IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEIZING, HOLDING, DETACHING AND REMOVING LIGHT OBJECTS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark of the firm of A. M and
W. Clark of 53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex Fellow of
the Institute of Patent Agents for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR SEIZING, HOLDING, DETACHING AND REMOVING LIGHT OBJECTS
Communicated to him from abroad by Adrien Dubois of Paris, France,
Manufacturer
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd January 1883.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. and W. Clark of 53 Chancery
Lane in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents,
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEIZING, HOLDING, DETACHING AND REMOVING
LIGHT OBJECTS [Communicated to him from abroad by Adrien Dubois of Paris,
France, Manufacturer]
"
This Invention relates to improvements in the appliances described in the
specification of previous Letters Patent granted to L. A. Groth as a communication
from the said Adrien Dubois, and dated March 22nd 1881 N° 1250.
These instruments or appliances are adapted for supporting small articles of
commerce in shop windows and for seizing and detaching the said articles wben
out of reach of the hand, and they are in all cases based on the employment of a
nipper or clip of known construction which may or may not be provided with
cutting devices, according to its intended use.
The present improvements consist in the combination of this nipper or clip with
other new parts whereby it is adapted to serve for a much greater variety of
purposes than those previously described.
I will first describe various arrangements adapted for supporting light articles in
shop windows and show cases, and then describe modifications of these appliances
whereby they are adapted for seizing, removing, and depositing such objects when
out of arms length, and further modifications whereby they are adapted for
detaching flowers, fruits, or suspended objects from their support and bringing them
to hand.

page_text: The first arrangement consists of a nipper or clip having flat or other shaped
jaws, of a tail piece rivetted or otherwise fixed to the main plate of the nipper, said
tail piece being in the form of a flat pointed blade like a paper knife having
bevelled or sharpened edges and a hole in it near the extremity. The instrument
thus con-tructed is adapted for use as a file, or for invoices, vouchers, and other
office documents, for suspending engravings displayed in shop windows, and the
like purposes. In this case the documents, engravings or other light objects are
held between the jaws of the clip placed with its tail piece upwards and hung on a
hook or other support. Or the appliance may be used, the tail piece as a paper
knife, and the clip as a leaf holder for books; or this appliance may be mounted
on a standard support consisting of a round stem rising from a pedestal and screw-
threaded at its upper end on which is screwed a head piece having a horizontal
transverse socket to receive the tail piece of the clip which in this case is made of
cylindrical form. The clip can pivot upon its cylindrical tail piece within the
socket in order that it may assume any position which will display the article beld
in the jaws of the clip to the best advantage. The clip is fixed in the desired
position by the screw stem acting as a set screw against the tail piece of the clip
and fixing it in the socket, the tail piece having a solid metal plug fitting in it to
prevent it being flattened by the set screw.
A short stem may be screwed into the top of the head piece to serve as a pivot
upon which the tail piece of another similar clip would fit as a socket, the clip being
movable thereon about a vertical axis.
"
The stand instead of being a straight rod, may be bent to a swan neck form at
top, the horizontal extremity of this stem being adapted to enter the socket like
tail piece of the clip. A short horizontal cross piece may be soldered or otherwise
fixed in the bend of the swan neck to form lateral pivots at right angles to the
first one upon which to fix other similar clips. Instead of a head piece or socket
screwing on the stem of the stand, a ball and socket arrangement may be used.
The socket is a shell made in halves united by a conical screwthreaded tubular
extension upon which screws a threaded ring or nut, said tubular extension fitting
on the top of the stem of the show stand. The ball has a stud or pin projecting
from it upon which is fitted the socket or tail piece of a clip such as above described
which pivots on the pin as an axis whilst the pin may be directed upwards or at
any inclination, or turned down to a horizontal position in which it is received in
a notch made in the socket of the ball and socket joint to receive it. Another
arrangement consists of a boss sliding on the stem of the show stand and fixed
thereon by a set screw at any desired height and provided with radiating pins
upon which the sockets of a number of clips may be fitted or pivoted
Another arrangement adapted for fixing clips to the edges of the glass shelves
used in shop windows and show cases, is so constructed that the clip may be pivoted
as above described and be fixed in any desired position. For this purpose a metal
socket piece is rivetted to the spring clamp which embraces the glass shelf, this
socket piece being adapted to receive the cylindrical tail piece of the clip which is
capable of pivoting in the socket and is fixed therein by the pressure of a set
screw, the tail piece having a solid plug in it provided with a head which prevents
the tail slipping accidentally out of the socket
Or I may rivet to the spring clamp a pin or stem on which fits the cylindrical or
socketted tail piece of the clip, and on this pin or stem before applying the clip, I
fix a boss of wood, ivory or metal hollowed to receive the socketted tail piece of
the clip within it, and provided with a set screw for securing the clip in any
desired position. The boss also has fixed in it radial rods or other accessories
such as hooks, knobs, and the like for supporting articles of commerce concurrently
with the clip above described. Instead of this arrangement being attached by a
spring clamp to a glass shelf the boss may be screwed to a socket piece fitted to
slide along a horizontal or vertical rod and provided with a set screw to fix it in
position.
Another arrangement consists of a ball or boss fixed on top of the stem of the

page_text: "
show stand and having pins radiating from it in all directions, each pin being
intended to have the socket of a clip fitted upon it.
I will now describe arrangements of "long arin or instrument for seizing hold,
as with the fingers, of articles out of arms reach. It consists of the combination of
a rod preferably tubular, a spring nipper or clip at one end, and devices at the
other end whereby the instrument may be held and operated by one hand. The
tubular rod may be of metal or of bamboo or other hollow wood so as to combine
lightness with strength and afford a passage for the cord, wire, or other connection
by which the nipper is operated and prevent the cord or other connection from
accidentally catching and overturning other objects between which tho instrument
may be insinuated or passed for the purpose of seizing hold of the object to be
moved.
The device for operating the nipper through the medium of the cord or other
connection may be a ring or thimble into which the finger is to be inserted sliding
in a longitudinal slot in the handle of the instrument and retained in said slot by a
flange on one side and a pair of ears on the other to permit of the ready
introduction of the ring or thimble in the slot. Or it may be simply a cross piece
sliding in a slot in the same way and retained by flanged heads screwed on at
opposite sides which may be scored or roughened and adapted to be gripped between
the thumb and finger. Or instead of a device sliding in a slot in the handle it
may be a ring sliding upon the rod just above the handle and provided with a
lateral projection within reach of the finger. The cord or other connection is
attached at one end to this operating device and at the other to such part of the
movable jaw of the nipper or clip as to move it in opposition to its spring which
may be applied either to open or close the nipper as may be preferred. By this
means the nipper may be easily operated by one or two fingers of the hand in
which it is held, and is quite under the control of the person using it. The forin
of the jaws of the nipper is adapted to that of the objects to be seized.
I will now describe modifications wherein the instrument is provided with
cutting devices whereby it is adapted to cut the stem of a flower or fruit, or tho
cord by which an object is suspended in a shop window, and to at same time seize
the part of the stem or cord cut off and bring the fruit or object to hand. The
cutting and seizing part of this instrument may resemble ordinary flower and
grape scissors, or it may be a special construction of cutters having a guillotine or
other action. The scissors may either be similar to those heretofore held in the
hand, that is to say, provided with a ledge along one blade in rear of its cutting
edge, against which the other blade nips the stem after cutting it off, or there may
be a spring nipping plate or jaw fixed upon the side of one blade which closes
against a fixed ledge or a similar spring plate or jaw on the other blade, these
spring jaws being capable of gripping stems of various sizes with equal facility
and applicable in cases in which the blades work over one another, as in scissors,
or meet edge to edge and are variable according to the form of cutting instrument
to which they are applied. The cutters are in all cases combined with a rod and
devices for operating them by one hand, and for the purpose of detaching and
bringing to hand objects situated out of reach.
The rod need not be tubular throughout its length as previously described but
may be solid and have an oblique hole bored in it at each end running out at one
side of the rod, and the cord or other connection may either run in a groove in the
rud or through guide staples fixed to the rod.
Lastly, instead of operating it by a thimble or other sliding device as before
described it may be actuated, when moro power is required for the cutting action,
by means of a lever pivoted in a recess in the handle and adapted to be gripped by
the whole hand in which the instrument is held.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd July 1883.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the Firm of A, M, and W; Clark of 53 Chancery
Lano in the County of Middlesex Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEIZING, HOLDING, DETACHING, AND REMOVING
LIGHT OBJECTS A communication to me from abroad by Adrien Dubois of Paris,
France, Manufacturer
"
This Invention relates to improvements in the appliances described in the
specification of previous Letters Patent granted to L. A. Groth as a communication
from the said Adrien Dubois, and dated March 22nd 1881, Nº 1250.
These instruments or appliances are adapted for supporting small articles of
commerce in shop windows and for seizing and detaching the said articles when
out of reach of the hand, and they are in all cases based on the employment of a
nipper or clip of known construction which may or may not be provided with
cutting devices according to its intended use.
The present improvements consist in the combination of a nipper or clip with
other and new parts or appurtenances whereby it is adapted to serve for a much
greater variety of purposes than those previously described. I will first describe
various arrangements adapted for supporting light articles in shop windows and
show cases, and then describe modifications of these appliances whereby they are
adapted for seizing, removing, and depositing such objects when out of arms'
length, and further modifications whereby they are adapted for detaching flowers,
fruits, or suspended objects from their support and bringing them to hand.
I will proceed to describe the Invention with reference to the aunexed drawings,
in which Figures 1 and 2 show a face view and section of one arrangement
consisting of a nipper or clip B having flat or other shaped jaws, and of a new or
additional part consisting of a tail piece B' rivetted or otherwise fixed to the main
plate of the nipper, said tail piece being in the form of a flat pointed blade like a
paper knife having bevelled or sharpened edges and a hole in it near the extreinity.
The instrument thus constructed is adapted for use as a file for invoices, voucliers,
and other office documents, for suspending engravings displayed in shop windows,
and the like purposes. In this case the documents, engravings, or other light
objects are held between the jaws of the clip placed with tail piece B' upwards and
hung on a hook or other support, as in Figure 2. Or the appliance may be used
when reading a book, the tail piece as a paper knife, and the clip for holding the
leaves open and preventing the book from closing by simply inserting some of the
leaves between the jaws of the clip and allowing the tail piece B' to hang down,
when the book will be kept open at the desired place by the weight of the clip
without requiring to be held open by the hand. In Figure 3 the appliance is
shown as mounted on a standard support consisting of a round stem C rising from
a pedestal and screwthreaded at its upper end on which is screwed a head
piece D having a borizontal transverse socket to receive the tail piece B' of the clip
which in this case is made of hollow cylindrical form. The clip can pivot upon its
cylindrical tail piece within the socket in order that it may assume any position
which will display the article held in the jaws of the clip to the best advantage.
The clip is fixed in the desired position by the screw stem acting as a set screw
against the tail piece of the clip and fixing it in the socket, the tail piece having a
solid metal plug B with ornamental knob fitting in it to prevent it being flattened

page_text: by the set screw. A short stem C³ may be screwed into the top of the head piece
to serve as a pivot upon which the tail piece of another similar clip would fit as a
socket, the clip being movable thereon about a vertical axis. Figures 4 and 5 show.
an elevation and plan of a stand C bent to a swan neck form at top instead of
being straight, the horizontal extremity C of this stem being adapted to enter the
socket like tail piece of the clip. A short horizontal cross piece C³ may be soldered
or otherwise fixed in the bend of the swan neck, as shown in Figure 5, to form
lateral pivots at right angles to the first one upon which to fix other similar clips.
Figures 6 and 7 show the upper end of a stand C having a ball and socket
arrangement. The socket is a shell S made in halves united by a screw d and
provided with a tubular extension fitting on the top of the stem of the show stand.
The socket S encloses a ball S¹ having a stud or pin S projecting from it, upon
which is fitted the socket or tail piece of a clip such as above described which
pivots on the pin as an axis, whilst the pin may be directed upwards or at any
inclination, or turned down to a horizontal position in which it is received in a
notch made in the socket of the ball and socket joint to receive it. By tightening
screw & the ball and clip may be held in any desired position.
Figure 8 shows another arrangement which consists of a boss D sliding on the
stem C of the show stand and fixed thereon by a set screw d at any desired height
and provided with radiating pins C upon which the sockets of a number of clips
may be fitted or pivoted. Figure 8bi shows a similar arrangement but with the
boss D fixed. Figure 8ter shows a clip holder C arranged as an arm to fold back
against a wall.
Figures 9. 10. 11 and 12 show arrangements adapted for fixing clips to the
edges of the glass shelves used in shop windows and show cases, so constructed
that the clip may be pivoted as above described and be fixed in any desired
position. Referring to Figure 9, a metal socket piece D is rivetted to the spring
clamp C which embraces the glass shelf, this socket piece being adapted to receive
the cylindrical tail piece B' of the clip which is capable of pivoting in the socket
and is fixed therein by the pressure of a set screw d, the tail piece having a solid
plug B² in it provided with a head which prevents the tail slipping accidentally
out of the socket. The article attached to the clip may thus be turned in any
direction required, and when adjusted in position, be fixed by simply tightening
screw d. In Figures 10 and 11, a pin or stein (" is rivetted to the spring clamp C,
and on this stem C fits the cylindrical or socketed tail piece B' of the clip, and on
this pin or stein, before applying the clip, I fix a boss D of wood, ivory, or metal
hollowed to receive the socketted tail piece of the clip within it and provided with
a set screw d for securing the clip in any desired position. The boss D also has
fixed in it radial rods or other accessories such as hooks, knobs, and the like for
supporting articles of commerce concurrently with the clip above described.
Figure 12 shows the pin C¹ mounted upon a vertical stem T attached to the spring
clamp so as to be free to turn in any direction about T as an axis,
Figure 13 shows an arrangement in which the boss D and its adjuncts are
similar to that shown in Figure 10, except that instead of being attached by a
spring clamp to a glass shelf, it is screwed to a clamp D' sliding along a horizontal
or vertical rod E and provided with a set screw d¹ to fix it in position.
Figures 14 and 15 show front and side views of another arrangement for show
stands consisting of a ball or boss D fixed to the standard by a set screw d and
provided with a pin C' for the attachment of the clip as before. The boss is
perforated in two directions so that it may be mounted upon either a vertical or
borizontal rod, and it is moreover provided with an inclined arm terminated by a
ball D' through which is inserted a bow frame E armed with pins or prongs t upon
which the articles to be displayed are hung, the said frame E being capable of
adjustment in ball D₁ in order to place the prongst in a vertical or inclined
position as desired, in which position they are secured by the set screws d¹. In
this example the clip is shown as occupying a central position, but it might be
placed beneath the bow frame. E, as shown in full lines in Figure 14, or. above it.as

page_text: shown. in dotted lines in Figure 15. The clip is intended to hold the most
important article, while the pius or prongst serve to hold accessories in a fun like
forin to set off the other.
Figure 16 represents a vertical section of another arrangement of clip holder,
Figure 17 is an elevation, and Figure 18 a plan of the same. A is a fixed or
rotating standard upon which is secured the boss which carries the radial clip
holding pins C. This boss consists of a sleeve B terminating at top in a flange B¹
having radial slits or notches to receive the flattened or notched ends of the pins C
which are secured by screwing down thereon the tube or ferrule B'. The pins C
although thus secured by their ends are still free to assume different inclinations
varying from a horizontal direction to an angle of about 45°, and for this purpose
the flange B' is enclosed by a collar D notched to receive the pins C and having its
upper and lower edges embraced by two caps E E' which screw on the parts B¹ B*.
By unscrewing the upper cap E¹ and screwing the lower cap E up or down, the
pins C may be raised or lowered as they merely rest in the notches of collar D which
fits in the lower cap E when the pins C are adjusted to the position desired, the
upper cap E is screwed down so as to hold the pins firmly in the notches of collar D.
The clips may be applied either on the ends of pins C or at any intermediate point
of their length in any of the ways before described. Instead of raising pins C by
means of cap E as above described this may be done by the cap E¹ by providing
the latter with a ring and jointed connections such as shown at X Figure 16.
