IMPROVEMENTS IN ENVELOPE FOLDING MACHINERY
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Cook, of Manor Place, Walworth, in the
County of Surrey, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ENVELOPE FOLDING MACHINERY."
Sealed the 2nd June 1863, and dated the 2nd December 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Cook at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd December 1862.
I, THOMAS COOK, of Manor Place, Walworth, in the County of Surrey,
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ENVELOPE FOLDING MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in envelope folding
machinery, and consists in applying to such machinery apparatus arranged,
as herein-after described, for collecting the envelopes after they have been
folded.
A trough or slide is placed below the box in which the envelope has
been folded, so that the envelope drops down this trough into a frame; a
slide worked by a lever then carries the envelope over a grating, having the
ends open on one side. At each operation a lever or rake, having fingers
which will pass between the bars of the grating, lifts the envelope up, carrying
it into a trough of a suitable size. By this raising of the lever another
envelope is allowed to be passed underneath this last-mentioned lever or rake
ready for it to lift at the succeeding operation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Cook in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd June 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
Cooк, of Manor Place, Walworth, in the County of Surrey, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Cook, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Cook, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Cook, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ENVELOPE FOLDING MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Cook, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that the said Thomas Cook, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:―
This Invention has for its object improvements in envelope-folding
machinery, and in consists in applying to such machinery apparatus arranged,
as herein-after described, for collecting the envelopes after they have been
folded.
A trough or slide is placed below the box in which the envelope has been
folded so that the envelope drops down this trough into a frame; a slide
worked by a lever then carries the envelope over a grating, having the ends
open on one side. At each operation a lever or rake, having fingers which
will pass between the bars of the grating, lifts the envelope up, carrying it

page_text: And in order that my said Invention may be most runy understood, and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side view of an envelope-folding machine constructed in part
according to a former Patent granted to me, and having combined with it
apparatus, arranged according to my present Invention, for collecting the
envelopes after they have been folded; Figure 2 shews the opposite side;
and Figure 3 an end view of the same machine; Figure 4, a vertical section
taken. at the line 1, 1, Figures 1 and 2; Figure 5 is a horizontal section
taken at the line 2, 2, Figure 1; and Figure 6 is a horizontal section taken
at the line 3, 3, Figure 1.
a, a, is the frame of the machine; b, the main axis; it is driven by a strap
passing around the pulley ; c is a cam keyed upon the axis, and upon it
rests the friction pulley d; the axis of this pulley is carried by a cross bar d¹
fixed to the plunger guides d², which are capable of sliding vertically in the
framing; to the lower ends of the guides d² the hollow rectangular plunger e
is fixed; d³ is a weight at the upper ends of the guides d²; it is this weight,
assisted by the india-rubber springs f, f, which causes the descent of the
plunger after it has been raised by the cam. The plunger has within it four
instruments or fingers g, g; they are jointed to a block g', the stem g² of
which slides with friction in a socket e¹ in the top of the plunger. The
friction is regulated by means of the spring e and pressure block e³, so that
the fingers 9 move with the plunger e, except when one or other of the
collars on the stem g² comes against the stop a¹ on the framing; g' are
india-rubber springs which tend constantly to throw the lower ends of the
fingers outwards; h is a moveable table which slides in guides on the
stationary table a²; it has formed in it two rectangular openings or die boxes
h', h', but immediately under the plunger there is a sole plate i fixed on the
stationary table, and this at the time of folding forms the bottom of each die
box alternately; as the table is caused to slide to and fro, the motion is given
to it by the cam k; this acts on the large friction pulleys h², h², the axes of
which are fixed to the table h; k is a spur wheel on the axis of the cam k,
and this gears with an intermediate wheel, which in turn receives motion
from a toothed wheel 62 on the main axis b. The form of the cam k is such

page_text: as to cause the table h to move rapidly from end to end of its course, and
.then to remain stationary during the time necessary to fold an envelope. In
working the machine, two children are employed to feed it with paper cut
to the proper form; they are placed one at each end of the machine, and
,when either of the die boxes is out from under the plunger, a piece of paper
or blank is laid over it, the corner guides h³, h³, fixed at the angles of the box
serving to ensure that it shall be correctly placed; then the table moves under
the plunger, which descends upon it (the fingers or instruments g being then
entirely within the plunger,) and thus the paper is creased. The plunger
then rises again to a greater height than that from, which it before descended,
and the lower collar g³ coming against the stop a', the fingers g are caused to
descend and protrude; then the plunger again comes down with the fingers
in this position, and they incline the flaps of the envelope inwards in suc-
cession, being suitably formed and arranged so to do. For this purpose, the
fingers are caused to move inwards when their points are a short distance
above the mouth of the die box; the motion is produced by the upper
collar g3 coming against the stop a', whilst the plunger continues to descend.
The fingers are. by this means drawn up within the plunger, the lower edge of
which, as they in succession come in contact with it, gathers thein inwards;
the plunger then continues its descent until it comes down on to the sole
plate, and it thus completes the folding.
In consequence of the form to which the paper is usually cut, it is necessary
that the bottom flap should be folded completely over or very nearly so, almost
before the folding of the side flaps has commenced, otherwise the angles of the
flaps would catch. To effect the complete folding of the bottom flap earlier
than it would otherwise take place, the piece e³ is employed within the plunger;
this is capable of sliding up and down a short distance with friction adjusted
by means of a spring, and there is an adjustable piece on the finger block,
which, when the fingers descend, comes against the sliding piece e³, and moves
it downwards, so as to cause it to project beyond the lower edge of the
plunger; this piece then presses the bottom flap down flat, sufficiently soon to
allow the side flaps to be folded in over it without catching; the piece e is
pushed back to its original position by coming down on to the sole plate. The
envelope being those folded, the die box with the envelope still in it moves out
from under the plunger and comes over one of the holes a³, a³, in the stationary
table, and the envelope is then thrown out from the die box; to effect this,
two slender bars or arms 1, 1, are employed at each end of the machine; they
are mounted on axes carried by brackets a', attached to the framing. The
bars or arms are by means of springs attached to the short arms on the

