Improvements in Stamp Cancelling and Post Marking Machines.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Dec., 1892-Accepted, 4th Feb., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Stamp Cancelling and Post Marking Machines.
I WILLIAM RODOLPHUS LANDFEAR, of No. 258 Madison Street, Brooklyn
in the County of Kings and State of New York, United States of America,
Engineer, 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 improvements in stamp cancelling and post marking
machines in which a receiving hopper is adapted to direct the letters deposited
therein, to the point where they are to be operated upon by the cancelling and
printing device, and a printing and cancelling cylinder or wheel, serves, in
connection with an impression pad and stops, to release the letters one at a time,
and draw them from the receiving hopper.
The general object in view is to provide a simple and durable machine, which
can be furnished at a comparatively light cost, and which is well adapted to use in
connection with the business of the greater number of the post offices throughout
this and other countries.
A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying
drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1 is a view of the machine in front elevation.
Fig. 2 is a transverse section through line
actuating shaft.
of Fig. 1, at right angles to the
Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the receiving hopper; and
Fig. 4 is a transverse section, partly in elevation, looking in the opposite direction
from that in Fig. 2, showing a modified form of inking mechanism.
The supporting frame comprises a plate A, adapted to be screwed to the under-
side of a table or other suitable support, at such height as may be convenient for
operating the machine, and a depending flange a at one edge of the plate A. In
the present instance, I have shown the depending flange a as found integral with
the plate A, and extending a short distance above the plate as well as below it, and
provided with a recess a¹, which forms, when covered by the front plate A¹, the
receiving hopper.
I have formed the flange a so as to extend in a direction oblique to the plane
of the plate A, and have formed the recess a', or interior of the hopper, with its
end substantially parallel, and gradually contracting in width from its top to its
bottom, and the recess also gradually contracting in size from the edge or end, a",
against which the letter would naturally fall, under the influence of gravity, toward
the opposite edge or end a³, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3. As the edges of the
interior surface of the flange a contain lines which lie in different planes, it follows
that said surface is other than a plane surface, and, as a matter of fact, it winds
from its bottom upwardly and outwardly.
:
By so forming the hopper, and setting it oblique to the plane of the table, the
letters, when deposited in the hopper, no matter how carelessly they be tossed
therein, will seek to arrange themselves with one of their edges against the side a²
to be cancelled
of the hopper, and will present their ends where the stamp
and the post mark applied, in position to be operated upon by the cancelling and
printing mechanism.
The front plate A' is provided with a pair of arms or lugs a*, projecting out-
wardly from its edges, and provided in their ends with bearings a³, for the reception
of the operating shaft R
.

page_text: The front plate A' is adapted to be fastened to the edges of the flange a, by
screws, or any other well known or suitable fastening device, and forms, as before
stated, the front wall of the hopper.
On the shaft B, intermediate of the arms a', the cancelling and printing
cylinder, or wheel, C, is fixed, and provided on its face with the cancelling and
printing type. In the present instance, the cancelling type consists of a series of
parallel ribs C, adapted to print a series of parallel lines across the stamp on the
letter, and a ring C2 provided with type for indicating the name of the post office,
and with removable type for determining the date, etc., as is common.
Motion is imparted to the shaft carrying the wheel C, by means of a band
pulley D, located thereon, and adapted to be connected with a source of power,
not shown. A crank of any well known or suitable construction may be employed
instead of the pulley. The face of the wheel C is so located with respect to the
discharge end of the hopper, that the type thereon will come into contact with the
side of the letter as it projects through the mouth of the hopper. An impression
pad, consisting of a cylinder c of elastic material, is loosely mounted on a stud d,
projecting laterally from the end of a depending swinging arm d', pivotally
secured to the rear side of the flange a. A spring 2 exerts its tension in a
direction to throw the impression roller c toward the face of the printing
cylinder C.
The printing cylinder C is provided with an annular spur gear c¹ (see Fig. 4),
which intermeshes with a corresponding gear c² on the impression roller, and
causes the two rollers to move together.
I provide an annular rim G around the periphery of the wheel C, in proximity
to the gear c', the face of said rim or guide being adapted to bear upon a corre-
sponding rim or guide on the roller c, so as to hold, at all times, the face of the
roller c sufficiently far from the face of the wheel C, to prevent the cancelling and
printing type from bearing against and smutting the face of the roller c.
The cancelling and printing type is on a base which stands out a short distance
from the periphery of the wheel C, and in order that the letter may be carried
forward and discharged from between the wheel C and roller c, after the
cancelling and printing has been completed, I provide a partial annular bearing
rim c, the face of which forms a continuation of the face of the type base, so as
to clamp the letter between it and the roller c sufficiently to give it an advance
movement.
A swinging stop E is pivotally secured to the front of the plate A', and has
one of its branches e¹ extended downwardly along the plate, and underneath the
discharge opening in the hopper, so as to arrest a letter deposited within the hopper.
Another branch e extends forwardly in proximity to the end of the wheel or
cylinder C, and is operated upon at the proper moment by means of a laterally
projecting stud e³, set in the end of the wheel, so as to swing the said stop in a
direction to allow the letter to drop freely through the discharge end of the
hopper. As the letter falls, it is again arrested by means of a spring-actuated
foot-piece e, which is mounted on the arm d¹, so as to swing against the tension of
the spring e, in a direction to allow the letter to be carried out of the hopper
between the wheel or cylinder C and the roller c. The foot piece e is intended to
arrest the letter as it falls from the stop E, just long enough to allow the cancelling
and printing type to seize it. After the stop E has been swung in the direction to
allow the letter to drop onto the foot e, it will be allowed to return to its normal
position under the tension of its actuating spring e, so as to arrest any subsequent
letter which may be deposited in the hopper, before the letter last released shall
have been drawn therefrom.
An inking roller F is mounted in a swinging support f, and there is fixed, to
rotate with the roller, a disc f¹, which is adapted to swing into and out of
engagement with the rim G on the cancelling wheel C. The rim G is provided,
throughout a short portion of its length, with a raised or cam portion g, which,
coming in contact with the under side of the disc f', will lift the inking roller F

