IMPROVE- MENTS IN CHEQUE PUNCHING MACHINES
Year: 1884

page_text: COMPLEIE
SPECIFICATION.
I, JOHN NEWTON WILLIAMS of 257 and 259, Water Street, Brooklyn, County of
Kings State of New York United States of America, Mechanical Engineer and
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CHEQUE PUNCHING MACHINES" and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My Invention has for its object to afford greater security to drawers of cheques,
drafts, receipts, money orders, and similar vouchers, and it relates to a machine for
cutting the amount or face value of the bill or voucher out of the body thereof so
that the amount cannot be raised or otherwise altered or tampered with.
The machine constituting the Invention consists of a central hub journaled on a
vertical axis and having a number of annular flanges or collars formed integrally
therewith or attached thereto. To the upper part of the hub are fulcrumed the
ends of the operating levers, one of which is, provided for each character to be
punched out. To each of these horizontal operating levers is pivoted the upper
end of a downwardly projecting type bar or punch which passes through guide
openings in the two upper flanges. These type bars are pivoted to the operating
levers at such distance from their fulcrum points as will allow said type bars the
necessary vertical play. Each type bar is returned to its upper or normal position
by a spring of any suitable form. The lowermost flange of the hub carries female
dies or counters corresponding with the male characters on the faces of the bars
immediately over them.
Each type bar is provided on its outer face with two shoulders, one above and
one below an oscillating feed lever with which the type bar being operated upon
engages for the purpose of imparting motion to the feed. The lower shoulders are
all placed at the same distance from the end of the type bar so that each of the
said bars when elevated by its spring will carry the feed lever to the same normal
position.
The upper shoulders are formed at different distances from the end of the bar so
as to impart a greater or less motion to the feed according to the width of the
character operated upon, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.
The feed lever encircles the punch carriage at the front part of the machine and
is journaled on pivots at diametrically opposite points of the circular case. Оде
°

page_text: °
end of the lever projects beyond the fulcrum point and is loosely connected to a
vertically moving staff, the lower end of which is connected with a link whose
arms straddle a smooth or serrated wheel and loosely surround a horizontal shaft
to which said wheel is keyed.
Between the arms of this link is a cam or otherwise formed pawl which rides
freely over the face of the wheel when raised and which engages therewith when
depressed. This imparts rotation to the shaft, the other end of which carries &
serrated feed roller whose upper periphery works through a slot in a bed plate or
table upon which the
or other paper is placed. Any retrograde motion of
the feed roller is prevented by a spring dog. The lower feed roller is grooved or
serrated on lines parallel with its axis and works against an idle roller mounted
on and having its lower periphery working through an opening in the holding
plate under which the paper passes. The upper roller is grooved or serrated
circumferentially so that the two rollers working together effectually hold the
paper between them from slipping while not in any way injuring or defacing it.
A second pair of grooved or serrated idle guide rollers works on the other side of
the machine to assist in holding the paper.
The special advantage of this arrangement of a feed table upon which the cheque
is placed and a hinged feeding plate above it, with the two pair of guide rollers
between which and by which the cheque is guided and moved or fed, is, the
opportunity afforded of placing any portion of the cheque under the operating
punch, thereby permitting the use of any form of cheque or draft as now printed,
the holding plate being raised by its lever. A stripper of glass enables the
operator to readily place the paper so that the perforated figures will not interfere
with any printed or written matter.
In punches as heretofore constructed there has been an equal amount of feed
given to the paper each time a character is used, hence when two narrow characters
come together there is enough space left between them for the insertion of another
narrow character.
To overcome this important objection I locate such narrow characters, "1" for
example, to one side of the centre of the type bar so that it will strike near to the
character last struck. Then in order to reduce the distance that the paper is fed
through the machine when the character is raised I locate the upper shoulder on
the type bar nearer to the top thereof so that a less motion will be imparted to
the feed lever. In this way I may also overcome the difficulty of crowding larger
characters by locating the character to the other side of the centre of the type bar
and imparting a greater motion to the feed lever, but in practice it is found
expedient to make all the characters except "1" uniform in width.
In order that my Invention may be more fully understood I will proceed to
describe it with reference to the accompanying Drawings of which
Fig. 1 is a plan of the machine, a portion of the cap being removed.
Fig. 2 is a front elevation with part of the casing removed.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation with the casing partly broken away, exposing the
interior mechanism.
Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4, Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the instrument on the line 5-5, Fig. 3.
Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 6-6, Fig. 3.
Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view of the supporting handle.
Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view of the feed and guide rollers.
1, represents the hub of the machine, which is journaled on a vertical stud 2, and
is formed integrally with or has rigidly attached thereto three annular metallic
Hanges or discs 3, 31, 4.
The punch operating levers 5, are fulcrumed beneath the upper flange 5., of the
bub between pins 5b, in such manner as to have freedom of endwise movement
and project radially outward therefrom beyond the edge of the casing. One of
these levers 5, is provided for each charactar to be punched.

