GB1107069A - Apparatus for applying postage stamps to envelopes - Google Patents

Abstract

1,107,069. Applying stamps. J. A. BOLLMAN, M. H. RECHNITZ, and R. J. MARTIN. 26 Aug., 1966, No. 38331/66. Heading B8F. Postage stamps S, applied automatically to envelopes E or other postal material fed by rollers 20, 22 and 24, 26 along a table 10, are supplied from a coiled strip mounted eccentrically on the roller 24. The stamps are indexed outwards by a toothed sprocket (60), Fig. 8 (not shown), mounted to rotate with a star wheel 70, which is turned by one or more cam rollers mounted in recesses 107 in a stationary block (99), Fig. 3 (not shown). The projecting stamps are out along a row of perforations (X), Fig. 9 (not shown), transverse to the strip by means of a reciprocable knife 82, immediately past the point of tangency of the rollers 24, 26. The envelopes E are fed by a roller (16), Fig. 1 (not shown), through a slit (14) in the wall of a hopper (12) and operate a photosensitive device (78) having an adjustable cell (108), Fig. 10 (not shown), controlling a onerevolution clutch in the drive to the rollers 24, 26. The position of the stamps in relation to the leading edge of the envelopes may therefore be controlled. As the roller 24 rotates, the stamps are projected through a slit (58), Fig. 2 (not shown), formed between a block (50) and segment (52) on the roller. The number of stamps projected at each operating cycle of the machine is determined by the number of cam rollers (104) inserted in the recesses 107 in the block (99). A pad 80 moistens each stamp before it is applied to an envelope. The knife 82 is controlled by a pivoted lever (88), Fig. 7 (not shown), urged by a spring (94) to a retracted position and advanced to cut off a stamp by means of an adjustable fixed cam (98). A device (120), Fig. 10 (not shown), counts the envelopes. The machine may be modified to operate continuously.