US3338160A

US3338160A - Removable self-sustained date frinter unit in a postage meter

Info

Publication number: US3338160A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1967-08-29
Anticipated expiration: 1984-08-29

Description

Aug; 29, 1967 F. HElL 3,338,160

REMOVABLE SELF-SUSTAINED DATE PRINTER UNIT IN A POSTAGE METER Filed Dec. 20, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.1

' INVENTOR F. HEIL Aug. 29, 1967 REMOVABLE'SELF-SUSTAINED DATE PRINTER UNIT IN A POSTAGE METER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 20,- 1965 FIGS FIGA

INVENTOR.

Aug. 29, 1967 F. HEIL 3,338,166

REMOVABLE SELF-SUSTAINED DATE PRINTER UNIT IN A POSTAGE METER Filed Dec. 20, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 M M/WW 2W W United States Patent Ofiice 3,338,160" Patented Aug. 29, 1967 3,338,160 REMOVABLE SELF-SUSTAINED DATE PRINTER UNIT IN A POSTAGE METER Friedrich Heil, Frankfurt am Main-Preungesheim, Germany, assignor to Telefonbau und N ormalzeit G.m.b.H.,

Frankfurt am Main, Germany Filed Dec. 20, 1965, Ser. No. 524,664 9 Claims. (Cl. 101-99) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Disclosed is a printing mechanism intended to form an integral part of a postage meter. The printing mechanism is designed to form a self-sustained structural unit that can be inserted as a unit, and removed as a unit, from a frame or housing structure. Thus the printing mechanism can be serviced and cleaned separate from the postage meter in conjunction with which it is intended to be used.

This invention refers to postage meters, and more particularly to the date printing mechanism thereof.

It is a general object of this invention to provide postage meters having improved date printing mechanisms.

Postage meters comprise a printing plate for printing intelligence which is fixed, i.e. which does not change from time to time, or does not change with each consecutive day. In addition thereto postage meters comprise adjustable date type means for printing the particular mailing date which changes with each consecutive day. As a general rule, the printing plate for printing intelligence which is fixed has an aperture, and the adjustable type means for printing varying mailing dates have printing surfaces arranged inside of the aforementioned aperture. The adjustable type means for printing varying mailing dates are under the control of handles, levers, or equivalent manually operable means which are accessible from the outside of the frame and housing structure of the postage meter.

The date printing mechanism of postage meters which are being extensively used tend to get soiled by particles of paper, dust, and particles of pigments which are being carried to all points of the date printing mechanism as the same is being adjusted daily to print the respective date. The grime and dirt being carried around in the date printing mechanism of prior art postage meters is a serious source of trouble because the formation of grime and dirt is unavoidable, and because in prior art postage meters the date printing mechanism is not readily accessible for cleaning.

It is, therefore, a special object of this invention to provide postage meters not subject to the above limitations and drawbacks, i.e. postage meters having adjustable date type means and parts which are operatively related to said date type means which can readily be removed from the postage meter for cleaning.

According to the present invention the adjustable date type means and the gear means for their adjustment are integrated to form a self-sustained structural unit so that the adjustable date type means and the gear means for adjusting the same are jointly insertable as a unit into, and jointly removable as a unit from, the frame and housing structure of the postage meter.

For a better and more complete understanding of the invention reference may be had to the ensuing particular description thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein FIG. 1 is partly a side elevation and partly a vertical section of a postage meter embodying the present invention, and more particularly of the date printing mechanism thereof;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the structure of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a section of the structure of FIG. 1 taken along 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a section of a portion of the structure of FIGS. 1-4 taken along 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is partly a side elevation and partly a vertical section of a postage meter embodying the present invention, and particularly of the date printing mechanism thereof different from the structure shown in the previous figures; and

FIG. 7 is a front view of the structure of FIG. 6.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 5 thereof, numeral 52 has been been applied to indicate the frame and housing structure of a postage meter. The postage meter may be of any conventional design, and its mode of operation may likewise be conventional. The meter according to this invention diifers from prior art postage meters only in regard to the date printing means thereof. Printing plate 58 is fixedly arranged at the bottom of the frame and housing structure 52 and thus for-ms an integral part thereof. Printing plate 58 is intended to print intelligence which does not vary from time to time as, for instance, the postal mailing district, the name of the sender of the mail, advertising matter, etc. Printing plate 58 is provided with an aperture 58 in which aperture adjustable date type means are arranged. The types forming part of these date type means and the types of the aforementioned printing plate are arranged in a common printing surface or printing plane.

