US1488424A - willis - Google Patents

Description

.March 25', 1-924.

f 1 o. D. WILLIS MAIL'MARKING MACHINE Filed Nov. 9,

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o. D. WILLIS MAIL MARKINGTr MACHINE WIT/VESSES INI/mmm A TTRNEYS Patented Mar. 25, 1924.

UNITED STTES OSCAR'DELLMONT VILLIS, OF HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRG-INTA.A

MAIL-MARKING *MACHINE Application filed November 9, 1922. Serial No. 599,879.

To lall whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, OSCAR D. WILLIS,v a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Huntington, in the county of Cabell and State of l/Vest Virginia, have invented new and useful mprovements in Mail-Marking Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to mail marking machines,

The general object of the invention isthe provision of a simple and efiicientmachine for canceling stamps on articles of mail.

An important feature of this invention is the provision of means for adjusting the feed controlling means so that the articles of mail are fed to the printing member at such an instant in its revolution that it will mark any predetermined portion of the article of mail.

This object is accomplished by providing f to be marked onto the feed belt, and asso-4 ciating with the feed belt spacing means for positioning and spacing the articles to be marked so that they reach the printing member at a predetermined time in its revolution. This and other` objects of the invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is section along the line 1--1, Figure 3;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the mail marking machine; l

Figure 3 is a cross section along the line 3 3, Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the means provided for operating the spacing members from the printing member; l

Figure 5 is a cross section of the printing member and a portion ofthe drum and feed.l

belt. Y

Referring to the above-mentioned drawings, this invention includesl a frame 10 in which two drums 1'1 and 12 "carried by shafts 13 and 14, respectively, are rotatably mounted. A crank 56 is mounted on the shaft 13 for operating it. Two endless belts-15 are mountedon the drums 11 and 12. Two eyebolts 16 carried by the frame 10 are provided for adjusting the position of the shaft 14 relative to the shaft 13 to tension .the belts 15. A plurality `of bearings 17 are slidably mounted in slots 18 cut in the side walls of the frame 10 and are supported in the upper end 0f the slot by springs 19. Rollers 2O are carried by trunnions 21 rotatably mountedmeans of the springs 26. A printing member including a roller 22 provided with trunnions 24 and a plate 28 attached to the roller is rotatably carried by the bearings 27. AA

roller 23 is rotatably mounted in the frame 1 0 above the belts 15. This roller is positionecll in alinement with one of the rollers t 20 which serves to project the belts 15 upward toward` the roller 23. Two endless belts 29 are mounted on the rollers 22 and 23 and are positioned directly above the belts 15. From the above it will be seen that means are provided for projecting the belts 15 and 29 into engagement so that one maybe driven one from the other.`

, A hopper 30 is mounted on the frame 10 above the belts 15 and is so positioned as to be Vdirectly above two of the rollers20, as shown in Figure 1. The front lower edge 32 of the hopper 30 is spaced from the belts 15 when they are in their normal positions a sufficient distance to allow one of the articles of mail to be projected forward by the Bearings 27 are slidably mounted inv 'the slots and are retained in position by belts as they move. A shaft 33 is rotatably Y mounted in the frame 10 and has fixed thereto by means of set screws 52 three arms 34. These arms 34 carry a rod 35 on which a plurality of spacingmembers 36 are` loosely mounted. These spacing members 36 depend from the rod and extend between the' belts 15. An arm 37 is iiXed to the shaft 33 and carries a pin 38 which moves in an arcshaped slot 39 cut in the side wall of the frame 10. This pin 38 and arm 37 serve to limit the movement of the arms 34 and the spacing members 36. Loosely mounted on the shaft 33 are two depending plates 40. One end of an adjustable pitman rod 41 is pivotally yconnected by means of a pin 42 to the plates 40. A dog 43 is fixed to the shaft 33 by means of a set screw 44 and depends between the plates-40. A pawl 45 is pivoted tothe pitman rod 41 at 46 and located in alinement with the dog 43 so that, as the pitman rod ope-rates, the pawl will periodically engage the dog. Carried by the p itman rod 41 is a spring 47 which retains the pawl 45 in the normal position shown in Fig. 4 or serves to return it to that position when it has been rotated about its pivot point 46. An arm 48 is fixed to one of the trunnions 24, carrying the roller 22, by means of the set screw 49. One end of the pitman rod is loosely connected to a pin 50 carried by the arm 4,8. A spring 51 is mounted on the shaft 33, the outer end being attached to the frame 10 while the inner end engages one of the arms 34.

lVhen the machine is to be used for canceling stamps on letters the plate 28 on the printing member is pro-vided with a number of bars 54 for canceling the stamp and a die 55 for dating the letter. ln order that this plate may be inked for marking the letter an inking roller 53 is rotatably mounted in the frame .adjacent the plate 28.

