IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR APPLYING POSTAGE AND OTHER STAMPS TO ENVELOPES. AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Dockrell, of the County of the City of
Dublin, Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR APPLYING POSTAGE AND OTHER STAMPS TO ENVELOPES. AND OTHER
ARTICLES."
.Sealed the 30th October 1874, and dated the 7th May 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Dockrell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th May 1874.
I, HENRY DOCKRELL, of the County of the City of Dublin, Ireland,
"IMPROVEMENTS
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IN MACHINERY FOR APPLYING POSTAGE AND OTHER STAMPS TO ENVELOPES AND OTHER
ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
The apparatus, is mounted on a box stand having a metallic cover with
a mouth for the postage or other stamps to pass through; under this
mouth there is a half-round or sector wheel which moistens the stamp,
carries it from the aforesaid mouth, and brings it under a hammer or
'

page_text: presser, the spindle of the wheel being so connected to and dependant
upon the motion of the hammer that the stamp to be applied to the letter
or other paper comes under the pressure of the hammer. On applying
pressure of the hand the hammer is brought down, by preference per-
pendicularly, and fastens thereby the stamp in its place. The hammer
is brought back by means of a spring or equivalent means:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Dockrell in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th November 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
DOCKRELL, of the County of the City of Dublin, Ireland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her 'most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Dockrell, Her special licence,
that I, the said Henry Dockrell, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Dockrell, 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
MACHINERY FOR APPLYING POSTAGE AND OTHER STAMPS TO ENVELOPES AND OTHER
ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that. I, the said Henry
Dockrell, 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 I, the said Henry Dockrell, 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

page_text: the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Draw-
ings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to say :—
The object of this Invention is to construct apparatus for conveying or
feeding, for damping, detaching from the sheet or strip, and for affixing
postage and other stamps in an effectual and expeditious manner, the
mechanism being so arranged and combined that all the said operations
are or may be performed by actuating one lever, knob, wheel, or handle
only; or instead of damping the stamp the envelope or other article to
which the stamp is to be affixed may be damped where required.
The apparatus is mounted on a box stand which is formed with a
metallic cover, or may be formed in one with it; the cover is formed
with a mouth or guide for the stamps or strip of stamps to pass through;
à sector shaped or half-round wheel or equivalent appliance takes hold
of and draws the stamp from the guiding mouth, moistens it, and
brings it under a hammer or presser, which on being brought down,
by preference perpendicularly, detaches the stamp from the strip, if
required, and fastens it in its place. The hammer is brought back by
means of a spring or equivalent means.
And in order that this my Invention may be more fully understood
I will now proceed to describe the same with reference to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, which illustrate some modes of carrying
the Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of one arrangement; Figure 2 is a sec-
tional side elevation of same, showing the parts of the machine in their
normal position; Figure 3 is a similar view, showing the parts as they
appear with the lever depressed; and Figure 4, a plan.
A is the guide for the strip of stamps to pass through and which at
one end is formed as a mouth; this guide or mouth is fixed or formed on
the box stand of the apparatus; on issuing from this mouth the strip is
caught by the rollers B and C; the former may be of metal and the
latter of india-rubber or other flexible material; the rollers are suitably
geared together by tooth wheels, as shown, and bring the strip of stamps
under the hammer or. presser D, which is fitted with a shearing. blade a
working against a fixed shearing blade b. These shears detatch or cut
off the stamp from the strip of stamps and allow it to fall down on to
the envelope placed directly underneath. The envelope has been damped
in the proper place or corner first, and this is done in this case by a