Reference character 49 has been applied to indicate an externally screw-threaded rod supported by a side wall of frame and housing structure 52 adjacent printing plate 58 and projecting at right angles from said wall into the inside of the frame and housing structure 52. The lower end 50 of rod 49 is screwed into a boss 52 forming an integral part of frame and housing structure 52, and secured in position by means of nut 51 (see particularly FIG. 5). Helical biasing spring 54 surrounds the end of rod 49 adjacent the side wall of the frame and housing structure 52 by which rod 49 is supported and rests with one end thereof against said side wall. The center portion of rod 49 supports a sleeve member 5 loosely mounted on rod 49. The end of rod 49 remote from the side wall of the frame and housing structure by which rod 49 is supported is externally screw-threaded as indicated at 62. These screw-threads support a substantially tubular or elongated nut 53. One end of nut 53 projects through an aperture A in a panel or cover plate 6. The end of nut 53 projecting through the aperture A in panel or cover plate 6 to the outside of frame and housing structure 52 is shaped to form an operating member for nut 53. The aforementioned end of nut 53 is preferably in the shape of an operating knob to which reference character 64 has been applied. Rotation of operating knob 64 results in lowering of sleeve member 5 against the bias of spring 54, or raising of sleeve member 5 under the action of spring 54, depending upon the sense of rotation of knob 64.

Sleeve member 5 supports a pair of spaced

parallel plates

2, 3 maintained in position by means of screws 65. In FIG. 1 plate 2 has been omitted to expose to view the space bounded by

plates

2, 3.

Plates

2 and 3 form bearings for supporting four

shafts

24, 29, 30 and 36. Shafts 24, 29, 30 and 36 extend parallel to the side of frame and housing structure 52 which supports rod 49 and at right angles to

plates

2 and 3. Shaft 24 supports a plurality of

type wheels

16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 arranged side by side along shaft 24. Each of these type wheels is substantially annular. The radially inner surface of each of these type wheels is provided with a plurality of V-shaped recesses or notches 23, the number of these recesses or notches being equal to the number of types 21 on the outer surface of each of the

type wheels

16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. Each type 21 is juxtaposed to one of the notches 23 or, in other words, one type 21 and one notch 23 are arranged along one common radius of each type wheel. A small ball 26 under the action of a biasing spring 25 is provided for each type wheel and may enter into the notches 23 thereof and thus arrest the respective type wheel in a fixed position. The balls for arresting

type wheels

16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 are arranged in radially extending or transverse bores in shaft 24, which bores also accommodate the aforementioned biasing springs 25. Type wheel 16 is provided to print the names of the months of a year, and

type wheels

17 and 18 are provided to print the number of any particular day of a month, type wheel 17 being provided to print one digit of the number of the day, and type wheel 18 being provided to print the other digit of the number of the day.

Each of

type wheels

16, 17, 18 is provided with a toothed gear 22 in meshing engagement with a corresponding toothed gear 27 mounted on shaft 29. Toothed gears 27 are, in turn, in meshing engagement with a cor responding set of toothed gears 28 mounted on shaft 30. Toothed gears 28 are in meshing engagement with a set of toothed gears 41 mounted on shaft 36. Shaft 36 has substantially the same configuration as shaft 24, i.e. both are substantially in the shape of a roller or, in other words, both have a relatively large diameter. Each of gears 41 is fixedly connected for joint rotation with one of a set of

type adjustment wheels

31, 32 and 33 mounted on shaft 36.

