AN IMPROVED DATE STAMP
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Garden Berri, of Bloomsbury, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED DATE STAMP."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said David Garden Berri, at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration on the 24th April 1860, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
GARDEN BERRI, of Bloomsbury, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS I, the said David Garden Berri, have petitioned Her Majesty
to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal
Letters Patent for an Invention for "AN IMPROVED DATE STAMP."
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said David Garden Berri, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, and the Drawings therein referred to (that is to say) :-
My Invention, which has reference to an improved date stamp to be
employed for the general purposes of stamping letters, documents, or otherwise;
whereby any alteration, by means of moveable type, may be made with greater
facility than hitherto, consists in the lower portion or face of the stamp or plate
being connected to the body of the same by means of a hinge joint and screw.

page_text: fastening, in such manner that the said face may be thrown or turned back,
and admit of the removal of the type for the purpose of changing the same
when required for the alteration of the date or otherwise.
But in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I now proceed to describe the samo by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures thereon
marked (that is to say) :-
Fig. 1 represents a vertical end view of my improved date stamp; Fig. 2,
a side view thereof; Fig. 3 a plan or underneath view, showing the face of the
stamp or engraved plate as applied to postal purposes; Fig. 4, a side view of
the same, showing the application of the hinge opening joint, and the manner
in which the type are to be removed or changed; Fig. 5, a top or plan view
thereof; Fig. 6, a longitudinal section taken through the dotted line in Fig. 5;
Figs. 7 and 8, detached front and side views of the thumb-screw for securing
the face to the body of the stamp; and Figs. 9 and 10 corresponding views of
one of the type. In each Figure the same letters of reference denote similar
corresponding parts.
A, A, the handle of wood, or otherwise; B, B, metallic hinge plate or body
of the stamp to which the handle is attached; C, C, engraved face or plate
from which the impression is taken; D, D, pin or hinge joint for enabling the
stamp to be opened or separated for the removal or changing of the type, as
represented at Figs. 4 and 5; E, E, thumb-screw or pin for holding or securing
the parts together when closed and required, for use; F and F semicircular
openings and tap or nut in the upper and lower plates, forming when closed
the hole or socket, in which the screw or pin is secured; G, G, moveable type;
H, H, openings or perforations in which the same are placed; I, I, recess or
cavity fitting over the flanged heads or tops J, J, of the type.
'
In conclusion to the foregoing description, it may be here necessary to note,
that my improved date stamp may be employed, either in connection with the
double or obliterating, mark, as represented, or separately in conformity with
the usual requirements, the stamp being used in the ordinary way, and the
operation of changing the type effected by the removal of the pin or thumb-
screw, so as to admit of the plates being opened or separated, as shown at
Fig. 4, and the type removed and others substituted, as required.
"Having now described the nature of this my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I would have it clearly understood that
I do not claim the exclusive use of the several parts herein-before mentioned
and referred to, except when the same are employed in and for the purposes
of my said Invention, which I hereby declare to consist in the construction and

page_text: employment of a date stamp, in which the engraved portion of the stamp is
hinged to the upper plate or body of the same, so as to admit of the separation
of the plates, and facilitate the changing of the type.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Garden Berri, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
DAVID GARDEN BERRI. (L.S.)
Witness,
T. R. DARKIN CAMPBELL,
Clerk to Messrs. Weatherdon & Co.,
77, Chancery Lane.