and the
Year: 1886

page_text: Letters, and the kе.
I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323, High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication from
John R. Pitt of Brooklyn New York, United States of America) and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-.
This invention relates to a file or binder having two stiff boards or other kind
of covers with a soft or pliable back piece of leather cloth or other suitable
material, the whole arranged so as to be perfectly adjustable to any desired
thickness or number of pamphlets books or papers to be bound; and the said
file or binder is constructed and arranged so as to present a perfectly filled cover
no matter whether there be one or many pamphlets or papers in it.
The details of this invention are fully set forth and described in the subjoined
specifications and will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings of which
Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of the improved file covers with a number,
of leaves of a periodical bound therein. The figure shows the binder and its
contained leaves thrown open.
Figure 2 is a view of the two covers or sides of the binder thrown open and
separated from each other without any paper or leaves attached to the covers.
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the cover to which the metallic hinge is
attached showing the pocket for the reception of the loose or pliable back piece.
Figure 4 is a plan of the blank for the hinge socket (of sheet metal) showing the
shape of it before it is bent into the U form.
Figure 5 is a plan of the socket part of the hinge piece when ready for
attachment to the cover.
Figure 6 is a transverse section of the said hinge piece taken on the line xx of
Figure 5.

page_text: Figure 7 is a transverse section of the said socket part of the hinge piece with
a portion of the stiff cover secured thereto and showing the manner of attaching
the cover to the hinge piece.
Figure 8 is a longitudinal section of locking bar showing binding gauge.
Figures 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 show the hinge pieces in considerably enlarged or
exaggerated sizes for the sake of perspicuity.
The two side or side covers A Â¹ are made of board, card board thick paper or
any suitable and sufficiently firm material for the purpose and of a size suitable for
over-lapping the book papers or periodical they are intended to cover.
The sides
of these boards or forming pieces are covered with any suitable book-paper cloth,
skin, or other material common to or used in the bookbinder's trade.
The flexible back piece B of cloth paper, leather or other suitable material, is
glued or pasted to the side-board A for the entire length of each of the said parts
as shown clearly in Figure 2 and as also shown in said figure the other edge b of
the said piece B is left free so that it may be inserted in the pocket a¹ of the
cover A¹ as presently explained. The piece B is made wide enough to form the
flexible or back part of the cover for any desired thickness of book or enclosure.
A narrow strip a of some rigid or firm material preferably of wood and say a
half inch in width (more or less) and about one sixteenth of an inch thick is glued
or pasted to the back piece B just at the rear edge of the side piéce A as is shown,
clearly in Figure 2. This construction forms a hinge between the cover piece A
and the said strip a which allows the said cover to be opened or turned back,
while the piece a is held firmly to the sides of the-bound papers.
Binding wires C have their base ends fixed to or secured in the piece a as
shown in Figure 2 and the outer or free ends of the said binding wires are
sharpened so they may readily pass through the papers to be bound.
The cover A¹ has an inner piece A³ of stiff paper or equivalent material, secured
to it at the ends and outer edge but not at the back edge thus forming a pocket a¹
on the inner side of the said cover A¹ and into this pocket the free end or flap of
the back piece B is inserted when the pařts are assembled together in the form
of a bound volume.
137
J
The socket part. D of the hinge piece is made of sheet metal and the rear part
of its two edges d d arcturned over so as to form a rectangular groove between
them as shown in Figure 6. The said edges or lips & d' are of unequal length as
is shown in Figures 6 and 7 and the cuts or edges de d³ forming their outer limits
are best made beveling or sloping as is also shown in said Figures 6 and 7. The
piece or part d' is shaped so that its rear end is made to slope gradually from the
cut which severs it from the lip piece d to the front edge of the piece or lip d' and
is then turned down and pressed or hammered back tightly against the body or
central rib d³ which unites the two lip pieces d d as shown best in Figure 5.
This construction re-inforces and strengthens the front end of the socket piece, or
central rib d³ and the sloping rear end of the said reinforcing piece and the
unequal termination's dad of the clamping lips, dd, make the whole hinge piece
of nearly uniform strength and with no weak place where it would readily break
off as it would if the lip pieces d and d were of the same length. The outer end
of the said central or socket webb or rib d is rounded off transversely, and near
the said rounded end it is perforated with a circular aperture d into which the pin
or trunnion e of the hinge locking piece E is inserted and secured.
: 17
The locking and hinge piece E is a narrow flat piece of sheet metal the outer
edge of which is turned around a rod or wire e the ends of which are engaged in
the eyes or sockets of the binge pieces D-d. The part which forms the outer
edge of the piece E is really the central part of the sheet metal piece of which it
is formed and after having been pressed firmly around the wire or rode the two
leaves or parts of the said sheet metal piece extend inwardly toward the cover A¹
and terminate in the same or nearly the same vertical plane. These double leaves
or plates of the pieces E are perforated with apertures e¹ for the passage of the
binding wires C and the upper one of the said plates or leaves is cut with severing
1

