US1007595A - Stamp or label affixing machine. - Google Patents

Description

J. MULDOON. STAMP OR LABEL APFIXING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20. 1911.

1,007,595, Patented Oct. 31, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES.-

[NVZNTOR Y -J t D t v Wilmer J. MULDOON.

STAMP 0R LABEL AFFIXING MACHINE;

' APPLICATION FILED JANZZO, 1911. 1,007,595 Patented 00t.31,1911.

2 SHEETSr-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MULDOON, OF LAKEWOOD, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO RALPH G.

GARLAND, 0F PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

STAMP OR. LABEL AFFIXING MACHINE.

Application filed January 20, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, JOHN MULDoo-N, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lakewood, in the county of Kent and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stamp or Label AfiiXing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved construction of that type of machines designed particularly for applying stamps to envelops mechanically.

The invention resides particularly in theprovision of a mechanism for performing the desired functions necessary in the practical embodiment of a machine of the above type, and which mechanism has been designed with a special view to simplicity and efliciency.

For a full understanding of the present invention, reference is to be had to the following description and to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view of a machine embodying the invention, the major port-ion of the figure being in section to bring out the interior arrangement of parts; Fig. 2 is an end view showing the portion of the casing carrying the plunger, in section; Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken about on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the stamp delivery means arranged in the position assumed thereby just as the stamp is being delivered and applied to the envelop; Fig. 5

is a fragmentary sectional View taken about on the line 55 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the moistening appliance; Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the stamp delivery guide member; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view showing the operating handle and pointer associated therewith, whereby the feeding dogs are reversed.

Throughout the following detail description and on the several figures of the drawings similar parts are referred to by like reference characters.

Specifically describing the preferred em 7 bodiment of the invention, 1 denotes a suitable casing adapted to inclose the stamps and the delivery mechanism therefor, said casing being provided with a door 2 at one side, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, said door being preferably hinged at its lower end so that it may be readily opened to permit Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1911. Serial No. 603,744.

of access to the mechanism of the machine for any desired purpose and to facilitate the placing of the rolls or ribbons of stamps in place.

At one end of the casing 1 is provided an 0 extension 1 in which is mounted the vertically movable plunger 3, normally held at the upper limit of its movement by means of a coiled spring 4. The lower end of the plunger. 3 carries a head 5 designed to en- 5 gage the stamp delivered by the machine by depression of the plunger and to apply the stamp by pressure to an envelop 6 when the latter is placed in the position shown in Fig. 4. The plunger 3 has rigidly secured thereto a carrier frame comprising a horizontal arm 7 and a vertical arm 8 projecting downwardly from the arm 7 intermediate its ends. Supported at the lower end of the vertical arm 8 is a horizontal guide member 9, the upper and lower sides of which constitute guides in contact with which the stamps fed in separate ribbons 10 and 11 are adapted to operate.

.The ribbons of stamps shown at 10 and 11 30 are adapted to unwind from rolls 12- and .13 respectively, the post offices at the present time supplying these stamps in rolls of five hundred or more. The guide member 9 is provided upon its upper and lower surfaces 35 with longitudinal ribs 9 and in order to hold the stamps in close contact with the ribbed surfaces of the guide member, spring tapes 14 are secured to the guide member on its upper and lower sides and cooperate with the longitudinal edge portions of the stamp' ribbons to hold the latter in operative contact with the guide member 9 as above mentioned.

Peculiar actuating means for delivering the stamps by movement of one or the other of the ribbons 10 and 11 is provided and consists primarily of an operating lever 15 the upper end of which is pivoted to a stud 16 projectin laterally from the upper end :of the arm of the carrier frame. At its lower end, the lever 15 is provided with a cam slot 16 of some-what L-shaped form and through the slot 16 projects a pin 17 rigidly secured to a side of the casing as shown in Fig. 3. The pin 17 cooperateswith the slot 16 of the lever 15 to cause the lever to move toward the plunger, as the lever is carried downwardly with the carrier frame, on depression of said plunger. Also projecting laterally from the lever 15 are the pivot members 18 arranged above and below the guide member 9, said pivot members carrying the feed dogs 19, there being a set of feed dogs 19 above the actuating member 9 and a separate set below the guide member 9. The feed dogs 19 are preferably provided in a suitable member so arranged that the pointed extremities of the dogs adjacent to the arm 8 of the carrier frame will be adapted to engage in the perforations separating the stamps of the ribbons 10 and 11 and by such engagement to feed the stamps forward to the plunger when longitudinal movement of the dogs 19 is imparted thereto, with relation to the guide member 9. Such movement is effected by downward movement of the plunger 3. Since the carrier frame supporting the stamp feeding mechanism moves with the plunger 3 it will be apparent that downward motion of the plunger will impart the same movement to the operating lever 15. As the latter moves downwardly, the cooperation of the stud 17 with the cam slot 16 imparts to the operating lever a pivotal movement, carrying the lower portion of the latter in the direction of the plunger. In this manner, the set of dogs 19 adjusted to engage one of the stamp ribbons 10 and 11 will be moved longitudinally along the guide 9 toward the plunger and by engagement with a predetermined series of transverse perforations in the stamp ribbon 10, or 11 as the case may be, a single stamp will be fed forward from the guide 9 through the delivery slot or opening 20 of the casing 1 and into a position beneath the head 5 of the plunger 3.

