Improvements in Machines for Perforating Cheques and other Documents Representing Value:
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Dec., 1891.
Complete Specification Left, 7th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 29th Oct., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Perforating Cheques and other
Documents Representing Value:
I, WILLIAM DANIEL ELGER, of 18 Broadway, New York, United States of
America, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
•
This invention relates to machines for perforating cheques or other documents
representing value so as to prevent alteration of the same.
The object of my invention is to provide a perforating machine for the purpose
above mentioned which shall be simple in construction, and not apt to get of order,
and in which different punches may be brought into action very rapidly.
One method of carrying my invention into practice is as follows: The base plate
of the machine is provided at its rear edge with a standard on which a sleeve is
mounted so as to be capable of rotation on the standard. This sleeve is provided
with two brackets, one above the other. In the lower bracket are mounted a
segmental row of dies and the upper bracket is furnished with a corresponding row
of punches of any suitable shape and each having a notch at its upper end. The
said base plate also is provided at the rear with two corner standards to which is
secured a curved track-bar in a position adjacent to the upwardly projecting part
of the upper bracket in which the punches slide. This track-bar has a notch at its
centre. Each punch is provided at its upper end with a transverse pin of suitable.
length so as to rest on the curved track-bar and thus keep the punch raised clear
of the die, also slots are provided in the part of the bracket which holds the
punches and the said transverse pins are arranged so as to pass up and down the
slots. A spring wire is attached to that face of the track-bar which is opposite to
the inner edge of the upper bracket in such a manner that the central part of said
wire extends to the top edge of the track-bar and forms a bridge over the top of
the notch so that when the brackets are turned on the standard and the transverse
pins of the several punches arrive at the notch they will not drop into the same
but are carried or supported by the said bridge wire while passing over the
notch.
An actuating and selecting lever is pivoted to the upper edge of the sleeve
which carries the two brackets above referred to and is provided with an arm
travelling in a groove in a segmental piece from which a pin projects downward.
The said pin is guided in a suitable sleeve secured to the top-plate of the apparatus
and is provided with a notch or slot through which one arm of a curved lever
passes, said lever being pivotally attached to the top plate of the apparatus. The
front part of the arui can pass into notches in the upper part of the several punches.
By depressing the selecting and operating lever the segmental piece and its down-
wardly projecting pin are forced downwards, this swings down the lever and forces
down the corresponding punch, the bridge wire giving sufficiently to admit of the
pin in the upper part of the punch passing down the slot in the track-bar. The
selecting lever on being released is together with the several levers attached
thereto returned by a suitable spring.
I provide suitable means for feeding the paper or other material to be perforated
so as to permit of a succession of characters being stamped on it. The said feeding
mechanism comprises a pivoted plate bearing a pawl which engages in a ratchet
wheel. The said plate is connected in such a manner with the selecting and
operating lever that when the latter is pressed down the said pawl bearing plate is
rotated and caused to drag the pawl over the ratchet wheel. On releasing the
operating lever the pawl engages with the ratchet wheel and rotates it thus

page_text: operating the feed wheels.
I arrange suitable stops for governing the amount
of rotation of the said pawl bearing plate, and so adjusting the feed.
In order to perforate a given succession of characters upon a paper, a cheque
for instance, the paper is introduced between feed wheels, the selecting lever is
moved until its pointer is directed to the proper sign and then it is depressed and
the sign is punched through the paper. On allowing the lever to rise the paper is
fed on enough for the next character to be punched.
I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the exact form of
apparatus herein before described as it is obvious that I may modify the details
of the same in various ways without departing from the nature of my invention.
Dated this 8th day of December 1891.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Perforating Cheques and other
Documents Representing Value.
1, WILLIAM DANIEL ELGER, of 18 Broadway, New York, United States of
America, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to machines for perforating cheques or other documents,
representing value, so as to prevent alteration of the same.
The object of my invention is to provide a perforating-machine for the purpose
above mentioned, which shall be simple in construction, and not apt to get out
of order, and in which different punches may be brought into action very rapidly.
