A NEW METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DAMPING AND AFFIXING ADHESIVE STAMPS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gill, of 85, Victoria Street, London Road,
Ipswich, and Buckingham Bird, of Westgate Street, Ipswich aforesaid,
for the Invention of "A NEW METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR DAMPING
AND AFFIXING ADHESIVE STAMPS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Gill and Bucking-
ham Bird at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 23rd December 1865.
We, WILLIAM GILL, of 85, Victoria Street, London Road, Ipswich, and
Buckingham Bird, of Westgate Street, Ipswich aforesaid, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR
DAMPING AND AFFIXING ADHESIVE STAMPS," to be as follows (that is to say) :-
Our Invention has reference to the damping and affixing, through the me-
dium òf an apparatus, postage and other adhesive stamps by a more convenient
and expeditious method than at present, and consists in securing to a handle
or holder a set of small rollers "of corresponding width to the stamps," upon
the lower ones of which (forming the damping and guide rollers) the instru-
ment is caused to work upon a fixed bed or table in such manner that the
stamps are carried forward between the upper and lower rollers in continuous
succession, being coiled in strips or lengths upon a reel placed within the
shank of the handle, and finally delivered to the pressing roller through the
medium of a guiding frame interposed longitudinally between the peripheries

page_text: of the said rollers, in connection with which a vertical cutter for dividing the
stamps as they move onward, as also a bath or trough formed in the table
for supplying moisture to the same, is employed. The action is as follows:-
Upon running the instrument forward on the bed or table through the
medium of the handle the lower rollers upon which the apparatus runs cause
the upper rollers to revolve, being in contact with their peripheries, whereby
the stamps are passed forward between the guiding wires to the pressing roller
at the opposite end of the handle, thus enabling the stamps to be divided,
damped, carried forward, and finally affixed by the backward and forward
movement of the instrument upon the table.
3.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Gill and Buckingham Bird in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 22nd June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
GILL, of 85, Victoria Street, London Road, Ipswich, and BUCKINGHAM BIRD,
of Westgate Street, Ipswich aforesaid, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said William Gill and Buckingham Bird, Her special licence that we,
the said William Gill and Buckingham Bird, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Gill and Buckingham
'Bird, our 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 "A NEW METHOD OF AND APPARATUS
'FOR DAMPING AND AFFIXING ADHESIVE STAMPS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said William Gill and Buckingham Bird, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly 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 Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the 'said Letters
Patent.
'

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Gill and Buckingham Bird,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, and the Drawings therein referred (that is to
say):-
"
Our Invention has reference to the damping and affixing, through, the
medium of an apparatus, postage and other adhesive stamps by a more con-
venient and expeditious method than at present, and consists in securing to a
handle or holder a set of small rollers of corresponding width to the stamps,
upon the lower one of which (viz., the damping roller,) the instrument is
caused to work on a fixed bed or table in such manner that the said stamps
are passed or carried forward between the damping and guide rollers in con-
tinuous succession, and finally delivered under the pressing roller, a thin
surface cutter being also employed in connection with the above for dividing
or separating the stamps as they are pushed forward to the rollers, the damping.
roller receiving moisture from water contained in a box within the instrument.
The action is as follows:-Upon running the instrument forward upon the
bed or table by means of the handle the lower roller upon which the apparatus
works causes the upper roller to revolve, being in contact with its periphery,
whereby the stamps are passed forward between the guiding rollers to the
pressing roller at the opposite end of the handle, thus enabling the said stamps
to be damped, carried forward, and finally affixed by the backward and rolling
movement of the instrument upon the envelope, or otherwise.
And in order that our said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect we now proceed to describe it by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures thereon
marked (that is to say):
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of the apparatus for damping and affixing
postage and other adhesive stamps, called by us the "Unique Postage Stamp
Vade Mecum; Fig. 2; a top or plan view thereof; Fig. 3, a longitudinal
vertical section taken through the dotted line in Fig. 2; Fig. 4, an under-
heath view thereof; and Fig. 5, a transverse vertical section taken through the
dotted line in Fig. 1. In each Figure the same letters of reference denote
similar corresponding parts.
A, A, handle or holder of wood or otherwise; B, B, metal frame secured
to the handle in manner shewn; C, C, leading guide.roller; D, D, damping.
roller moving in contact therewith; E, E, brass.or-other metal slides fitted to
the handle as aforesaid; F, F, pressing roller coated with leather or other

page_text: wise; G, G, surface plate with toothed cutter G for dividing the stamps at
their perforations; H, H, underplate to which the same is attached; I, I,
circular opening for fingering the stamps as they pass between the upper and
lower plates to the cutter; J, J, coil of stamps with their gummed surfaces
outwards; K, K, winch handle and roller for coiling or winding the stamps
preparatory, to use; L, L, position of stamp for being cut and passed through;
M, M, loose flap moving on wire pin M¹ for guiding the stamps into the side
grooves; N, N, curved guard of metal for enclosing the underneath opening
to the stamps; 0, 0, reacting spring for conveying pressure to the damping
roller; P, P, stud centres upon which the rollers revolve; Q, Q, bed or
table on which the instrument works; R, R, bath or trough formed at one
end thereof of perforated zinc or other metal for moistening the damping roller
previous to use; S, S, tank charged with water for supplying the bath; T, T,
surface covered with baize or otherwise for facilitating the working of the
apparatus.
In conclusion to the foregoing description we would here briefly note that
the construction and arrangement of the several parts above described may
receive such other modifications as may be found necessary for adapting or
rendering the same suitable for all descriptions of adhesive stamps, as well as
for enabling the same to be supplied to the apparatus and separated in con-
tinuous succession, or employed singly or in sets.
And we would further note that the said stamps may be either wound upon
a reel or clip contained within the body, as above described, or arranged and
placed separately within a box or slide fitted to the instrument or otherwise.
And we would again note that the said apparatus may be employed in con-
nection with the table and damping apparatus, or independently of the same,
by substituting, in lieu of the said table, a trough or receptacle for water,
placed within the instrument in close proximity to the damping roller, so as
to supply moisture to the same..
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed and carried
into effect, we would have it clearly understood that we do not intend to con
fine ourselves to the precise details herein-before described, as the same may
be otherwise varied without departing from the general principle of this our
said Invention, nor do we claim as new and of our said Invention the exclu-
sive use of the several parts and combinations thereof herein-before set forth,
except when the same are employed in and for the purposes of our said Inven-
tion, which we hereby declare to consist in the construction and mechanical,

page_text: combination of the several parts in connection with the mode of damping,
supplying, and affixing adhesive stamps in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before set forth and described.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Gill and Buckingham Bird,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eighteenth day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.