AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STAMPING LETTERS AND SIMILAR OBJECTS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan, of Kensington, Middlesex for
an Invention of AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR STAMPING LETTERS AND
SIMILAR OBJECTS communicated to him from abroad by Robert Hinrichsen, of
Hamburg, in the German empire
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert John Haddan at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th September 1883.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of Kensington, Middlesex, "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR STAMPING LETTERS AND SIMILAR OBJECTS," a communication to me from
abroad by Robert Hinrichsen, of Hamburg, in the German empire
This invention relates to apparatus for stamping letters, in which 4 rollers are
arranged in two superposed pairs.
The two upper rollers are connected by an endless pitch chain, on which are
situated at given distances cams of indiarubber acted upon by springs, while the
two lower rollers are connected by one or two endless straps.
The two pairs of rollers rotate in opposite directions and are actuated by a fly
wheel and tooth gearing.
Level with the straps above mentioned, and nearly touching them with one edge,
is arranged a horizontal table board, on which the letters, to be stamped, are placed,
edges upward, in front of a wedge shaped carriage, also situated on the table board.
This carringe feeds the letters automatically towards the roller while a comb shaped
detent placed in front of the first chain roller limits the forward motion.
automatic motion of the carriage is effected by a spring motor placed underneath
the table board in combination with a horizontal pulley block situated at the lower
side of the carriage.
The
The spring motor consists of a rope-pulley mounted loose on its axle; in the
hollow place of this pulley a spiral spring is situated, fastened with one end on the
fixed axle of the pulley and with the other end on the inner circumference of the
rope pulley. A rope wound round this pulley is guided over the pulleys of the said
block and fastened to the carriage. If the latter is pulled back by the hand of the

page_text: operator, the rope transmitting the motion effects a rotation of the rope pulley
whereby the spiral spring inside of the latter is strained. As soon as the carriage
containing the letters to be stamped is released, the pulley rotates in the reverse
direction, actuated by the spring; the rope is thereby wound up, and the carriage
receives the motion above described.
The stamping is effected by means of a block or plate secured to the front chain
pulley, and occurs at the moment when a letter, drawn from underneath the comb-
shaped detent by the india rubber cam and transported upon the strap of the lower
roller pair, passes the first roller After wards the letter is carried on the strap,
over the second roller, to a receptacle for the stamped letters.
The upper hinge-parts secured to the pitch chain for attaching the elastic india
rubber cams are notched out for the reception of small steel rollers. The latter in
combination with a curved guide situated on the said comb-shaped detent, serve to
secure that the india-rubber cams seize the letters to be stamped at a certain place
only.
In order to prevent the matrix-roller and the letters guided over the latter from
being soiled by the contact of the inking stamp with the matrix-roller, when the
machine is started without containing letters, the matrix-roller may be lowered in
its bearings by means of a disengaging gear, so that the stamp rotates without
contact when the machine runs empty. After every impression the stamp touches
an inking roller which receives ink from a receptacle by means of a transmitting
roller swivelled on a fixed pivot.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Herbert John Haddan in the Patent Office on the 8th March
1884,
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN of Kensington, Middlesex, "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR STAMPING LETTERS AND SIMILAR OBJECTS," a communication to me from
abroad by Robert Hinrichsen, of Hamburg, in the German empire,
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a machine embodying the
invention Fig. 1 is partly a side view and partly a section along line A-B of
Fig. 2, Fig. 2 is a front view; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 show details on a larger scale,
and Fig. 3 illustrates a modification.
The letters or other papers to be stamped are placed upright on a table a in
front of a wedge-shaped carriage b, which has been drawn back for this purpose by
the attendant, in the direction of the arrow. By the withdrawal of the carriage a
rope attached with one end to the circumference of the loose pulley or drum d and
with the other end to a fork t, and guided over rollers c, c¹ of a pulley block placed
underneath the carriage, causes the drum d to turn in the direction, of the arrow II,
thereby straining a spiral spring enclosed by the drum and secured with one end
to the fixed shaft e, while the other end of the spring is fixed to the inner circum-
ference of the drum. If the attendant now releases the carriage, the drum d is
caused by the spring to turn in the opposite direction, whereby the rope is wound
on and the carriage is caused to advance and to feed the papers in the direction of
the comb-shaped stop f which serves to limit this feed motion.
