Affixing dates on documents is a crucial procedure in inward and outward departments of government agencies and other offices because, at times, there are legal implications associated with such dates. Writing dates manually on a large bunch of documents is labor intensive. Such a task is also monotonous, and therefore prone to human errors. Date stamp is a mechanical device used to address these problems.
Traditional date stamps are made up of six or eight flat rubber bands loaded on a support pulley system that is attached to a wooden knob for holding the stamp. Ten single digit numbers, i.e., 0 to 9, are carved over the length of each band. Engravings are oriented in such a fashion that they can be used in combination with numbers on adjacent bands to represent date, month, and year. The support pulley system facilitates rotation of these bands so that required date can be positioned at an end exactly opposite to the top of the knob. An inkpad is used to wet the required date embossing, which is then positioned on the document and pressed slightly to get the imprint.
Self-inking versions of date stamps with plastic caps are also available in the market. Additional dies for words like “Confidential”, “Copy”, “Draft”, etc., are also being attached to date stamps. Such additional words and phrases help in tracing documents. Some stamps also have addresses based on specific requirements.
Recent developments include electronic date stamps. Operators using manual date stamps have to rotate the bands and pre-check the positioned date on a waste paper. This is necessary because embossed numbers do not resemble normal numbers. Electronic date stamps overcome such drawbacks.