AN IMPROVED SELF-INKING HAND STAMP
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marc Antoine François Mennons, of the British
and Foreign Patent Offices, 24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the
Empire of France, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SELF-INKING
HAND STAMP."-A communication from Louis Mathieu Hector Fromont,.
residing at No. 18, Rue Chapon, Paris, France.
Sealed the 30th December 1862, and dated the 7th August 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marc Antoine François
-Mennons at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th August 1862.
I, MARC ANTOINE FRANÇOIS MENNONS, of the British and Foreign Patent
Offices, 24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby
declare the nature' of the' said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SELF-INKING
HAND STAMP," (a communication,) to be as follows:-
..
This Invention consists in an improved combination of mechanism forming
a self-inking hand stamp, the construction of which will be readily understood
by reference to the annexed Drawing.
Figure 1 represents the core A of the apparatus with its ink. reservoir and
pad; Figure 2 represents the outer tube or sheath B; Figure 3 represents
the inner slide tube C; Figures 4,5,.represent the die D in section and plan;
Figure 6 represents the completo stamp.
a(Fig. 1). is a handle, in wood, ivory, or other matter, screwed to the
tube b, in which runs a second tube c, surrounded by a spiral pressure spring d;
c., are the ink' reservoir and pad; 9 is a shoulder-piece, forming cover of

page_text: the outer tube or sheath B, Fig. 2, to which it is adjusted by the screw h;
i, i, Fig. 2, are two screws passing through the tubes B, C, (the latter (C)
being provided at each side with a longitudinal slot for that purpose,) and
serving as pivots, on which revolves the die D, Fig. 4; j, k, l, m, are small
studs set horizontally in the sliding tube C, Fig. 3, and corresponding with
notches cut on the circumference of the die D, as seen in n, o, p, q, Figs. 4, 5;
r, s, are upright studs set in the lower part of the same tube, also corresponding
with the notches of the die, which they hold in position at each down stroke
of the stamp. Figure 6 represents the assemblage of the different parts above
described. In the position shewn in this Figure the face of the die D is
pressed by the repelling action of the spring d on the face of the inking pad f.
On pressing the apparatus on the surface to be stamped the sheath B descends,
carrying with it the die, which striking successively on the projecting studs
j, k, l, m, of the tube C, turns completely over, and presents its inked face to
the opening of the latter. The impression being produced and the hand
raised, the spiral again repels the inner tube and ink pad, to which latter the
face of the die is pressed as before, ready for the return stroke. When out of
use the tube C and spring d may be pressed to the top of their range, and
there maintained by a fastening of any suitable kind. The stamp is thus
rendered more compact and portable, its length being reduced by that of the
sliding tube. If so desired, the die may be provided with two or more
stamping faces, the escapement being modified accordingly. The size, form,
and general arrangement of the apparatus may also be modified according to
its intended application.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed 2
by the said Marc Antoine François Mennons in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th January 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARC
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS MENNONS, formerly of the British and Foreign Patent
Offices, 24, Rue du Mont Thabor, but now of 24, Rue de Dunkerque, Paris, 3
in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, Her special licence that

page_text: I, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Marc Antoine François
Mennons, my 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 "AN IMPROVED
SELF-INKING HAND STAMP," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Marc Antoine François Mennons, my exccutors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons,
do hereby declare the nature of the said 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 consists in a self-inking stamp, combining the stamp or clie
and the inking pad. The die turns on itself in raising or descending the
interior of the apparatus, and thus presents its face alternately to the inking
pad and to the article which is to receive the impression. The inking pad
and ink reservoir are placed in the upper part of the interior of the apparatus,
but so that the hand of the operator is not in immediate contact with the part
in which they are contained. The Figures of the annexed Drawing, on which
similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, will suffice to make the
mechanism and working of the apparatus understood.
The Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, representing detached those parts
of the apparatus which are enclosed in each other; Figs. 4 and 5 represent
the die seen from the side and from the front; Figs. 6 and 7, the mechanism
for opening or keeping the apparatus shut, as is shown in Figs. 10 and F1;
Figures 8 and 9 represent another side of Figures 2 and 3.
A is a handle, composed of three parts, the knob a, or end of the handle,
the lower or shoulder piece c', and the two concentric tubes, of which the
outer one 6 turns slightly on the other E, which is fixed, and in which moves,
under the pressure of the hand on the knob a, or of the spiral spring d, the
tube c, furnished at its upper part with a stud H. This stud slides in a groovo
I formed for that purpose in the interior of the tube b, and in a longitudinal
slot J, worked the whole length of that marked E. When the tube c is at

