IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING ADHESIVE AGENTS TO PIECES OF PAPER AND OTHER LIGHT MATERIALS, AND FOR LIFTING THE SAME, ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ENVELOPES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Phineas Lawrence, of Basinghall Street, in the City
of London, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR APPLYING ADHESIVE AGENTS TO PIECES OF PAPER AND OTHER LIGHT
MATERIALS, AND FOR LIFTING THE SAME, ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ENVELOPES."
Sealed the 19th November 1867, and dated the 31st May 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Phineas Lawrence at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st May 1867.
I, PHINEAS LAWRENCE, of Basinghall Street, in the City of London,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING ADHESIVE AGENTS TO PIECES OF PAPER AND
OTHER LIGHT MATERIALS, AND FOR LIFTING THE SAME, ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ENVELOPES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to apparatus for applying adhesive agents to pieces of
paper and other materials, and for lifting the same by such agents, and iny
apparatus is especially applicable to machinery for the manufacture of enve-
lopes, for the purpose of applying adhesive agent or substance to the blanks
and lifting them to be creased and folded.
My Invention consists of an apparatus in which a holder or vessel for
containing adhesive agent receives reciprocating up-and-down motion, and

page_text: carries with it contrivances so actuated as to permit and interrupt the
passage or emission of the adhesive agent from the vessel or holder, and which
adhesive agent when emitted is by the action or downward travel of such
holder or vessel brought into contact with the pieces of paper or other
material, and is applied thereto and causes the same to adhere to the vessel
and to be raised by and with it in its upward travel.
In one arrangement for the purpose the vessel or holder, which has outlets
at bottom, is fitted with a piston or plunger, or a stem carrying a valve for
opening and closing the outlets, such piston, plunger, or valve is raised by
means of an adjustable abutment or other contrivance at the upward motion
of the vessel so as to open the outlets, and is depressed when released from
the action of such abutment or contrivance at the downward motion to expel
the adhesive agent and close the outlets. The mode in which this arrangement
may be carried into effect may be thus described :-The vessel or holder is
fitted with a plunger or stem carrying a valve combined with a lever and a
spring when the vessel travels upward one end of the lever comes in contact
with a screw or other adjustable abutment and is depressed, thereby raising
the other end and with it the piston or plunger, so that it opens the outlets
and allows the adhesive agent to flow under it ready to be expelled. Imme-
diately the vessel commences its descent the lever quits the screw or abutment,
its inner end rises, its outer end descends, and the piston will be depressed
with the aid of the spring and force the adhesive agent through the outlets,
whence it will be suspended and the piston will close the outlets. The adhesive
agent at the bottom of the vessel on coming in contact with the pieces of
paper or other material will be applied thereon and cause the same to adhere
one at a time to the bottom of the vessel and to be lifted with it in its next
upward travel; the screw or abutment. may be on a carrier jointed or fitted so
that the screw or abutment may be moved aside from a position directly over
the lever in order to clear it and put the piston out of action, so that when
my apparatus is combined with machinery, as, for example, envelope machines,
other parts of the latter may be kept in motion without working the piston.
In one modification of this arrangement pins or pieces attached to the
plunger and projecting below the vessel are brought by the latter's descent
into contact with the carrying bed or supply surface, and thereby forced
upward, carrying the plunger with them, so that it may act as above described;
it is depressed by a spring.
In another modification the plunger may be provided with a counterbalance
weight and spring baving at bottom a valve or plug entering a slot forming
the outlet of the vessel and projecting thence, so that by contact with the

