IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ENVELOPES
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AMEDEE
FRANCOIS REMOND, of Birmingham, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of April,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty, in the thirteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Amedee Francois Remond, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Amedee
Francois Remond, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, and such others as I, the
said Amedee Francois Remond, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exer-
cise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ENVELOPES;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said 'Amedee Francois
Remond, should cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the saine,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Amedee Francois Remond, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of improvements in applying cement or adhesive
matter to the flaps of envelopes, and in moving the envelope paper from one
part of the machinery to another (by atmospheric pressure) after the same has
had cement or adhesive matter applied.
And in order that the Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a side view of a machine having my improvements applied
thereto; Figure 2 is a front is a front view; Figure 3 is a plan thereof;
Figure 4 shews a longitudinal section thereof, and the other views shew some
of the details on a full-sized scale. In each of these views the same letters of
reference are employed to indicate the same parts.
The paper which is to be operated on by the machine is first to be cut
into suitable forms for envelopes, and the machine is so arranged that the s
parts of each piece of paper which is to form the flap of an envelope is
moistened, and then has cementing matter in the dry state applied thereto, and
then each piece of paper suitable to be folded into an envelope is moved away
to another part of the machine in order that the moisture may dry. But I would
remark that I do not confine myself to the arrangement of machine shewn, so
long as the cementing matter is applied in a similar manner, or the means of
moving the pieces of paper after they have had cementing matter applied to
them, be moved by atmospheric pressure to another part of the machinery,
used in the making of envelopes. A pile of properly cut paper is placed
on the table or platform a, there being suitable studs fixed on the platform, in
order to keep the pieces of paper correctly in place. The platform a is carried
by the stem b, which slides up and down in, and is guided by the sockets c,
and this stem is constantly raised upwards by the spring d acting on the lever
e, the other end of the lever acting on the stem, there being a slot in the
stem b, into which the end of the lever enters, and the platform is caused to
descend by means of the cam f acting on the arm g, fixed on the same axis
as the lever e. The process of moistening and applying cement to the flap
part of each piece of envelope paper is performed in the following manner: —

page_text: h is a slide, which moves in dovetail guides, and is put in motion by the cam i
fixed on the main or cam shaft of the machine, which gives motion to the
lever j, which, at its upper end, enters into forked projections on the slide'h,
and thus is the slide h caused to move to and fro by the rotation of the main
or cam shaft, which receives motion from a steam engine or other power by a
strap acting on the pulley or drum k. The slide h carries an apparatus for
applying cementing matters in the state of powder to the pieces of envelope
paper in succession at those parts which are to form the closing or sealing
flaps of the envelopes made from such pieces of paper. is a tube to contain
water, it is closed at its lower end by a piece of compressed sponge or other
suitable material, and the position of the tube is adjusted by means of a
rack and pinion within the fixed tube l', as is shewn, and the slide also carries.
the box m of cementing matter in the state of powder. I prefer to use gum
arabic in powder, and the bottom of the box is composed of fine wire gauze,.
suitable for sifting the dust or powder on to the moistened paper. The box m
is free to move in an opening in the slide h, and a quick to-and-fro or shaking
motion is given to the box by means of the plate n, up towards which the
stud on the box is constantly pressed by the spring m', so that the stud m² on
the box, in following the undulations on the plate n, causes the box to move
quickly to and fro as the slide h moves past the plate in one direction, but as
the slide moves in the opposite direction the fixed incline m³ on the box m
comes under the plate n and lifts it, so that the undulations are out of the way
of the stud or projection m³, and the plate n is enabled to move up and down
by being fixed to the plate n', which moves freely on the fixed uprights n³, as
shewn; o, o, are brushes fixed to the slide h, which brush off the dust or
powder (into a tray or box not shewn) which is in excess. The action of the
apparatus above described is as follows:-
When the platform a descends with the pile of envelope paper thereon the-
slide h is caused to come into position by its cam, so that when the platform.
rises the upper piece of paper comes under the end of the slide, the seal or
closing flap comes under the sponge, and is moistened thereby, the slide h is
caused to move back, by which movement the sponge passes away from the
paper, and the box m, in passing over the moistened paper, is shaken and sifts
thereon a quantity of the cementing matter, and the excess is removed by the
brushes o, o. By thus using the cementing matter in a dry state the least
quantity of moisture will require to be applied to the paper, and consequently.
there will be comparatively small quantity to evaporate in drying; and what is.
most important in the manufacture of envelopes, the parts to which cement
has been so applied may be placed one on the other without adhering, and the

page_text: pieces of paper may at once be folded into envelopes, as the adhesive matter
applied to the parts which are to form the closing or seal flaps when the
cementing matter has been applied, as above explained, will not adhere to the
other parts of the envelopes. The pieces of envelope paper, in order to their
being thus in succession prepared with the cementing matter, have to be
removed in succession, and the best means of performing this process is to use
atmospheric pressure, and for this purpose I apply the apparatus, which I will
now proceed to describe:-On the main axis is a cam p, which acts on the lever q,
which by means of a link is connected to the bellows r. The bellows are acted
on by the springs, as shewn. t is a flexible pipe connecting the bellows with the
sliding tube v, the nature of which is clearly seen in the Drawing, there being
openings u, u, on those parts which come on the pieces of envelope paper;
hence when the bellows are expanded by the action of the cam the tube v will
be partially vacuous, and the pressure of the atmosphere will cause the upper
piece of envelope paper to adhere to the instrument v at the parts u, so that
the sliding of the tube vby its cam will cause the piece of envelope paper to
be moved from the pile, after the adhesive matter has been applied, and deposit
it on the table w, and there the envelopes will be piled one on the other as
they have cement applied thereto, and may be removed in piles to be dried or
to be folded; or in place of the apparatus v delivering on the table w, the
machinery may be otherwise arranged for receiving the successive pieces of
paper as they are moved by the apparatus after the cementing material has
been applied to the proper parts of the paper.
The apparatus v is moved to and fro by the arm æ, fixed on the same axis
as the arm q moves on, and the arm a is put in motion by the cam a¹ acting
on the arm a². The arm x gives motion to the apparatus v by means of the
connecting rod a³.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the details so long as the improvements are retained; but I claim the
applying cementing matters in a dry state to moistened surfaces of envelopes,
and the removing of envelope paper after having cement applied thereto by
atmospheric pressure, as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Amedee Francois Remond, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty.
AMÉDÉE FRANÇOIS (L.S.) RÉMOND.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of October, in
the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid Amedee Francois Remond came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the 'Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty.