Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Apr., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 7th June, 1887.
[Communicated from abroad by DENNIS J. O'SULLIVAN, residing at Detroit, in the
County of Wayne and State of Michigan, United States of America.]
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the county of Middlesex, M.I.M.E.
do hereby declaro the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention in display and retail racks is especially designed for tissue-papers,
such as is used for the making of artificial flowers and fancy-work.
Heretofore paper of this class has been kept by the merchant in drawers, the colors
being mixed and piled upon each other, and the constant handling over of the thin
sheets destroys many of them, and the time consumed in finding a desired color and
shade makes the selling of the article expensive and very inconvenient, and it is
difficult to distinguish readily a desired shade when the colors are promiscuously
mingled, as is common. By this present arrangement these objections are overcome
the colors being suspended in full view of the purchaser, and in such a manner that a
desired color or shade may be readily found and can be removed from the rack without
disturbing any other sheet or color, as will be fully hereinafter set forth; and this
invention consists in the arrangement of parts, as hereinafter specified, and pointed
out in the claims.
In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective of
the display-rack, showing the papers suspended therein. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail,
partly in section and partly broken away. Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective of a
metal supporting-rail. Fig. 4 is a modification showing a circular rack adapted to be
suspended. Fig. 5 is an enlarged section of Fig. 4 on dotted line 11 of said figure.
Fig. 6 is a modification of the rail of Fig. 3.
In Fig. 1, B represents the side rails of the frame; D, the end rails, which are jointed
at the corner.
The side rails are hinged at the center, as shown at h, so as to fold one
part over the other, as in shipping, thus taking up but little space.

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is a central cross-rail joining one set of the side rails. (See Figs. 1 & 2.) This
prevents the spreading of the side rails at the center. In the inner upper edge of the
side rails is formed a rabbet, F (see Fig. 2.) and along the inner upper face of said
rails is secured a metal plate, C, by means of screws e I form in the upper edge of
the plate vertical slots e. The length of said slots is equal to the depth of the rabbet F,
and sufficiently long to receive in an upright position the metal rails S, as shown in
Figs. 1 and 2.
Said rails extend transversely over the frame, and are made long
enough to cross the frame and have their ends meet the vertical walls of the rabbets F
in the side rails. By this arrangement the rails are prevented from working endwise,
while the vertical slots e of the plates hold said rails in an upright position, and to
prevent them from lifting up I attach to the upper edge of the side rails the cap-
rails 2, which extend over the side rails and over the metal plates C, as clearly shown
in Fig. 2. locate the slots e in the plates Cabout one-half inch apart. By this
arrangement I am enabled to locate the supporting-rails Satany desired distance apart.
If it is desired to display another color of paper, 1 remove the rail on one side of
the frame and lift up the rails S at that side, then draw forward, when the opposite end
will be removed from the slot e of the other side. I then insert it in the slots nearer
the next rail S of the series, when another bar can be inserted in its place. The
paper is put up in packages of a desired color, and is once folded over upon itself. 1
take a package of the paper folded and divide the sheets at the center, then suspend
them on a bar S of the rack, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4.
I design placing the rails S at such a distance apart as will allow the light to strike
the faces of the outer sheets of the series of folded sheets. This enables the purchaser
to distinguish the desired color. When a color has been selected, the merchant, by
slightly dampening a thumb and finger and passing them centrally astride the folded
sheets, then pressing upon the faces of the outer sheet and lifting it up, raises it from
over the folded sheet below it, as clearly indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the other
sheets remaining undisturbed. It will be observed that by this arrangement a variety
of colors may be readily obtained from the rack. The legs are formed of wire, and
are coiled at the center, one part over the other, as shown at a of Fig. 1. The upper
ends are bent outward, forming attaching-arms at a', which enter holes formed in the
under edges of the frame. The legs support the frame at an elevation, and should be
long enough to prevent the lower ends of the sheet t of the paper from touching the
counter or platform upon which the legs rest. It will be observed that this frame is
open at the top, ends, and sides, thus enabling a full and clear display of all the colors,
which may be easily reached. In shipping this rack the legs are removed and the
frame is folded at the center, when it becomes a small and convenient package. I
arrange the colors in the rack in nests-as follows: by placing upon a rail S some
deep color, then placing upon the next succeeding bar a lighter shade, and so on,
according to the various shades. For instance, the space indicated by A in Fig. 1
represents the nest of red shades, the space of A the nest of blue shades, the space
of A the nest of green shades, the space of A the nest of pink shades, and so on
according to the various colors.
The device shown in Fig. 1 can be arranged and placed under a counter so as to
slide in and out like a drawer, without departing from the principal of my invention.
In Fig. 4 of drawings I show a circular rack for windows-one that may be sus-
pended or it may be provided with legs similar to the legs of Fig. 1. The parts B,
and Z, are the same as shown in Fig. 1, and support the inner ends of the rails S the
same, and are detached in the same manner. I attach to the back face of the rail B
an extension-arm, g. I employ a circular metal plate, C, the ends of which I attach
to the ends of the arm g. represents a series of holes through said plate. I provide
the outer end of each supporting-rail S with a hook, a². Said hook passes through a
hole ², of the circular plate. The hook prevents the bar from drawing out of the
circular supporting-plate. is a rod extending from the center of the plate C to the
suspension-arm H, where it is firmly fixed to "said arm, whereby the circular plate is
prevented from sagging at the center by the weight of the papers suspended upon the

page_text: diverging rails S. Said rails are formed from flat strips of metal to give strength,
and lie within the fold of the sheets t.
This device can be arranged so as to be used in connection with a swinging frame,
and having this advantage that the fancy paper suspended therefrom, will be more
accessable and more easily handled by the person using the same. The same bars will
be used, and the same slots, excepting that they will not be formed as before described,
but made like the teeth of a saw, to allow the said bars to swing with the paper.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent and in what manner the samo is
performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a device for the purposes specified, the combination of the frame, the detach-
able legs, the adjustable supporting-rails, and the mechanism for supporting the
adjustable rails, the sheets of paper suspended upon said rails, as and for the purposes
specified.
2. In a device for the purposes specified, the combination of the two-part frame,
hinged at the center and provided with detachable legs, the central cross-rail, n, and
the adjustable cross-rails S, supported as set forth, and having the sheets of paper
suspended thereon, as and for the purposes specified.
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