Improvements in Apparatus for Dating, Cancelling, or otherwise Marking Cheques or other Written Instruments.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Feb., 1896-Accepted, 11th Apr., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Dating, Cancelling, or otherwise
Marking Cheques or other Written Instruments.
I, GEORGE CROYDON MARKS, of 18 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, (communication from Beebe
Check Protector Company, a corporation organized under laws of the State of
Minnesota, of 517 First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of
America), 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 means for indenting checks, drafts, notes, or other
written instruments, and for inking the fibre of the paper upon which they are
written or printed in such a manner that the marks cannot be changed or altered
without so changing the appearance thereof that the same would be noted
instantly by a person seeing the paper; and the object of my invention is to
provide a device of this kind which shall be of an extremely simple and cheap
construction and which may be operated by any person whether skilled in the use
of the instrument or not.
The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings, forming part of this Specification, and in which:
Fig. 1 is a plan view of a device embodying my invention.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the device on the line x-x of Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the device on the line y-y of Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is a partial vertical section on the line -2 of Fig. 3.
Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the circular ring or plate carrying the indenting
blocks or dies.
Figs. 7, 8 and 9 show the different forms of the indenting points which may be
employed.
Figs. 10 and 11 show a pair of dies in closed and open positions respectively, and
showing that the points having the male dies completely fill the cavities or female
dies, and that the paper is not perforated but rather indented and abraided to
separate the fibre thereof to receive the ink from the punch points.
Fig. 12 illustrate a complete set of dies upon the diamond pattern of type.
In the drawings, 2 represents a suitable hollow base, preferably of metal, which
is provided at one side on the top with a vertical opening in which a stud 3 is
adapted to slide. The upper end of the stud 3 is screwed into a wheel or disc 4,
having a knob 5 extending upwardly from the centre thereof. The knob may be
formed integrally with the disc or not as desired. The disc 4 is provided on
its upper surface and near the edge with a circular row of figures or other
characters arranged at intervals thereon. On the underside of the disc and
arranged beneath the respective figures or characters and dies 6, having beveled
or cone shaped points upon their respective faces, forming characters corre-
sponding to the figure or character immediately above them. The dies 6 are
formed with and carried by an electrotype plate 6' which is secured to the
The dies 6
underside of the disc by screws or in any other suitable manner.
may be formed separately and secured to the disc independently of each other.
The characters upon the faces of the dies are formed by serrated outlines, and

page_text: the serrations upon any of the dies are adapted to coincide with corresponding
indentations provided in a plate or female die 7 adjustably secured to the base 2
beneath the dies, in a depression therein, by screws passing into the female die
from the underside of the base, as shown in Fig. 3. A suitable inking pad 8 is
also provided on the base in a semicircular depression therein, said depression
having flaring side walls and arranged beneath the disc. The holes in the base
through which the screws pass into the female die are larger than the diameter
of the screws to permit adjustment of the die. The spring catch 9 is provided
on the top of the base to engage one of the series of notches in the periphery
of the dies so as to hold the disc from turning when it is desired to use the
machine in puncturing and printing any character upon the check or draft.
A small rod 10 is supported under the top of the base by the bracket 10' secured
to the underside of the top of the base. A roller 11 is mounted upon this rod
and is free to turn therewith and extend a short distance up through an opening
provided in the top of the base, as shown in Fig. 1. The roller 11 is provided
with an annular groove 12 near its center for the purpose hereinafter described.
Mounted upon the top of the base at one side of the disc is a standard 13, which
may be secured to the base by a screw or any other suitable means. A fork is
provided at the top of this standard in which a key or lever 14 is pivoted. The
lever or key is provided at one end with a pivoted yoke in which is pivoted a small
roller 15, normally held against the roller 11 by the pressure of a spring 16
arranged at the other end of the key. The opposite end of the key is flattened to
be pressed by a finger. Upon the rod 10 at one side of the roller 11 is mounted a
ratchet wheel 17. A bar 18 extends across the base and is pivoted to one of the
side walls thereof. The free end of the bar 18 is turned upwardly to press against
the collar or flange upon the wheel 17, acting as a guide for the bar 18, which is
also provided with a small spring-catch 19 which engages the teeth of the ratchet
wheel. A small detent spring 19¹ is provided to engage the ratchet wheel upon
the opposite side from the spring 19 to prevent the wheel from turning backward.