page_text: damping pad E which may be formed with a water reservoir, as here
shown, whence the water slowly percolates to the pad proper througli
fine holes, or may be kept damp by any other suitable and well-known
means.
j
The movements for the working parts described are all effected by the
moving of the hand lever in the following manner (or by other suitable
and well known equivalent mechanical devices): The hand lever Fis
fast on a spindle G, which by means of the levers H and I, and the con-
necting rod L, conveys motion to the spindle J; the levers K, K, on the
spindle J give up-and-down motion to the cross head or frame M which
carries the hammer or presser D, and which is guided vertically by the
guide rod c and by the guides formed in the side frames or standards.
d, d. The spindle J has also a lever N which by means of the con-
necting rod n conveys motion to the pawl lever P and pawl p, and thus
actuates the pawl wheel q. The lower end of the pawl lever P has a slot
so proportioned in its length, relatively to the stroke of the connecting
rod n, that the pawl is moved only during a small portion of said stroke.
The pawl wheel q being fast on the feed roller C the latter receives inter-
mittent or partial movement only during the working stroke of the
handle F. The slot may however be formed in the end of the connecting
rod n and ride over a più on lever N.
The damping pad E is actuated at each stroke of the handle F from a
crank U on the spindle G by a pin V which is made to press on one end of
the double armed lever X, that at the other end carries the pad E
which is guided vertically by the guide Y, and is brought back or
down by the spring s. The spring R brings the handle F and the
mechanism connected thereto back to the original position when the
handle is let go.
This machine is worked as follows:-The strip of stamps is made to be
gripped by the rollers B and C, the former roller being for this purpose of
first entering the strip made to lift by means of the levers S, weighted
levers T, or springs supplying the required grip or pressure required for
the feed. The envelope is damped under the pad E, the table for which
may have projections h, h, for retaining the envelopes in position, and
then passed under the presser D; on bringing the latter down the stamp
is detached from the strip, drops down on to the damped part of the
envelope, and is affixed to the same by the further downward movement

page_text: of the presser, the stamped envelope is removed, the next envelope is
damped, brought under the presser; and so on. By placing a heap of
envelopes under the damping pad and each time removing the upper-
most one (which has been damped by the previous movement of the
handle F), one hand is continually employed in removing the damped
envelopes from under the pad and in removing the stamped envelopes
from under the presser D, while the other hand works the handle F.
A dozen or more envelopes (according to the length of strip of stamps)
may thus be stamped in rapid succession.
Figure 5 is a plan, and Figure 6 is a section of another and of a
simpler arrangement of mechanism than that before described. The
feeding rollers B, C, are in this case placed at right angles to that of
the previously described arrangement; the bottom roller C is in this
case made to form the damping appliance, and is for this purpose made
or lined with india-rubber or other suitable flexible material which shall
be able to take up a certain small quantity of moisture each revolution
from a water trough 7 placed underneath, and to give out such moisture
to the glued surface of the strip of stamps passed over it. The envelopes
are, in this instance, not damped but simply placed under the presser
D, where the damped and detached stamp is affixed; if more than one
stamp is to be affixed the envelope is simply pushed further in under
the presser after the affixing of one stamp as aforesaid, and the operation
is then repeated one or more times as required.
If a sector wheel is used for damping the stamp and for carrying it
from the mouth of guide A, and bringing it under the presser D,
then the mechanism for working said wheel will have to be modified
accordingly, and the slot in the lever P may be partly or wholly done
away with. The sector wheel would then come under and against the
mouth of the guide A, and a small roller placed above the wheel and
working in unison therewith by tooth wheel gearing would assist the
action of carrying the foremost stamp in the strip of stamps under
the presser.
The sector wheel may be made to act as a damping
pad for the stamps, or the envelope may be damped instead, as afore-
said.
The box stand may be made with a drawer for keeping stamps in.
The presser D may be formed so that it will perforate the stamps as it
descends, or emboss or stamp them with any desired design or device,
according to the die which may be on the presser.

page_text: And having thus fully set forth the nature of this Invention
and some modes of carrying the same into effect, I declare that I
claim,―
First. An apparatus consisting of a guide or mouth A, a sector
shaped or otherwise formed feeding appliance C, which may at the same
time form a damping pad or not, and a presser D, all actuated by the
same handle or equivalent, substantially as and for the purpose herein
set forth.
Second. Guiding appliances in combination with feeding, damping,
and pressing appliances, all actuated by the same handle or, equivalent,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Dockrell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
HENRY DOCKRELL: (L.S.)