An Improved Postage Stamp Affixer.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Jan., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 5th Oct., 1894-Accepted, 10th Nov., 1894
TRUVIDIONAL. SIEVITICATION.
An Improved Postage Stamp Affixer.
I, ARTHUR HENRY GALE of 110, Strand, W.C., Builder's Surveyor, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a device for mechanically affixing postage stamps to
letters whereby the operations of severing the stamps from the sheet, damping, and
affixing them is very much facilitated.
Strips of stamps as torn from the sheet are attached end to end to form a
coutinuous strip and wound on a reel or in the form of a roll from which they are
drawn by the operation of the damping and affixing device. This consists of a
damping and pressing plate hinged upon a sliding support which is capable of
receiving to and fro motion in guides to an extent corresponding exactly to the
breadth of a stamp. This plate carries a damping pad in such position that when
the plate support is at one end of its stroke the pad will coincide in position with
and may be pressed against the adhesive surface of the first stamp of the strip
which projects from the stamp receiver in readiness to be thereby moistened and
affixed. During this operation the stamp is supported against the pressure of the
pad by a fixed plate upon which is mounted a spring-actuated knife in such position
that when permitted to come into operation, it will sever the strip of stamps at the
line of perforations between the stamp which has been moistened and affixed and the
succeeding one, the operation of the knife being controlled by the presser plate
above mentioned which is provided with means whereby the knife is moved and
held out of operative position during the moistening and affixing of the stamp
and is only permitted to come into action when the stamp is affixed and the strip
drawn out so as to bring the next succeeding stamp into position to be moistened
and affixed in turn.
The moistening and affixing of a stamp are effected in three movements of the
presser plate, by the first of which the stamp is moistened by the pad, by the second
the letter is pressed by the presser plate against the moistened adhesive surface,
and by the third the presser plate is moved along its guides, carrying the letter
with it and drawing out the strip of stamps the distance of one stamp until by the
release of the knife from the guide by which it has been to this point held out of the
way its spring is permitted to act to bring the knife with a drawing cut across
the strip of stamps just at the line of perforations which coincides with the edge of
the envelope, thereby severing the stamp which has been affixed, from the
remainder of the strip.
The presser plate may be provided with or connected to a lever handle by which
it may be oscillated and moved along its guides and it may be hollow to contain a
supply of water with which the absorbent material of the pad communicates directly
or through a wick or otherwise, in order that the pad shall be maintained at the
proper degree of moisture.
Dated this 6th day of January 1894.

page_text: An Improved Postage Stamp Affixer.
I, ARTHUR HENRY GALE, of 110, Strand, W.C., Builder's Surveyor, 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 :-
My invention relates to a device for mechanically affixing postage stamps to
letters and post-cards, whereby the operations of severing the stamps, damping, and
affixing them, are very much facilitated.
The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings,
forming part of this Specification, wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional
elevation, Figure 2 a longitudinal front elevation, and Figure 3 a plan, of the
postage stamp affixer. Figures 4 and 5 are cross-sections of the same on lines 4-
and 5-5 respectively. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all
the figures.
Strips of stamps, as torn from the sheet, are attached end to end to form a
continuous strip and wound on a reel or in the form of a roll A contained in a
box B from which the stamps are drawn in succession by the operation of the
damping and affixing device. This consists of a damping and pressing table C
hinged at c upon a support D capable of sliding in guides d in the base plate to an
extent corresponding exactly to the breadth or length (as the case may be) of the
stamp. This presser table C carries a damping pad E in such position that when
the support D is at the inner end of its stroke the pad E will coincide in position
with and may be pressed up against the adhesive under surface of the first stamp a
of the strip which projects from the stamp receiver B in readiness to be moistened
and affixed. During the damping operation the stamp a is supported against the
pressure of the pad E by a fixed bed plate F upon which is mounted a spring-
actuated guillotine knife G in such position that when the knife is permitted to
come into operation it will sever the strip of stamps at the liue of perforations
between the stamp which has been moistened and affixed and the next succeeding
stamp, the rise and fall of the knife G being produced and controlled by the motion
of the presser table C. For this purpose the presser table C carries a ledge H
adapted to act upon a downwardly-projecting lug h carried by the knife, so that
when the table C is moved from the inclined position shewn in Figure 1 to the
horizontal position the ledge H will come against the lug and raise the knife
which will be thereby held out of action during the operation of affixing the
moistened stamp and drawing out the strip so as to bring the next succeeding stamp
into position to be moistened and affixed in turn. The presser table C is provided
with a lever handle I by which it may be oscillated on its centre c and moved
together with its support D along the guides d which are provided with an
adjustable stop d¹ to limit the range of motion of the presser table. The table C
may be hollow, as at K, to contain a supply of water with which the absorbent
material of the pad E communicates directly or through a wick or otherwise, in
order that the pad E shall be maintained at the proper degree of moisture.
