IMPROVEMENTS IN EMBOSSING PRESSES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jabez James, of No. 40, Princes Street, Commercial Road,
Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
EMBOSSING PRESSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jabez James at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th March 1880.
JABEZ JAMES, of No. 40, Princes Street, Commercial Road, Lambeth, in the
County of Surrey. "IMPROVEMENTS IN EMBOSSING PRESSES."
My Invention relates to the construction of presses for the purpose of impressing
plain or coloured embossed stamps on documents, the chief object of my improve-
ments being to secure an accurate record of the number of stamps impressed, and to
prevent such stamps from being fraudulently obtained without being recorded.
For this purpose I fit in the press a vertical slide which carries the embossing die
and which is worked by a crank, eccentric, or cam. I surround this slide, and the
die which is attached to it, by a guard tube, which by means of a cam or cams is
made to have a longer stroke than the die slide and to have this stroke somewhat
differently timed, so that when the die is up to its full height the mouth of the
guard tube is a little above it, leaving the face of the die clear to receive ink or
colour, and before the die descends to make an impression the guard tube descends,
so that its mouth bears on the document to be impressed.
I also surround the die and the guard tube by a stationary external guard tube
which reaches nearly down to the matrix or bolster of the press so as to render it
almost impossible to introduce paper or parchment into its interior for the purpose
of obtaining an impression fraudulently when the die is up. When the press is to
be used for coloured impressions I fit in the stationary guard a transverse slide that
can be moved a certain distance between stops. In one position it presents outside
the guard a recess into which an inking roller can be inserted. If the die be then
in its highest position the slide can be moved, causing the roller to traverse over
the surface of the die and deposit ink or colour thereon. The slide can then be
retracted and the inking roller can be withdrawn from it. In this position the
slide presents a hole through which the die descends to make the impression.
For the purpose of recording the number of impressions I mount at the side of the

page_text: die slide a hanging lever connected to a pawl that works a ratchet wheel geared to
a counter. This hanging lever which moves with the die slide has on it a tumbler
which is acted on by a stationary incline, so that at every stroke of the die slide as
the die approaches the end of its stroke the hanging lever is moved sideways and
works the ratchet and counter. The hanging lever is also made with a nose which
enters a sloping recess above the die holder, and the die holder is fitted to the die
slide with a certain amount of vertical play, so that if, without any movement of
the die slide, the die itself were subjected to pressure sufficient to give an impression
its holder would be pushed upwards and would act on the hanging lever so as to
cause it to work the counter and so to record the impression. In conveying
movement from the ratchet to the counter I provide against its overrunning so as
to record a greater number of impressions than the number actually taken, and
also to prevent it from moving backwards so as to record less than the proper
number of impressions. For this purpose I fix on the axis of the ratchet wheel a
star wheel and fit a wedge shaped slide so that it is pushed by a spring into the
space between the teeth of the star wheel, thereby always bringing the star wheel
to a position corresponding with a definite fraction of a revolution and preventing
it from being turned backwards by the friction of the pawl in its back stroke. I
also provide another wedge piece to fit between the teeth of the star wheel, this
wedge piece being moved by a cam on the pawl lever. When the pawl makes its
forward stroke for moving the ratchet wheel this wedge piece is withdrawn by the
action of the cam sufficiently to allow a tooth of the star wheel to pass it, but
before the pawl has completed its stroke the wedge piece is again advanced by the
cam so that it would intercept the next tooth if the wheel tended to turn too far,
and it is finally lodged between two of the teeth of the star wheel holding it and
the counter stationary until the next stroke of the pawl.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Jabez James in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th August
1880.
JABEZ JAMES, of No. 40, Princes Street, Commercial Road, Lambeth, in the
County of Surrey. "IMPROVEMENTS IN EMBOSSING PRESSES."
My Invention relates to the construction of presses for the purpose of impressing
plain or coloured embossed stamps on documents, the chief object of my improve-
ments being to secure an accurate record of the number of stamps impressed, and to
prevent such stamps from being fraudulently obtained without being recorded.