page_text: pieces of paper or material on the vessel's descent it is pressed upward, and it
is depressed by the weight.
In another modification instead of using a piston or plunger the adhesive
agent is expelled by atmospheric pressure. This may be done, for example, as
follows:The vessel or holder may be closed and furnished with a tube
opened and shut by a tap, plug, valve, or other contrivance, or it may have a
flexible portion, so that the adhesive agent may be forced out by atmospheric
pressure and retained by removing such pressure. The support of the paper
or other material to be acted on by the adhesive agent may be stationary or
moveable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Phineas Lawrence in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th November 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PHINEAS
LAWRENCE, of Basingball Street, in the City of London, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Phineas Lawrence, Her special licence that I, the said Phineas
Lawrence, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Phineas Lawrence, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING ADHESIVE AGENTS TO PIECES OF PAPER AND
OTHER LIGHT MATERIALS, AND FOR LIFTING THE SAME, ESPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF ENVELOPES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Phineas Lawrence, my executors 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 Inven
tion, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Phineas Lawrence, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to apparatus for applying adhesive agents to pieces of
paper and other materials, and for lifting the same by means of such agents;
and my apparatus is especially applicable to machinery for the manufacture of
envelopes for the purpose of applying adhesive substance to the blanks and
lifting them to be creased and fulded.
My Invention consists of an improved construction of apparatus in which a
holder or vessel for containing an adhesive agent receives reciprocating up-
and-down motion, and carries with it in its travel contrivances with which it is
furnished, and which are so actuated as to effect and interrupt as required the
emission of the adhesive agent which such vessel or holder contains, and
which adhesive agent when emitted is by the action or travel of such holder
or vessel brought into contact with the pieces of paper or other material to
which it is to be applied and is applied to the same, thereby causing the same to
adhere to the vessel or holder, and to be raised by and with it in its upward
travel.
In one arrangement for the purpose the vessel or holder which has outlets at
bottom, is fitted with a piston or plunger or a stem carrying a valve for opening
and closing such outlets, such piston, plunger, or valve is raised by means of an
adjustable abutment at the upward motion of the vessel so as to open the
outlets, and is depressed when released from the action of such abutment so
as to expel the adhesive agent and close the outlets. The mode in which this
arrangement may be carried into effect is represented in the accompanying
Drawings, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4.
Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2 a transverse vertical section of an
apparatus constructed according to my Invention; Figure 3 is a plan of the
under side of the vessel or holder; Figure 4 is a front view of the piston or
plunger shewn detached,
A is a vessel or holder for containing the adhesive agent, it has at bottom
slots, perforations, or outlets a, a; B, b, is a piston or plunger, B being the
rod or stem, the lower end 6 of which forms a valve for opening and closing
the outlets a, a; this piston is capable of working up and down in guides c, c,
on a plate or frame A* attached to or made in a piece with the vessel A, so
as to form a continuation or prolongation upward of the face or front side
thereof; D is a lever working on a pin or fulcrum d fixed to the plate or

page_text: frame A*; one end of this lever is attached to or engages with the upper part
of the piston B; E is a spiral spring connected at one end with the piston B
by means of a book e fixed thereto and protruding through the plate A*, with
which plate the other end of the spring is connected. The vessel A is attached
or suspended by screws at f. f, to a bar or frame, to which up-and-down
motion is communicated by a cam or other ordinary contrivance worked by
hand or power, whereby vertical reciprocating motion is communicated to the
vessel A, but it may receive such motion by other ordinary contrivances; the
piston B, b, and lever D are carried with the vessel A, A*, in its travel. G is
a screw in a bar or earrier g, it forms an adjustable abutment, being readily
adjusted by raising or depressing it in its carrier g, the screw working in a
threaded socket therein. Fig. 5 is a plan of the carrier. Instead of a spiral
spring E caoutchouc or other springs may be used. W are the pieces of
paper or other material which are to receive the adhesive agent, and to be
lifted by the same; these are placed directly under the vessel A. When
motion is communicated to the vessel A, and it travels upward carryin the
piston B, b, and lever D with it, the inner end of the lever D is brought
contact with the bottom of the sorew G (such screw being first adjusted in
required position, and being stationary thereat, so that such end of the lever
may abut against it as against a fixed point). That end of the lever will be
thereby depressed and the other end raised, raising with it the piston B, so
that its end opens the outlets a and allows the adhesive agent to flow under
it ready to be expelled. Immediately that the vesse! A commences its down-
ward travel, and the lever D consequently quits the screw G, the inner end of.
the lever rises, so that its outer end together with the piston B, b, will be
depressed, such action being assisted and regulated by the spring E. The
piston in descending forces the adhesive agent through the outlets a, from
which it temporarily remains suspended, and when the piston finishes its
stroke its end b closes the outlets a. When the bottom of the vessel A from
which the adhesive agent expelled is now dependant comes into contact with
the pieces W some of the adhesive agent becomes applied thereto, and the
said pieces are thus caused to adhere to the bottom of the vessel A, and are
lifted with it in its next ensuing upward travel. The carrier 9 may be fitted to
a framework X by a joint h, so that it (the carrier) may be turned aside in
order that the screw G may be moved from a position directly over the
lever D, and thus clear it when the piston B is to be put out of action. This
is desirable especially when the apparatus is used in envelope machines,
as the machine can be kept in motion when desirable without working the
piston.

