IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR INDELIBLY CROSSING OR MARKING BANKERS' CHEQUES, DRAFTS, DOCUMENTS, OR OTHER THINGS, WITH A VIEW OF "
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Sloper, of No. 215, Oxford Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Builder and Decorator, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR INDELIBLY CROSSING OR MARKING
BANKERS' CHEQUES, DRAFTS, DOCUMENTS, OR OTHER THINGS, WITH A VIEW OF
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Sloper at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st September 1858.
I, JOSEPH SLOPER, of 215, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Builder and Decorator, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR INDELIBLY CROSSING OR MARKING
BANKERS' CHECQUES, DRAFTS, DOCUMENTS, OR OTHER THINGS, WITH A VIEW OF
PREVENTING ERASURES OR FRAUDULENT DEALINGS THEREWITH," to be as
follows:-
My Invention of improved means of and apparatus for crossing or marking
bankers' checques, drafts, documents, or other things with a view of preventing
erasures and fraudulent dealings therewith, relates to a novel mode of crossing
or marking bankers' checques, drafts, or other things by means of a machine
which forms the words (and Co.) or other word or words, mark, or device,
on any checque, draft, or other thing required to be marked by perforations.
My apparatus or machine consists chiefly of a surface made of any suitable

page_text: material studded with small points or punches, tubular or not, of any suitable
material, so set as to perforate any words, mark, or device, on any checque or
thing required to be stamped. I propose to use the outer surface of a wheel,
which, being attached to a handle or some other contrivance, with a slight
pressure of the hand the wheel rotates and perforates the required pattern,
word, or words; or I propose to use a flat or any other surface, studded as
before described, of any required pattern or word, and the perforations made
by compression or some other suitable means.
I also propose to use ink, or stain if necessary, as may be most desirable;
in that case I so arrange the construction of the points or punches as to
carry the stain to the edges of the perforations, thereby making the mark
more conspicuous and impossible of crasure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Sloper in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th February 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPHI
SLOPER, of No. 215, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex, Builder and
Decorator, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of September, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Sloper, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Sloper,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Joseph Sloper, 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 vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,.
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS
OF AND APPARATUS FOR INDELIBLY CROSSING OR MARKING BANKERS' CHEQUES,
DRAFTS, DOCUMENTS, OR OTHER THINGS WITH A VIEW OF PREVENTING ERASURES OR
FRAUDULENT DEALINGS THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Joseph Sloper, my executors or administrators, by an instrument.
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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

page_text: 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 Joseph Sloper, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof :-
My Invention consists in forming or producing any required crossing, word
or words, letters, marks, or devices, by means of a series or number of
perforations, openings, holes punched or pierced in and through the cheques,.
drafts, documents, or other things to be dealt with and so grouped or disposed
as to represent the required crossing, word or words, letters, marks, or devices,
with a view of preventing erasures or fraudulent dealings therewith, inasmuch
as the mark or device so formed or produced cannot be so readily tampered
with as marks or devices formed or produced with ink or coloring matter.
And further, my Invention consists of apparatus for the above purpose, and
constructed, when necessary, so as to permit or allow a ready combination in
the production of one or more of the words, letters, marks, or devices, and
variety in the combination, as may be required, by disposing or arranging in a
separate frame or carriage the number of punches (and other parts in con-
nection therewith) requisite to form each group or member of the intended
combination.
The manner of performing my Invention is explained by the following
description and the accompanying illustrative Drawings, the first portions of
which are devoted to the exemplification of a few of the more prominent
among the multitude of applications of which the Invention is susceptible.
It may be used for crossing or marking bankers' cheques and drafts with (as)
for example) the words "Smith & Co.," see Figure 1, or other words or devices
for marking bank notes with their value instead of or in addition to a paper
water mark (see Figure 2), such value being represented either in figures as
shewn, or otherwise in words or marks, as may be preferred; for marking
cheques, as under, particular amounts or values (see Figure 3); for marking
the value, date, or number, or a symbol, upon exchequer bills, dock warrants,
and documents of a like nature, for numbering, dating, or marking, railway
tickets (see Figure 4); for numbering or marking the value upon scrip, or
certificates, or shares, for producing, or in substitution of, the present embossed
stamp, or for cancelling signatures upon cheques and other documents, and at
the same time marking the date &c. of cancelling (see Figure 5); for marking
the number or date upon turnpike tickets, and the value upon pawnbrokers'
tickets, and for marking personal and household linen. But it is to be