For this purpose I fit in the press a vertical slide which carries the embossing die
and which is worked by a crank, eccentric, or cam. I surround this slide, and the
die which is attached to it, by a guard tube which by means of a cam or cams is
made to have a longer stroke than the die slide, and to have this stroke somewhat
differently timed, so that when the die is up to its full height the mouth of the
guard tube is a little above it leaving the face of the die clear to receive ink or
colour, and before the die descends to make an impression the guard tube descends,
so that its mouth bears on the document to be impressed.
I also surround the die and the guard tube by a stationary external guard tube
which reaches nearly down to the matrix or bolster of the press so as to render it
almost impossible to introduce paper or parchment into its interior for the purpose
of obtaining an impression fraudulently when the die is up. When the press is to
be used for coloured impressions I fit in the stationary guard a transverse slide that
can be moved a certain distance between stops. In one position it presents outside
the guard a recess into which an inking roller can be inserted. If the die be then
in its highest position the slide can be moved causing the roller to traverse over
the surface of the die and deposit ink or colour thereon. The slide can then be
retracted and the inking roller can be withdrawn from it. In this position the
slide presents a hole through which the die descends to make the impression.
For the purpose of recording the number of impressions I mount at the side of the
die slide a hanging lever connected to a pawl that works a ratchet wheel geared to
a counter. This hanging lever which moves with the die slide has on it a tuinbler
which is acted on by a stationary incline so that at every stroke of the die slide as
the die approaches the end of its stroke the hanging lever is moved sideways and
works the ratchet-wheel and counter. The hanging lever is also made with a nose
which enters a sloping recess above the die holder, and the die holder is fitted to the
die slide with a certain amount of vertical play, so that if without any movement of
the die slide the die itself were subjected to pressure sufficient to give an impression
its holder would be pushed upwards and would act on the hanging lever so as to
cause it to work the counter and so to record the impression. In conveying
movement from the ratchet to the counter I provide against its overrunning so as
to record a greater number of impressions than the number actually taken, and
also to prevent it from moving backwards so as to record less than the proper
number of impressions. For this purpose I fix on the axis of the ratchet wheel a
star wheel and fit a wedge shaped slide so that it is pushed by a spring into the
space between the teeth of the star wheel, thereby always bringing the star wheel
to a position corresponding with a definite fraction of a revolution and preventing
it from being turned backwards by the friction of the pawl in its backstroke. I
also provide another wedge piece to fit between the teeth of the star wheel, this
wedge piece being moved by a cam on the pawl lever. When the pawl makes its
forward stroke for moving the ratchet wheel this wedge piece is withdrawn by the
action of the cam sufficiently to allow a tooth of the star wheel to pass it, but
before the pawl has completed its stroke the wedge piece is again advanced by the

page_text: and it is onally lodged between two of the teeth of the star wheel holding it and
the counter stationary until the next stroke of the pawl.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 a vertical transverse section
of an embossing or stamping press according to my Invention; Fig. 3 is an
elevation of the front of the inking slide, and Fig. a plan of the inking roller and
its frame. The press is worked by the hand applied to a winch handle on the
wheel A moving it through part of a revolution forwards and backwards. A crank
pin B on the shaft of this wheel acts in a hook so as to move up and down the
plunger C, and also the hanging lever D, and a pair of cams E, E, on the shaft
of A move up and down the guard tube F which encloses the plunger C and the
die slide G. The hanging lover D has a hooked end d which enters an inclined
notch in the die slide G. By the back movement of the wheel A the plunger C
and hanging lever D are simultaneously raised, but it is not until the plunger C
has risen a certain distance away from the die slide G that the latter is raised by
the hook d so as to lift the die off the matrix or bolster H. When again the
plunger C is made to descend, the hanging lever descending also, is pushed sideways
by the obliquity of its hook d and of the notch in G, and this lateral movement
of D which takes place before the plunger C comes to bear on the die slide G
actuates a counter, as I will presently describe, so. as to register an impression made
by the die when the die slide is pushed down. On the hanging lever D is mounted
a fork pawl d' which has an angle taking into a stationary notch d² under a
stationary incline d³. When the hanging lever D rises the pawl d cants itself so
as to release its lower angle from the notch d, and when by the continued ascent
of D this lower angle passes the incline d³, the pawl is by the weight of its hinder
part canted again into the attitude shewn. When the lever D again descends
along with the plunger C to make an impression, the lower angle of d¹ in sliding
along the incline d³ causes the lever D to be forced sideways in the same way as it
is moved sideways by the action of the incline d, and so to actuate the counter and
register an impression. Thus the action of d and of d¹ conspire to work the
counter, so that if either should accidentally fail the other will act, making certain
the registration of every impression made by the die. The lateral movement of the
lever D acting on a roller k on the short arm of a lever K causes the longer arm of
that lever to ascend. This arm is connected by an adjustable link k' to a pawl
lever L acting on a ratchet wheel on the spindle of a counter.
