The Free-Spindle Ticket Punch: A Loose Spindle Lifted by a Spring, Close to the Pivot

A punch whose spindle hangs on a small pivot breaks there, and cannot be set close to the levers' joint where the squeeze is strongest. Warren Hill of Springfield, Massachusetts, received US 79,470, dated 30 June 1868, antedated 5 May 1868, as "an improvement upon the invention of the said William J. Phelps". His spindle is not attached to either lever: it slides in a cylindrical guide, a plate fixed to it projects into a recess over a spiral spring that raises it, and lever A bears on its rounded top. "By this construction I am enabled to place the die-spindle nearer the fulcrum of the levers, and also cause the lever A to bear wholly upon the extreme end of the die-spindle C, and thus increase the power of the punch to perforate the thicker board or paper tickets." Springs on stems at the levers' ends open them and serve as a finger loop, and the stems act as stops. This rung works out the gain from moving the spindle toward the pivot, with a work check, then makes the punch with a free, spring-lifted spindle and punches card of two thicknesses.