page_text: the height of its course, by turning that marked b, its groove I is removed.
from the axis of the longitudinal slot J in the tube E, and therefore the stud.
His maintained by a shoulder-piece in the upper part of the interior: of: the
tube B. The spring d is thus prèssed upon itself between the bottom of the
knob. and the top of the ink reservoir c. When the studs L, L, are not
opposite to cach other the apparatus is shut. In the contrary case the stud H.
moves freely in the groove I and.the slot J, and the tube C and the pad F to
which it is fixed descend under the pressure of the spring; B is a tube
screwed to the base of the handle, in which moves the tube C, and into which
the pad F slides.. It has in the lower part opposite to each other two holes,
in which are fixed two screws i, i, serving as axles for the die D. The tube C,
which moves rather tightly in that marked B, has a shoulder-picco Q, Q, at its.
upper end, on which the lower edge of the pad F rests when at the lowest part
of its course and pressed by the spring, and at its lower edge a flange R, R, on,
which the border of the dio S rests at the moment of making the impression.
On each side of the tube C, and three-quarters of its height, are two slots T,
in which slide the axles i, 'i, of the die. This tube has in its interior, and.at
or about the middle of its length, four studs j, k, l, m, placed two at each side,.
and one above the other; at its lower part the same tube is provided with
four other studs,, fixed two by two, and in a vertical direction in its lower
edge R, corresponding to four small notches n, o, p, q, in the flange of the die,
which receive the action of these studs, 2, so as to cause the die to fall
perpendicularly on the surface to bo stamped.
iT
the
The manner in which the stamping is performed is as follows:-The
studs L, L, are placed opposite each other, the spring D not being 'supported
presses on the pad F, the lower edge of which presses on the shoulder-piece Q
of the tube C, and forces it to descond at the same time that, the die rises in
the tube to receive the ink. The Figure 10 represents.the apparatus in this
position. In placing the apparatus on the surface to be 'stamped the knob; or
end of the handle is pressed, this pressure drives the tube C into the tube B
and by means of the shoulder-piece Q the pad F is pushed up and presses,
spring D up with it., During the ascending movement of these different parts
the die receives a contrary impulse, being drawn by its axles fixed in the
outside tubo B, and descends on the surface to be stamped. The Figure 11
represents the apparatus in this position, which differs from that where the
instrument is shut, only because the studs L, L, are seen placed opposite to
each other. The rotary movement of the die is performed by means of four
flanges X, X, X,X, placed at each side of its axles, and the studs j, k, l, m, in
the middle of the tube C; whether the die descends or rises, its edge, or the

page_text: flanges which surround it, strikes against the two upper studs j, l, or the two
lower ones k, m; it turns thus and takes a vertical position, then the rising or
descending movement continuing, two of the flanges, X, X, whether upper or
lower depends upon the movement, are placed between the four studs j, k, l, m,
which give a second turn to the die, causing it to again assume an horizontal
position, and to present its inked face to the surface to be stamped, and
vice versa.
The apparatus above described may be much simplified without altering
its results by suppressing the three tubes b, E, c, the stud H, the groove I, the
slot J, the studs L, L, Z, Z, Z, Z, the flange R, R, the border S, the notches
n, o, p, q, and the flanges X, X, X, X, of the die. The apparatus thus modified
is represented in detail by the Figures 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. By
reason of this modification the tube B is fixed to the handle A by the screws
P, P, the handle being in this case solid. The spring d is fixed by one end
to the handle, and by the other to the reservoir and ink pad. The die D,
Figures 16, 17, and 18, has at the back or part opposite to the engraved
surface a single flange V, which replaces the flanges X, X, X, X, and the
shoulder-piece U, Figures 14 and 15, replaces the stud Z, Z, Figures 3
and 11.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
carrying it into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise mechanical details above laid down, as it is evident that these
details may in many points be modified without in any way departing from
the principle which forms the base of the system; but what I claim is,—
1st, the placing of the two concentric tubes 6 and E, and the ascending and
descending movenients of these tubes, which in drawing the die D give to it a
rotary movement, of which the result is to carry the faco of the said die
alternately to the inking pad F and to the surface to be stamped.
And, 2nd, the isolated position of the reservoir e and of the inking pad F in
the interior of the tubes, by which it is kept from immediate contact with and
consequently from the heat of the operator's hand.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
T
MENNONS