page_text: notches ¿¹ so as to form semi-detached locking plates E¹ under which the free ends
of the binding wires Care secured when all the parts are assembled for binding
the volume. In order to keep the wires C from slipping out from under the locking
plates E¹ I make suitable cuts or slots e³ in the inner edge of one or both of the
plates of E and the semi-detached cusp or lug e thus formed is turned up as shown
in Figure 2 thereby forming a counter lock for the purpose of engaging the binding
wires C and preventing them from slipping out from under the locking plates E
The hinge pieces D secured to the cover piece A¹ by inserting the body or forming
board of the said cover between the lips & and d' and then with a proper forming
tool pressing down the extreme edges of the lip pieces d d into the substance of
the body part of the cover A¹ as is clearly shown in Figure 7 and thereby making
a dove-tailed connection of the said binge plate with the cover thus cheaply and
firmly uniting the two parts together. I puncture the books or other papers to be
bound (with a suitable tool)-for the reception of the binding wires C and the
location of these perforations is determined by a suitable gauge or marker formed
of the bar E in the following manner :-
The holes e¹ in the binding bar E are made perfectly symmetrical as relates to
the size of them and the distance between them so that if this bar be reversed'
(end for end) the holes e¹ would fit the positions of the wires C equally well in either
position. This enables me to reverse the cover A1 when it is detached from the
cover A and use its attached binding bar E as a gauge and marker for locating the
holes for the binding wires C and these holes I then drive through the papers to be
bound with a brad awl or similar implement. In placing the binding bar E upon
the papers to be bound so as to properly locate the holes e¹, a locating gauge es, in
the form of a slightly projecting elbow, as shown in Figure 8 is attached to or
formed on one end of the said binding bar, and projects slightly therefrom, so it
may rest against the end of the papers to be marked thereby exactly locating the
positions of the holes e¹ (longitudinally) the lateral position of the piece E when
used as a gauge is determined by keeping its inner edge flush with the back edge
of the papers to be bound.
The books, papers or other matter to be bound being thus prepared, they are
then placed on the binding wires C which said wires are thrust through the holes
prepared for them in the papers as above described, and then the hinge piece E of
the other cover is put on the binding wires, the said binding wires passing through
the apertures e prepared for them, then the plate E, is pressed down tightly on the
papers, and finally the wires C bent over and turned under the locking plates E¹ as
shown in Figure, 1. The papers are then held firmly in the binder and then on
turning the binder over, the free edge b of the back piece B is inserted in the
pocket a¹ of the cover A¹, and the binding is complete.
When papers are to be removed from, or new ones added to the binder, the
wires C are to be released from their hold under the clamp E¹, straightened up, the
cover A¹ will all its attachments removed from the file, the desired adjustment of
the papers then made and the cover A¹ returned to its place and the wires C turned
down and locked as before.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is
1st A temporary file or binder formed of two stiff covers, to the inner edge of
one of which
attached one edge of a flexible back piece which is adapted to fit
into a pocket formed to receive it in the inner edge of the other stiff cover, the
pocketed cover articulated to a metallic binding bar by a hinge socket made to
embrace the stiff cover of the binder by arms or locking lips of unequal length and
with bevelled inner ends, and the two covers removably attached to each other by
binding wires attached to one of the stiff covers and then passing through the
matter to be bound, and finally, through the aforesaid hinged metallic binding bar

page_text: of the other cover, to which binding bar the free ends of the binding wires are
temporarily locked or secured as described.
2nd The hinge uniting the cover A¹ to the other parts of the binder, formed of a
socket part D, having two parallel locking lips & d' of unequal length between
which the cover A' is inserted and secured in place therewith by pressing down the
edges of the lips d d, into the substance of the cover as described.
3rd The socket part D of the hinge of the removable cover A¹ formed of two
slide lips d d' of unequal length, and a central web or socket rib uniting the two
said lips, and extending far enough forward from the termini of the side lips to
form the hinge socket do, the said forward or projecting end of the central web or
rib reinforced by the side piece d' turned down upon it, as described.
4th In combination with the cover A¹, a hinge plate E secured to its inner edge
and extending parallel therewith, the said hinge plate perforated for the passage of
the binding wires C, and provided with locking lugs E¹ for holding the free ends
of said locking wires in place, and with counter-locking lugs e to prevent accidental
unlocking of said wires C, the whole combined as described.
5th The binding bar E, provided with an angularly projecting knee piece e
attached to one of its ends so as to adapt it to the use of a marking gauge for
locating the wire holes e' in the papers to be bound as described.