To facilitate the drawing of the strip from the reel, the strip is passed between
guide rollers b over a feed plate and beneath a rubber-faced feeding roller k on
the same axis with a driving roller L also rubber faced with which the roughened
face m of a steel spring M carried by the table C is adapted to make frictional
contact so as to revolve the roller K and thus draw the strip out when the table is
moved to the right, as hereafter described. The feed plate terminates in a
narrow tongue which holds up the stamps a projecting from the receiver B and
acts as a taker-off to prevent the stamp adhering to the pad E when the latter is
pressed against its adhesive surface in order to moisten it. The knife G is
contained in a box G' and is guided above by a stem 9 and below by the blade

page_text: portion working through a guide slot at the bottom of the box, the edge of the
knife being inclined so as to make a drawing cut under the action of a spring or
springs g contained in box G' and pressing on the knife blade. A rubber faced
pressing roller N is mounted near the lower end of the box G¹ in position to bear
and roll on the stamp as the envelope or card is drawn beneath it and so complete
the adhesion of the stamp.
The moistening and affixing of a stamp are performed as follows:-The presser
table C is first moved to the left, as shewn in Figure 1, then brought to the
horizontal position so as to press the pad against the adhesive under surface of the
stamp a, and then lowered to receive the letter or card which is placed upon it with
two of its edges against fences c', c³, of the table so as to bring the corner which is
to receive the stamp directly over the pad E. The table C is then returned to the
horizontal position so as to press the letter or card against the moistened adhesive
surface of the stamp and whilst still kept in the horizontal position it is moved to
the right, as shewn in Figures 2 and 3, so as to cause the affixing of the stamp to
be completed by the pressure of roller N and cause the strip to be drawn out from
the receiver B, the distance necessary to bring the next succeeding stamp into
position to be moistened, this drawing out of the strip being performed principally
by the action of the feed rollers above described so that there is no strain on the
partially-affixed stamp which would cause it to be shifted from its proper position.
On the completion of this movement the guide H passes from beneath the knife G
which is brought down by its springs and cuts across the strip of stamps just at the
line of perforations which coincides with the edge of the envelope or card thus
severing the stamp which has been affixed from the remainder of the strip and
leaving the next stamp upon the taker-off 6 in position to be moistened.
Upon the end of the presser table C a plate O is mounted to slide in guides, and
is pressed upwards by a spring o. The upper edge of this plate is notched to
straddle the taker-off tongue and is adapted to press against the underside of the
strip in order to assist in drawing out the strip from the receiver, this plate also
serving as a bed to hold the strip up to the knife during the cutting operation.
It will be obvious that a counting mechanism may be combined with and actuated
by the cutter to indicate the number of stamps used, and that the apparatus
above described is also applicable for similarly affixing other adhesive labels
besides postage stamps.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described postage stamp affixer, constructed and arranged to
operate substantially as specified.
2. In a postage stamp affixer, the combination of the herein described oscillating
and sliding table carrying a damping pad, with mechanism substantially as described
actuated by the pressing table for feeding the stamp strip to position for moistening
and affixing the stamp, as described.
3. In a postage stamp affixer, the combination of the herein described oscillating
and sliding table, of a cutter, and means substantially as described for actuating
the same, and for severing the stamp which has been affixed from the strip, as
described.
4. The combination, with the oscillating presser table and damping pad carried
thereby, of the taker-off tongue for preventing the adhesion of the moistened stamp
to the pad, as specified.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.