Wheels

31, 32 and 33 are pin wheels, i.e. each of them is provided with equidistantly arranged, radially extending pins 40. Type adjustment wheels or

pin Wheels

31, 32 and 33 are substantially annular and the inner surfaces thereof are provided with a plurality of V-shaped recesses or notches 39. The number of these notches 39 is equal to the number of signs on the radially outer surface of each type adjustment wheel, and the number of signs on the outer surface of each type adjustment wheel is equal to the number of types on a

corresponding type wheel

16, 17, 18. A small ball 38 is provided for arresting each type adjustment wheel in one of its several operating positions, each ball 38 being biased radially outwardly by a biasing spring 37 arranged in a radially extending bore in shaft 36.

Shaft 36 supports, in addition to the aforementioned

type adjustment wheels

31, 32, 33, two

type adjustment wheels

34 and 35, clearly shown in FIG. 3.

Type adjustment Wheeels

34, 35 are pin wheels of the same kind as

type adjustment wheels

31, 32, 33, and the former are provided on the outer surface thereof with a series of numbers for identifying any particular year by a pair of digits. The aforementioned plate 6 is arranged above type adjustment wheels 31 to 35 and is provided with an aperture 14 exposing to view the

type adjustment wheels

31, 32, 33, 34, 35 which are arranged below that aperture. Plate 6 further defines a square aperture 9 arranged side by side with the aperture Awhich is coaxial to screwthreaded rod 49and adjacent edges G of panel or cover plate 6. In addition to the above aperture 9, panel or plate 6 defines a pair of square aperture 7, 8 arranged side by side adjacent edge H of panel or cover plate 6. Aperture 14 may be closed by a semi-cylindrical magnifying lens 15 to factilitate reading the writing on the

type adjustment Wheels

31, 32, 33,- 34, 35 which are situated behind it.

Push buttons 10, 11, 12 movably arranged inside of

apertures

7, 8, 9 are provided for operating

adjustment wheels

31, 32, 33 and thereby adjusting

type wheels

16, 17, 18. The lower end of theshaft of each push button 10, 11, 12 defines a slot 44 receiving a pin 46. Pins 46 are supported by a bridge plate 4 whose ends are fixedly secured to

vertical plates

2, 3. Pins 46 and slots 44 perform two functions, i.e. they guide push buttons 11, 12

4 along straight paths and they limit the length of said paths.

The shaft of each push button 10, 11, 12 supports a pin 66 which, in turn, pivotally supports a ratchet 45 under the action of a biasing spring 47. The ratchet 45 associated with each push button 10, 11, 12 operates the pin 66 which, in turn, pivotally supports a ratchet 45 one of the push buttons 10, 11, 12 is being depressed, the slanting front edge of the ratchet 45 associated with the particular push button engages a pin on one of the

type adjustment wheels

31, 32, 33 operatively related to the particular push button. This results in a pivotal motion of the ratchet 45 (in counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 1) and in tensioning the biasing spring 47 connected to the particular ratchet 45. Each push button 10, 11, 12 is biased in upward direction by a helical spring 43 surrounding the shaft thereof. Upon release of the particular push button that had been manually depressed by the action of the finger of the operator, the push button returns to its initial position under the action of its helical biasing spring 43. This causes the upper edge of one of ratchets 45 to abut against one of the pins 40 of one of the

type adjustment wheels

31, 32, 33 and to pivot that type adjustment wheel a predetermined angle. Each push button 10, 11, 12 is provided with a boss 48 forming an abutment for one of the ratchets 45 during the upward movement of the respective push button under the action of its biasing spring 43.

The pivotal motions of

type adjustment wheels

31, 32, 33 are transmitted by means of gears 28 and 27 to the

corresponding type wheel

16, 17, 18, resulting in the desired adjustment of

type wheels

16, 17, 18 for printing out any month of the year and two digits indicative 0 any particular day in that month.

