Stamp affixer

Claim 2

In a stamp affixer comprising a housing, a door on said housing, a stamp roll receptacle in said housing, means for feeding a stamp from a roll of stamps in said receptacle into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said roll when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, and means for pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface, and the improvement wherein said receptacle comprises a semi-circular wall affixed to said housing, an arcuate wall rigidly attached to said door, and an arcuate wall pivotally attached to said door, said semi-circular wall and said arcuate walls forming substantially a full circle with a gap between said pivotal wall and said semi-circular wall, and means on said housing for guiding said pivotally attached wall into position when the door is closed.

Claim 3

A stamp affixer as defined by claim 1 and including guide means attached to said door positioned, when said door is closed, to guide stamps through said feeding means.

Claim 4

A stamp affixer as defined by claim 2 and including stamp take-off means attached to said housing and positioned to cooperate with said guide means to cause stamps to be fed from said feeding means to said detaching means.

Claim 5

In a stamp affixer comprising means for feeding a stamp from a strip of stamps into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said strip when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, means for pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface, actuating means operably engageable with the aforesaid means, all of which means are supported in a housing, the improvement wherein said housing includes means forming a channel to guide said actuating means during operation thereof, a shear plate rigidly mounted in said housing parallel to and adjacent said channel, a resilient knife mounted on said actuating means and biased into engagement with said shear plate by the resiliency of the knife, said shear plate including a slot through which a stamp to be cut off is fed, said slot having a substantially straight bottom edge, said knife having a cutting edge at an acute angle with said bottom edge, and only the cutting edge of the knife engaging the shear plate.

Claim 6

In a stamp affixer comprising means for feeding a stamp from a strip of stamps into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said strip when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, means for pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface, actuating means operably engageable with the aforesaid means, all of which means are supported in a housing, the improvement wherein said housing includes means forming a channel to guide said actuating means during operation thereof, a shear plate rigidly mounted in said housing parallel to and adjacent said channel, a resilient knife mounted on said actuating means and biased into engagement with said shear plate by the resiliency of the knife, said shear plate including a slot through which a stamp to be cut off is fed, said slot having a substantially straight bottom edge, said knife having a cutting edge at an acute angle with said bottom edge, and only the cutting edge of the knife engaging the shear plate.

Claim 7

In a stamp affixer comprising means for feeding a stamp from a strip of stamps into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said strip when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, means for pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface, and actuating means operably engageable with the aforesaid means, the improvement wherein said feeding means comprises a rotatable feed rotor, a ratchet wheel affixed to and having a common axis with said feed rotor, and a pawl affixed to said actuating means adapted to engaGe and rotate said ratchet wheel sufficient to feed a stamp upon each operation of said actuating means, a plurality of grooves in the face of said ratchet wheel facing toward said pawl, each groove having a camming surface and an oppositely directed limiting surface, whereby engagement of said limiting surface with said pawl prevents overtravel of said ratchet wheel, said pawl being resiliently biased in a direction parallel to the axis of the ratchet wheel toward a postion engageable with the grooves in the ratchet wheel, and cooperating means on said pawl and said ratchet wheel providing means for moving said pawl from one groove to another after each operation of said actuating means.

Claim 8

In a stamp affixer comprising means for feeding a stamp from a strip of stamps into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said strip when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, means for pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface, and actuating means operably engageable with the aforesaid means, the improvement wherein said feeding means comprises a rotatable feed rotor, a ratchet wheel affixed to and having a common axis with said feed rotor, and a pawl affixed to said actuating means adapted to engaGe and rotate said ratchet wheel sufficient to feed a stamp upon each operation of said actuating means, a plurality of grooves in the face of said ratchet wheel facing toward said pawl, each groove having a camming surface and an oppositely directed limiting surface, whereby engagement of said limiting surface with said pawl prevents overtravel of said ratchet wheel, said pawl being resiliently biased in a direction parallel to the axis of the ratchet wheel toward a postion engageable with the grooves in the ratchet wheel, and cooperating means on said pawl and said ratchet wheel providing means for moving said pawl from one groove to another after each operation of said actuating means.

Claim 9

A stamp affixer as defined by claim 5 and including a second pawl and ratchet system engaging said feed rotor to allow movement of said feed rotor in a direction to feed stamps but preventing movement in the opposite direction.

Claim 10

A stamp affixer comprising a housing, a door adapted to close one side of said housing, a vertically movable cap on said housing, actuator means mounted on said cap and extending downwardly into said housing, compression spring means mounted to bias said cap upwardly to a ''''ready'''' position, a stamp roll well affixed to said housing, said stamp roll well including an arcuate wall opening toward said door, a facing arcuate wall affixed to said door, another arcuate wall pivotally attached to said door, said arcuate walls together forming substantially a full circle when the door is closed, with a gap between the free end of the pivotal wall and the adjacent end of the wall mounted in the housing, means on said pivotal wall and on said housing cooperating to form a stamp decurler when the door is closed, cooperating means on said pivotal wall and said housing adapted to guide said pivotal wall into position during closing of the door, means in said housing operable upon depression of said cap against said spring means to feed a stamp from a stamp roll in said stamp roll well into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said roll when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, and means for pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface.

Claim 11

A stamp affixer comprising a housing, a door adapted to close one side of said housing, a vertically movable cap on said housing, actuator means mounted on said cap and extending downwardly into said housing, compression spring means mounted to bias said cap upwardly to a ''''ready'''' position, a stamp roll well affixed to said housing, said stamp roll well including an arcuate wall opening toward said door, a facing arcuate wall affixed to said door, another arcuate wall pivotally attached to said door, said arcuate walls together forming substantially a full circle when the door is closed, with a gap between the free end of the pivotal wall and the adjacent end of the wall mounted in the housing, means on said pivotal wall and on said housing cooperating to form a stamp decurler when the door is closed, cooperating means on said pivotal wall and said housing adapted to guide said pivotal wall into position during closing of the door, means in said housing operable upon depression of said cap against said spring means to feed a stamp from a stamp roll in said stamp roll well into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said roll when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, and means for pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface.

Claim 12

In a stamp affixer comprising means for feeding a stamp from a strip of stamps into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said strip when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, means for pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface, actuating means operably engageable with the aforesaid means, the improvement including means engageable with said feeding means to prevent overtravel of said feeding means, means engageable with said feeding means to prevent reverse operation of said feeding means, said feeding means comprising a rotatable feed rotor having means thereon to engage the perforations between adjacent stamps, and pawl and ratchet means engageable with said rotor to cause rotation thereof in response to operation of said actuating means, and said overtravel prevention means comprising a groove on said ratchet means, said groove positioned to engage said pawl at and following the completion of a feeding operation.

Claim 13

In a stamp affixer comprising means for feeding a stamp from a strip of stamps into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said strip when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, means for pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface, actuating means operably engageable with the aforesaid means, the improvement including means engageable with said feeding means to prevent overtravel of said feeding means, means engageable with said feeding means to prevent reverse operation of said feeding means, said feeding means comprising a rotatable feed rotor having means thereon to engage the perforations between adjacent stamps, and pawl and ratchet means engageable with said rotor to cause rotation thereof in response to operation of said actuating means, and said overtravel prevention means comprising a groove on said ratchet means, said groove positioned to engage said pawl at and following the completion of a feeding operation.

Claim 14

A stamp affixer as defined by claim 8 wherein said reverse prevention means comprises biasing means positioned to contact a surface of said ratchet means at the completion of a feeding operation.

Claim 15

In a stamp affixer comprising means for feeding a stamp from a strip of stamps into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said strip when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, means foR pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface, and actuating means operably engageable with the aforesaid means, said feeding means comprising a rotatable feed rotor having means thereon to engage the perforations between adjacent stamps, and ratchet means and a first pawl engageable with said rotor to cause rotation thereof in response to operation of said actuating means, said ratchet means including grooves in communication with said pawl means to prevent overtravel of said feeding means, all of which means are supported in a housing, a second pawl connected to said housing, a plurality of notches in said ratchet means, said notches positioned to contact said second pawl at the completion of feeding operations to prevent reverse operation of said feeding means.

Claim 16

In a stamp affixer comprising means for feeding a stamp from a strip of stamps into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said strip when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, means foR pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface, and actuating means operably engageable with the aforesaid means, said feeding means comprising a rotatable feed rotor having means thereon to engage the perforations between adjacent stamps, and ratchet means and a first pawl engageable with said rotor to cause rotation thereof in response to operation of said actuating means, said ratchet means including grooves in communication with said pawl means to prevent overtravel of said feeding means, all of which means are supported in a housing, a second pawl connected to said housing, a plurality of notches in said ratchet means, said notches positioned to contact said second pawl at the completion of feeding operations to prevent reverse operation of said feeding means.

Claim 17

In a stamp affixer comprising means for feeding a stamp from a strip of stamps into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said strip when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, means for pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface, and actuating means operably engageable with the aforesaid means, said feeding means comprising a rotatable feed rotor having means thereon to engage the perforations between adjacent stamps, and a first pawl and first ratchet means engageable with said rotor to cause rotation thereof in response to operation of said actuating means, whereby said first ratchet means in communication with said first pawl means acts to prevent overtravel of said feeding means, all of which means are supported in a housing, a second pawl connected to said housing and in communication with a second ratchet means whereby reverse operation of said feeding means is prevented.

Claim 18

In a stamp affixer comprising means for feeding a stamp from a strip of stamps into a cut-off position above a surface to which the stamp is to be affixed, means for detaching said stamp from said strip when said stamp is in said cut-off position, means for moistening said surface, means for pressing said stamp onto said moistened surface, and actuating means operably engageable with the aforesaid means, said feeding means comprising a rotatable feed rotor having means thereon to engage the perforations between adjacent stamps, and a first pawl and first ratchet means engageable with said rotor to cause rotation thereof in response to operation of said actuating means, whereby said first ratchet means in communication with said first pawl means acts to prevent overtravel of said feeding means, all of which means are supported in a housing, a second pawl connected to said housing and in communication with a second ratchet means whereby reverse operation of said feeding means is prevented.