IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR AFFIXING POSTAGE AND OTHER GUMMED STAMPS AND LABELS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert William Hart, of the Strand, in the
City of Westminster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR AFFIXING POSTAGE AND OTHER GUMMED STAMPS AND
LABELS."
Sealed the 8th August 1865, and dated the 10th February 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert William Hart
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th February 1865.
I, HERBERT WILLIAM HART, of the Strand, in the City of Westminster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR AFFIXING POSTAGE AND OTHER GUMMED STAMPS AND
LABELS," to be as follows:-
My apparatus consists of a box or case, the interior of which is made of a
size and shape to receive the particular stamps or labels to be used. I apply
a thin lip or edge just inside the open bottom of the case on one or more
of its sides, and I fit inside the case a plunger surmounted by a spring
capable of being depressed by a knob or handle passing through and working
in the upper part of the case. The case is charged with stainps through a
slot in the side or otherwise, gummed side downwards, and the plunger is
brought down upon them. The lip prevents the stamps falling through the

page_text: bottom of the case, but on the lowest stamp being moistened by being pressed
upon a moistened sponge or otherwise, pressure upon the knob or handle shall
press the moistened stamp out of the case and affix it where required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Herbert William Hart, in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th August 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HERBERT
WILLIAM HART, of the Strand, in the City of Westminster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Herbert William Hart, Her special licence that I,
the said Herbert William Hart, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Herbert William Hart, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 APPARATUS FOR APPIXING POSTAGE AND
OTHER GUMMED STAMPS AND LABELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Herbert William Hart, 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 Herbert William Hart, 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 the follow-
ing statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed
that is to say:-
My apparatus consists of a box or case, the interior of which is made of a
size and shape to receive the particular stamps or labels to be used. I apply
a thin lip or edge just inside the open bottom of the case on one or more of

page_text: its sides, and I fit inside the case a plunger surmounted by a spring capable
of being depressed by a knob or handle passing through and working in the
upper part of the case.
Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2 a vertical section of an apparatus
constructed according to my Invention; Figure 3 is an elevation, partly in
section, showing it charged with a number of stamps or labels.
a is a box or case the interior of which is of a size and shape to receive
the stamps or labels to be used; this case is provided with a thin lip or edge
as seen at a, a, just inside the open bottom and on all its sides. 6 is a plunger
fitted inside the case a and surmounted by a spring c which forces- towards
the bottom of the case. d is a rod fixed to the upper side of the plunger 6 and
reaching to the top of a tube e attached to the top of the case a; the upper
part of this rod is surrounded by a spring capable of being depressed by a
knob g when it is required to exert pressure on the rod d and on the plunger b.
The case a is charged with stamps through a slot in the side, or otherwise
gummed side downwards, and the spring c keeps the plunger down upon them.
The lip prevents the stamps falling through the bottom of the case, but on the
lowest stamp being moistened by being pressed upon a moistened sponge, or
otherwise, pressure upon the knob or handle 9 presses the moistened stamp
out of the case and affixes it where required.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim constructing
apparatus for affixing postage and other gummed stamps and labels sub-
stantially as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert William Hart, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five
H. W. HART. (L.S.)