page_text: distinctly understood that the Drawing and the above list of applications are
simply illustrative, and that the Invention may also be applied to other uses;
so long as its special nature of marking with perforations grouped or disposed
as set forth (for preventing erasures or fraudulent dealings) be retained; it
boing also further understood that the letters, &c., required to be formed are
not cut out of the paper or substance to be dealt with, but are formed by a
series or grouping of perforations &c., disposed in the shape of the letters
required, thereby but very slightly reducing the strength of the paper or
substance, or interfering with the printing or writing thereupon.
Having now illustrated the applications of my Invention, it remains to
explain that the required perforations, &c. may be made by means of a wheel
or roller having the exterior edge or surface studded over with points or
punches grouped or disposed so as that when the wheel is pressed and rolled
by hand or otherwise upon the cheque or document to be marked, they shall
perforate it and produce the required mark or device. Or instead of mounting
the punches upon a wheel or roller, they may be studded, grouped, or placed
in the required form upon and fixed to a flat plate or surface, and fitted up
with or used with a matrix and a separating plate in the manner represented
in the Figures 6, 6ª, 6, and 6°; Figure 6 being a plain view of the apparatus
complete; Figure 6ª a similar view with the plate or surface and the punches
removed; Figure 6b an inverted plan view of the plate or surface and the
punches; and Figure 6° a transverse section. a is the plate or surface; b
the group of punches fixed thereto, passing freely through corresponding holes
in the separating plate c, and situate over or exactly opposite to corresponding
holes in the matrix d, and into which they enter when pressed down or employed,
the cheque or document or thing required to be marked being placed between
the separating plate c and the matrix d. The object of the separating plate
is to permit the ready withdrawal of the punches from and out of the perfor-
ations formed in the cheque or document without tearing or injuring it.
The punches thus mounted and fitted with a separating plate and matrix may
conveniently be used in an ordinary hand lever or screw press, having a
seating prepared to receive them, and may readily be removed therefrom, and
other groups similarly mounted and fitted may be substituted in the same
manner as a variety of common dies are used in one and the same press for
'embossing and other purposes. The remainder of the parts represented in the
Figure are simply for fitting up the group of punches into a press, and may be
varied at pleasure. And I would here remark that the plate or surface to and
upon which the punches are fixed need not necessarily be flat as above
described, but may be curved or stepped if it should be so preferred, the pro-

page_text: jection of the punches above such surface being uniform or otherwise as
preferred. And it should be noted that the punches when mounted in the
manner lastly above described with reference to Figures 6, 6, 6b, and 6º,
are intended to be formed with true and flat ends and with sharp edges,
and to fit accurately into the holes in the matrix, so as to cleanly cut and
produce the perforations, whereas when mounted in the manner firstly above
described, and when no matrix is employed, the punches are intended to be
pointed more or less sharply as may be desired, and in that case the cheque
or document should be placed upon a surface of wood, cork, or other suitable
material.
The remaining Figures of the Drawing illustrate the apparatus for effecting
a ready combination in the production of groups of perforations for the
purpose of the Invention, and allowing a variety in such combination.
Figure 7 is a front view of a holder, carrying a combination of three groups
of punches, each group being mounted on a separate frame carriage, plate, or
surface a as before described; and Figure 7 is a transverse section of the
holder, and a side elevation of one of the frames or carriages a. Figures 7b
and 7 are transverse sections of the parts separately, and Figure 7d a front
view of the holder separately. y is a screw for fixing the parts together,
which is readily removeable, so that any or all of the members of the combi-
nation may be changed at pleasure.
Finally, I would remark that the punches to be employed for the purposes
of my Invention may be made of steel wire, and fixed to a surface as before
described, or may be made of other suitable metal or material, or be otherwise
conveniently produced or formed upon the surface, and that the sectional
form of the punches to be employed may be either circular or square, or of
any other approved form, or they may be tubular, and the punches may or
may not be charged with ink or stain for dyeing the edges of the perforations
and rendering them more conspicuous; the charging of the punches being
effected by dipping into the ink or stain, or by pressing upon the cloth
saturated therewith, or any other convenient manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Sloper, have hercunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JOSEPH SLOPER. (L.S.)