The plunger 3 carries a knife 21 pivoted at one end to a stationary cutter plate 22 secured to the head 5 of the plunger. The opposite end of the knife 21 is free and adapted to engage with a base plate 23 carried by the casing 1 to receive thereon the envelop to which the stamp is to be applied. *At the beginning of the downward movement of the plunger 3, the knife 21 remains inoperative since the free end of the knife is spaced from the plate 23. During the preliminary movement of the plunger 3, the operating lever 15 is actuated to deliver the stamp beneath the head 5 and during the final downward movement of the plunger, the free end of the knife 21 contacts with the plate 23 causing cooperation of the knife 21 with the cutter plate 22 to sever the stamp from the ribbon, said severed stamp being applied to the previously arranged envelop just as said stamp is finally separated from the ribbon. A spring 24L causes the necessary shearing cooperation of the knife 21 and cutter plate 22.

It is contemplated that stamps of one denomination shall be delivered from the roll 12 and stamps of a different denomination from the roll 13 or the rolls could be supplied with stamps of the same denomination. One set of dogs 19 only cooperates with the guide 9 at one time. Should. the operator of the machine desire to apply a two-cent stamp of the ribbon 10, the upper set of dogs 19 would be held in operative contact with said ribbon to secure the desired feeding and delivering movement. If a one-cent stamp from the ribbon 11 is desired to be applied, however, the operator by operating suitable meitns throws the upper set of dogs 19 upwardly out of engagement with respect to the ribbon 10 and simultaneously moves the lower set of dogs 19 into engagement with the ribbon 11. The means for accomplishing the above includes a rotatable sleeve 25 passing through a slot 25 mounted on the stud 16 at the upper end of the arm 7 of the carrier frame which sleeve is provided at its outer end with a knurled handle 26 and is formed also, within the casing, with an L-shaped arm 27. The arm 27 engages with a bifurcated extension 28 projecting fro-m the upper end of a link 29, which has loose pivotal connection at 30 with the stud 16. The lower end of the link 29 is pivotally connected at 31 to a bracket 32, the latter being pivoted in turn on the lever 15 as shown at 33.

Pins 3i project from the bracket 32, said pins being engageable with the adjacent ends of the dogs 19. Obviously, if the handle 26 is turned an upward or downward movement may be imparted to the link 29 and a slight pivotal movement of the bracket 32 thus caused. The pivotal movement of the bracket 32 is adapted to engage one of its pins 34 with one set of dogs 19 to throw the latter out of cooperation with the adjacent stamp ribbon and simultaneously disengage the other pin 3a of the bracket from the other set of dogs 19, whereby the latter will be free to move into engagement with the stamp ribbon adjacent thereto. Springs 35 are connected with the sets of dogs 19 and normally tendto force said dogs into engagement with the stamp ribbons. On the side of the casing 1 may be provided markings or indicia at 36 associated with a pointer 37 on the sleeve 25, whereby the operator of the machine may know when he throws the dogs engaging the one and twocent stamp ribbons into or out of cooperation therewith. It is intended, of course, to provide the ribbons or stamps of any denomination, and furthermore, the invention is not limited to the specific mechanical arrangement of parts hereinbefore referred to, but may be modified within the spirit and scope of the claims hereafter appended.

A suitable register shown at 38 may be employed and an actuating arm 39 thereof connected by a link 10 to the lever 15 so that every time the lever 15 is oscillated by depressing and releasing the plunger 3, the register 38 will record the operation.

The moistening means for the envelop preferably comprises a cup or receptacle 41 adapted to receive absorbent material 42, a moistening arm 43 and moistening supply means 44 being associated with the receptacle 41 and the arm 43 extending over the plate 23 so that the envelop to be stamped may be readily moistened before being placed beneath the plunger 3 to receive the stamp.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a stamp afixing machine, the conibination of guide means embodying a plurality of guides, means for supplying stamps to said guides, means for affixing the stamps to envelops, separate devices for feeding the stamps from the guides to the aflixing means, and a single means cooperating with said feeding devices for throwing one or the other of said feeding devices into cooperation with an adjacent guide.