page_text: Pivoted to each of the operating levers 5, at a distance from its fulcrum sufficient
to afford the necessary movement, is the upper end of a type bar 6, which is
guided in a vertical path by the two upper flanges 3, 31, of the hub through which
it passes. Each type bar is provided with an independent spring 7, of any desired
form for returning it to its normal or upper position, after the operating lever has
been depressed and liberated. This spring is preferably of the form shown and
consists of a coil spring placed in a vertical position and having one end securely
anchored to the flange 31, or other stationary part of the hub and the other end
connected to the type bar.
The lower annular flange 4, has secured to it the female dies each of which is
preferably formed in a separate metallic plate 8, screwed or otherwise secured to
the flange 4. Set screws are however preferably employed for convenience of
adjustment. All the flanges being formed integrally with the hub they will of
course rotate in unison.
Each type bar is provided with a pair of lugs or shoulders 9, 10, respectively,
above and below a feed lever 11, common to all the punches. These shoulders may
be formed in any desirable or well known manner, but are preferably made by
cutting a groove, of the requisite length, in the outer edge of the type bar. The
upper shoulders 9, are placed at different distances from the ends of the bars so
that they will impart a greater or less motion to the feed lever according to the
desired amount of space between the characters, while the lower shoulders 10,
and 11, are all located in the same positions relatively so that each bar will return
the feed lever to the same normal height. The distance between the shoulders 9, 10,
is made such that the punch will have well cleared the paper in rising before the
feed lever 11, being struck by the shoulders 10, shifts the paper.
The lever 11, encircles the front of the type reel and is fulcrumed at diametrically
opposite points 12, 12, on the stationary frame. One end of this lever projecta
beyond the fulcrum point 12, and is pivoted to the upper end of a vertical staff 13,
the lower end of which is loosely pivoted to a link 14, the arms of which loosely
surround a horizontal shaft 15, on each side of a wheel 16, which is keyed thereto.
Between the arms of this link 14, a cam or other formed pawl 17, is placed, which
rides freely over the face of the wheel 16, when the free end of the link is raised,
but which engages therewith when it is depressed, thus causing the shaft 15, to
rotate. I preferably employ in this place a friction or silent ratchet in which a
smooth faced wheel 16, is arranged to be turned by an eccentric pawl 17, hung
from the link 14, an advantage of such clutch-mechanism being that the wheel
may be seized at any point thus enabling a more accurate graduation of the
distance of feed than is possible with a ratchet wheel. Any retrograde motion of
the shaft 15, is prevented by a spring dog 18, which is here shown engaging with
that side of the feed roller 19, opposite the pawl 17. It is evident, however, that
instead of bearing on the feed roller 19, such a pawl may be made to engage with
the ratchet roller 16, with equal facility.
19, is the feed roller which is mounted on the forward end of the shaft 15. Its
upper periphery works through a slot in the feed table 20, and against the under
periphery of an idle roller 21, mounted in bearings on a paper holding plate 22.
This plate is provided with arms 23, 23" which are pivoted to the sides of the
casing. One of these arms 23, projects beyond the pivot point and has its end
bent outward to pass through the casing on the outside of which it is provided
with a thumb piece X, for operating it.
25, Fig. 3, is a spring, the upper end of which engages under the end of arm 23,
erving to elevate it and thus depress the holding-plate 22, between whose rollers
nd those in the feed-table the paper is clamped and fed.
26, 26, are a pair of idle rollers the upper one being formed and mounted in
xactly the same manner as is the roller 21, whilst the other is carried by a
oke 27, centred at 28, on the under side of the feed table or upon the base of the
nachine. A spring 29, is placed under the free end of this yoke for holding the