In order that my said invention may be clearly understood 1 will now proceed
to describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 represents a plan view of an improved cheque punch, constructed
according to my invention.
Figure 2 is an end view of the cheque punch illustrated in Figure 1, with
parts thereof in section.
Figure 3 is a detail cross-sectional view of parts of my apparatus.
Figure 4 is a sectional view of the cheque-punch, on the line 4 4 of Figure 5.
Figure 5 is a rear view of the same partly in section.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the
drawings.
The base-plate A is provided at its rear edge with a standard A' on which the
sleeve B is mounted to turn, said sleeve being provided with two segmental-shaped
brackets B and B one above the other. In said bracket B' a segmental row of
dies Care mounted and in the bracket B' a segmental row of cylindrical punches C
are mounted, each provided with a notch C¹ at its upper end. To the rear corner
standards B of the base-plate a semi-circular curved track-bar E is secured which
is provided at its centre with a notch E' as shown in dotted lines in Figure 5, the
said curved bar E being adjacent to the inner edge of the upwardly-projecting
part B of the bracket B' in which part B the punches C slide. Each punch is
provided with a transverse pin F of such length that the inner end of said pin can
rest upon the upper edge of the curved bar E. Said pins F can pass into notches F1
and F2 in the upwardly-projecting part B₁ of the bracket B', the outer edge of
said part B being higher than the inner edge so that when the punches are in their
highest possible position the outer ends of the pins F will always remain in the
upper parts of the corresponding notches F', whereas the inner longer ends of the
pins are above the notches F, as shown in Figure 3. A spring wire G shown in
dotted lines in Figure 5 is secured to that face of the curved-bar E facing the

page_text: inner edge of the part B of the bracket B', in such a manner that the central part
of said wire extends to the top-edge of the curved bar E and forms a bridge
over the top of the notch E' so that when the brackets B¹ B' are turned on the
standard A', and the pins F of the several punches arrive at said notch E they
will not drop into the same, but are carried or supported by said bridge-wire
while passing over the notch. The punches C are not kept in raised position by
separate springs, but only by the pins F resting on the top-edge of the curved
bar E. The actuating and selecting lever H is pivoted to the upper end of the
sleeve B and is provided with an arm H' travelling in a groove I in the inner edge
of a segmental piece 1¹ from which a pin J, Figure 3, projects downward and is
guided in a suitable sleeve J¹ in the top-plate K of the apparatus. The said pin J
has a notch J through which one arm L' of a curved lever L passes, which lever
is pivoted to a lug K projecting downward from the cover plate K.
The front end of the arm L' can pass into the notches C' of the several punches C.
By depressing the selecting and operating lever H the segmental piece I and its
pin J are forced downward and in turn swing down the lever L and as the end of
the arm L' of the said lever L is in one of the punches it forces down the corre-
sponding punch.
The end of the arm of the lever L that enters the notches C¹ is directly over
the notch E' in the curved bar E and thus it is evident that whenever the
lever H is depressed only that punch is forced down which is opposite the
notch E'. When the punch is forced down the bridge-wire G gives way suffi-
ciently to permit of such downward movement. When the selecting lever is
released it is pushed upward by the action of a spring M surrounding a rod M
projecting upward from the base; said spring acting on the lever L, swings
the same upward, the arm L' raises the lowered punch and also presses up the
pin J of the segmental piece I' thereby raising the selecting lever. Mechanism
for feeding through the apparatus the cheque or other document operated upon
is arranged as follows:-The arm L is provided with a curved arm N to which
a connecting rod N¹ is pivoted, the lower end of which is provided with a pin N
that passes through a slot O₁ in a plate O mounted to rock on the shaft P
carrying the ratchet-wheel P¹. A pawl pivoted on the plate O and acted
upon by a suitable spring engages the teeth of the ratchet-wheel P. The plate O
is provided with a cam Q on which a bent spring strip Q can act. The said strip
is secured on the base plate of the machine. An adjustable stop R prevents the
plate O from being swung too far in one direction and the adjustable stop R'
prevents it from being turned too far in the opposite direction, said stop coming in
contact with the end of the pawl Q and pressing the same against the teeth of the
ratchet-wheel Q' thereby preventing over-turning or over-feeding by the said
ratchet-wheel. The sleeve B is provided with a pin S at its lower end, for a
purpose hereinafter explained.