2. In a stamp affixing machine, the combination of guide means embodying a plurality of guides, means for supplying stamps to said guides, means for affixing the stamps to envelops, separate devices for feeding the stamps from the guides to the affixing means, and means for throwing one of the feeding devices into cooperation with an adjacent guide, and simultaneously throwing the other feeding device out of cooperation with the adjacent guide for controlling the feeding of the stamps along said guides.

3. In a stamp affixing machine, the coinbination of a plunger for affixing the stamps, guides along which the stamps are adapted to be fed to the plunger, separate feeding devices associated with the separate guides for engagement with the stamps to feed the same to the plunger, and a single means for causing cooperation of either feeding de vice with its adjacent guide and for throwing said feeding devices out of cooperation with the guides to render the feeding mechanism inoperative.

4. In a stamp affixing machine, the combination of a stamp affixing plunger, stamp guides for supplying separate ribbons of stamps to the plunger, separate feeding devices cooperating with the guides and adapted to cooperate with the separate ribbons of stamps, means normally tending to force said feeding devices into engagement with the stamp ribbons, and adjusting mechanism for simultaneously throwing one feeding device into engagement with the adjacent stamp ribbon, and the other feeding device out of engagement with its adjacent stamp ribbon.

5. In a stamp affixing machine, the combination of a stamp affixing plunger, stamp guides for supplying separate ribbons of stamps to the plunger, separate feeding devices cooperating with the guides and adapted to cooperate with separate ribbons of stamps, means normally tending to force said feeding devices into engagement with the stamp ribbons, a casing inclosing the feeding mechanism, and an adjusting device operable from the exterior of the casing to control the cooperation of the respective feeding devices with the stamp ribbons.

6. In a stamp affixing machine, the combination of a casing, a stamp affixing plunger mounted therein, a carrier frame movable with said plunger, a guide member supported by the carrier frame, and means mounted on the carrier frame for feeding stamps along said guide member to the stamp affixing plunger.

7. In a stamp afiixing machine, the combination of a casing, a stamp affixing plunger mounted therein, a carrier frame movable with said plunger, a guide member supported by the carrier frame, and means mounted on the carrier frame and movable simultaneously with the plunger to feed stamps along the guide member to the plunger.

8. In a stamp affixing machine, the combination of a casing, a stamp afiixing plunger mounted therein, a carrier frame movable with said plunger, a guide member supported by the carrier frame, an operating lever mounted on the carrier frame and movable therewith, a feeding device carried by said lever and coacting with the guide member to feed the stamps to the plunger, and means on the casing for imparting feeding movement to the operating lever and feeding device as the plunger is actuated.

9. In a stamp afiixing machine, the combination of a casing, a stamp affixing plunger mounted therein, a carrier frame movable with said plunger, a guide member supported by the carrier frame, and means mounted on the carrier frame for feeding stamps along said guide member to the stamp affixing plunger, and an adjusting device for throwing the feeding device into and out of cooperation with the guide member and carried by the carrier frame.

10. In a stamp affixing machine, the combination of a casing, a plunger mounted therein, a carrier frame supported by and movable with the plunger, a guide member secured to said frame, stamp supply means to supply stamps to said guide member, feed means for said stamps comprising an operating lever, pivotally mounted on the carrier frame, means for imparting feeding movement to the operating lever on actuation of the plunger, a feeding device carried by the operating lever for cooperation with the guide, and adjustable means on the carrier frame coacting with the feeding device to throw the same into and out of cooperation with the guide member.

11. In a stamp affixing machine, the combination of a casing, a plunger mounted therein, a carrier frame supported by and movable with the plunger, a guide member secured to said frame, stamp supply means to supply stamps to said guide member, feed means for said stamps comprising an operating lever, pivotally mounted on the carrier frame, means for imparting feeding movement to the operating lever on actuation of the plunger, a feeding device carried by the operating lever for cooperation with the guide, adjustable means on the carrier frame coacting with the feeding device to throw the same into and out of cooperation with the guide member, the latter consisting of a bracket pivoted to the operating lever, a link connected with said bracket, and with the carrier frame, and an adjusting sleeve for actuating the link to impart movement to the bracket, and a pin carried by the bracket to engage the feeding device.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EVERETT J. SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, .D. G.

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