Stamp-vending Machines

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 145, 22 June 1936, Page 5

Stamp-vending Machines

ANNUAL SALES WORTH £33,000. The extent to which automatic stamp-vending machines ate meeting • the convenience of the public in New Zealand is demonstrated by the fact that last year, £3B,ooo worth offpenny stamps went out into. circulation through the; tiny slots of these devices, pulled out; one by one by people who had put'in a penny. . It will bo interesting,- to those who use the. machine torlearn something,of

‘its construction and method of opera- < l.tion. They have probably discovered : that the penny has to.be pushed into < the slot- firmly, the reason being that sufficient pressure must be exerted to I lift a light weight which, in its subse- : I quent fall, provides the power ncces- < sary to actuate the machine to the ; point of producing one stamp in return for the penny. There is a very simple, but cleverly i designed, mechanism within the machine which prevents the stamp feed from working unless a bona fide penny has been inserted to start operations. Lead discs, half-crowns, and the circular tops of match boxes have been tried, the general result being that they are thrown out through the lowest slot on the face of the instrument. Cut if a penny is inserted the mechanism works smoothly, revolving a small drum which carries'tiny pins fitting exactly into the perforations of the stamp. ‘ A slight pull by the intending purchaser enables the stamp which ap : pears'outside the slot to bo detached from a continuous foil-lying behind in tho recess of the machine! - Great ac-. curacy is needed in constructing the moving’parts of the mechanism, the stamp drum being machined to limits of l/1000ths of an inch. The prepara-] tion in-the Government Printing Office,

of the stamp rolls carrying 4SO penny stamps involves the use of a specially designed machine. Comparatively few complaints are received of tho machines failing to function, a tribute to tho excellence of the workmanship at the Department's workshops in Wellington where they are manufactured. Dampness has to be guarded against in machines having very fine adjustments so as to avoid risk of failuro or the gum on the stamps being affected. In some instances a low-power electric light is Icep; burning insido tho machine, but in the majority of cases a small tin of powdered calcium chloride placed in the. base of the machine is sufficient to extract the moisture from the air and enable the mechanism to function efficiently in all weathers.