A Method of Obtaining a Systematic Cyclopædic Classification of Printed Matter, Manuscripts, and other Flat Objects, and Appliances therefor.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Aug., 1890-Accepted, 18th Oct.. 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Method of Obtaining a Systematic Cyclopædic Classification of
Printed Matter, Manuscripts, and other Flat Objects, and
Appliances therefor.
I, GEORGE WEICHOLD, of Illkirch, near Strassburg, Alsatia, Germany, Engineer,
do hereby declare 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:-
My invention relates to a new cyclopaedic arrangement of periodicals for all
branches of human knowledge which realises the alphabetic classification of all
printed papers relatively to their contents or authors, to chronological, local and
other points, and allows of any required insertion, addition or continuous completion
in a degree of perfection not hitherto attained in book form or by any registering
device.
Thus with books from time to time the acquisition of new editions is necessary
in order to be informed of the existing state of things; as to registering means,
they occasion considerable loss of time and deterioration of papers.
My new system which remedies these inconvenience is based:
1. On a novel arrangement of the printed matter.
2. On a new synoptic collecting casket and its accessories.
Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings represents in nearly natural size a shoot
of the cyclopaedic periodical adapted for industrial advertisements, a branch wherein
synoptic prompt information on objects destined for the same purpose becomes
from day to day more difficult and tiresome if not impossible.
For the most part memory must suggest what the imperfect system cannot furnish.
Years however often pass from the time when knowledge was obtained of the
existence of an article (either by advertisements in journals or by circulars, verbal
communication or intuition) to the moment when one is in want of it. Even the
best of memories often fails in these cases and announcement artifices, however
ingenious, prove to be inefficient.
A well conceived system ought to furnish any necessary information to a sccker,
ignorant of all but the categories to which the objects wanted belong.
According to the extent of the communications made in respect of industrial
products, the elemental part of the cyclopaedic periodical is either a simple or a
double one, that is to say a folded sheet or an assemblage of these, viz. a collection.
The normal size of the cyclopaedic periodical being taken tolerably small, a few
details will fill at least one page. By means of the margins detachable along the
perforated line, sheets may be assembled as desired to series &c. by means of clasps
or transverse sewing (especially for dispatch).
When after continued collection, a series of papers partly simple partly, folded, are to
be united, this is done by the so called india-rubber binding, after having torn off the
perforated margins. This operation would however do away with the principal
advantage of the cyclopaedic system and should only be resorted to in the case of
series sufficiently completed for particular exceptional purposes.
For the efficacy of the system the arrangement of top marks on the sheets is
essential, and of new contrivance, as to their practical disposition for all necessary
and useful notes such as returns, pagings, annulments, datings &c. both printed (at
the editor's) and individually written (as shewn in Fig. 7 in small italics).
In order to establish a concordance with the patented objects, the Patent-Office
classification of these has been preserved for the cyclopaedic system and may if
necessary, be completed by any subdivision.
The details of the advertisement matter are arranged in a manner suited to

page_text: individual requirements such as alphabetic classifications by the names or domiciles
of the advertisers &c.
A succinct and synoptic classification scheme comprising all categories of printed
papers required to be invented in consideration of the complication of such a
collection, and the following are its principal sections and titles:
DECTION 1.
Title A.
"}
دو
B.
C.
THE SCIENCES.
The scientific literature.
Advertisements relating to A.
News relating to scientific matter (viz. brief infor-
mations on institutions, events, authors, trials &c.).
SECTION 1
Title A.
B.
"
0.
"
D.
""
INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE.
The industrial and commercial literature.
Advertisements relating to A.
News relating to industry and commerce.
Advertisements relating to industrial products.
The synoptic collecting casket which serves to receive the papers of the cyclopaedic
periodical, as represented in Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings, is composed
of a bottom, a back and two half side boards.
By using, instead of wood, xylolithe, celluloid, compressed paper, paste board &c.
it can be manufactured in one piece. Two of these caskets, forming a pair, join
together by dovetailing in the edges of their bottom and back walls (as shewn in
Figures 1 and 3) so as to form a well closed and exactly parallelopipedic box, being
very convenient for the purpose of expedition and protecting its contents from dust.
