Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 4th Sept., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 4th Sept., 1899-Accepted, 11th Aug., 1900
I, BENJAMIN IVES GILMAN, Gentleman, a Citizen of the United States, residing
at Newton, in the County of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, do hereby
declare the nature of my said 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 memorandum case or file consisting of a case or box
and a series of removable receptacles or pockets contained therein, each of which
holds memoranda, letters, documents, or other papers requiring attention on
a certain day in the future.
The object of my invention is to make an improved memorandum-case in
which each month of the year is represented by a removable receptacle or pocket,
and each day of the month, except the first, (which is represented by a monthly
receptacle), is also represented by a similar removable receptacle or pocket,
making forty-two receptacles or pockets, which are contained in a box or case
preferably provided with a cover. Each receptacle or pocket has seven tag or
marker holders or places of attachment ror a movable tag or marker, correspond-
ing to the number of days in a week, and in this instance made as thumb
notches or recesses, each notch or recess adapted to receive and hold a tag or
marker on which appears the name of a month or the abbreviation of the name
to indicate one month of the twelve or a number indicating one day of the
month, from "2" to "31." There is one movable tag for each receptacle; but
the tag may be placed in any one of the seven notches or recesses on each recep-
tacle, so as to obtain a perpetual calendar and tell the day of the week on which
every day for the next month comes and the day of the week on which the first
of every month comes for a year ahead. Each of the receptacles or pockets may
have a filing-index on the front part thereof and a letter thereon, in addition to
the movable tag or marker, indicating the first letter of the subject-matter
entered on said index. This subject-matter may be inscribed upon a receptacle
Kept elsewhere within another, the latter being inscribed with a single number
and the former with a number of its own, in addition to the number of the
larger. The number of the larger receptacle may be inscribed in the first one
of a pair of the narrower columns on the filing-index opposite the record of the
subject-matter and the number of the smaller in the second.

page_text: My invention consists in certain novel features of construction of my memo-
randum-case, as will be hereinafter fully described.
Referring to the drawings:-
Figure 1 is a perspective view of my memorandum-case with the cover open
and partially broken away.
Fig. 2 is a front view of one of the removable receptacles or pockets removed,
showing the filing-index thereon and the reference letter, also the seven tag or
marker holders and one tag or marker, and,
Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the receptacle shown in Fig. 2, on line 3, 3,
Fig. 2, looking in the direction of arrow a, same figure.
In the accompanying drawings, 1 is a box or case, made of stiff cardboard, or
leather, or wood, or other suitable material, which holds the series of removable
receptacles or pockets 2, in a substantially vertical position.
The interior length of the box or case 1 corresponds substantially to the
length of the receptacles or pockets 2; but the interior width of the box may
be made greater than the thickness of the receptacles 2 when made expansible
and placed in the box empty, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, to allow of a number
of memoranda being placed in each receptacle without crowding and binding
the receptacles 2 in the box 1. The height of the box 1 is a little greater than
the height or width of the receptacles 2 to allow of the tags or markers 3 pro-
jecting up from said receptacles when the cover is closed. The box 1 preferably
has a cover 4, which may be secured by a ball and socket fastener or otherwise.
At the front of the box 1 I preferably provide three stationary compartments
or pockets 5, 6, and 7 for slips of paper, pencils, etc. Letters indicating the
days of the week are preferably printed or pasted on the front upper part of the
box 1, as shown.
Each receptacle or pocket 2 may be made as an ordinary envelop, open at the
top, but without any flap, and the back extending a little above the front edge,
as shown in Fig. 3.
On the upper back edge of each receptacle 2 are a series of seven tag or
marker holders, in this instance made as thumb notches or recesses 8, to form
holders or places of attachment for the tags or markers 3.
In this instance a
band or strip 9 is pasted or secured on the back part of the receptacle 2, at the
upper edge thereof, and thumb notches or curved recesses cut out, as shown.
Each recess 8 is adapted to hold the lower part of a movable tag or marker 3,
as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.
I will now describe how my memorandum-case is used. On any given date
each of the tags or markers 3 bearing the name of a month is attached to a
different one of the receptacles 2 by that one of the holders 8 thereof which
corresponds to the day of the week on which the first of the next coming month
of that name falls, and each of the tags or markers 3 bearing a number is
attached to a different one of the rest of the receptacles 2 by that one of the
holders 8 thereof which corresponds to the day of the week on which the next
coming day falls having that number in the month. The forty-two receptacles 2,
made to correspond in this way with forty-two coming days, viz., the first days
of the twelve next coming months and the thirty next coming days numbered
from "2" to "31" in the month, are arranged in the case 1 from front to back
in the chronological order of these coming days and any memoranda, letters, or
other documents which it is desirable should have attention on any one of these
forty-two coming days are placed in that one of the receptacles 2 which corre-
sponds to that day. At the beginning of the day following the given date above
assumed that one of the receptacles 2 which occupies the front of the case 1
and which by the arrangement just described will correspond with this beginning
day is removed from the case 1 and emptied of its contents, which will consist
wholly of memoranda, etc., desirable to attend to on that day. Its tag or marker 3
is then shifted to that one of the holders 8 which corresponds to the day of the
week on which (if a month-tag) the first of the next coming month of that name
:

