AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR FORMING, PRINTING, AND COUNTING LABELS
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Isaac Hewitt at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th November-
1867.
I, ISAAC HEWITT, of No. 14, Grange Street, Hoxton, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR FORMING, PRINTING, AND COUNTING LABELS," to
be as follows:
My Invention relates to the construction of a machine for manufacturing in
a more perfect and expeditious manner than has hitherto been found practi
cable plain or printed labels for addressing parcels and luggage, and for
medical and other purposes.
The said Invention consists chiefly in the devices and apparatus for printing,
folding, punching, eyeletting, dividing, and counting the said labels, in the
means for supplying the strips of paper or other material to the machine, and
in the combination therein of the said devices and apparatus, whereby the
strip is fed into the machine and the labels delivered from the same in a
Reffect or finished condition. The strips of paper, parchment, or other
material are fed in at one end of the machine to the printing apparatus over
the inking bed of the latter which is a band of india-rubber or other flexible
material. The platen is fixed to the top of the frame while the type plate or
as it is
table moves up and down below the same. The strip is held fast
printed and folded by holding devices, which release it at the proper time.and
allow it to pass forward to the folding, cutting, and punching devices. The
folding is performed by fixed and movable folders; the former holds the end

page_text: of the strip while the latter are caused to rise and slide over the edge of the
fixed folders turning the end of the label down over the same. The end when
thus folded over is held down by grippers while the punch descends and forms
the hole for the eyelet. The label still held by the grippers is then moved
forward to the eyeletting apparatus which is supplied with eyelets from a rod
or wire. Each eyelet is dropped separately on the eyelet punch which then
rises against the die and inserts and secures the eyelet. The strips are
divided by a knife or blade pivoted at the side of the machine and caused to
descend at the proper intervals to form the labels of the required length. The
printing, folding, and other apparatus are operated by suitable cams or other
devices on the driving shaft or upon a cam shaft geared in connection with
the same. A recording or counting device is connected with the machine to
indicate the number of labels manufactured. The parts of the machine are
supported upon metal or other framing which is preferably constructed of two
side pieces united by cross ties or rods. The main or driving shaft is carried
in suitable bearings in these side pieces and is geared in connection with a
.cam shaft extending across the top of the same at one end of the machine.
The printing apparatus is arranged near the other end of the framing.
Instead of the ordinary inking table I employ a band of india-rubber, gutta
percha, thin metal, or other flexible material. This band is arranged to run
over rollers driven by a belt from the main shaft and is supplied with ink by a
suitable distributing roller which is operated by a cam on the came shaft to
take the ink from the "doctor" roller to the inking band. The inking rollers
which supply the ink to the type are fitted to turn within a frame which slides
in suitable guideways fixed to the main framing, and the said rollers are
caused to.roll.upon.this band and take the ink from the same to the form.
The type plate or table is arranged below the platen which is firmly fixed upon
the top of the frame. The said type plate or table is fitted to slide up and
down in vertical guideways attached to the side frames, and is operated by
suitable cams on the main shaft. The said plate or table is provided with an
adjustable plate on its upper surface which is fitted with screws, whereby the
form can be raised or lowered to regulate the depth of the impression. The
same object may also be effected by the adjustment of the platen. After the
impression of the type has been produced the end of the strip is carried forward
to the dividing and folding devices. The knife for dividing the strips into
portions of the required length is fixed upon a pivot at the side of the machine
and is provided with an arm which is jointed to one end of a link whose other
end is connected with an arm of a rocking shaft supported in bearings attached
to the side of the framing. The said rocking shaft is operated by a grooved

page_text: or other suitable cam on the cam shaft and causes the knife to descend and
divide or cut off the finished labels. The end of the remaining part of the
strip is at this time held firmly down by a thin triangular metal plate which
is fixed upon a transverse bar and arranged in connection with a pair of
folders of corresponding shape; these folders are formed with a shank or stem
which passes through a socket in a longitudinal sliding plate arranged below
the bed of the machine framing. A rocking shaft extending across the said
framing and operated by a cam on the cam shaft is provided with an arm with
a bevilled point which first raises the folder in the socket and then moves the
latter back, causing the edge of the folder to fold the edges of the strip down
over the triangular plate. The knife'is at the same time moved up into its
normal position and allows a folding cross bar to slide backward over the
folded down corners of the strip, while at the same time the triangular plate
is moved back out of the fold of the strip by means of a cam on the cam shaft,
with which cam it is connected by a suitable rod. A flat plate attached to
the folding cross bar then holds these corners down, while the point of the fold:
formed by the triangular plate is turned upward by a folder which is fitted into
a socket in a sliding plate, and is caused by an arm on the rocking shaft to
move back and fold down the point of the strips in the manner already
described: The said point when thus folded down lies over a small recess in
the folding plate on the cross bar. The punch for forming the hole to
receive the eyelet is arranged above this recess, and is connected to an arm
attached to a shaft which is supported in standards fixed on the framing,
The said shaft is connected by other arms and by suitable rods or links to a
lever which is so formed and arranged in connection with a cam on the main
shaft that a very quick motion is thereby imparted to the punch. A pair of
small grippers are arranged upon a small rod carried by the transverse bar to
hold the point of the strip down while the punch descends and forms-the hole..
This small rod is operated by a stop on the same slide which raises and lowers.
the distributing roller of the inking apparatus. The punch is then raised
while the grippers continue to hold the strip. The transverse bar to which
the triangular plates are secured also carries thin flat plates which when forced
down hold the strips stationary during the printing, folding, and punching
operations. These plates are depressed by fingers on a small shaft provided
with a rod or arm which is held by spring, and is drawn back to raise the
said fingers and release the strips by a suitably shaped cam on the main shaft.
The transverse bar or other convenient portion of the folding apparatus is pro-
vided with lateral guides by which the said apparatus is adapted to strips of
various widths. Other guides for the said strips are provided at the rear of
a

page_text: the platen, and rollers and a friction device; are attached to the frame to
facilitate and regulate the movement of the said strips. One machine may be
adapted to manufacture all ordinary sized labels, but I prefer to limit the
variations of each machine o three or four sizes. To vary the length of the
labels I provide the cam which moves the strips forward with adjustable
segments, the groove in each one being formed to produce a different throw.
The folding cross bar is attached to a longitudinal sliding bar or rod, which is
furnished with a pin or stud by preference provided with an antifriction roller
fitted to work in a groove in the side of the segmental cam on the cam shaft.
As the latter rotates the cam groove draws the sliding bar forward, and brings
the end of the strip nearly up to the eyeletting apparatus which is provided
with a punch fixed below the strip and another punch or die arranged over the
same. The eyelets are preferably supplied to the lower punch from a rod or
wire which deposits them through a small tube one by one on the said punch.
The latter is then moved back exactly under the hole in the strip. The said
punch then rises and inserts and secures the eyelet in the strip. The eyelet
apparatus is operated by suitable cams or other devices on the cam shaft. An
indicating or recording apparatus may be attached to my improved machine to
enable the quantity of the work performed thereby to be correctly and con-
veniently ascertained. The apparatus: I prefer to employ consists of an upright
scale provided with a pointer, which is moved upward by the turning of a screw;
the latter is provided with a ratchet wheel or other suitable device which is
operated by a pawl on the slide which operates the distributing roller.
Each of my machines may be constructed with any desired number of
the folding, punching, eyeletting, and other devices, but I prefer to construct
the said machines with two sets of the same arranged side by side, each set
operating independently of the other upon a separate strip of the paper,
parchment or other material.