IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR LAYING OUT ENVELOPES AND PAPER TO PREPARE THEM FOR BLACK BORDERING
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Charles Piric, one of the Partners of tho Firm
of Alex. Pirie & Sons, Envelope Manufacturers, Union Works, in the City of
Aberdeen, and Robert Groundwater, Employé of the said Firm, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR LAYING OUT ENVELOPES AND PAPER TO
PREPARE THEM FOR BLACK BORDERING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Charles Pirie and
Robert Groundwater at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th
December 1876.
ALEXANDER CHARLES PIRIE, one of the Partners of the Firm of Alex. Pirie &
Sons, Envelope Manufactures, Union Works, in the City of Aberdeen, and ROBERT
GROUNDWATER, Employé of the said Firm. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
LAYING OUT ENVELOPES AND PAPER TO PREPARE THEM FOR BLACK BORDERING."
For the purpose of black bordering envelopes before they are folded, or sheets of
paper, the envelopes or paper are at the present time set on to a board so as to
overlap one another, and to leave uncovered so much of the edge of each envelope
or sheet of paper as is to be blackened; this is usually effected by placing the
envelopes or sheets of paper one by one on to a moveable board, above which are two
pin stops which can be raised and lowered. When the stops are lowered they come
down on to the envelopes already on the board; the attendant then places on to the
board another envelope overlapping the envelopes previously upon it, and brings the
edge of the envelope up to the stops, the stops are then lifted by depressing a treadle,
and the board is moved a distance, the stops then are again allowed to descend,
another envelope is placed up to them, and so on continuously.
The object of this Invention is to increase considerably the speed at which
envelopes or sheets of paper can thus be placed on to a board preparatory to being
blackened. For this purpose, in addition to employing stops which are raised and
lowered to and from the pile of envelopes, we employ two pins or fingers which are
capable of moving to and fro horizontally. These fingers are for the purpose of
pushing forwards the envelopes or sheets of paper one by one up to and against the
stops before mentioned. Both the stops and fingers we work automatically by cams

page_text: or eccentrics on a revolving shaft, in such manner that after the stops bave
descended the fingers advance horizontally towards them, pushing forward an
envelope and bringing it up to the stops; the stops then rise, the table is moved a
distance, the stops descend, another envelope is placed on to the table, and is again
pushed up to the stops by the fingers, and so on continuously. Thus the attendant,
in place of having to set each envelope or sheet of paper accurately in position up
to the stops, has only to place each envelope or sheet of paper roughly into position
on to the board and in front of the pushers; the envelope or paper is then
automatically set by them accurately in position, and consequently the work can be
executed at a much quicker rate than heretofore.
The main shaft of the machine we drive by a grooved cone loose upon the shaft;
a disc plate faced with wood is fixed upon the shaft, and the grooved cone can be
shifted endwise along the shaft by a lever, so as to bring it to bear against the
friction disc and transmit motion to the shaft.
The lever is worked by a treadle and carries a break strap, so that when the
treadle is depressed to stop the machine, the driving cone is moved away from the
friction disc and the break is simultaneously applied to the shaft.
The two front pins or stops before mentioned are carried by small brackets
secured by thumbscrews to a bar that crosses the machine horizontally, and this bar
is moved up and down by a cam on the shaft. On the shaft is also an eccentric
which by a rocking lever gives motion to a sliding rod which is parallel with the
side of the machine; the rod has secured to it a bar passing across the machine; on
this bar are two small horizontal brackets attached by thumbscrews, so that they
can be set at any distance apart, to suit any length of envelope or paper, and also
can be set to project forward more or less from the bar to suit any breadth.
From the end of each bracket descends a pin or finger which at its lower end
bears upon the surface of the board upon which the paper or envelopes are to be
luid; the fingers are also free to rise and fall to suit any inequality in the board,
and can also be held up at the time when the boards are to be changed, and so
avoid breakages. The board rests upon a table which can slide to and fro hori-
zontally; on the under side of the table is a rack into which gears a small pinion.
The pinion has a step-by-step revolving motion given to it by a ratchet wheel on
its axis.
The ratchet wheel is driven by a pawl carried by a rocking lever which turns
loosely on the axis. The lever is rocked to and fro by a connecting rod from an
eccentric on the main shaft.
The amount of motion given to the lever can be adjusted by securing the rod to
the lever at a greater or less distance from its axis, so as to allow the pawl at each
backward movement to pass over 1, 2, or 3 teeth of the ratchet wheel, according to
width of border required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Charles Pirie and Robert Groundwater in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 14th June 1877.
ALEXANDER CHARLES PIRIE, one of the Partners of the Firm of Alex. Pirie &
Sons, Envelope Manufacturers, Union Works, in the City of Aberdeen, and ROBERT
GROUNDWATER, Employé of the said Firm. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
LAYING OUT ENVELOPES AND PAPER TO PREPARE THEM FOR BLACK BORDERING."
For the purpose of black bordering envelopes, sheets of paper (including cards),
the envelopes, sheets of paper, or cards, are at the present time set on to a board so
as to overlap one another, and to leave uncovered so much of the edge of each
envelope, sheet of paper, or card as is to be blackened; this is usually effected by
placing the envelopes, sheets of paper, or cards one by one on to a moveable board,