The indirect mode of operation of

type adjustment wheels

31, 32, 33 by means of push buttons, or equivalent push means, is conductive to a great uniformity of operation of

type adjustment Wheels

31, 32, 33. To be more specific, the strength of the impact of the finger of the operator of the postage meter upon push buttons 10, 11 12 does not affect the operation of

type adjustment wheels

31, 32, 33 and, however hard the impact of the finger of the operator of the postage meter upon push buttons 10, 11, 12 may be,

type adjustment wheels

31, 32, 33 will be moved smoothly and none of

type adjustment wheels

31, 32, 33 will ever be pivoted more than a distance equal to the pitch of pins 40 and notches 39, respectively, incident to one finger stroke performed by an operator of the meter.

Type wheels

19 and 20 need only to be adjusted once a year. In view thereof no push buttons are provided on the outside of frame and housing structure 52 or cover plate 6, respectively, for adjustment of these two type wheels. Their adjustment can be effected by means of operating members upon removal of the entire printing.

inclusive, is designed to meet this requirement. Turning of knob 64 in one direction will raise

plates

2, 3 and all the parts supported by

plates

2, 3 including cover plate 6,'

and thus move

type wheels

16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 out of the printing plane. Turning of knob 64 in the reverse direction will lower

plates

2, 3 and thus move

type wheels

16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 back to the printing plane. The upper end of rod 49 is provided with an abutment screw 56 whose shaft is coaxial to rod 49 and screwed into an axial internally screw-threaded bore in rod 49. As long as the type wheels are in their lower position, or printing position,.there is a predetermined clearance between the lower surface of the head of screw 56 and a shoulder formed inside of knob 64 by virtue of a cavity provided therein.

Rotation of knob 64 in the direction for raising

plates

2 and 3 results in engagement of the aforementioned shoulder by the head of screw 56, thus limiting the upward motion of tubular nut 53 and that of sleeve 5 and

plates

2, 3 and of all parts which are supported by them. Upon appropriate operation of knob 64 on nut 53, sleeve 5 and

plates

2, 3 are raised automatically to the non-operative position of

type wheels

16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 under the bias of helical spring 54.

If it is desired to remove nut 53, sleeve 5 and

plates

2, 3 and all the parts which are supported by the latter form the frame and housing structure 52 of the meter in order to clean the date printing mechanism, and the parts which are associated with it, or for some other reasons, this calls for a removal of abutment screw 56 from the cavity inside of knob 64.

Any removal of the date printing mechanism from a postage meter should be performed only by qualified and authorized personnel rather than by any person who may have access to, and may use, the postage meter. In order to preclude unauthorized access to abutment screw 56, which is a prerequisite to removing the date printing mechanism from the postage meter, the entrance portion of the cavity inside of knob 64 is sealed by a seal 60 of soft metal, such as lead, which abuts against a supporting disc 59 resting on an upper shoulder defined by knob 64 and locked in position by virtue of a circular groove 61 in knob 64 forming an abutment for a toroidal projection on seal 60 entering into and engaging groove 61.

When knob 64 is turned in the direction causing lowering of tubular screw nut 53 sleeve 5 and

plates

2, 3, the lower end of plate 2 engages a shoulder 55 formed by the frame and housing structure 52. Engagement by plate 2 of shoulder 55 precludes any pivotal motion of the

unit

5, 2, 3 and of the parts which are supported by

plates

2, 3 about rod 49.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that

plates

2, 3 are parallel, and arranged at right angles to that portion of the frame or housing structure to which reference numeral 52 has been applied.

Shafts

24, 29, 30 and 36 are arranged within a space bounded by

plates

2, 3 and rod 49 extends parallel to

plates

2, 3.

The structure shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is, in part, the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and the same reference characters have been applied in all figures to designate like parts. In view thereof FIGS. 6 and 7 call for a detailed description only to the extent to which the structure shown therein difi'ers from that of FIGS. 1 to 5.