page_text: falls or on which (if a numbered tag) the next coming day falls having that
number in the month, and the receptacle is then replaced in the case 1 as the
representative of that new coming day in such a position among the other recep-
tacles 2 as to keep the order of the receptacles 2 from front to back the same
as the chronological order of the days they represent. The rules for thus replac-
ing the receptacles 2 and shifting the tags or markers 3 are as follows: In the
case of any month-receptacle its new position will be behind all the other récep-
tacles in the case, and its tag will be shifted one holder to the right if a 29th of
February does not occur within the coming year, and two holders if it does. In
the case of the receptacle numbered 2 its new position will be immediately
behind the next coming month-receptacle. Further, in the case of any recep-
tacle numbered from 3 to 28, inclusive, its new position will be immediately
behind the receptacle numbered one lower, and in both these cases the tag will
be shifted to the holder next to the right from that occupied by the tag of the
next preceding receptacle. In the case of a receptacle numbered either 29, 30,
or 31, its new position will be between the receptacle of the next month in
which a day having this number occurs and the month-receptacle next following
this and immediately behind any receptacle there found numbered one lower, and
its tag will be shifted to the holder next to the right from that occupied by the
tag of the next preceding receptacle if this is numbered one lower, or, if not,
then to the third, second, or first holder, respectively, to the left of that occupied
by the tag of the next following receptacle. It will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art that these operations, complicated in exact description, will
become with a little practice nearly automatic. By this daily movement of the
receptacles or pockets 2 and the tags or markers 3 the tags or markers remain
in the form of a perpetual calendar and tell the day of the week on which every
day of the next month comes and the day of the week on which the first of
every month comes for a year ahead.
In the drawings, Fig. 1, my memorandum-case is shown as it would be on
the 22d day of February, 1899, which is Wednesday. It will be seen at a glance
on what days of the week the remaining days of February come, also that
March comes in on Wednesday, April on Saturday, May on Monday, June on
Thursday, July on Saturday, August on Tuesday, September on Friday, etc.,
thus showing at a glance the day of the week the first day of each month falls
on throughout the year 1899 and to February 1900.
It will be understood that the details of construction of my memorandum-case
may be varied, if desired.
The advantages of my memorandum-case will be readily appreciated by those
skilled in the art.
By having a series of removable receptacles or pockets a number of memo-
randa can be kept in place without liability of becoming mixed up or lost. By
means of the movable tags or markers on each receptacle for the months and
days of the months a perpetual calendar can be kept and each month-receptacle
answers for the first day of that month.
The filing-index on the front of each receptacle or pocket 2 and the reference-
letter thereon (see Fig. 2) is a great convenience, furnishing an index of papers
and memoranda not kept in said receptacle, but in receptacles contained within
others in some other place. The reference-letters are so placed one upon each
receptacle 2 that whatever the sequence of the receptacles from front to back in
the case 1 the reference-letters are visible from the front of the case in alpha-
betical order from left to right.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is: -
1. An improved article of manufacture, a memorandum-case or file, consisting
of a holder or box, and a series of removable receptacles or pockets contained

page_text: therein, each adapted to hold memoranda, etc., and each having thereon seven
tag or marker holders for holding a movable tag or marker designating a month,
or the day of a month, and said tag or marker, substantially as shown and
described.
2. The combination with a box or case, of a series of removable receptacles or
pockets contained therein, each adapted to hold memoranda, etc., and each having
thereon seven tag or marker holders for holding a movable tag or marker desig-
nating a month, or the day of a month, and said tag or marker, substantially as
shown and described.
3. An improved article of manufacture, a memorandum case or file, consisting
of a case or box, and a series of removable receptacles or pockets contained
therein, each adapted to hold memoranda, etc., and each having thereon seven tag
or marker holders for holding a movable tag or marker designating a month,
or the day of a month, and a filing-index on the front of each receptacle, and a
reference-letter therefor. substantially as shown and described.
4. An improved article of manufacture, a memorandum case or file, consisting
of a case or box having one or more stationary compartments or pockets at the
front thereof, and a series of removable receptacles or pockets contained in said
box, each adapted to hold memoranda, etc., and each having thereon seven tag
or marker holders for holding a removable tag or marker designating a month
or the day of a month, and said tag or marker, and a filing-index on the front
of each receptacle, and a reference-letter therefor, substantially as shown and
described.
5. An improved article of manufacture. a memorandum-case or file, consisting
of a case or box having one or more stationary compartments or pockets at the
front thereof, and letters indicating the days of the week, and a series of remov-
able receptacles or pockets contained in said box, each adapted to hold memo-
randa, etc., and each having thereon seven tag or marker holders for holding a
removable tag or marker designating a month or the day of a month, and said
tag or marker, and a filing-index on the front of each receptacle, and a reference-
letter therefor, substantially as shown and described.
Dated this 2nd day of September 1839
BENJAMIN IVES GILMAN..
By George Barker,
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents,
Agent for Applicant,
77. Colmore Row, Birmingham.
BENJAMIN IVES GILMAN..
By George Barker,
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents,
Agent for Applicant,
77. Colmore Row, Birmingham.