: Figure 18™▪ shows in vertical section a simplified arrangement of the above
consisting of a boss B in which are screwed the ends of the clip holding pins C. The
standard A which may be either a fixture or rotating, passes up freely through the
boss B which simply rests upon a collar R provided with a set screw v. The pins C
are radially disposed either in a horizontal or inclined direction as desired and are
provided with clips as in the preceding arrangement.
"J
Figure 19 shows a "long arm or instrument for seizing hold, as with the
fingers, of articles out of arms' reach. It consists of the combination of a rod,
preferably tubular, a spring nipper or clip at one end, and devices at the other end
whereby the instrument may be held and operated by one hand. A is the tubular
rod which may be of metal or of bamboo, or other hollow wood, so as to combine
lightness with strength and afford a passage for the cord, wire, or other connection
by which the nipper is operated and prevent the cord or other connection B' from
accidentally catching and overturning other objects between which the instrument
may be insinuated or passed for the purpose of seizing hold of the object to be
moved.
The device for operating the nipper through the medium of the cord or other
connection may be a ring or thimble C into which the finger is to be inserted,
sliding in a longitudinal slot in the handle M of the instrument and retained in
said slot by a flange on one side and a pair of ears on the other to permit of the
ready introduction of the ring or thimble in the slot. Or it may be simply a cross
piece sliding in a slot in the same way and retained by flanged heads screwed on
at opposite sides which may be scored or roughened and adapted to be gripped
between the thumb and finger. Or instead of a device sliding in a slut in the
handle, it may be a ring sliding upon the rod A just above the handle and provided
with a lateral projection within reach of the finger. The cord or other connection B¹
is attached at one end to this operating device C and at the other to such part of
the movable jaw of the nipper or clip P as to move it in opposition to its spring
which may be applied either to open or close the nipper as may be preferred. By
this means the nipper may be easily operated by one or two fingers of the hand in
which it is held, and is quite under the control of the person using it. The form
of the jaws of the nipper is adapted to that of the objects to be seized.
Figure 20 shows a modified form of the nipper, as also another mode of operating
its jaws. The tail ends of the jaws B are flattened and slotted at b. The ring or
other operating device C (Figure 19) is in this case attached to a wire or rod B¹
which has a fork.fon its end (seo. Figure 22) carrying a pin g passing through the

page_text: slots in the tail ends 6 of the jaws, and through a longitudinal slot in the rod A so
that by moving the rod B' in one or other direction, the jaws will be opened or
closed. The apparatus thus acts without the aid of a spring, but one may however
be adapted to the rod B' to move it in one or the other direction as required.
In Figures 21 and 22 the instrument A is shown as provided with cutting
devices whereby it is adapted to cut the stem of a flower or fruit, or the cord by
which an object is suspended in a shop window, and to at same time seize the part
of the stem or cord cut off and bring the fruit or object to hand. The cutting and
seizing part of this instrument may resemble ordinary flower and grape scissors, or
it may be a special construction of cutters having a guillotine or other action. The
scissors may either be similar to those heretofore held in the hand (see Figure 20)
that is to say, provided with a ledge c along one blade in rear of its cutting edge,
against which the other blade nips the stem after cutting it off, or there may be a
spring nipping plate or jaw fixed upon the side of one blade which closes against a
fixed ledge or a similar spring plate or jaw on the other blade, these spring jaws
being capable of gripping stems of various sizes with equal facility and applicable
in cases in which the blades work over one another as in scissors, or meet edge to
edge, and are variable according to the form of cutting instrument to which they
are applied. The cutters are in all cases combined with a rod and devices for
operating them by one hand, and for the purpose of detaching and bringing to hand
objects situated out of reach. The rod need not be tubular throughout its length
as previously described, but may be solid and have an oblique hole bored in it at
each end running out at one side of the rod and the cord or other connection may
either run in a groove in the rod or through guide staples fixed to the rod.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein before in part recited Letters Patent is.
The improved apparatus or instruments for seizing, holding, detaching and
removing light objects consisting in the combination with a nipper or clip of the
various accessories or appliances herein shown and described.
In Witness whereof I the said Alexander Melville Clark have hereunto set
my hand and seal this third day of July, A.D. 1883.