The structure of FIGS. 6 and 7 includes a vertical, externally screw-threaded rod 49 supporting sleeve 5 which, in turn, supports a pair of vertical spaced

plates

2, 3. It will be observed that vertical plate 2 has been deleted in FIG. 6 to expose to view the parts of the structure which are arranged between

plates

2 and 3. The upper screwthreaded end of rod 49 supports the elongated screw nut 53 projecting beyond the cover plate 6 through an aperture a in the latter and forming an operating knob 64 at the end thereof projecting beyond cover plate or cover panel 6. The two parallel spaced

plates

2, 3 are secured to sleeve 5 by means of four screws 65.

Plates

2, 3 support but two

shafts

24 and 36 of which the latter supports adjustment wheels 70, 71, 72. The periphery of adjustment wheels 70, 71, 72 is preferably knurled to facilitate the operation thereof. Each adjustment wheel is provided with a pulley 73 for supporting an endless belt, and these pulleys form integral parts of adjustment wheels 70, 71, 72. Each pulley 73 is annular and defines on the inner surface thereof a system of V-shaped recesses or notches 39 having a predetermined pitch. Shaft 36 defines radial recesses or bores, each housing a helical spring 37 biasing a ball 38 radially outwardly into any of the systems of V-shaped recesses or notches 39.

The lower shaft 24 supports a plurality of pulleys 74 of which each corresponds to, and is identical with, one of the pulleys 73 supported by the upper shaft 36. Each 6 of the pulleys on lower shaft 24 is annular and forms on the inner surface thereof a system of V-shaped recesses or notches into which a spring-biased ball may enter to arrest the respective pulley in a predetermined position.

Reference numeral 75 has been applied in FIG. 6 to indicate an endless belt of metallized synthetic resin mounted on a pair of corresponding pulleys, i.e. an upper pulley 73 and a lower pulley 74. There is a total of four such endless belts which have been designated in FIG. 7 by the

reference characters

75M, 75Z, 75E and 751. Belt 75M is provided for printing month designations, belts 752 and 75E for printing two digit members of particular days within a month, and belt 751 for printing year designations, as will be explained more in detail. Each belt forms flat, rectangular type projections to which reference character 76 has been applied in FIG. 6. These type projections may be moved successively into the aperture 58' in printing plate 58 by causing rotation of the respective pair of pulleys 73, 74 which support one of the aforementioned endless belts. Each belt forms also flat rectangular printing-type indicating signs 77. When one of the aforementioned belts is caused to revolve in such a way that a predetermined type is moved into the opening, or aperture 58' in printing plate 58, and consequently into the printing surface of the device, the corresponding printing-type-indicating sign 77 is moved behind the aperture 14 in cover plate 6 and thus exposed to view and indicating which particular type is in its printing position. Operation of adjustment wheel 70 causes endless belt 75M to revolve, operation of adjustment wheel 71 causes endless belt 7 52 to revolve, operation of adjustment wheel 72 causes endless belt 7 SE to revolve, and operation of adjustment wheel 78 causes endless belt 751 to revolve. The latter carries the year types and the year-type-indicating signs.

The type mechanism and type adjusting mechanism of FIGS. 6 and 7 may be removed from the frame and housing structure 52 in the same fashion as described in com nection with FIGS. 1 to 5, inclusive, in considerable detail.

It is also possible to raise the type surfaces of

printing belts

75M, 75Z, 75E and 751 above the printing plane, and to thus render the date printing system inoperative in the same fashion that has been described in considerable detail in connection with FIGS. 1 to 5, inclusive.

Having fully described my invention and illustrated two preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the details thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention; hence I do not intend to be limited by the exemplary preferred embodiments illustrated, but what I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent 1s:

1. A postage meter comprising:

(a) a frame and housing structure;

( b) a printing plate having an aperture and being fixedly secured to said frame and housing structure;

(c) adjustable date type means having printing surfaces arranged inside of said aperture of said printing plate;

(d) gear means for adjusting said date type means;

(e) an externally screw-threaded rod supported by a side wall of said frame and housing structure adjacent said printing plate and projecting at right angles from said side wall into the inside of said frame and housing structure;

(f) a helical biasing spring surrounding the end of said rod adjacent said side wall of said frame and housing structure and resting with one end thereof against said side wall;

