Improvements in Numbering Machines.
Year: 1898

page_text: · Date of Application, 11th Feb., 1898-Accepted, 30th Apr., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Numbering Machines.
A communication from abroad by JOSEPH WETTER & Co., a Firm composed of
Joseph Wetter and William Wenz, of 515-521, Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, New
York, United States of America.
I, PHILIP MIDDLETON JUSTICE, of 55 and 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, 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 consecutive numbering machines or other machines of
like character in which the figures or other characters to be printed are formed
upon wheels which are adapted to be rotated to bring the desired character to
the line of print. In the use of such machines it is desirable to effect the complete
separation of the paper upon which an impression has just been made from the
type wheels before they are shifted to bring another character to the line of print,
lest the impression should be blurred. To this end provision is sometimes made
for locking the wheels against movement until the platen of the press has with-
drawn to its full distance from the numbering wheels. It has also been proposed
to accomplish the same result by pushing the paper away from the numbering
wheels before they are allowed to turn, but so far as we are aware the means last
referred to have not proved satisfactory in use, partly because the lifter could not
descend below the plane of contact with the inking roller and therefore made a
permanent mark upon the paper, and partly because, with the construction
suggested, the lifter could not have the proper amplitude of movement. Accordingly
the main object of this invention is to provide improved means for lifting the paper
away from the numbering wheels before they are allowed to turn, the lifter having
an amplitude of movement sufficient to ensure the complete separation of the paper
from the numbering wheels and descending below the plane of print so that it
shall escape contact with the inking roller and the making of a permanent mark
upon the paper by the lifter be thereby avoided. The improved construction
wherein the invention is embodied, together with other features of improvement
will be more fully described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying
drawing in which,―
Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine adapted to be locked in a form with the
type, to which this improvement has been applied;
Figure 2 is a section on the plane indicated by the line 2--2 of Figure 1, the
inner frame or case being in its elevated position;
Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2, but with the frame or case in its depressed
position;
Figure 4 is a view similar to Figures 2 and 3 but showing the lifter in its
raised position;
Figure 5 is a section on the plane indicated by the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

page_text: Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional detail on the plane indicated by the line 0
of Figure 5.
The numbering machine which, for purposes of explanation of this invention,
has been chosen for illustration in the accompanying drawing, is adapted to be
locked in the form with the type and comprises an outer frame or case A within
which the numbering wheels are placed. The particular means whereby the
necessary movement is imparted to the numbering wheels are not material to the
present invention, but in the machine shown in the drawing the numbering
wheels B B are mounted to rotate upon a shaft C which is fixed in an inner frame
or case D, the latter being supported upon springs d and having a limited vertical
movement within the outer case or frame A. A pawl frame E is mounted to swing
upon the shaft C and is provided with pawls to actuate the numbering wheels in
the usual manner. One of the end members of the inner frame or case Dis
recessed, as at d¹, to receive a lever F which is pivoted at one end, as at f, to the
inner frame or case, and at the other end is provided with a pin f¹ which projects
through an elongated opening d² and engages the pawl frame E. A screw pin or
stud G is seated in the end of the outer frame or case A. and enters a slot 2 in the
lever F, so that as the inner frame or case is depressed by the action of the press
and is raised by the action of the springs d d, the pawl frame is actuated to effect
the proper movement of the numbering wheels. The pin or stud G, by its
co-operation with the lever F in the recess d' of the inner frame or case D, also
serves to limit the movement of the inner frame or case, and its removal permits
the inner frame or case and the parts carried thereby to be withdrawn from the
outer frame or case A for cleaning or any other purpose.
Upon the shaft C is loosely mounted a toothed wheel H, which is actuated slightly
in advance of the first numbering wheel by a pawl e carried by the pawl frame E.
A lever I is pivoted at one end upon the inner frame or case 1) and rests upon the
toothed wheel H, having on its under side a projection i for contact with said toothed
wheel and being held toward the toothed wheel by a spring . At its extremity, the
lever I engages, as by a suitable pin and slot connection 23, a second lever or lifter K,
at a point between its pivot k and its free end k¹, whereby the movement of the free
end of the lever K is considerably greater than the movement of the free end of
the lever I. The lever or lifter K is pivoted to the frame or casing D) and the free
end is suitably formed for contact with the paper. By reason of the amplitude of
the movement of the lever or lifter K it can be permitted to and does drop below the
plane of print and out of reach of the inking roller so that its contact with the
paper cannot leave a permanent mark thereon, and when operated by the move-
ment of the toothed wheel H it rises quickly and far enough above the plane of
print to ensure the separation of the paper from the numbering wheels before the
rotary movement of the wheels commences.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. In a numbering machine, the combination with a frame' or case, numbering
wheels, and a swinging pawl frame, of a lever engaging said swinging pawl frame,
a vertically moving part to which said lever is connected, and a pin or stud carried
by said frame or case and engaging said lever, substantially as shown and described.
2. In a numbering machine, the combination with a frame or case, a second
frame or case vertically movable within the first named frame or case, numbering
wheels mounted in said vertically movable frame or case, and a swinging pawl
frame, of a lever engaging said swinging pawl frame and connected to said vertically
movable frame or case, and a pin or stud carried by the first named frame or case
and engaging said lever, substantially as shown and described.
3.. In a numbering machine, the combination with the numbering wheels, of a
toothed wheel, means to actuate the same, a lever resting upon said toothed wheel;

page_text: and a lifter connected to the free end of said lever, substantially as shown and
described.
4. In a numbering machine, the combination with the numbering wheels, of a
toothed wheel, means to actuate the same, a lever resting at an intermediate point
upon said toothed wheel, and a second or lifter lever connected to the free end of
the first named lever, substantially as shown and described.
5. In a numbering machine, the combination with an outer frame or case, an
inner frame or case vertically movable within the outer frame or case, numbering
wheels mounted in the vertically movable frame or case, and means to actuate the
numbering wheels, of a toothed wheel mounted with the numbering wheels, means
to actuate said toothed wheel, a lever pivoted upon the vertically movable frame or
case and resting upon said toothed wheel and a second or lifter lever pivoted upon
said vertically movable frame or case and connected at an intermediate point to
the free end of the first named lever, substantially as shown and described.
Dated the 11th day of February 1898.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE.