Indexable marking wheel

Claim 1

A marking apparatus, comprising: an axially rotatable wheel having an annular flange with circumferentially spaced slots extending radially therethrough, a plurality of stamps mounted in said slots and each having marking indicia on one end thereof adjacent the outer periphery of said wheel and a convex curved surface on the opposite end thereof adjacent the wheel axis, said stamps being slidable in the radial direction in said slots and of greater length than said slots in said radial direction, said stamps each having a lateral extension, generally parallel to the wheel axis, on a portion thereof protruding from the end of the slots adjacent the wheel axis, an axially rotatable disc having the axis thereof lying in a direction coincident with the axis of said wheel, said disc having a circumferential first slot and a substantially circular second slot located in a radial sidewall of the first slot loosely receiving the lateral extensions of said stamps so as to generally retain said stamps in a position retracted from the periphery of the wheel, said disc also having a radially protruding curved cam surface on a wall of the first slot which extends generally parallel to the disc axis, said second disc slot having a segment curving radially outward from and inward rejoining the balance of the circular portion thereof at a location adjacent said cam surface, said segment having a contour substantially the same as said cam surface so as to permit a stamp contacted on the curved end thereof by said cam surface to slide radially outward and inward in said slot until the marking indicia on said stamp protrudes from the periphery of the wheel, means for selectively securing said disc to said wheel, means for selectively stopping said wheel to prevent angular rotation thereof, and means for rotating said disc while said wheel is stopped to select different stamps for marking a product.