When the punch for the numeral 1 is at the notch E the pin S is in such a
position that the plate O will strike the same before it can strike the stop-pin R,
thus causing the pawl Q to catch less teeth of the ratchet-wheel, so that the
feed will be less, that is to say, the shaft P, which is the feeding-shaft, will not
be rotated as far as when the plate O can previously swing down to the stop pin R.
The numeral 1 occupies less space in the cheque than the others and for this reason
the cheque must not be fed as great a distance after the numeral 1 has been punched
as it must be fed or shifted after any other numeral has been punched. Therefore
I arrange the pin S as aforesaid.
On the front end of the shaft P the feed wheel T is mounted which passes
through a slot of the base-plate, and on said feed-wheel the idle-wheel T¹ rests
which is pivoted in a vertically moveable plate U guided by the pins U projected
from the top of said plate and upward through lugs U projecting from the inner
sides of the casing of the apparatus, said pins being surrounded by springs U³,
which press the plate U downward. At the front of the casing a hook bar V
projects upward from the plate U and is used for raising said plate sufficiently to

page_text: permit of inserting the cheque or other document between the plate U and the
check-receiving plate W. Said plate U has an aperture through which the punches
can pass. On the arm H a pointer a¹ is atranged, said pointer being made of spring
material as shown in Figure 2, or it is pivoted as in Figure 5, and its lower end is
directly over the segmental numeral plate d on the top of the casing and can slide
over the same.
To punch a cheque for instance, the same is placed on the plate W and the
lever His shifted until the pointer a¹ points to the desired numeral on the plate d.
That punch corresponding to the number or character to which the pointer a¹ points
is thus brought directly in front of the notch E¹ by the rotation of the sleeve B
and if the lever H is forced downward said punch will be forced through the cheque,
for when the lever H is forced downward the arm L' and the lever L are also
forced downward. In the said operation the rod N' is moved downward, and when
the pin N on the lower end thereof strikes the lower end of the slot O', the
plate O is turned in the direction of the arrow X' Figure 5, whereby the cam Q
is moved along the spring Q', and when said cam arrives at the bend Q' of said
spring Q, said spring suddenly forces the plate O further round in the direction of
the arrow thereby ensuring that in every case the plate O is turned sufficiently for
the pawl Q to grip the teeth at the point requisite for the obtainment of the proper
feed. When the lever H is released and forced upward by the spring M the
rod N is also moved upward the plate O is swung thereby in the reverse
direction to that in which the arrow X¹ points, and the pawl Q engages the teeth
of the ratchet-wheel P' and turns the said wheel in the same direction as the
plate until said pawl strikes against the adjustable stop R¹. The feeding wheel T
is not turned until the pin N2 strikes the upper end of the slot O' thus
preventing the feeding of the cheque until the punch that has perforated it has
been withdrawn entirely clear thereof.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what !
claim is:
1. In a perforating machine the combination of a notched track bar and a
yielding bridge extending over said notch, substantially as herein before described
for the purpose specified.
2. In a perforating machine the combination of a rotatable frame carrying a
series of dies, and a series of punches provided with supporting pins or projections,
a notched track-bar, and a yielding bridge extending over said notch, substantially
as hereinbefore described for the purposes specified.
3. The notched segmental bracket B' provided with an upwardly-projecting
portion B having its outer edge higher than its inner edge and which is suitably
formed to guide the punches while preventing rotation thereof substantially as
herein before described for the purpose specified.
4. The combination, with the series of notched punches, of selecting and
operating mechanism substantially as hereinbefore described for the purpose
specified.
5. The combination with the mechanism for operating the punches, of feed
mechanism substantially as hereinbefore described, for the purpose specified.
6. A perforating machine constructed substantially as hereinbefore described
with reference to the accompanying drawings and operating as specified.
Dated this 3rd day of September 1892.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.