(g) a substantially tubular nut riding on the end of said rod remote from said side wall of said frame and housing structure; and

(h) a pair of parallel plates supporting said date type means and said gear means, said pair of plates being arranged at opposite sides of said rod, slidable along said rod in a direction longitudinally thereof and clamped in position between said helical spring said plurality of date-indicating wheels including a month-indicating wheel and a pair of day-indicating shaft arranged adjacent and parallel to said printing plate;

(c) a second plurality of pulleys pivotable about a second shaft and arranged adjacent and parallel to said and said tubular nut. cover plate;

2. A postage meter as specified in claim 1 comprising (d) -a plurality of endless belts each wound around one an operating member on the end of said tubular nut remote of said first plurality of pulleys and one of said secfrom said biasing spring arranged on the outside of said ond plurality of pulleys, each of said plurality of frame and housing structure. belts having pairs of corresponding points appearing 3. Apostage meter as specified inclaim 1comprising: 10 simultaneously behind said aperture of said cover (a) a substantially knob-shaped operating member on plate and inside said aperture in said printing plate the end of said tubular nut remote of said biasing upon simultaneous pivotal motion of one of said spring, said substantially knob-shaped operating mcmfirst plurality of pulleys and one of said second pluber defining a cavity having an entrance portion and rality of pulleys about a predetermined angle; and a shoulder portion; (e) each of said plurality of endless belts being pro- (b) an abutment screw having a shaft arranged in covided on the outer surface thereof with a plurality of axial relation to said rod and projecting into the end printing types and with a plurality of type-indicating of said rod remote from said side wall of said frame signs each corresponding to one of said plurality of and housing structure, said abutment screw having rinting types, corresponding printing types and typea screw-head abutting against said shoulder portion 0 indicating signs being arranged at corresponding pairs of said operating member to preclude removal of of pointsof said plurality ofbelts. said tubular nut from said rod; and 6. A postage meter as specified in claim 1 comprising:

(c) seal means on said substantially knob-shaped op- (a) fastener means including said screw-threaded rod erating member closing said entrance portion thereof secured to a point of said frame and housing structo preclude access to said screw-head of said abutture immediately adjacent said printing plate f ment screw. curing said pair of plates to said frame and housing 4. A postage meter as specified in claim 1 comprising structure; and a in combination: (b) manually operable means for rendering said fas- (a) a cover plate arranged at right angles to said extener means inoperative to allow removal of said pair ternally screw-threaded rod and defining a plurality of plates from said frame and housing structure, said of apertures including a first aperture arranged in 00- manually operable means being positioned at a point axial relation to said externally screw-threaded rod outside said frame and housing structure. adjacent to one of the edges of said cover plate, a 7, A ostage meter as specified in claim 1 comprising: second aperture arranged side by side with said first (a) an abutment defined by said frame and housing aperture adjacent said one of the edges o i cover structure extending parallel to said pair of plates plate, a third and a fourth aperture arranged Side by and engaging one of said pair of plates to preclude side adjacent another edge of said cover plate opposite ivotal motion of said pair of plates about said rod; said one of the edges of said cover plate, and a fifth d P arranged in the center region of Said cover 40 b) abutment means supported by said rod for limiting Plate betwefin Said 0116 f t e edges of said cover the travel of said pair of plates under the bias of said plate and said another edge of said cover plate, one spring i a direction longitudinally of said rod. end of said nut riding on said externally screw-thread- 8. A postage meter as specified in claim 1 comprising: ed Tod Projecting through Said first apfiftllfe; (a) a sleeve slidably mounted on said rod supporting (b) a plurality of manually operable spring-biased said pair of plates;

Push-buttons including a first Push-button movably (b) said tubular nut riding on the end of said rod rearranged inside Said Second aperture, 3 sflcofld P mote from said end thereof secured to said frame and button movably arranged inside of said third aperture, housing structure being elongated and one end form- 2111C]. a thl Id-bllttOn movably arranged inside Of said ing a, knob defining an internal cavity having a sh uL fourth aperture; der; and

