IMPROVEMENTS IN STAMPING, MARKING, CUTTING, EMBOSSING, OR PRINTING
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WILLIAM SIEVIER, of Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Hèr
Royal Letters Patent, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of
July, One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, in the eleventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert William Sievier, Her especial license, full power, sole privi-
lege and authority, that I, the said Robert William Sievier, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Robert William
Sievier, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STAMPING, MARKING, CUTTING, EMBOSSING, OR
PRINTING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me,
the said Robert William Sievier, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert William Sievier, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-

page_text: tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings thereunto annexed, and to all the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
These improvements apply, in the first instance, to machines or pieces of
mechanism, by which marks, figures, or perforations may be made upon or
through strips of paper or card, for the purpose of registering words, signals,
or significant characters in connection with the operations of an electric
telegraph.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 represents in elevation a machine
or apparatus for performing these operations, drawn to a scale of the real size.
It consists of a platform, stand, or table of wood A, A, A, upon which are
erected four upright columns B, B, supporting a top or cap plate C, C. Two
metal standards D, D, of about one-eighth of an inch thick, are affixed above
to the cap plate and below to the table, at about a quarter of an inch apart.
These metal standards carry a series of metal pins or short axles a, a, a,
intended to form the fulcrums of a series of levers b, b, b, mounted thereon,
which levers are somewhat similar in construction to the keys of a pianoforte.
A block of wood E is fixed below on the table, for the purpose of constituting
a bed, upon which a plate is laid to receive the paper to be stamped, marked,
cut, embossed, or printed by a series of eight stamps c, c, c, c, formed at the
lower ends of eight perpendicular rods or bars d, d, d, d, (four of which only
are seen in the Drawing, the other four being hidden behind). Upon the top
of the block E there are placed two plates of steel e, e, e, e, parallel to each
other. They are kept a little distance apart by thin pieces of metal, for the
purpose of allowing the strip of paper or card to pass between them. These
steel plates e, e, are each perforated with eight coincident holes, to allow the
ends of the punches to pass through them. The strip of paper intended to be
marked may be rolled round the periphery of a cylinder F, mounted upon an
axle between the columns, and this cylinder should have a grooved pulley and
weighted friction band, for holding the strip of paper tight. There is a guide
roller f, mounted upon an axle g, in the metal standards D, D, to support and
conduct the strip of paper h, h, h, which strip, after it has been passed between
the plates e, e, is to be pinched tightly between two rollers G and H, mounted
upon axles in a rectangular frame I, by which means the strip of paper or
card is strained tight and held in its horizontal position.
From the inner sides of the perpendicular punch rods d, d, d, d, series of
small pins i, i, i, i, extend, each pin being so situate immediately under the
several keys or levers 6 that when any one of the levers or keys 6 is depressed

page_text: by the finger of an operator acting upon the outer end of the key, a pin or
pins i in the rod or rods d will be acted upon by the depression of that lever,
and the punch or punches C at the bottom of the rods d will be forced down
through the holes in the plate or plates e, and thereby the punch or punches c
will be made to cut or perforate the strip of paper with such number and
arrangement of holes as have been previously determined, to represent any
required figure or sign to be given by the particular lever or key so acted upon.
At the lower part of each of the perpendicular rods or bars d there is a
helical wire spring k coiled round, for the purpose of throwing the rod d and
punch c up again to its former elevated position after having been depressed,
so that the strip of paper may be moved onward for the reception of the next
mark or sign.
In the Drawings, Figures 1 and 2, some of the pins i in the upright bars
or rods d, d, d, d, are represented by black spots and others by red spots ; it is
thereby intended to be shewn that the pins colored red are set in the front
row of bars, those black in the back row of bars (all being on the inner sides
of the rods).
It is also necessary to remark that I do not intend to limit myself to the
arrangement of pins shewn in the Drawings at Figures 1 and 2, as I intend to
adapt any arrangement of pins that may be suited to give any variety of signs
or marks. It should be understood that strips of paper or card intended to
receive the marks of the punches may be inserted between the plate e, e, by
hand, if required; but I prefer to place the paper in a long strip wound round
a cylinder, as shewn at F, and in that case cause the pinching rollers G and H
to draw the paper forward a certain distance after each stroke of the punches.
For this purpose I adapt to the machine a perpendicular bar K, K, which
hangs between the levers or keys b, b. The upper end of this bar is attached
to a weighted cord 1, 1, which passes over two pullies at top of the machine,
and holds the bar K up.
The lower end of the bar K is connected by a joint m to a horizontal
lever L. This lever has its fulcrum at n, and to its outer end is attached a
pendant catch p, shewn by dots in Fig. 1. Upon the axle of the roller H
there is a ratchet wheel q, in the teeth of which ratchet the end of the pendant
catch p is made to act by a spring. The roller G is pressed down by a spring r
bearing upon the axle of the roller H, whereby the slip of paper passed between
them is held tight. On the sides of the perpendicular bar K. there are ex-
tending a series of pins or studs 8, 8, s, placed immediately below each of the
levers or keys b, b, b, and this bar being held up by the weighted cord l, as
described, supports all the levers or keys b, b, b, in their horizontal positions.