An endless pitch chain guided over the chain pulleys g g¹ carries india rubber
cams h, h¹, h¹¹.. hinged in pairs to pins or bolts, secured to the chain, the upper
part i of each cam being pressed away from the chain by a spring kc, k¹ wound on
the hinge-pin.
Rollers placed in recesses of the cams, in combination with the curved guide m
placed on the stop f, serve to ensure that the rubber cams seize the papers to be
stamped at a given place only, namely when the cams are at a given height above
the table.
By turning (in the direction of the arrow III) the flywheel R mounted on the
chain wheel shaft q, the rollers o, o' connected by endless bands n, n¹ are set in
rotary motion by means of the spur wheels p p¹ p².
The stamp S mounted on the same shaft causes the paper to be stamped in the
moment when the letter drawn by the rubber cams from underneath the comb f,
and transported upon the bands n, n¹, passes the roller o¹.
Subsequently the letter is transported by the endless belt over the roller o and
deposited in the carriage placed on the left side of the machine for the reception of
the stamped papers.
The endless belts guided around the adjustable roller oll may be stretched or
kept in tension by turning a screw or screws adapted to shift the axle of the roller
in slide bearings.
After every impression the stamp S touches the inking roller w so as to take up
ink from the same. This roller receives its supply from the ink receptacle z by
means of the transmitting roller y adapted to swing on the axle x. In the bottom
of the said receptacle revolves the roller w¹ set in motion from the shaft of the
chainwheel g¹ by means of the spurwheels p³ p¹ p³. The spurwheel pe mounted on
the shaft of the roller w¹ has an eccentric groove in which is guided a pin of the
transmitting roller, so that the latter comes in contact with the inking roller once
during every revolution of the spurwheel, thereby transmitting upon the inking
roller the ink previously received from the roller w¹.

page_text: For periodically cleaning the rubber cams or fingers from particles of dust, and
keeping them in working condition a roller w¹¹ is placed over the chain wheel g'
and made movable along its axis.
When the roller w is shifted to the right, it comes in contact with the face of
the ascending rubber cams, so as to clean or moisten the same.
In the modified construction, Fig. 3, the rubber cams h h are immediately hinged
to the carrier H, instead of being secured to a pitch chain as in Fig. 1.
The stamped letters or other papers are thrown against the rear wall of the
box K by the rubber cams after the sudden release of the latter at a given point of
their revolution, so that the said papers finally fall through the opening O into the
carriage placed behind the machine.
Two or three brushes
revolving in a direction opposite to the rubber cams
ensure that every time the foremost letter or sheet only is seized by the said cams
or fingers and carried under the stamp.
The inking roller W is hollow and provided at its circumference with small holes
through which the ink contained in the roller penetrates, and impregnates the felt
CLAIMS.
In machines for stamping letters and similar articles;
The combination of a pulley-block situated underneath the table; with a rope
barrel d, and a spiral spring enclosed by the latter, for automatically feeding
forward the sheets to be stamped.
The combination of the stop f carrying a curved guide m, with rollers secured
to a pitch chain, for the purposes described.
The use of elastic fingers hinged to the pitch chain and provided with rollers L,
said fingers being pressed away from the chain by springs k wound on the
hinge bolts and so placed by the contact of the rollers with the curved
guide m, immediately before touching the foremost letter or sheet, that the
working surface occupies always the same relative height to the table.
The combination of the rotary brushes with the movable fingers h.
The whole substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof I, the said Herbert John Haddan have hereunto set my
and and seal this 8th day of March A.D. 1884.
H. J. HADDAN (L.S.)