Improvements in Mail Marking Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 11th May, 1897-Accepted, 26th June, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mail Marking Machines.
I, HENRY EDWARD WAITE, of Otis Street, Newton, in the County of
Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of my 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 relates to mail-marking machines in which letters are moved
end wise, one at a time, between a printing and an impression cylinder, and arè
delivered from said cylinders to a table on which they are packed or assembled in
a compact mass, side by side. The invention has for its object to provide a simple
and effective packing apparatus for machines of this class, and it consists in the
improvements which I will now proceed to describe and claim.
Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,―
Figure 1 represents a top view of a portion of a mail-marking machine provided
with my improvements.
Figure 2 represents a similar view, showing the rotary packer in a somewhat
different position.
Figures 3 and 4 represent views similar to Figures 1 and 2, showing the letter-
abutment on the pack-supporting table at a different adjustment from that shown
in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 5 represents a section on line 5-5 of Figure 4.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
In the drawings:
a represents a portion of an endless carrier-belt, which is arranged to run
horizontally along the bottom of a trough or hopper and carry forward letters
which are dropped edgewise upon it, the letters being carried by the said carrier
between an impression-cylinder and a printing-cylinder, as usual in machines of
this class.
b represents a table arranged to receive the letters delivered by the carrier a,
said table being substantially flush with the upper surface of the carrier, 'as
c represents a
indicated in Figure 5, where the carrier is shown in dotted lines.
guide affixed to the table b and comprising a straight portion 2, which extends
beside the path in which the letters are moved by the carrier a, an oblique
portion which extends across said path, and a straight portion 6 parallel to the
straight portion 2. Said guide is preferably a metal strip or flange having ears c¹
which are screwed to the table b.
e represents a vertical shaft, which is journaled in suitable bearings below the
table and projects upwardly therethrough. To said shaft, above the table, is
affixed a series of disks e', which collectively constitute a packer, which is so
arranged relatively to the guide c that portions of the disks el project through
slots formed in said guide, as shown in Figure 5.. Each disk e' has a recess
comprising the two sides and 5, which are relatively arranged, so that when the
pack is in the position shown in Figures 1 and 3, the side 4 will coincide with the
straight portion 2 of the guide, while the side 5 will project, through the guide
and across the letter-path, and will bear against one end of a pack p of letters
and hold said pack away from the straight portion of the guide sufficiently to
form a recess at one end of the letter-path, into which the letters are projected by

page_text: the carrier, as indicated in Figures 1 and 3, where the advancing letter is
designated pl. The packer is continuously rotated in the direction indicated by
the arrow marked thereon, its rotation being timed so that it is in the position
shown in Figures 1 and 3, first sidewise against the body of the pack, as shown in
Figures 2 and 4, and then end wise along the pack, until its advancing end strikes
an abutment projecting above the table b.
The segmental portions of the peripheries of the disks bear against the
letter-pack, excepting during the brief interval when the disks are rotating from
the position shown in Figure 1 to that shown in Figure 2, the bearing of said disks
against the pack keeping the pack away from the guide 2. In order that the
bearing of the disk against the pack may be practically at the centre of the width
of the pack, this being essential in order that the end of the pack may be kept
substantially parallel with the guide c, I provide the table 6 with an adjustable
abutment, so that when short envelopes or letters are being treated, the abutment
may be moved forward to such position that it will arrest the ends of short letters
when the central portions of said letters are in position to bear upon the peripheries
of the disks e¹. When longer letters are being treated, the abutment is moved
back a distance corresponding to the variation between the length of the longer
and shorter letters. I have here shown two interchangeably acting abutments f
and f', the abutment b being a strip having dowel-pins f by which it may be
detachably secured to the table b, the latter having holes to receive said pins.
When shorter letters are being treated, the abutment is secured to the table b, as
shown in Figures 1 and 2, and arrests the forward ends of the letters in position
to cause their upper portions to bear against the peripheries of the disks e'.
longer letters are being treated, the abutment fis removed, and the abutment f¹,
which as here shown, is rigidly secured to the table and is preferably an extension
of the guide b', arrests the advancing ends of the letters, as shown in Figures 3
and 4.
to
When
It will be seen that the described improvements enable letters of different sizes
be accurately packed as fast as they are delivered by the carrier.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a mail-marking machine, the combination of a carrier for conveying the
letters in a predetermined path; a fixed guide having a portion which extends
beside said path, and a rotary packer having a cylindrical periphery containing a
recess, one side of which coincides with the straight portion of the guide at a given
point in the rotation of the packer, and another side which at said point extends
across the letter path.
2. In a mail-marking machine, the combination of a carrier adapted to convey
letters end wise in a predetermined path; a fixed guide having a straight portion
which extends beside said path, an oblique portion which extends obliquely across
the letter-path, and a straight portion parallel to the other straight portion; a
rotary packer having a cylindrical periphery containing a recess one side of which
coincides with the straight portion of the guide at a given point in the rotation of
the packer, and another side which at said point extends across the letter-path;
a pack-receiving bed or table extending from said guide, and an abutment on
said table, adjustable relative to the packer and to the oblique portion of the fixed
guide.
Dated this 21st dow of Muh 1007
HENRY EDWARD WAITE.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.