page_text: It will now be perceived that when any one of the levers 6 is depressed, that
lever will act upon the pin s immediately below it, and cause the perpendicular
bar K to descend, which will press down the horizontal lever L; on these
being again raised by the weight m at the end of the cord 1, the click P will
take up one tooth of the ratchet q, and by that means advance the strip of
paper to a situation ready to receive the next descent of the punches. The
letters A, B, C, &c., marked on the ends of the keys or levers b, b, b, are only
intended to shew that the several keys may be designed to strike the symbol
of any of those letters. Thus, the letters may be differently arranged, or the
keys may represent any other character instead of the letters marked.
I have thus far considered the punches c, c, c, c, as capable only of per-
forating the strips of paper or card; it must, however, be obvious that with
the same arrangement of machinery the punches may be so formed at their
lower ends that, instead of perforating holes, they may be made to mark by
stamping, embossing, or printing any characters or arrangement of characters
required, the lower plate e, in that case, being made without perforations, and
the bed for the paper to lie upon being prepared with a flexible or otherwise
suitable surface. Fig. 3 is an elevation of a machine comprehending the
elementary features of the foregoing under a different modication; Fig. 4 is
a horizontal view of the same. A, A, is the platform or table supporting the
mechanism; G and H are the two rollers, between which the paper or card
passes to be marked, stamped, pierced, embossed, or printed, as before; e, e,
are the plates, perforated, as before described, for the reception of the punches;
b, b, are the levers or keys, to be acted upon by the fingers of an operator;
d, d, are the rods of the punches; k, k, their springs. On depressing one of
the keys b, the punch connected to it will be forced upwards through the strip
of paper placed between the plates e, e. A bent lever K. carries two horizontal
rods s, s, immediately under the two series of levers b, b, so that whenever one
of the levers b, b, is depressed, the bent lever K will be so acted upon as to
cause the arm L to rise and to move the click p, which takes into the racket q,
and thereby to move the rollers II and G, and advance the strip of paper a
sufficient distance to present a clear space for the next stamping operation.
The bent levers K are kept elevated, and the horizontal rods s, s, in contact
with the lower edges of the levers b, b, by means of a spring x. I would
observe that the axle of the roller I must be furnished with a second ratchet
wheel u, with suitable palls or clicks, for the purpose of preventing it from
returning when it has been moved onward by the click p acting upon the
ratchet wheel on the opposite side. The dotted arrow extending across the
machine in Fig. 4, denotes the onward direction of the paper or cardboard,

page_text: which in this Figure is omitted in order that the mechanism may be more
clearly seen.
In the machine shewn in Figures 3 and 4, the signs or symbols are made by
depressing a combination of one, two, or more of the keys or levers b, b,
according to any preconcerted arrangement, whereas, in Figures 1 and 2, each
lever b, when depressed, produces a complete symbol or sign.
It will be evident to any person conversant with machinery that, by slightly
altering or adding to either of the above arrangements, the punches may be
arranged in one, two, or more lines, and the holes may be also made of any
particular figure, such as round, square, or oblong, with equal facility, so as to
be enable to make any variety of signs or symbols to be marked, stamped, cut,
printed, or embossed on the paper or cardboard.
Having now described my Invention and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that as various alterations or
modifications may be made in the arrangement or construction of the several
parts without departing from the nature and object of my Invention, I do not
mean or intend to confine myself rigidly to the precise arrangement or con-
struction of parts herein shewn and described; but claim as the Invention
secured to me under the herein before in part recited Letters Patent, marking,
cutting, stamping, embossing, or printing on paper or cardboard, by means of
stamps, punches, or dies acted upon by levers depressed by the hand, the paper
or cardboard being moved forward at intervals as required, substantially in the
manner above shewn and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert William Sievier, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
(L.S.) R. W. SIEVIER.