PROVED APPARATUS FOR SEALING LETTERS, ENVELOPES, AND OTHER PAPERS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Mayer Cahen, Merchant, of Paris, Rue Grenelle
St. Honoré, 37, in the French Empire, for the Invention of
PROVED APPARATUS FOR SEALING LETTERS, ENVELOPES, AND OTHER PAPERS."
Sealed the 11th February 1868, and dated the 17th August 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Mayer Cahen at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th August
1867.
I, MAYER CAHEN, Merchant, of Paris, Rue Grenelle St. Honoré, 37, in the
French Empire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SEALING LETTERS, ENVELOPES, AND OTHER PAPERS,"
be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to effect mechanically the sealing of letters,
envelopes, and other papers so that the seals may be rapidly impressed with
regularity and neatness. My apparatus consists mainly of two parts, a box
or bolder for the letter and a seal carrier, the seal carrier being hinged and
forming a cover or lid to the letter bolder. The letter holder has at the
bottom a cushion of gutta percha or other elastic material, upon which the
letter to be sealed is placed, and this cushion is covered with a plate hinged to
the back of the holder and formed with holes corresponding to the number of
seals to be impressed on the letter. Each hole is surrounded by a ring which
projects above and below the plate, its lower-edge-resting on the letter. The
cover or lid is hollow. That part which acts in the letter holder is formed of a

page_text: metal plate screwed to the cover, and formed with holes to allow the seals
bearing the initials, crest, or other design to pass through. The seals are
carried on cylinders or tubes, which are fixed at the back to a plate fitted at
the centre with a handle for working it. Between the two plates in the cover
and around the cylinders, are coiled springs to facilitate the withdrawal of
the seals into the cover as soon as the letter has been sealed.
The action is as follows:-The letter is placed on the cushion, and the
first-named plate which is moved by a button is brought down upon it; the
melted wax is then put into the holes of this plate; the cover or seal carrier
is next brought down, and the handle pressed upon it so as to force each seal
into the corresponding hole filled with wax, whereby a neat impression is
made upon the wax which adheres to the letter below the holes. When
pressure is removed from the, handle the coiled springs draw the seals within
the cover; the cover is then raised, and afterwards the plate in the letter
holder, and the sealed letter may be then taken out. According to the
thickness of the letter one or several elastic sheets may be placed in the
bottom of the holder. If it is not desired to use as many seals as the
apparatus contains the wax is only put into those openings where impressions
are required. The apparatus may be fitted with a tray or compartment for
sticks of wax, and with an appliance for cleaning.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
"by the said Mayer Cahen in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th February 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MAYER
CAHEN, Merchant, of. Paris, Rue Grenelle. St. Honoré, 37, in the French
Empire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Mayer Cahen, Her special licence that I, the said Mayer Cahen, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Mayer
Cahen, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS POR
SEALING LETTERS, ENVELOPES, AND OTHER PAPERS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Mayer Cahen, 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 Mayer Cahen, 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 following statement'
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to
say:-
The object of my Invention is to effect mechanically the sealing of letters,'
énvelopes, and other papers so that the seals may be rapidly impressed with
regularity and neatness. My apparatus consists mainly of two parts, a box or
holder for the letter and a seal carrier, the seal carrier being hinged and'
forming a cover or lid to the letter holder.
My apparatus is represented open in plan view in Figure 1, and in sectional'
side view in Figure 2 of the annexed Drawings.
?
A is the box or holder for the letters, and B is the seal carrier hinged to
the holder at a. The letter holder A has a cushion 6 covered with cloth or
other elastic material, such as guita percba or india-rubber, upon which the
5 letter to be sealed is placed, and this cushion is then covered with a plate C²
binged to the back of the holder A, and formed with holes d corresponding to
the number of seals to, be impressed on the letter, say nine, as shown in the
Drawing. The box A has no bottom, so that the cushion b being free to move
up or down as required a letter of any thickness may be placed upon it. The
O cover or lid B is hollow. That part which acts in the letter holder is formed. of
a metal plate ḥ screwed to the cover and formed with holes to allow the-seals i
bearing the initials, crest, or other design to pass through. The seals are
carried on cylinders or tubes which are fixed at the back to a plate k fitted at
the centre with a handle j for working it. The cover B and the plate C are
5 each provided with hinged flaps or hasps which take on to buttons o, o, at the
front of the box A. Between the two plates h and k and around the cylinders
of the seals-are-coiled springs m to facilitate the withdrawal of the seals into
-the cover-as-soon-as-the-pressure is removed from the handle.
The action is as follows:-The plate C is lifted by means of its hasps f. The

page_text: letter is placed on the cushion b in such manner that it is in the centre,
and that the oblique lines or joins of the envelope are in the line of the
holes d; the plate C is next.. brought down upon it; the melted wax is then
put into the holes d of this plate; the cover or seal carrier. B is immediately
brought down, and the handle pressed upon so as to force each seal into the
corresponding holed filled with wax, whereby a neat impression is made upon
the, wax which adheres to the letter below, the holes. When pressure is,
removed from the handle the coiled springs medraw the seals within the
cover; the cover is then raised, and
letter may then be taken out. If the
several elastic sheets may be placed in the bottom according to the thickness
of the letter. If it is not desired to use as many seals as the apparatus con-
tains the wax is put only into those, openings where impressions are required.
The apparatus may be fitted with a tray or compartment for sticks of wax and,
with an appliance for cleaning.
afterwards the plate C, and the sealed
box A, be made with a bottom one or
F
The important features in my Invention are, the box or holder A with a
movable, cushion or bottom which can be adapted to any thickness of letter
or paper; the seal carrier B, with the spring. mechanism fitted therein; and
the particular arrangement of the holes in the plates for the purpose of sealing
letters, envelopes, or others of any dimensions with one, three, five, or
other desired number of seals.
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, the apparatus
constructed and acting substantially as berein-before described for sealing
letters, envelopes, and other papers.
In witness whereof I, 'the said Mayer Cahen, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-second day of January, One thousand. eight
hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD,
Ing. Civil,
No. 23, Boulevard de Strasbourg,
Paris.
MAYER CAHEN. (L.S.)