The bar 18 is further supported near its center by a screw 20 which passes loosely
through an opening therein and into a threaded hole in the bottom of the rod 3.
A flat spring 21 is secured to the underside of the base and presses against the
bottom or head of the pin 20, holding the rod 3 up and also the disc 4 which it
supports. A lug or projection 22 is provided upon the top of the base to engage
one of the notches in the disc 4 when pressure is applied to force the disc down
upon the base and also to prevent the die 4 being forced down at any other point
than where the male dies will coincide with the female die underneath. A pin 23
is also provided in the base under which the edge of the check is placed to prevent
it coming in contact with the inked dies.
The operation of the device is as follows; One end of the check, note or draft
to be indented and inked, is placed between the roller 15 and the roller 11 and held
thereby from slipping. The part to be indented is placed over the plate or female
die 7 on the base and under the pin 23, and the disc is revolved until the
character or figure which it is desired to impress upon the paper is brought over
the female die or plate. The knob 5 is then pressed upon or stamped and the
rod 3 will slide down through the vertical opening in the base, carrying down with
it the bar 18 and the flat spring 21. When the dies strike the paper the points or
serrations thereon will force the fibre of the paper into the indentations of the
female die or plate 7, and the points having been previously inked upon the pad 8
they will ink the indentations of the paper, and when the dies and rod more up
again, actuated by the spring 21, the catch spring 19 upon the bar 18 will engage
another tooth of the ratchet wheel 17, moving it forward and with it the roller 11
and the roller 15 which it engages. The end of the draft or note being between
these rolls it will be moved forward far enough to properly space the characters,
and a fresh portion of the paper will be brought forward above the plate 7 ready to
be indented with another character or figure as may be desired. The serrations or
points upon the faces of the dies may be beveled round, square, diamond-shaped,

page_text: or any desired beveled shape, and the plate 61 may be removed at any time and
another plate having dies with differently shaped points forming different characters
substituted if desired. Several dies may be provided to be used in place of the
female die or plate 7, having indentations which correspond to the various shapes
of the points
or serrations upon the male dies above.
As shown by the dotted outlines in the last row of Figure 12 of the drawings,
there are so many spaces provided each way for the indentations, no matter what
the outline of the character is. For instance, those shown in the drawings are-
three spaces across and seven spaces high, so that there will always be an
indentation in the female plate or die upon the base to receive a correspondingly
shaped point or serration upon the male die above.
When it is desired to make a differently shaped impression the dies and plates.
may be removed and others substituted therefor. When it is desired to make
indentations upon more than one part of the paper and it is necessary to pass the
indented portion under the rolls, the part that is indented may be brought over the
annular groove in the roll 11 and this will prevent the indentations from being
flattened into the paper again.
The device may be varied in its construction so as to be capable of being used
for cancelling or dating checks, drafts, notes, bonds or other instruments, and I do
not confine myself to any particular characters or any particular arrangement of"
the same, as different characters or combinations of characters, such, for instance,
as the letters forming the word "paid " may be used for the purpose of cancelling
or otherwise marking the checks, notes or other instruments.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is:
1. A machine or device for protecting, cancelling, dating or otherwise marking
checks, bonds, notes or other instruments, comprising a suitable base, a vertically
movable die-plate arranged thereon, dies arranged upon said die-plate, the faces
of said dies being provided with a character or characters formed by serrated.
outlines, a plate upon said base provided with indentations corresponding to and
coinciding with the serrations upon said die, and means for inking said dies,.
substantially as described.
2. In a device for protecting, cancelling or dating checks, bonds, notes, or
other instruments, the combination of a suitable base, a revolving vertically
movable disc arranged thereon, dies arranged upon and under the surface of said
disc, the faces of said dies being provided with a character or characters formed
by serrated outlines, a plate upon said base over which said dies pass as the disc
revolves, said plate being provided with indentations corresponding to and coin-
ciding with the serrations upon said dies, and means for inking said dies,.
substantially as described.
3. A device for marking checks or other papers, comprising a male die, formed
of a series of points, arranged in the outline of a suitable character, a female
die, consisting of a corresponding series of indentations arranged to coincide with
the points or serrations forming the male die, means for inking said dies, and
means forcing one of said dies against the other, whereby an interposed paper
will be depressed, broken, and the ink forced into the fibres forming the body
of the paper.
Dated this 11th day of February 1896.
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.