For the use in offices &c., on the table and for the conservation in chests, cases or on
shelves the two caskets (halves of the box) serve of course, in the same manner.
When required, a leather or a cloth can be attached to the inner side of the back board
of the casket, and which is drawn down over its contents, also for preserving them
from dust, and which is pulled back when in use.
Within the casket the papers must be compressed for their preservation. They are
for this purpose put between two boards of the same size, a simple one R on the left,
a double extensible one on the right, of which Figures 4, 5 and 6 represent a practical
construction. By means of a pin P and the dovetail tenons on the gussets G and H
this extensible board is fixed in any of the corresponding mortices and holes Q of the
caskets.
In order to maintain a certain distance between the front moveable board, and the
back fixed one, the milled screw nut L is screwed tight, which acts upon the winged
screw K and the ribbed washer J sliding in the grooves M and turning on a pivot in
the upper end of one of the four cross links. The other three upper ends of the links
only have sliding pivots O, and the lower ends turn upon pivots formed by wood
screws. The outer cress links are rivetted to the pivot ends of axis N situated in a
downward exiending groove as shewn at Fig. 5. The inner links turn loose upon the
said pivots.
For forming the grooves M and securing the cross links, the longitudinal side edges
of the press boards are made of separate pieces glued on. The joints may be covered
with veneer on the face in contact with the papers.
It will be seen from the above construction that on moving the front board away

page_text: from the fixed back board, the ends of the cross blades will be made to slide with their
pivots along the grooves M, and when the front board has been moved into the required
position, it is secured there by tightening up the nut L, which prevents any further
movements of the cross links.
When the casket is nearly filled, the extension board is removed and placed closely
against the side wall and is finally withdrawn and replaced by a simple board equal to
the opposite one R (Fig. 1).
Fig. 3 shows the extensible board engaged in a middle position.
The normal size of the cyclopaedic periodical being on a small scale, illustrations, tables
&c. of larger dimensions must be reduced to it by folding, which in the case of advertise-
ments is always practicable. Should it be of importance to avoid folds in these
supplements, a sheath may be formed by doubling the back wall of the casket, which
receives a portfolio for these papers (either unfolded or at least not twice folded, and
of course separated from the text, but containing only a reference mark thereto).
The length of the caskets may be increased in order to augment to a corresponding
extent that of the back sheath.
Any series of papers may be united within the casket by wrappers, and every class
must be distinctly separated from the others. This is effected by means of card boards
containing observations of general utility in reference to the respective class, and also
references to other similar or conjugated ones, wherein the object sought may also be
found.
Together with the printed matter, the collecting caskets may also receive all kinds
of written documents, correspondences, envelopes, samples of cloths, leather and paper
or metallic plates, photographs, herbarium-sheets, sample cards bearing flat objects as
ribbons, buttons, hardware &c., or the caskets may contain such objects exclusively.
Besides the most important application of the cyclopaedic system to industrial
advertisements, it is also applicable to a great number of other purposes such as for time
tables of rail and tramways &c., for public or private libraries, for journals, &c., which
applications all present among others this great advantage, that distinct subscriptions
may be made exclusively to the classes or branches in which a person is interested,
whereas with the ordinary subscriptions to journals, the subscriber is obliged to
purchase matter in which he is little or not at all interested. Prices may for this
purpose he established both for single papers and for series thereof.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A cyclopaedic publication consisting of a systematic cyclopaedic classification of
printed matter, manuscripts, and all other flat objects, arranged and combined as herein
described.
2. The use for the cyclopaedic publication referred to in the preceding claim, of
collecting caskets or boxes formed in two parts to be connected together, with or
without a back sheath for containing larger objects, substantially as described with
reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings.
3. The use for compressing papers contained in the collecting caskets referred to in
the preceding claim, of the combined fixed and moveable pressing boards herein
described with reference to Figs. 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings.
4. In a cyclopaedic publication such as is referred to in the first claim, the herein
described method of head indexing applied to the separate papers, as also the described
method of general classification of the papers.
Dated this 15th day of August 1890.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.