by the spring h³, but carries the gummer 63 to meet the wiper e³,
through the impulsion of a rod 3, attached to and carried by the laterally feeding
device, (the device which feeds the packs of postal-cards laterally step by step, already
described) the motion of the rock shaft g, which is given by the rod, and
spring, gives the wiper e³ its rotary vibratory movement already described, through
the medium of the connecting-rod 13, and the arm k³, which is fast on the wiper;
the rotary movements of the gummer 63, already described, are given by the up-and-
down movements of the presser lever w", through the medium of the arm 13, (pivoted
on presser lever w¹l, and acted upon by spring m³), and the connecting-rod n³: the
spring o gives a yielding contact between the gummer 63 and the wiper e³.
As the revolutions of the main shaft and the several cam shafts, connected therewith
by means of the intermeshing cog-wheels, continue, the several parts of the mechanism
are moved so that the package of cards that has been banded is released from the
grasp of the presser finger and of the presser and is free to be thrust along by the
forward feed of the succeeding package.
In order that the folding finger may be withdrawn from contact with the band and
carried to its position below the table without dragging on or loosening the band, the
base of the finger is first lifted from contact with it and drawn slightly backward
before the downward movement begins. This is an important feature of the invention
and is accomplished by the following mechanism. The bent lever t² is pivotally con-
nected at its upper end to a second lever t³, that is pivoted to a lug on the frame
at a point on the lever between this pivotal connection with lever³, and the end
bearing against the cam 2, see Fig. 10, and the movement of the folding finger is the
resultant of the separate and of the combined movements of two levers t2, and t³, as
produced by the irregular surfaces on the cams 2 and 3 respectively. To produce
the peculiar lifting of the folding finger the pin on the lower end of the lever is drops
into a hollow on the cam 3 which allows the forward end of the arm of lever t² to
swing upward under the pull of a spring u". The other cam then acts on lever t²
and pulls the forward end of lever downward dragging the finger across the edge
of the package of cards and side of the hole and opening it to its vertical position in
which it is held by contact with such side until the next band is to be folded.
After the packs of cards are bound with the tape in the manner already described,
they continue to feed to the leftward by the pressure of each pack upon its fellow to
its left until they drop off the left end of the table into a proper receptacle.
The letter på denotes a rotary shaft carrying the five cams last referred to, which
makes one complete rotation with the binding and delivery of each pack of cards:
this shaft, through a crank and connecting-rod, operates the register or counting
device K, which counts or registers the number of packs of cards printed, bound and
delivered. This register is not our invention, and any suitable register can be used
for this purpose.
The cog-wheel B on the main driving shaft B¹ of our machine is loose on the shaft
except when secured to it by the sliding body part of the positive clutch B3 (see Figs. 2,
19 and 20), that is halved onto the hub of the wheel B which is in mesh with a cog-
wheel of the printing-press (see Fig. 1). When the printing-press and the card
machine have been once adjusted and timed so that the several steps are properly

page_text: taken in printing, feeding, banding and counting, they may be disconnected and
proofs struck off or changes made in the press and the two machines again connected
without disturbing the adjustment.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In combination, the pockets d and the pocket clearing device E having the
forward, downward, backward and upward motions, all substantially as described and
for the purpose set forth.
2. The lateral feeding device composed of pivoted arms n having the leftward,
upward, rightward and downward motions as described, in combination with the inde-
pendent pusher a² actuated by lever d¹ and stop b, all substantially as described and
for the purpose set forth.
3. The pivotally hung and vertically reciprocating folding finger pl¹ in combina-
tion with its actuating spring 11, substantially as described and for the purpose set
forth.
4. In combination with the pivotally hung and vertically reciprocating folding
finger p, the reciprocating presser lever woll, all substantially as described and for the
purpose set forth.
5. In combination, pockets d, clearing device e, lateral feeding device n, pusher a¹,
tape guide k¹, grasping pincers m¹, m¹, shears c¹¹, c", all substantially as described and
for the purpose set forth.
6. In combination, in a machine of the within described class, a receiving pocket
with slotted bottom, the pocket clearing lever, and mechanism substantially as
described, whereby the said pocket clearing lever is given an intermittent
reciprocation along the pocket alternately in and out of it, all substantially as
described.
7. In combination with a package holding mechanism, substantially as set forth,
the lever bearing the holding finger and pivotally supported on a second lever, and
the mechanism whereby the folding finger is lifted from the end of the tape after it
has been gummed and the package bound, all substantially as described.
8. The herein described tape feed mechanism comprising a pair of pincers consisting
of levers m³, m¹ pivoted upon a reciprocating slide, the said levers being provided with
cam surfaces w¹, pins v' and a spring to hold the clamping ends separated when they
advance to feed the tape, combined with the actuating rod and links pl carrying the
pin z', said links connecting the said rod and slide n', and operating the pincer levers,
as set forth.
9. The combination with the pusher a¹, the tilting folding finger k for doubling
one end of the paper tape upon the package, of the mechanism for folding the other
end upon the package consisting of the pivotally hung vertically reciprocating folding
finger p¹¹ and its actuating spring, substantially as described.
10. In a machine of the class described, the combination of the pockets d, pocket
clearing devices e, substantially as set forth, and the lateral feeding devices composed
of pivoted arms n having the leftward, upward, rightward and downward motions,
substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.
11. In a machine of the class described, the combination of the pockets d, pocket
clearing devices e, substantially as described, the lateral feeding device composed of
pivoted arms n having the four motions set forth, and the independent pusher a¹
actuated by lever d¹ and stop b, as explained.
12. In a machine of the class described, the combination with the banding
mechanism substantially as herein described, in which the banding tape is fed across
the path of movement of the package of cards, of feeding mechanism consisting of
means, substantially as described, for imparting to a package of cards a main pro-
gressive movement, and a pusher. a' for imparting a supplementary movement to the
package to move it into the place where it is bound with the tape, substantially as set
forth.

page_text: 11
13. In a machine of the class described, the combination with the folding finger p
pivotally hung to a lever 1, a lever t³ pivoted to said lever t" and to the machine, of
cams 1 and 3, substantially as shown, to operate the said levers in the manner
described, whereby, after the folding finger has been operated to fold the tape upon a
package, its base is first lifted from contact with it and the finger drawn slightly
backward before its downward movement begins, for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 4th day of June 1889.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.