page_text: In another modification instead of using a plunger or piston for opening the
outlets and expelling the adhesive agent, atmospheric pressure may be used.
The vessel or holder is closed or covered in air-tight, and fitted with a tube
opened and closed by a tap, plug, valve, or other contrivance for admitting and
excluding air. When open the adhesive agent will be forced, as I am about
to describe, through the outlets in the bottom of the holder.
Fig. 6 is an elevation, and Fig. 7 side view of this arrangement.
A is the
vessel or holder for adhesive agent, baving outlets a at bottom, and made in a
piece with a plate A*, as in the previous arrangement, Figs. 1, 2, 3. The
vessel A is closed at top air-tight by a cover A2, in which is a feed opening
closed by a screw plug m; P is a tube communicating through the cover A
with the interior of the vessel A. At the top of the tube P is a ball or air
chamber Qformed of caoutchouc or similar flexible material, and resting in a
socket R. The chamber Q communicates with the tube P. S is a cock for
closing such communication when the apparatus is not to be at work. Up-
and-down motion is communicated to the holder A, A*, and an abutment G
is used, as described in the arrangement Figs. 1, 2, 3; the tube P with its air
hamber Qmoves up and down with the vessel A; when in the upward travel
chamber Qimpinges against the abutment G and is thereby compressed,
ir acting through the tube P will force some of the adhesive agent from
the vessel A through the outlets a. When the apparatus descends the ball Q
t₁
will be released from the abutment G.
In another modification when a piston B is used, see Fig. 8, projections t
attached to the piston stem B project lower than the bottom of the holder A,
and on its descent come in contact with the support of the pieces W, and are
thereby forced upward, carrying the piston with them, and causing it to open
the outlets a; the piston may be depressed by a spring.
In another modification the plunger or piston is furnished with a counter-
balance weight and spring, and its bottom forms a valve or plug which
projects through a slot in the bottom of the vessel which forms the outlet
for the adhesive agent. When the plug comes in contact with the pieces W
on the vessel's descent it is pressed upward and opens the outlet. When the
vessel rises the plunger is depressed by the weight, expels the adhesive agent,
and closes the outlet.
The support of the paper or materials to be acted on may be moveable or
stationary.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the employment of a vessel or holder having up-and-down motion,

page_text: and carrying contrivances for effecting and interrupting the emission of the
contents of the vessel or holder, substantially in the manner and for the
purpose described.
Second, the employment of an adjustable abutment for acting on the
appliances, whereby the emission of the contents of the vessel or holder is
controlled, substantially as described.
Third, the method of or arrangement and combination of parts for causing
a plunger, piston, or valve to effect and interrupt the discharge of the
contents of the vessel or holder, as herein-before described for the purpose set
forth.
Fourth, the method of or arrangement and combination of parts for
effecting and interrupting the discharge of the contents of the vessel or holder
by pneumatic action, substantially as above described and for the purpose set
forth.
Fifth, the general arrangement and combination of parts herein-before
described, constituting apparatus acting in the manner and for the purpose set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Phineas Lawrence, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
P. LAWRENCE. (LS)
P. LAWRENCE. (LS)