US1014105A - Seal-press. - Google Patents

Description

H. H. WENTHE.

Patented Jan. 9, 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c HERMAN I-I. WENTHE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SEAL-PRESS.

oraine.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9, 1912.

Application filed January 5, 1910. Serial No. 536,536.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN H. WENTHE, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seal-Presses; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates and has special ref erence to seal presses, although the same may be employed in connection with other devices of similar nature and form. It is particularly adapted to portable presses for embossing seals such as used by notaries public and other officers whose duty it is to take acknowledgments, furnish certificates and the like.

The object of the invention is to provide such presses with means to lock or retain them in a closed position and thereby to make them more convenient to carry in the pocket, and also to prevent dust, dirt or other undesirable matter to enter between the dies of the press and thus injure the same or interfere with its use.

My invention for the above purposes consists in a seal press provided with a latch arranged between the two members of the press, that is to say, the handle or base and the lever of the press, said latch, under the construction which I prefer, being pivoted to one member and adapted to engage a detent arranged in the other member.

Another feature of my invention consists in arranging such latch so as not to project beyond the said members either to the sides or above and below.

My invention also consists in such further features, details of construction, and combination of parts as will be set forth below and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings accompanying this specification Figure 1 represents a sideelevation of a seal-press embodying my invention in its open position; Fig. 2 a longitudinal vertical section thereof, closed; Fig. 3 a vertical transverse section on line 33, Fig. 1; Figs. 4 and 5 detail views in perspective of the handle and latch of the seal-press, respectively; Fig. 6 a similar View of a modification; and Fig. 7 a view of a blank for the latch under my invention.

Referring to these drawings, A represents the usual G-shaped frame of a wellknown type of notarial seal-press, said frame eX- tending rearwardly to form a looped handle, a, and formed at its front with the enlarged bed or die plate, a, which carries the lower die a .The upper branch of the frame A is provided with a hollow bearing a within which is slidably arranged the stem. of the upper die-plate B, upon which the upper seal die is formed or mounted in the usual way, said stem being yieldingly urged upward by spring pressure, as shown in my Letters Patent No. 535932. On the upper branch of the frame at c is also fulcrumed the die lever C, in the form of a bell-crank lever having friction rollers 0, arranged to bear on a washer b on the die-plate B, when the arm 0 of lever C is depressed, thereby forcing the die plates a and B together to emboss the seal or to make the impression.

The frame A of the seal-press is formed with the strengthening longitudinal central rib or web, D, which, as shown, extends below and to the rear of the frame and terminates in the looped handle a above referred to. At its lower rear edge the said web, D, is so shaped as to form lateral flanges 0 cl, on each side of the web, which flanges extend rearward and gradually merge in the loop a of the looped handle a and forward so as to gradually merge in the said web. This flange is somewhat rounded ofi at the bottom as shown, and thus it forms a convenient surface for the fingers not engaging the loop a when the hand grasps the press to depress the lever C toward the handle a.

In order to retain the seal-press in its closed condition or, in other words, the lever C in its depressed position with respect to handle a, I provide a latch consisting of a hook, E, pivoted at e to the web or vertical thinned portion a of the frame, the beak e of said hook being adapted to engage a detent on the outwardly extending arm of lever C. The said detent, as shown in the drawings, consists of two lugs 0 0*, punched out of the material of said lever and bent downward, so as to form retaining shoulders for the beak c. This is best shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The form of the hook is best shown in Figs. 3 and 5. It is preferably stamped and embossed from soft sheet steel or brass. Its stem e is embossed or curved in crosssection to make it sufficiently rigid, while its beak is left flat in cross section to give it the necessary pliability to engage the lugs 0*, 0*, and to be thrust home between the same independently, to a certain extent, of the angle which the inner or under concave surface of the handle may occupy with respect to the hook or latch E. In order to enter more readily into its seat between the lugs 0 c, and the inner surface of the handle, the beak e is pointed and tapered at its extremity, as shown. The latch E, as shown best in Figs. 3 and 5, is forked or provided with two ears 6 e at its extremity opposite to the beak, the said ears being bent at right angles to the stem and parallel to each other. This forked portion straddles the Hat vertical lip (Z5 between the web D and the loop a which extends upward above the lateral flanges cZ, (Z. The hook is pivoted to the said lip or support by passing a pivot or pintle 6* through the cars a, e and the lips as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

As shown particularly in Figs. 1 and 3, the lip is somewhat recessed with relation to the web I), the depth of the recess being preferably suflicient to make the outer surfaces of the ears 6', a, substantially flush with the surface of the web (see Fig. 3). This arrangement serves to prevent the said ears catching in the clothing when the sealpress is introduced into the pocket.

The hook or latch E, as shown, is made narrower laterally at every portion than the lateral width of the flanges (Z, (Z, and of the concave or dished handle a. For this reason and for the reason that its beak extends only as far as the inner under surface of the handle, when the press is closed, and that the forked end 6 e of the hook is above the lateral flanges (Z, (Z, it is clear that when the seal-press is closed and latched as shown in Fig. 2, no portion of the same projects beyond the sides of the seal-press. There is hence no liability of the catch or hook catching in or coming into contact with the clothes of the user when inserting it into the pocket, and no danger of involuntarily opening or otherwise disturbing the latch. This construction, therefore, results in a secure latching device, one which is shielded on all sides against contact with the clothing by the body of the press, and hence is not liable to get out of order. By making the beak e tapered as shown it can be very securely wedged into engagement with the lugs 0*, 0

The latch is bent into the shape as used from a blank, as shown in Fig. 7, which may be stamped or punched and embossed from soft sheet metal, such as soft steel or brass, at one operation, as Will be readily understood.

The operation of the seal-press latching device is clear from the foregoing.

Instead of forming its detent for the latch in the shape of lugs 0*, 0, as above described, the same may be formed of a transverse wire or rod 0 passing transversely through the side flanges of the concave handle a, as shown in Fig. 6, the ends of said wire being secured to the handle. There is thus formed a loop or recess which the beak e of the hook engages to lock the seal-press in its closed position.

What I claim and desire to secure by LettersPatent is 1. In a seal-press, a frame having a rearwardly extending vertical web terminating in a handle and formed with an intermediate vertical lip, and lateral flanges extending to both sides below the lip, in combination with a rearwardly extending die-depressing lever pivoted at the forward portion of the frame, said lever being concave and provided with a detent on its lower surface, and a latch straddling and pivoted at its lower end on the lip of the frame and having a beak for engaging the said detent.

2. In a seal-press, a frame having a rearwardly extending vertical web terminating in a handle and formed with an intermediate vertical lip, in combination with a rearwardly extending die depressing lever pivoted at the forward portion of the frame, said lever being concave and provided with a detent on its lower surface, and a latch straddling and pivoted at its lower end on the lip of the frame and having a beak for engaging the said detent.

3. In a seal-press a frame having a rearwardly extending vertical web terminating in a handle and formed with an intermediate vertical lip, and laterally extending flanges located below the intermediate vertical lip, in combination with a rearwardly extending diedepressing lever pivoted at the forward portion of the frame, said lever being provided with a detent on its lower surface, and at an intermediate portion of the said lever, and a latch pivoted at its lower portion on the vertical lip and having a beak for engaging the said detent.

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

HERMAN H. WENT HE.

lVitnesses:

L. E. SAUTER, I. A. GAYNon.

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

' Washington, D. C.

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