page_text: into contact with the ink-supply pad or roller F¹. The ink supply pad or roller F
is mounted in the mouth of an ink-supply tank H, that portion toward the interior
of the tank H, being in position to become saturated with the ink, and as the part
charged with the ink is exposed to the exterior of the trough, it parts with its ink
to the roller F, by which the ink is transferred to the faces of the type and
cancelling devices on the cancelling wheel. In order to positively operate the ink-
supply pad or roller, so as to present a thoroughly inked surface to the roller F,
I provide a ratchet-toothed wheel f², mounted to rotate with the pad or roller F1,
and mount a spring-actuated pawls upon the swinging support, so that when the
latter is swung upwardly by the engagement of the disc with the cam g, the
pawl f will engage the ratchet-toothed wheel f2, and rotate the pad or roller F1
just before the inking roller F engages with said pad.
The supply of ink to the faces of the type and cancelling devices, is made
dependent upon the passage of the letters through the hopper in the following
manner: A swinging arm I depends from the swinging support f, and extends
through a slot in the side of the hopper, its free end i within the hopper being
beveled, so that a letter K, falling to the bottom of the hopper, will push it to one
side out of the way, as indicated in Fig. 2, against the tension of a light spring,
which tends to hold it normally in contact with the wall of the hopper opposite
that where it enters. The arm I is provided, on its shank, with a nose, which is
adapted to engage an off-set a on the exterior of the hopper, when the arm I is
not pressed back by the insertion of a letter. The offset a is of such a height,
that when the nose rests thereon, it will hold the disc f1 out of engagement with
the rim G, and the inking rolier F out of engagement with the face of the type-
cancelling devices. The arm I will be lifted to such a height as to enable its
nose to engage the offset a", whenever the cam g engages the disc f. So long,
however, as letters K are fed to the hopper, the arm I is pressed back out of
engagement with the offset aº, and the inking roller F will continue to ink the
type and cancelling devices.
A rock shaft L is journalled in arms a', and provided with a crank 1,
which has in its end an elongated slot ', which receives a pin b, set
eccentrically in the end of the shaft B, forming, in effect, a crank on said shaft.
To the rock shaft L there is fixed a depending stacker M, consisting, in the
present instance, of a thin plate, the upper portion, m, of which extends in a
direction to direct the letter, as it is discharged from the cancelling wheel, to its
position within the receiving trough O, and the lower portion m¹ of which, is bent
at an angle to the upper portion, and occupies such a position relative to the
vertical, as to give the letters a slight tilt over against the support P. As the
shaft B revolves, it rocks the shaft L, and thereby causes the stacker M to move
back and forth, away from and toward the support B, the movements being so
timed, that the stacker M moves away as the letter is discharged from the
cancelling wheel, and receives it between its lower portion m', and the stack or
support P, and then, before another letter fall, presses the letter which has just
dropped into position, over against the support, or the letters which have previously
fallen, and at the same time moves the whole stack, and the support P, along the
trough O, a distance equal to the width of one of the letters. The support P is
simply an angle plate resting loosely in the trough O, and is employed to prevent
the letters from falling over as they are stacked by the stacker M.
The stacker M may be conveniently adjusted on the rock shaft L, by means of
set screws m², extending through its bearings, and impinging against the shaft.
To prevent a retrograde movement of the stack, after it has been advanced by
the stacker, I provide a stop, consisting, in the present instance, of a plate Q,
which extends upwardly from the angle of the trough and spaced from one side
thereof, and so arranged, that the advance movement of the stacker will carry the
letter past the edge of the plate, and permit it to fall against the side of the trough
in advance of the edge of the plate, which then becomes an abutment to hold the

page_text: an engagement with a fixed support, to hold the inking roller away from the faces.
of the type, said arm being under the control of the falling letter within the
hopper, to hold it away from said fixed support, and allow the inking roller to
engage the type on the cancelling wheel, substantially as set forth.
5. The combination with the hopper, the cancelling wheel, the ink supply, and
the vibrating inking roller, of a spring-actuated arm depending from the inking
roller support, and extending normally across the interior of the hopper, and a
fixed stop with which said arm is adapted to engage, and hold the inking roller
away from the cancelling wheel, the said arm being under the control of a letter
within the hopper, to hold it out of engagement with said fixed stop, substantially
as set forth.
6. The combination with the cancelling wheel and means for operating it, of the
reciprocating stacker, the laterally-tilted receiving trough along which the stacker
is adapted to move, and a stop on the face of the trough in position to hold the
letter during its passage over it out of its subsequent adjustment, under the-
influence of gravity, substantially as set forth.
Dated the 3rd day of December 1892.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant..