GB2142876A - Stamping set - Google Patents

Abstract

Stamping set (1) comprising at least one stamp unit (7) fitted with a stamp plate (8). The main feature of the said set (1) is that the said stamp unit (7) comprises first means determining essentially perpendicular movement of the stamp plate (8) against the surface of the item (3) being stamped. The stamp unit is embodied in a postal franking machine. The movement of the stamp head and its associated inking pad may be effected from cams on a cam-shaft, a further cam providing an "impression complete" signal. The cycle may be initiated manually or by workpiece detectors 10, 12, 13. The machine shown has two stamp units 7 which may be actuated simultaneously or sequentially. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Stamping set The present invention relates to a stamping set, in particular, a postage stamp marker, comprising at least one stamp unit fitted with a stamp plate.

On stamping sets, the stamp plate is known to move essentially in an arc by means of control levers. The drawback on this system, however, is that impression quality is not always consistent owing to the fact that, depending on the thickness of the object being stamped, the impact point of the stamp plate varies over the arc with the result that stamping is not always performed at essentially constant pressure at all points.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a stamping set, in particular, one for marking postage stamps, designed to ensure consistent, top-quality post marks. Further aims and advantages of the present invention will be made clear in the following description.

With these aims in view, the present invention relates to a stamping set comprising at least one stamp unit fitted with a stamp plate, characterised by the fact that the said stamp unit comprises first means determining essentially perpendicular movement of the said stamp plate against the surface of the item being stamped.

Two arrangements of the present invention will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples, with reference to the attached drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a top view in perspective of a first arrangement of the stamping set according to the present invention, with part of the top cover removed; Figure 2 shows a side view of the Fig. 1 set; Figure 3 shows a partially-sectioned, partial side view of the stamp unit on the Fig. 1 and 2 set; Figure 4 shows a partial top view of the Fig. 3 stamp unit; Figure 5 shows a cross section along line V-V of part of the Fig. 4 stamp unit; Figure 6 shows a partial side view of part of the stamp unit on the Fig. 1 set; Figure 7 shows a partial front view of the Fig. 3 stamp unit; Figure 8 shows a part view in perspective of a second arrangement of the stamping set according to the present invention.

Number 1 in Fig. 1 indicates a stamping set, according to the present invention, comprising a compartment, 2, containing (Fig. 2) stacked envelopes, 3, or letters for stamping.

At the bottom of compartment 2, provision is made for a surface, 4, extending longitudinally right along set 1 and designed to act as a guide track for envelopes 3. Underneath compartment 2, in the output area of envelopes 3, provision is made for one-by-one pickoff rollers, 5, which feed envelopes 3 towards rollers 6 which, in turn, feed them on to surface 4 towards two stamp units, 7. The latter, which will be described in detail later on, are fitted on the bottom with a stamp plate, 8, which may be changed as required and bears specific information or graphic designs. Stamp units 7 are followed downstream by expulsion rollers 9. Roughly next to the first feed rollers, 6, to the side of surface 4, provision is made for a lever, 10, for activating microswitch 11.Upstream from expulsion rollers 9, on the other hand, provision is made for two suitably spaced levers, 12 and 13, for controlling microswitches 14 and 1 5 respectively. Microswitches 11, 14 and 1 5 are connected to a system, suitably controlled by a microprocessor, for controlling operation of set 1. Operation of rollers 5, 6 and 9 is controlled by an electric motor, 16, and by respective connect-disconnect units controlled by signals from the system controlling set 1.

The said set 1 also has a control panel, 17, comprising number and function buttons, two multifigure, seven-segment displays, 1 8 and 19, and two operator keys, 20 and 21, the first for stopping set 1 temporarily, when abandoned by the operator, and the second for zeroing the memory content of set 1 as described later. At the bottom, set 1 is fitted with an on/off switch, 22, and a reset button, 23. Over the two stamp units, 7, set 1 is fitted with a hinged, lift-up cover, 24, enabling access to the said stamp units 7. Each of the latter has two parallel, spaced, vertical supporting plates, 25 and 26 conferring on the unit an essentially parallelepiped shape.At the rear, towards the top, plate 25 is fitted with a multiple electric connecting block, 27, engaged by a connecting terminal block, 28, on a cable, 29, connected to the system controlling operation of set 1. Supporting plate 26, on the other hand, is fitted with a switch, 30, for enabling, or not, stamp unit 7.

between supporting plates 25 and 26, again at the rear of stamp unit 7, provision is made for two spaced fork blocks, 31, into which is fitted a supporting rod, 32, locked by screw knobs 33. In like manner, provision is made for adjusting the angular position of stamp unit 7 round the axis of rod 32 which is supported on a base, 34, sliding along slot 35 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of surface 4. The longitudinal position of base 34 in slot 35 is adjusted using lock-release lever 36. Again in the area accessible with cover 24 raised, provision is made for a switch, 37, for selecting simultaneous or sequential operation of stamp units 7, as described later, as well as for a device, 38, on surface 4, for adjusting the maximum thickness of the items being stamped.

As shown in Fig.s 3 to 7, stamp unit 7 is fitted with an electric motor, 40, having an output shaft, 41, fitted with a worm screw, 42, engaging with a helical gear, 43, fitted on to shaft 44. The latter is also fitted with a suitably spaced gear, 45, connected to a toothed belt, 46, engaging with a toothed pulley, 47, which, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5, is connected to a gear, 48, and supported idly on a shaft, 49, to which are fitted at an angle a first disc, 50, and three cam discs, 51, 52 and 53 (Fig. 7). Disc 50 is fitted with a pin, 54, supporting a pawl, 55, having an end tooth, 56, designed to engage with gear 48, and an outer tab, 57, designed to engage with the bent end, 58, of lever 59 which, at the other end, is activated by electromagnet 60.In an alternative angular arrangement, end tab 57 on pawl 55 is also designed to engage with bent end 58' of lever 59' activated by electromagnet 60'.

Supporting plate 25 is fitted with two levers, 62, the ends of which are brought together by tension spring 63 and which are fitted with respective rollers, 64, designed to fit into cavity 65 on disc 50. The latter is fitted with a tension spring, 66, for hooking up the end of pawl 55.

As shown in Fig. 3, cam disc 51 has a first sharp downward section, 68, followed by a more gradual upward section, 69. The said disc 51 is engaged by a roller, 71, carried by lever 72 which is hinged at the rear end and connected, at the front end, by means of pin 73, to the top end of rod 74. The latter may only move vertically in that it is guided by two holes on two blocks, 75 and 76, suitably spaced and fitted between supporting plates 25 and 26. A tension spring, 77, is hooked between block 76 and lever 72 so as to force the latter downwards. Block 75 is provided with a slot in the shape of an arc, 78, along which may be positioned the shank of a threaded adjustment knob, 79, fitted, underneath block 75, with a body, 80, secured to rod 74 by means of body 81.In like manner, adjusting the angular position of knob 79 along slot 78 provides for adjusting the angular position of rod 74 which may turn in relation to lever 72 in that the front end of the latter is housed in upper slot 82 on rod 74 which has a narrow centre section increasing towards both ends as shown in Fig. 4. The bottom of rod 74 is connected to a body, 83, having a circular bottom cavity into which stamp plate 8 fits via magnetic means. The said body 83 also has a pin, 84, for centering, preventing angular displacement of and expelling plate 8. By means of pin 85, body 83 is fitted with a hinged frame, 86, the position of which may be adjusted, against the action of springs 88, by means of pins 87.Towards the end next to springs 88, the said frame 86 is fitted with pivoted levers, 91, supporting numbering discs, 92, in this case, six in number, for forming a date unit set by turning the discs.

Cam disc 53, on the other hand, is engaged by roller 94 fitted on to fork arm 95 the two ends of which pivot at the bottom on a container, 96, fitted with a pad, 97, soaked in ink. Container 96 is fitted at the rear with a guide rod, 98, sliding in a guide body, 99, with a truncated-cone opening, so as to enable container 96 to move in the arc of a circle. In the idle condition shown in Fig. 3, an ink collecting pan, 100, is fitted between plates 25 and 26, towards the rear of container 96. Against the action of cam disc 53, a tension spring, 101, acts on arm 95. The two supporting plates, 25 and 26, are fitted laterally with two arms, 102, bent inwards and designed to stop arms 95 in the idle position shown in Fig. 3. Cam disc 53 is fitted with a peg, 104 (Fig. 6), which engages with the end of lever 105 positioned by tension spring 106 and pivoted on plate 26.

The said lever 105 is bent 90' and fitted on the end with a pin, 107, which engages a bottom drain hole, 108, on ink tank 109 which is also provided with a filler cap, 110.

Bottom hole 108 is connected to a tube, 111, for supplying ink to a pad, 1 12, which, in turn, supplies a distributor roller, 113, fitted between the front ends of two levers, 1 14, pivoted on support plates 25 and 26. The rear ends of levers 114, on the other hand, are connected to two springs, 1 15, for turning levers 114 against pad 97. The said levers 114 are also fitted with a roller, 11 6, for rubbing ink on to the surface of pad 97 which must contact the printing surface of stamp plate 8 as described later. A blade spring, 11 7, fitted on to one of levers 114, forces pad 11 2 against distributor roller 11 3.

As shown in Fig. 6, cam disc 52 engages microswitch 11 8 which supplies the end-ofstamping-cycle signal. Operation of the set covered by the present invention is as follows.

After turning the set on, by means of switch 22 and operator key 20, and loading the envelopes, 3, for stamping into compartment 2, the operator enters, on control panel 17, the number of envelopes to be stamped automatically on the set and the postage price of each envelope, which are shown on displays 1 9 and 18. At the starting stage, the system controlling operation of set 1 starts motor 1 6 and motors 40 controlling the two stamp units 7. In this operating condition, motor 40 turns toothed pulley 47 and gear 48 by means of toothed belt 46. But, as electromagnet 60 is de-energized, i.e. the arrangement shown in Fig. 5, the bent end, 58 of lever 59 acting on tab 57 of pawl 55 prevents the latter from engaging with gear 48 so that disc 50 and cam discs 51, 52 and 53 remain stationary. Consequently, by means of rollers 5, an envelope, 3, is withdrawn and fed to rollers 6. As the envelope moves over lever 10, microswitch 11 is activated so as to activate electromagnet 60, pawl 55 is released into the position shown by the dotted line and gear 48 drives shaft 49. This marks the first control phase of cam disc 53 in which fork arms 45 are turned leftwards so as to move pad 97 against ink distributor roller 11 3 and rubbing roller 116 and then against the bottom surface of stamp plate 8. After cam disc 53 has almost been turned through 180 , fork arms 95 move back to the idle position shown in Fig. 3.At the same time, however, peg 104 activates lever 105 which raises pin 107 by a few tenths of a millimetre so as to supply a preset amount of ink from tank 109 to tube 111 and, from there, to pad 11 2 and distributor roller 11 3. Disc 50 and cam discs 51, 52 and 53 stop turning when, after roughly 240', tab 57 on pawl 55 encounters the bent end, 58', of lever 59'. By this stage, supply rollers 6 have fed envelope 3 towards stamp units 7. Now, let us suppose switch 37 has been set for essentially simultaneous operation of the two stamp units 7. As, in this mode, only lever 1 3 is operative, when the latter is reached by the envelope, it activates microswitch 1 5 which stops feed rollers 6 so as to stop envelope 3 in the required stamping position underneath stamp units 7.

The system controlling operation of set 1 then activates electromagnet 60' which releases tab 57 on pawl 55 so as to start disc 50 and cam discs 51, 52 and 53 up again. As, at this stage, cam disc 51 is operative, owing to the fact that roller 71 is located on sharp downward section 68, lever 72 is turned downwards by spring 77 so as to push vertically downwards rod 74 which is guided in this direction by blocks 75 and 76. This results in perpendicular impact of stamp plates 8 on envelope 3. Subsequently, engagement of roller 71 and upward section 69 on cam disc 51 causes rod 74 to move back up into the idle position shown in Fig. 3.At the end of this complete stamping cycle, cam disc 52 activates microswitch 11 8 which, in turn, activates rollers 9, for expelling the stamped envelope, 3, and causes another envelope to be fed by rollers 5 to rollers 6 and the stamping cycle to be repeated as already described. By the end of the described stamping stage, tab 57 on pawl 55 has again been hooked up by the bent end, 58, of lever 59, so as to stop disc 50 and cam discs 51, 52 and 53 which are only started again when electromagnet 60 is activated by another envelope, 3, being put through and detected by microswitch 11. Rollers 64 engaging with cavity 65 on disc 50 provide for precision stoppage of disc 50 and the cam discs connected to it.

If, on the other hand, switch 37 is set for sequential operation of stamp units 7, when envelope 3, downstream from supply rollers 6, reaches lever 12, microswitch 14 is activated so as to stop envelope 3, as already described in connection with microswitch 15, and activate only one of the stamp units-the one on the left in Fig. 2. At the end of this first stamping cycle, the signal from microswitch 118 moves envelope 3 forward up to lever 1 3 which activates microswitch 15, so as to perform another stamping cycle, this time by the second stamping unit, the one on the right in Fig. 2. This is then followed, as already described, by expulsion of envelope 3 via rollers 9 and supply of another unstamped envelope, 3, by rollers 5. In this way, the operator may select to stamp two post marks arranged as required or even intersecting each other.The stamping position is adjusted either by adjusting the angular position of stamp plate 8, using adjusting knob 79, which provides for angular rotation of rod 74, or by means of knobs 33, which provide for angular adjustment of the entire stamp unit, 7, round the axis of shaft 32, or by means of lever 36 which provides for shifting the entire stamp unit, 7, along slot 35.

The operator may also choose whether or not to stamp the date by adjusting pins 87 which regulate the height of frame 86 and, consequently, also of indicator discs 92 in relation to the surface of stamp plate 8.

Obviously, the said stamp plate 8 is provided with a slot at least corresponding with the said discs 92. Display 1 9 shows automatically how many envelopes, 3, remain to be stamped in relation to the original setting, whereas display 1 8 shows the value stamped up to that time.

The advantages of the stamping set covered by the present invention will be clear from the description given. Firstly, it provides for optimum, consistent, long-term stamping quality, regardless of the thickness of the items being stamped, owing to the fact that stamp plate 8 is guide perpendicularly on to the stamping surface by blocks 75 and 76 and pad 97 is automatically passed over the stamping surface of plate 8 at each stamping operation. At each stamping operation, pad 11 2 is also supplied automatically with a preset amount of ink. Pad 97 is also passed over the surface of stamp plate 8 as envelope 3 is being fed towards stamp units 7, so as to increase the hourly stamping capacity of set 1.The latter, in fact, provides for a stamping capacity of approximately two thousand envelopes, 3, an hour, with stamp units 7 operating in sumultaneous mode, and approximately one thousand eight hundred envelopes an hour in sequential stamping mode.

To those skilled in the art it will be clear that changes can be made to the arrangement described without, however, departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, Fig. 8 shows a simplified set, comprising a single stamp unit, 7, on which the operator places envelope 3 under stamp plate 8 and, by means of button 120, activates electromagnet 60 for commencing a singlestage stamping cycle, i.e. activation of fork arms 95, for passing pad 92 over the surface of stamp plate 8, followed by activation, without stopping cam discs 51, 52 and 53, of lever 72 for shifting rod 74 for stamping. As the Fig. 8 arrangement does not include electromagnet 60', it may be provided with only one stamping operation counter, 1 21.

Claims (20)

1. Stamping set comprising at least one stamp unit fitted with a stamp plate, characterised by the fact that the said stamp unit comprises first means determining essentially perpendicular movement of the said stamp plate against the surface of the item being stamped.

2. Set according to Claim 1, characterised by the fact that the said first means comprise a guide rod secured so as to move in a straight line and fitted on one end with a body fitted with the said stamp plate.

3. Set according to Claim 1 or 2, characterised by the fact that the said first means are activated by first cam means determining, in a first section and as a result of the action exerted by spring means, relatively high-speed downward movement of the said stamp plate against the said surface and, in a second section, relatively slower return movement to the initial idle position of the said first means.

4. Set according to one of the foregoing Claims, characterised by the fact that it comprises means for regulating the angular position of the said stamp plate.

5. - Set according to one of the foregoing Claims, characterised by the fact that it comprises means for regulating the plane position of the said stamp unit.

6. Set according to one of the foregoing Claims, characterised by the fact that the said stamp unit is provided with a unit for indicating and setting a date and adjusting means for mating it or not with the surface of the said stamp plate.

7. Set according to one of the foregoing Claims, characterised by the fact that the said stamp unit comprises second means providing, at each stamping cycle, for preliminary sliding of an ink-soaked pad over the stamping surface of the said stamp plate.

8. Set according to Claim 7, characterised by the fact that the said second means are activated by second cam means.

9. Set according to Claim 8, characterised by the fact that it comprises third means providing, at each stamping cycle, for supplying an adjustable amount of ink from a tank to the said pad, the said third means being activated by the said second cam means.

10. Set according to one of the foregoing Claims, characterised by the fact that it comprises third cam means providing for an endof-stamping-cycle signal.

11. Set according to one of the foregoing Claims characterised by the fact that the said stamp unit is provided with a motor for turning the said cam means via a connect-disconnect unit controlled by a stamping-cycle-start signal.

1 2. Set according to one of the foregoing Claims characterised by the fact that it comprises a single stamp unit and a button operated by an operator for providing the stamping-cycle-start signal.

1 3. Set according to Claim 10 and depending on Claim 8 or 9, depending on Claim 3 or on one of Claims 4 to 7, depending on Claim 3, characterised by the fact that it comprises two stamp units; that it comprises means for automatic single supply to the said stamp units of items for stamping; that it comprises first sensor means set up along the route of the said items and providing the stamping-cycle-start signal throughout a first stage controlling activation of the said second means via the said second cam means, the said stamp unit having means for automatic disconnection of the said cam means at the end of the said first stage; that it comprises second sensor means set up along the route of the said items, downstream from the said first sensor means, for stopping the said item at the said stamp plate; and that it comprises a completion of the said stamping cycle controlling activation of the said first means via the said first cam means, the said third cam means determining subsequent forward movement of the said item.

14. Set according to Claim 13, characterised by the fact that it comprises means for selecting essentially simultaneous activation of the said first means on the said two stamp units or sequential activation controlled by a pair of the said second sensor means.

15. Set according to Claim 13 or 14, characterised by the fact that it comprises switch means for deactivating either one of the said two stamp units.

16. Set according to one of Claims 1 3 to 1 5, characterised by the fact that it comprises a control panel for setting the number of items to be fed and stamped automatically, as well as the unit cost of the stamping operation.

1 7. Set according to Claim 16, characterised by the fact that it comprises means for displaying the number of items still to be stamped, in relation to the set number, as well as the progressive cost of the stamping operations already performed.

18. Set according to either of Claims 1 6 or 17, characterised by the fact that it comprises means for memorising the number of items stamped and/or the total cost of the stamping operations performed.

1 9. Set according to one of the foregoing Claims, characterised by the fact that it is a postage stamp marker.

20. Stamping set as described and shown with reference to the attached drawings.