(c) a plurality of date-indicating wheels forming part (c) an abutment screw arranged in coaxial relation to of said gear means for adjusting date type means, said rod and screwed into said end of said rod resaid plurality of date-indicating wheels being armote from said end thereof secured to said frame ranged behind Said fifth aperture defined y Said and housing structure, said abutment screw having panel and exposed to view through said fifth aperture, a screw head cooperating with said shoulder of said cavity of said knob to limit the travel of said sleeve in a direction longitudinally of said rod. 1

9. A postage meter as specified in claim 1 comprising a knob on said tubular nut defining a cavity and a removable seal of soft metal obstructing the entrance to said cavity defined by said knob.

number wheels each for a different digit arranged in coaxial relation to said month-indicating wheel; and (d) a plurality of ratchet mechanisms for operating said plurality of date indicating wheels, said plurality of ratchet mechanisms including a first ratchet mechanism operated by said first push-button and operating said month-indicating wheel, a second ratchet mechanism operated by said second push-button and operat- References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS ing one of said pair of day-indicating number wheels, 1,370,663 9 Pitney 10191 and a third ratchet mechanism operated by said 1,799,408 /1931 B1111 101-72,X third push-button and operating the other of said 8 5/1952 P term nn et a1 101110 5 pair of day-indicating nuniagecii wheils. 1 i FOREIGN PATENTS A postage meter as spec e in 0 arm comprising. 7 807,509 1/1959 England.

(a) a cover plate arranged parallel to said printing plate and having an aperture juxtaposed to said aperture in said printing plate;

(b) a first plurality of pulleys pivotable about a first ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

H. DINITZ, Assistant Examiner.

Patent No. 3,338,160

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION August 29, 1967 Friedrich Heil It is certified that error appears in the above identified 7 patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as show below:

Column 4, lines 7 and 8, "pin 66 which in turn, pivotally supports a ratchet 45 one of the push" should read pins of one of type adjustment wheels 31 32 33. When one of the push Signed and sealed this 20th day of January 1970.

(SEAL) Anesg;

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Edward M. Fletcher, J r.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer

Claims

1. A POSTAGE METER COMPRISING: (A) A FRAME AND HOUSING STRUCTURE; (B) A PRINTING PLATE HAVING AN APERTURE AND BEING FIXEDLY SECURED TO SAID FRAME AND HOUSING STRUCTURE; (C) ADJUSTABLE DATE TYPE MEANS HAVING PRINTING SURFACES ARRANGED INSIDE OF SAID APERTURE OF SAID PRINTING PLATE; (D) GEAR MEANS FOR ADJUSTING SAID DATE TYPE MEANS; (E) AN EXTERNALLY SCREW-THREADED ROD SUPPORTED BY A SIDE WALL OF SAID FRAME AND HOUSING STRUCTURE ADJACENT SAID PRINTING PLATE AND PROJECTING AT RIGHT ANGLES FROM SAID SIDE WALL INTO THE INSIDE OF SAID FRAME AND HOUSING STRUCTURE; (F) A HELICAL BIASING SPRING SURROUNDING THE END OF SAID ROD ADJACENT SAID SIDE WALL OF SAID FRAME AND HOUSING STRUCTURE AND RESTING WITH ONE END THEREOF AGAINST SAID SIDE WALL; (G) A SUBSTANTIALLY TUBULAR NUT RIDING ON THE END OF SAID ROD REMOTE FROM SAID SIDE WALL OF SAID FRAME AND HOUSING STRUCTURE; AND (H) A PAIR OF PARALLEL PLATES SUPPORTING SAID DATE TYPE MEANS AND SAID GEAR MEANS, SAID PAIR OF PLATES BEING ARRANGED AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID ROD, SLIDABLE ALONG SAID ROD IN A DIRECTION LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF AND CLAMPED IN POSITION BETWEEN SAID HELICAL SPRING AND SAID TUBULAR NUT.