IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF BOXES OR APPARATUS TO CONTAIN ADDRESS CARDS FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Julius Edward Mellin and Clement
Henry Ulbricht at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 18th April 1867.
We, JULIUS EDWARD MELLIN and CLEMENT HENRY ULBRICHT, of Sherwood
Street, Golden Square, in the County of Middlesex, Engineers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF BOXES OR APPARATUS TO CONTAIN ADDRESS CARDS FOR PUBLIC
DISTRIBUTION," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus for containing
address cards intended for public distribution, and has for its object to so
construct and arrange the apparatus that the cards may be presented one by
one, and can only be taken singly from the box or apparatus, and moreover
that when one card is withdrawn another one will be immediately presented
in its place.
To this end the bottom of the box which contains the cards has two or
more slots made in it for the purpose of receiving as many hooks or studs
which project up through the slots to about the thickness of a card above the
level of the bottom plate of the box; these studs or hooks are fixed in a
moveable frame which slides in guides or against rollers attached to the
bottom of the case. A long slit is made in the front of the box for the
purpose of admitting of a card being pushed out from the bottom of the
pile in the box; this lowermost card projects through the front slit so
that it may be taken hold of by the finger and thumb and drawn entirely

page_text: ...
out of the box. In so doing its front edge is brought against two springs
attached to the front part of the sliding frame so that the withdrawal of
the projecting card will pull forward the sliding frame, and in so doing
will cause the hooks or studs behind to move forward another card in the
place of that which has been withdrawn. When the sliding frame has been
pulled out as far as it will go the springs will yield and allow the card to
pass over them. The sliding frame will then be drawn back by the tension or
force of a pair of india-rubber or other springs attached by one of their, ends
to the fixed part of the apparatus, and by their other ends to the sliding frame.
A piece of elastic thread or india-rubber is adapted to the long exit slit in the
front of the box and acts as a wiper to prevent more than one card at a time
from being pushed out. Two fat springs fixed on the under side of the
horizontal front plate will also hold the card in its proper place until it is
pulled out from the front.
As a modification of the above, we sometimes place the moveable or recipro-
cating frame inside the box at the bottom thereof instead of underneath.
Hooks, studs, or projections just the thickness of a card are fixed on the back
edge of this frame, and as the cards are placed in the box and are made to
rest on the frame, it follows that as the latter is drawn forward it will pull
forward with it the undermost card and cause it to project from the box. The
forward ends of the frame project from the box, and are provided with two
jointed knuckles, against which the forward edge of the card bears as it is
drawn from the box, and in so doing draws forward the frame, and with it
the undermost card of the pile in the box. When the knuckles are no longer
supported by the bottom plate of the box they drop down and allow the card
to pass over.
Instead of the knuckle joint being made to fall down, as described, the card
may be lifted off the frame by its front edge coming in contact with two fixed
inclined planes, into which the notched ends of the moveable frame enter as
they are drawn forward; as a modification of this, the notches at the forward
end of the frame may be bevilled and secured to thin flat springs, so that
when they reach the forward end of the bottom plate they will yield and allow
the card to pass over them.
Another mode of pushing forward the lowermost card from under the pile
so as to bring it into a position to be laid hold of by the hand is to place at
the bottom of the box a pair of vibrating levers on which the cards will rest;
these levers are provided on their upper sides with projecting studs corre-
sponding in thickness to the thickness of a card, so that when the levers are
drawn forward they will catch hold of the lowermost card and push it out of

page_text: the front of the box. The levers inside the box are connected by rods, cords,
or wires to another pair of levers, in front and against which the front edge of
the card will bear while being drawn out of the box; it will therefore be
understood that when the projecting card is drawn out it will pull forward the
front levers, and thus communicate motion to the back levers and move
forward the lowermost card into the position formerly occupied by the card
that has just been drawn out. As a modification of this plan, instead of two
pairs of front and back levers, two single bell-crank levers may be sub-
stituted.
It will of course be understood that the return of these levers or of
the moveable frame to their normal positions will be effected by india-rubber
or other springs in all cases, and that the narrow exit slit in front of the box
will be provided with a piece of vulcanized india-rubber to act as a wiper, and
prevent more than one card at a time from being drawn out of the box.