On the pawl
lever L is fixed a segment 12 having a cam slot which acts on a stud on a lever l³.
On the counter spindle behind the ratchet wheel is fixed a star wheel 15, or
wheel with the same number of obtuse notches as the ratchet wheel has teeth.
Above this wheel is mounted a spring slide which when the wheel is turned one
tooth is raised in opposition to its spring, and if the wheel has not turned quite far
enough the spring pressing the bolt down into one of the notches of the wheel
causes it to complete its movement of one full tooth. The lever 3 has also on it a
projection fitting the notches of the star wheel. This projection is held by the cam
slot in 12 engaged in one of the star wheel notches so holding the counter spindle
stationary, except at the time (as determined by the abrupt curvature in the cam
slot of 2) when the pawl on L is advancing the ratchet wheel a tooth.
counter worked tooth by tooth by the spindle may be of any known construction;
usually it consists of several wheels or dials numbered by tens so as to register
units, tens, hundreds, and so on to any required denomination. The matrix or
bolster H, which is faced with leather or other somewhat yielding material, is not
firmly fixed but is free to move a little in its seating being pressed upwards by
three or four springs h against the edge f of the guard tube F. If it were attempted
to place paper on the bolster H and to obtain an impression on it by letting the die
slide G descend by its weight without subjecting it to the pressure of the plunger C
The

page_text: It is
so as thus to escape registration of the impression, this would be prevented by the
edge f of the guard tube and the spring pressure of the bolster H against it.
Besides the moving guard tube F there is fixed an outer guard tube or fence M
which extends nearly down to the bolster H, leaving only a narrow space for the
insertion of the paper on which the impression is to be taken. At the sides of this
fence tube there are two straight slots m, m, which serve as guides to the inking
roller by which pigment is applied to the face of the die when it is in its highest
position. The inking roller N is mounted in a light frame with a handle n.
served with pigment by rolling it over a plate or ink table on which the pigment is
evenly laid, and having been so served it is introduced by an opening m¹ in the
lower part of the guide forming part of the fence tube M pushed up against the
upper face of the guide, as shewn in Fig. 2, and then when the guard tube F and
the die g are in their highest position it can be pushed forwards and drawn back
rolling over the surface of the die and inking it. When the ink roller is drawn
back again to the position indicated in Fig. 2, having inked the die, the guard
tube F and the die slide G can be made to descend by the partial revolution of the
wheel A so as to make a coloured embossed impression on the paper which had
been previously placed on the bolster H, this impression being registered by the
action of the counter as stated above.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim in respect of embossing presses,-
First. The construction and arrangement of press, herein described with reference
to the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The combination of a stationary external guard or fence tube enclosing
the inner moveable fence tube and the die slide with a loose matrix or bolster
pressed upwards by springs, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
Third. The arrangement in the stationary external guard tube of the transverse
guides for the inking roller, substantially as herein described.
Fourth. In combination with the pawl lever L, the cam slot 12, holding lever 1³,
and star wheel 15, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jabez James, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
T TAM