page_text: same axes, caused to have a constant tendency to rise, but they are prevented
from so doing because their points lie in grooves on the under side of the
moving table h; these grooves are continued from the end of the table and
longitudinally along it until they reach the die box, into which they open at
points above the level at which the envelopes are when folded left in the box.
It will be seen, then, that as the points of the rods or arms bear against the
tops of the grooves, they will, as the die box with a folded envelope in it comes
towards them, enter the box over the envelope; then, when the table h comes
up to the end of its motion, the projection h on the table strikes the arm l²,
and so throws downwards the rods or arms l, and thus throws the envelope out
of the box; m is a rod capable of sliding up and down in a guide socket; in
the frame at its upper end is a friction pulley, which by springs m', m', is
kept in contact with the cam m³ on the main axis. The upper die for em-
bossing the seal on the flap of the envelope is attached to the lower end of
the rod m, and when the cam forces down the rod it descends on to and
embosses the flap. The lower die is carried by the stationary table or bed.
The rod m also carries the rectangular frame n, on which is the presser o,
which serves to press the flap to be gummed down upon the gumming appa-
ratus; the level of the presser o can be adjusted as may be required. The
gumming apparatus consists of a box p containing the liquid gum, and p' is an
axis mounted in bearings on the box p², and p³ are arms on the axis p¹; the
lower arm p² is immersed in the gum, and has two projections at its ends
which are flat on the surface and correspond in form with the lines of gum
which it is desired to place on the flap of the envelope. The upper arm p³ is
inclined, and when the projection n' on the frame n comes against it, it causes
the axis p¹ partially to rotate, and so brings up the end of the lever p² to dab
the flap of the envelope with gum, the flap being at the same time pressed
downwards by the presser o.
The die boxes h¹, h¹, are notched away at the
side where the gummed flap comes and opposite to the lines of gum, so that
these may not be smeared as the envelope is pressed down into the box in the
operation of creasing.
In order to collect the envelopes into a pile as they are discharged folded
from the die boxes, I employ the apparatus which forms the distinctive feature
of the present Invention, and which I will now proceed to describe.
I cause each envelope as it falls from the die box to slide down an inclined
trough r, which leads it on to the surfaces; on this surface there is a slide t,
caused to move to and fro in guides by the cam u on the main axis; this cam
acts directly on a friction pulley carried by an arm on the vertical axis u¹.;
the friction pulley is kept constantly in contact with the cam by a vulcanized

page_text: india-rubber spring attached to the arm u². At the bottom of the vertical
axis u' is another arm us, and this is connected by a link with the lever u',
which is centred to the frame, and the end of this lever is in turn linked to
the slide by a stud at the bottom, which projects through a slot in the
surface s, and thus the slide is caused to traverse to and fro, and at each forward
motion it pushes the envelope last delivered under the pile of envelopes
already produced, and which is contained in the rack v. As, however, the
envelopes in sliding down the troughs become partly unfolded, the instru-
ments w, w, are employed; these are hinged on each side to the surfaces, and
they are drawn together by the spring s¹, so as to bring their points together
or towards each other just over the level of the path of the slide; but when
the slide t is at the further or back end of its course, the inclines t', t', upon it
come against the shoulders' w¹, w¹, of the instruments w, and force them apart,
until their points are separated by a space exceeding the length of the slide, or
that of a finished envolope. The action then is as follows:-An envelope
descends one of the inclines r on to the surfaces, the slide t then advances,
and the projection t2 upon it coming over the gummed flap, holds it down in its
place, and as soon as the shoulders w¹ are clear of the slide, the points of the
instruments w come towards each other and fold over the side flaps. The
continued motion of the slide then carries the envelope forward and lodges it
under the pile of envelopes already accumulated in the receiver v, and then
the weight of the envelopes over it keeps the flaps properly in their places
until the gum is dry. In order, however, to get the envelopes in succession
under the bottom of the pile, it is necessary that this should be raised each
time that an envelope is to be pushed underneath. For this purpose the
bottom of the receiver is made with a number of slits v¹, v, in it, and through
them the teeth of a rake x are able to pass. This rake is caused to place
itself immediately under the bottom of the receiver v, and then to rise (its
teeth passing through the slits in the bottom), so as to lift the pile; the fresh
envelope is then, as already described, pushed in underneath, and the rake is
caused to move outwards, so as to allow the pile to descend on to the envelope
so pushed in.
These motions are given to the rake in the following manner :- Its
stem is jointed at a point intermediate of its length to the link x², which in
turn is jointed to the frame, and at the upper end of the stem a¹ is a friction
pulley bearing on the cam y on the main axis; this cam gives to the rake its
rocking motion. The up-and-down motion is given by the cam z, which acts
on a friction pulley on the end of an arm formed on the link a², and thus the
rake receives its up-and-down motion, the axis on which it rocks being caused

page_text: to move up and down according to the inclination given by the cam z to
the link.
The cams y and z are shewn as they would appear if split and spread out in
Sheet 3 of the Drawings.
I would remark that I have described my Invention of apparatus for
collecting the envelopes into piles in connection with folding machinery con-
structed in accordance with a former Patent granted to me, and dated 28th
July 1862, No. 2135, as I believe it to be most conveniently used when so
combined; I do not, however, confine myself to this combination, as collecting
apparatus arranged as above set forth may also usefully be combined with
other folding mechanism.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Cook, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Second day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three.
THOS. COOK. (L.S.)