IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND STAMPING MACHINES
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Robert Barrett and Samuel
Wright at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 13th June 1871.
We, ROBERT BARRETT and SAMUEL WRIGHT, both of No. 51, Turnmill
Street, Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND STAMPING
MACHINES," to be as follows:
―
Our Invention has reference to hand stamping machines for stamping
dates, numerals, letters, or cyphers in ink.
Heretofore such stamping machines have been constructed with a pad
or roller carried by levers actuated so as to bring the same in contact
with the stamping dies in order to ink them, the pad or roller being for
this purpose saturated with a supply of ink at intervals by hand.
According to our present Invention we combine with the machine a
reservoir containing ink so arranged that after every inking of the dies
by the inking roller the latter is caused to receive a supply of ink from
the rescrvoir for the next inking. For this purpose we fix at the back
of the moveable box or frame carrying the stamping dies a trough for

page_text: containing the ink provided with a removeable cover, the back surface
of which trough is formed with small holes or perforations and is covered
with a piece of cloth or felt, so that the ink passes by degrees through
the perforations so as to saturate the cloth covering: The inking roller
is carried by two curved levers connected together and working upon a
spindle carried by the stand of the machine, and it is kept in contact
with the under side of the box of the stamping dies by two springs fixed
to the stand acting upon fingers or projections at the ends of the levers
as the box with the stamping dies and the ink reservoir is depressed in
the usual manner for stamping. The inking roller is thereby pushed
backwards and caused first to pass over the dies so as to ink them, and
then to pass over the saturated cloth surface of the reservoir so as to
receive a supply of ink therefrom for the next stamping. On the ascent
of the stamping box and reservoir after stamping the inking roller is
caused by the before-mentioned springs to move forward again so as to
pass underneath the stamping box.
Instead of providing each of the several revolving discs or wheels with
the stamping dies with a ratchet and actuating lever for effecting their
consecutive rotation in order to change the dates, numerals, or letters
after every stamping, as has been done heretofore with such hand
stamping machines, we provide only the one end disc with a ratchet,
and we fix upon the stand of the machine a finger which at the rising
of the stamping box after every stamping enters the said ratchet and
turns the disc so as to change the date, numeral, or letter. The disc
has on its side surface next to the contiguous disc a circular groove
containing a spring with a pin on the side next to the contiguous disc,
and a detent on the opposite side passing through a hole in the first disc.
When the first disc has performed one revolution the detent comes in
contact with a fixed stud on the spindle or drum carrying the discs,
whereby the before-mentioned pin on the spring is pushed out and made
to enter one of a series of holes on the second disc, and is thus made to
carry this disc round a portion of a revolution, so as to change its letter
or numeral. On the detent passing the fixed stud the said spring and
pin spring back into the groove. Each of the successive discs have on
the one face a similar groove with spring and pin, which pins are all
acted upon in rotation by the aforesaid detent and fixed stud, so as to
enter holes on the other faces of the discs in order to change their
positions, as before described. On the fixed drum carrying the discs are
springs which catch into notches in the inner circumferences of the

page_text: discs, so as to hold these in position when they have been turned a part
of a revolution as described.
The machine may be made to print two or more times without
changing the dies by throwing the before-mentioned finger out of gear
with the ratchet, which may be effected by a lever or cam on the framing
acting upon the upper end of the said finger, which is in that case
pressed into gear with the ratchet by means of a spring.