' In the operation of this device, the letters or articles of mail 31 are placed inthe hopper 30. The drum 13 is then operated by means of the crank 56 moving the belts 15 in the direction indicated by the arrowsy in Figure 1. The Vbelts 15 are forced upward by the rollers 2O into engagement with the belts 29 so that as the belts 15 move they drive the belts 29 and 'through these latter belts the roller 22. The belt frictio-nally engages thelower article of mail in the hopper 30 and carries it forward, projecting it' against the spacing members 36. As the roller 22 is revolved it operates the adjustable pitman rod 41 through the arm 48. The pitman rod is given a reciprocating motion,moving back and forth with the plates 40. The pawl 45 carried by the pitman rod 41 engages the dog 43 las the pitman rod moves to the right, as viewed in Figure 4. This rotates the shaft 33, raising the arms 34 and the spacing members 36. After the pitman rod has traveled a certain distance thev dog 43 is released from the pawl 45 and slides on the upper face of the pawl. As the pitman rod moves to the `left the dog slides on the pawl, pressing one end downward. After the pawl 45 has been released from the `dog 43 it is returned to its normal position tioned on their respective shafts and the pitman rod 41 so adjusted that the spacing members 36 will be raised at the proper instant to allow the lowermost article of mail 31 tomove forward on the belt so as to reach the roller 22 at the proper instant to cause theplate 28 to engage the portion of the ar- A spring Y -lowed to pass along the belt at the proper instant to allow it to engage the roller22 at a predetermined instant inl its revolution. The spring supported rollers 2O are provided for allowing the belts l5 a certain amount of movement during the operation Y of the machine to accommodate articles of mail of varying thickness. The spring controlled roller 22 is also provided for thepury pose mentioned in the previous sentence.

The machinev shown in the drawings is provided with a crank 56 so that it may be manually operated. This crank might be removed and a pulley substituted so that the machine couldbe operated vby any prime mover. n

I would state in conclusion that while the illustrated example kconstitutes a practical embodiment of my invention I do not limit myself strictly to the exact details herein illustrated since manifestly the same can be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of the invention as deli-ned in'. the appended claims.

Claims:

1. In a machine of the character described for canceling' stamps, a drum, an endless belt operated by said drum, a printing member, an endlessA belt for operating the printing member andrdriven by engagementV with the first endless belt, spacing means for controlling the feeding of the letters on to said endless belt so that the letters reach the printing member `at a predetermined instant in its revolution, .and means for operating the spacing means from the printing member.

2. ln a machine of the character described, a hopper for feeding articles to be marked, an endless belt mounted under said hopper, a drum for driving said belt, a printing member, means associated with said printing member for forcing it in the direction of said drum so that vit vis driven from the latter, spacing members, and means operated by the printing member for operating said spacing members toso position the articles to be marked on the belt that they reach the printing member at a predetermined period of its revolution.

3. A machine of the Vcharacter described,V comprising a frame, drums rotatably kmounted on said frame, a feed belt carried bysaid drums, a hopper mounted on the frame for feeding the letters onto the feed belt, two 130 rollers rotatably mounted in the frame above the feed belt, one of the rollers carrying a printing member l, an endless beltcarried by said rollers, the lower run of said belt extending parallel to the feed belt, means for projecting one of said rollers downward toward the feed belt, means for projecting the feed belt upward toward said endless belt, and means for controlling the feeding of the article to be marked onto the feed belt operated by the roller carrying the printing member.

4. In a machine of the character described for marking articles, a feed belt, a printing member rotatably mounted above said feed belt, an endless belt for operating the printing member and driven by engagement with the first endless belt, a hopper' for feeding the articles to be marked onto the feed belt, a plurality of loosely mounted spacing members, and means for operating said spacing members from the printing member to space and position the articles to be marked on the feed belt so that each article reaches the printing member at a' prcdetermined instant during its revolution.

5. In a stamp canceling machine of the character described including a feed belt and a printing member, means for controlling the feeding of the letters comprising a plurality of depending spacing knives loosely mounted on a horizontal bar, said horizontal bar being carried by two arms fixed to a horizontal shaft, and means interposed between the horizontal shaft and the printing member for operating the former from the latter to operate the spacing knives to position and space the letters on the feed belt so that they reach the printing member at a predetermined time during its revolution.

6. In a stamp cancelling machine, a feed belt, a printing member above the belt, an adjustable rockable arm, a plurality of depending and loosely mounted spacing members carried by said arm and means for operating the said arm from the printing member' to raise and lower said spacing members to space and position the letters on the belt.

7. In a stamp cancelling machine, a feed belt, a revoluble printing roller above the belt and having anarm on its shaft, a rockable shaft above the beltV at a distance from the said roller and carrying a rigid arm and loosely suspended members, spacing members loosely mounted on the said arm, a f

rod pivoted to the arm of the printing roller and to the members of the shaft, and a pawl and dog mechanism between the rod and said shaft.

8. In a stamp cancelling machine, an endless feed belt, rollers mounted above the feed belt, one of the rollers carrying a printing member, an endless belt passing around said rollers, and in engagement with the first belt and operated thereby, reciprocating spacing members, and means for operating thle1 spacing members from the printing ro er.

OSCAR DELLMONT WILLIS.

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