page_text: above which are two pin stops which can be raised and lowered. When the stops
are lowered they come down on to the envelopes, sheets of paper, or cards, already
on the board; the attendant then places ou to the board another envelope, sheet of
paper, or card overlapping those previously upon it, and brings the edge of the
envelope, sheet of paper, or card up to the stops; the stops are then lifted by
depressing a treadle and the board is moved a distance; the stops then are again
allowed to descend, another envelope, sheet of paper, or card is placed up to them,
and so on continuously.
The object of this Invention is to increase considerably the speed at which
envelopes, sheets of paper, or cards can thus be placed on to a board preparatory to
being blackened. For this purpose, in addition to employing stops which are raised
and lowered to and from the envelopes, sheets of paper, or cards, we employ pins or
fingers which are capable of moving to and fro horizontally. These fingers are for
the purpose of pushing forwards the envelopes, sheets of paper, or cards one by one
up to and against the stops before mentioned. Both the stops and fingers we work
automatically by a cam and eccentric on a revolving shaft in such manner that after
the stops have descended the fingers advance horizontally towards them, pushing
forward an envelope, sheet of paper, or card, and bringing it up to the stops; the
stops then rise, the table is moved a distance, the stops descend, another envelope,
sheet of paper, or card is placed on to the tablo, and is again pushed up to the stops
by the fingers, and so on continuously. Thus the attendant, in place of having to
set each envelope, sheet of paper, or card accurately in position up to the stops, has
only to place each envelope, sheet of paper, or card roughly into position on to the
board and in front of the pushers; the envelope, sheet of paper, or card is then
automatically set by them accurately in position, and consequently the work can be
executed at a much quicker rate than heretofore.
In the annexed Drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation; Figure 2 is a front
elevation, and Figures 3 and 3ª are plans of machinery constructed according to our
Invention. Other Figures show portions of the apparatus separately.
The main shaft A of the machine is driven by a grooved cone B which runs loose
upon the shaft A. A disc plate C faced with wood is fixed upon the shaft, and the
grooved cone B can be shifted endwise along the shaft by a lever c, c, c, so as to
bring it to bear against the friction disc C and transmit motion to the shaft. The
lever c, c, c, is kept in position by a spiral or india-rubber spring a, a.
When the attendant wishes to stop the machine she presses with her foot
lever c, c, c, and at same time the break strap b, b, which is attached to the lever
instantly stops the shaft A revolving.
The front pins or stops D, D, of which we use two, for laying out envelope blanks
and three for laying out folded envelopes, paper, or cards, are carried by small
brackets E, E, secured by thumbscrews d, d, d, to a bar F that crosses the machine
horizontally; these brackets can be moved along the cross bar F by unscrewing the
thumbscrews d, d, d. A small spring e, e, on the under side of the brackets E, E,
and on the top of the pins D, D, allows the pins to yield to any inequality in the
thickness of the board. The cross bar F is attached at one end to an upright
rod G, G, which receives a vertical motion from a cam H fixed on main shaft A. On
the cross bar F are attached two small brackets k, k, and when the cross bar F
descends these brackets k, k, raise the levers h, h, which have a small roller at the
end of each; these levers are attached to the machine by brackets. The object of
these rollers is to prevent the envelopes, sheets of paper, or cards from moving from
their position. When the stops descend the levers raise the rollers from the
envelopes, sheets of paper, or cards, so as to admit of the next envelope, sheet of
paper, or card being placed into position by the pushers. As soon as the stops
ascend the levers allow the rollers to fall on the envelope, sheet of paper, or card
last placed, and keep it in its position. The pushers I, I, I, of which we employ for
envelope blanks two, and for paper, cards, and folded envelopes three, are attached
to a cross bar K, and have a small moveable socket at the end of each; they can

page_text: be moved along the cross bar K to suit any size of envelope, sheet of paper, or card,
and by turning the thumbscrews L, L, L, are fixed in their place.
By means of the thumbscrews m, m, m, the attendant can move the pushers
back wards or forwards as required, and when placed in their proper position by
turning the thumbscrews n, m, n, the pushers I, I, I, are fixed. The cross bar K is
attached at one end to a horizontal sliding rod O. An eccentric P gives motion to
the rocking lever Q, to which is attached at point f the horizontal sliding rod O,
thus giving the pushers I, I, I, the motion required. The board rests upon a table
which can slide to and fro horizontally; on the under side of the table is a rack A¹
into which gears a small pinion A*. The pinion has a step-by-step revolving motion
given to it by a ratchet wheel B¹ on its axis.
The ratchet wheel is driven by a pawl X carried by a rocking lever V, V, which
turns loosely on the axis. The lever is rocked to and fro by a connecting rod R
from an eccentric Zon the main shaft A.
The amount of motion given to the lever can be adjusted by securing the rod to
the lever at a greater or less distance from its axis, so as to allow the pawl at each
backward movement to pass over one, two, or three teeth of the ratchet wheel,
according to the width of border required.
When the board is filled the attendant raises the sockets of the pushers, and by
means of a sliding bracket S raises the stops; at the same time by throwing back
the pawl the table is stopped, and the board can be removed from the table without
disarranging the envelopes, slicets of paper, or cards.
When putting in another board the table and board are pushed back into position
and the forward motion is given to the table by replacing the pawl on the ratchet
wheel.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the saine, we would have it understood that we claim,-
First. The construction of machinery for laying out envelopes and paper (including
cards) to prepare them for black bordering with pushers or instruments for accurately
placing the sheets up to the stops, substantially as described.
Second. The general arrangement of machinery for laying out envelopes and
paper (including cards) to prepare them for black bordering, substantially as
described.
n witness whereof, we, the said Alexander Charles Pirie and Robert Ground-
water, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eleventh day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.