page_text: roller, upward against the paper as it moves under the roller above, the pressure
between the two being just sufficient to guide the paper.
"
The lower feed and guide rollers are grooved or corrugated in lines parallel with
their axles and the upper guide rollers are grooved circumferentially so that they
will bite the paper and effectually prevent its slipping while not in any way
injuring the body thereof.
Caps 21, 26, may be screwed down over the upper idle rollars 21, 26, to protect
them from dust and hide them from sight.
30, is a glass plate set in the holding-plate 22, and provided with a hole through
which the punches pass. This plate 30, serves the purpose of a stripper and as it
constitutes a part of the holding-plate it operates therewith without separate
manipulation. It is made of glass to enable the operator to properly adjust the
paper.
The cylindrical casing 31, is formed on the front with a notch 32, which permits
the depression of either of the operating levers and also serves to guide it in its
descent and hold the punch with which it is connected, accurately in the proper
position while cutting. The downward movement of any of the levers except that
for the time being over the notch 32, is prevented by the circular rim 31.
33, is a handle by means of which the machine may be lifted or carried.
The top of the machine is covered with a cap 34, which revolves with the punch
reel and bears raised characters opposite the levers, 5, corresponding with and
indicating the position of the characters on the respective punches and counters.
Bolts 35, on the ends of the handle 33, pass through the cap 34, and are fixed to
the flange 3. They are provided with a shoulder above the cap and are thus
adapted to hold the cap firmly down on the upper flange 5 of the hub. These
bolts serves the double purpose of holding on the cap and connecting the handle 33,
to the machine.
.
My machine affords great facility in operation by the direct manipulation of
levers connected with the respective punches, one to each. The operator after
using one punch, imparts a sufficient throw to the reel to bring to his hand the
next punch he may wish to use and the whole operation is thus performed with
great rapidity.
It is manifest that radial arms may be substituted for the annular plates 3, and 3¹,
for guiding the punches, without departing from the Invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is ;-
1. A cheque punching machine having a rotary hub, a circular series of punches
supported thereon, separate hand levers pivoted to the said punches and fulcrumed
on the rotary hub so as to have liberty of end wise movement.
2. A cheque punching machine having a revolving series of punches with two
lugs or shoulders on their faces, in combination with an oscillating feed lever
adapted to be engaged by one or the other of said lugs or shoulders when either of
the punches is brought into position for use so as to be positively actuated by said
punches in both directions of their movement for the purpose set forth.
3. The combination of the punch 6, bow-shaped feed lever 11, staff 13, clutch
or ratchet movement 14, 16, 17, feed shaft 15, and feed wheel 19, as set forth.
4. The combination of a rotary series of punches, an oscillating feed lever
common to all, a feed table having feed and guide rollers and a hinged holding
plate having idle rollers located above the rollers in the feed table on both sides of
the punches for the purpose set forth.
5. In a cheque punching machine the combination with a rotary series of punches
and a plate having corresponding matrices, of a hinged holding plate perforated for
the passage of the punch, being operated to serve as a stripper.
6. In a cheque punching machine flanged rotary hub cap. 34, shouldered bolts 35,
and bar or handle 33, for the purpose set forth,

page_text: 7. In a cheque punching machine the combination of a longitudinally grooved
feed wheel and a circumferentially grooved holding wheel substantially as and for
the purposes hereinbefore set forth.
8. In a cheque punching machine the holding plate 21, carrying a glass stripping
plate 30, permitting the inspection of the work as described.