AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF HAND STAMP
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF
HAND STAMP."-A communication.
Sealed the 29th July 1853, and dated the 31st May 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 31st May 1853.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF HAND STAMP" to be
as follows:-
has
In the construction of hand stamps heretofore made the stamp
been rigidly fixed to the handle, and the result is, that unless the
stamp is held and brought down in a perfectly perpendicular line an
imperfect impression will be produced. Now this Invention consists in
so constructing a hand stamp that it may be readily brought down upon
the paper at all points of its marking surface (even though it should

page_text: strike at an angle with the plane upon which the material to be stamped
is placed), and thereby produce a perfect impression. To this end, the
stamp, or the stock which carries the stamp, is connected to the central
stem of the handle by a ball and socket, or other analogous joint that
will allow the stock to have a little play.
The stock is kept in position by means of a helical or other spring,
which surrounds the proximate extremities of the handle and the stock,
or forms an elastic connection between them. When, therefore, the stamp
is brought down to give an impression, in the event of the marking
surface not coming fairly into contact with the paper or other substance
to be impressed, the spring will yield to the unequal pressure on the
stamp, and allow of the self-adjustment of the stamp to produce a
complete impression.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal
Patent Office, on the 30th November 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Edward Newton, my exccutors, 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 "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF HAND STAMP," being a

page_text: communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others),
that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and scal, 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 William Edward Newton, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
In the construction of hand stamps heretofore made the stamp has
generally been rigidly fixed to the handle, and the result is, that unless
the stamp is held and brought down in a perfectly perpendicular line,
the impression will only be partially made, and will be indistinct and
incomplete, as may be seen by examining the post-office stamps upon
letters, which are frequently so defective that on an average not one in
ten are even legible.
The object of the Invention that has been communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent is to remedy this defect; and this is effected
by so constructing hand stamp that, by moving it in the are of a
circle, such as would be naturally made by the rising and falling of
the arm, it will still come down upon the paper at all points of its
surface, although it may strike at an angle with the plane upon which
the material to be stamped is placed, and thus at all times the improved
stamp will make a fair and perfect impression, whether moved in a
perpendicular or oblique line to the same.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1, is an end view of the stamp,
and Fig. 2, is a vertical section of the same, shewing the internal con-
struction. Fig. 3, represents a modification.
The shank or spindle a, of the stamp may have a ball b, made at or
upon the lower end of it; and this ball forms, with a corresponding
circular recess in the top of the stock c, an universal joint, so as to

page_text: adapt itself to any planc surface at whatever angle it may strike such
surface. Or, instead of a ball and socket joint, a "gimbal " may be
used, or any other well known mechanical contrivance for an elastic
joint.
At a suitable distance above the stock c, on the shank a, is placed a
fast collar d, against which one end of the helical spring e, rests; the
other end of the said spring resting in a shoulder or recess, which may
be turned in the top of the stock c. The helical spring surrounds the
shank loosely and keeps the stock in its proper position; and when the
stamp strikes at any angle with the plane upon which the article to be
stamped is placed the helical spring yields, so as to allow the die or
stamp to come down perfectly flat and make a fair impression, and
immediately resume its proper relative position with the shank, after
being raised up or released. The stamp may be used without the
helical spring; but I prefer to employ a spring, as it always keeps the
die in a proper position for immediate use, allowing it to stand erect,
in which position it may be more readily grasped in the hand.
The plate g, in the stock may be an electrotype, and secured therein
by a screw f, so as to admit of being readily removed; or the letters
may be set in by wedges or keys, as is done in the stamps now in use;
the stock being properly countersunk, so as to allow the letters, figures,
or other devices to stand flush with that part of the stock h, which
forms the border to the impression when made. I much prefer, however,
the electrotype plate, a set of which may be made for every day in the
year at a trifling cost, which in the end will be found more economical
than the removing and resetting of the different letters and figures daily.
I have in this description more particularly alluded to such stamps as
are changed, in whole or in part, daily; but I intend to apply the
Invention to any and all kinds of band stamps, whether for holding
permanent dies or otherwise.
The shank may be secured to the handle i, in any of the well known
forms of such attachments.
A modified form of the improved hand stamp above described is
represented in Fig. 3; the stock c, being attached to the shank a, by a
"gimbal "joint, a pin j, being passed through the stock c, and the end of

page_text: the shank. The hole or bearing for this pin in the shank is bevelled or
countersunk, so that the end of the shank will form, with its corre-
sponding socket in the stock c, nearly an universal joint; while at the
same time, in unscrewing the stock from the ring 1, (which in this case
is used for holding the stamp or die,) the strain is brought upon the
pin j, instead of upon the spring e, as would otherwise happen if the
said pin were not used.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated
to me as aforesaid, and the best means with which I am at present
acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I claim constructing
hand stamps in such a manner that the stock or part containing the
letters, figures, or devices may have motion on a centre pivot or joint,
so that it may, when used, be brought down flat upon its face, and thus
give a clean and perfect impression, whether the stock be held in a
perfectly vertical position or somewhat obliquely, as is frequently the
case.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of
November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-three.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. (L.s.) NEWTON.