Printers and Bookbinders.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Dec., 1896-Accepted, 23rd Jan., 1897
A communication by IHLING BROS. & EVERARD, of Kalamazoo, in the County
of Kalamazoo and State of Michigan, United States of America, Printers and
Bookbinders.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of The Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool, & 6 Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, 118 New Street, Birmingham in
the County of Warwick and 322 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, Civil
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 :-
This invention relates to book holders, particularly to those that hold the book
automatically either in the opened or closed position.
The objects of this invention are to provide a device that will be self adjusting
to books of varying thickness and will press the leaves of the book together when
closed to preserve the form of the book and prevent dust and dirt from getting in
between the leaves, and also to make a holder that will hold either one or two
books at once and in such a mauner that they will come in the most desirable
positions for usc.
These objects are accomplished by the devices illustrated in the accompanying
drawings, in which,
Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the book holder as used for two books,
one of the heads holding a closed book and the other head open and without a
book;
Figure 2 is an enlarged detail being a side view of one of the heads in a
position to hold a book closed, the dotted lines show the head adjusted nearly
fevel;
Figure 3 is an end elevation of Figure 2, the dotted lines showing one of the
wings in the open position;
Figure 4 is an enlarged detail sectional elevation on line 4-4 of Figure 3;
Figure 5 is an enlarged detail plan view of the cap A' of the base, the legs being
broken away;
Figure 6 is an enlarged detail sectional elevation of Figures 5 and 7 on
lines 6-6;
Figure 7 is an enlarged detail sectional view of Figure 6 on line 7-7;
Figure 8 is an cnlarged detail side elevation of the bell and shelf or bracket
with thumb screw for holding the standard at the proper height; and
Figure 9 is an enlarged detail view showing the centre section of the casting
for holding the heads and manner of attaching this casting to the tubular
standard.
Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.
Referring to the lettered parts of the drawing, AA are the legs of the
standard four in number. The upper ends of these legs are inserted into a bell
shaped cap A' and extend upward through suitable holes in the upper face of the

page_text: cap and have hooks on their upper ends to engage over the top of the cap.
When the legs are inserted in this way, a wedge N of corrugated elastic metal is
placed between them and driven into the cap. This forces the legs out against the
bell until all are tight, the elasticity of the wedge accommodating any irregularities
and the hooks v prevent them from being withdrawn. A standard C, extends
upward through the cap and wedge. B is a shelf or bracket placed on top of the
cap as support for additional volumes. The centre of this bracket is formed to
serve as a part of a clamp for adjusting the standard. This is accomplished by a
flange rim extending beneath the bottom of the same. Through a thickened
portion to one side extends a thumb screw m¹. A lug n projects up from the top
of the cap A in position to be engaged by the thumb screw n. It will be seen
from this that by turning the thumb screw n', the clamping portion of the
bracket B, will be forced against one side of the standard which will clamp it
tightly in place, the same being held in a perpendicular position by the opening
through the cap and the internal elastic wedge. This manner of clamping avoids
marring or scratching the standard and retains the same very securely.
At the top of the standard C which is tubular is pivotally supported a yoke D,
on the ends of which are supported the book holder heads or book holder proper.
The standard extends through an opening in the lower portion of the yoke and
engages a downwardly extending pivot M, on the yoke above.
The book holders proper can be used singly on the top of the standard C, thus
forming only a single holder by inserting the pin I into the top of the standard.
The book holder proper consists of a yoke H at the bottom, which is supported on
a forked shaped casting I, having a stud or pivot I, which projects into the
standard or end of the yoke D below to permit of a swinging of the head. The fork
portions of the castings I have inwardly projecting studs t which engage in notches
in the yoke H. The yoke H is adapted to tile on the studs t t and is adjustable in
any position by means of the set screw w which plays in the slot w' formed in the
casting I.
Supported above the centre of the yoke H are the wing boards G for clasping
the sides of a book and supporting the same. Cleats F of cast metal are clamped
to the sides of these wings. Links F have studs i at their upper ends which are
clamped in boxes between the cleats and the wings to form a pivotal support. The
outer ends of the links F F are provided with pivot studs which rest in small
bearings in the outer ends of the yoke H. The outer ends of these links are also
formed into loops which hook over guiding arms r which retain the pivots in
their bearings and allow a hinge motion on the same without danger of disengage-
ment. The loops also serve as stops to cause the wings to support a book in the
open position. Projecting down from the yoke H is a rod u. A small yoke m is
movably supported on said rod. A spring L supported by the rod presses the yoke
normally downward. Wire links K K connect this yoke m by the pivots ss below
to the wings above by the pivots s' s' and from this connection the spring L always
pulls downwardly on the bottom portion of the wing boards G. Between the wing
boards G is a rest E for the back of a book which is connected to the bottom of
the wing boards by the little links a a which permit the wing boards G G to have
a considerable adjustment to take hold squarely of thick or thin volumes as the
case may be.
From this description of parts, the operation of the device will be apparent.
When a book is placed between the wing boards G, and they are shut together,
as indicated in full lines in Figure 3, the wing boards will be clamped automatically
against the sides of the book owing to the link connections to each side and the
force of the spring L, being applied within the supporting pivots, and when
the same is open, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 3 referred to, the
holder will be held automatically in the open position owing to the fact that the
force of the spring L through its connections will be applied outside of the pivotal
supports. Thus it is clear that the holder is entirely automatic in its operation
and clasps the sides of a book whether thick or thin with all the force required to

page_text: protect it. It will also be observed that the operation of the spring L, is supple-
mented by the weight of the book, and it might be well to say that where the book
is very heavy, the spring could very well be dispensed with.
This improved book holder is capable of considerable modification without
departing from the invention. Attention has been drawn above to the fact that
the weight of the book itself assists in this improved book holder to hold the book
closed or open automatically in whichever position the book is placed and this is so
effective that the spring L, with its connections K, K to the wing boards might be
dispensed with entirely and produce a very effective book holder. But the spring
and its connection to the wing boards puts tension upon the whole device and
makes it act much stronger than it otherwise would and holds all of the pivotal
connections taut at all times. The spring and its connections to the remaining
device make a great improvement upon it, but the device would be entirely
operative without said spring and its connections. It is needless to say that the
upper part of this improved book holder could be used on almost any variety of
stand having a standard, though the improved stand and standard have great
advantages in construction over any other that have been seen.
My correspondents are aware that book holders have been made before to have
the wing boards connected together with straps which support the book when
closed in a vertical position and that the wing boards are made to move to and from
each other to be self adjusting, to a certain extent, to the book but so far as
they know these devices have proved failures, as they would not control the
movement of the. wing boards to cause them to hold a book in a firm or desirable
manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is-
1. In a book holder, the legs A, A; the bell A', to engage the upper ends of
said legs on its interior surface, a corrugated elastic metal wedge N, driven between
the legs inside the bell to hold the same securely by the elastic force of the wedge
for wedging the legs apart against the bell, substantially as shown.
2. In a book holder, the combination of the bell A'; legs A, A, the upper ends
of which are engaged by the bell A'; a wedge N, between said legs to clasp them
against the interior of the bell, standard C, a shelf or bracket B, and thumb
screw N', for moving the bracket and bell in opposite directions to clamp the
standard, co-acting together as specified.
3. In a book holder, the Y-shaped casting I; the yoke H, hung at each side to
the outer and upper ends of the casting I, the yoke H having pivoted at its outer
ends the arms F, F and the arms F, F, having the wing boards G, G, pivoted
from their free ends and the wings G, G, connected together from their lower
edges by the support E; and links a a all adapted to operate together substantially
as specified.
4. In a book holder, the combination of wing boards for each side of the book
connected by flexible connections to form a support below for the back of the book;
a suitable yoke below the wing boards extending to each side of the book; arms
pivotally connected to the outer ends of said yoke and also pivotally connected near
the upper or outer edges of said wing boards so that the weight of the book will
tend to press the wing boards against the sides thereof when the book is closed and
the weight of the book will be thrown well out beyond the pivotal connection of
said arms and yoke when the book is open, so that the book will remain
automatically either in the open or closed position as desired, for the purpose
specified.
5. In a book holder, the combination of the wing boards for each side of the book
connected by flexible connections to form a support below for the back of the book;
a yoke H below the lower edge of said wing boards expanded well out, arms F,
pivoted to said wing boards near the upper or outer edge and pivoted to each side

page_text: of said yoke; a spring below said yoke connecting, by suitable rods, pivotally to
the lower part of said wing boards at the outside, connected so that the action of
the spring, when the book is closed, shall be within the pivotal connection of the
lower ends of said arms, and, when the book is open, shall be outside of the pivotal
connection of said arms with the yoke to hold the book adjustably closed or lock it 5
open, for the purpose specified.
Dated this 14th day of December 1896.