Improvements in Rulers.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Oct., 1889-Accepted, 4th Jan., 1840
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rulers.
I, JAMES PARKES of No. 2 North Terrace, Berwick-on-Tweed in the County of
Northumberland, Gentleman 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 has for its object improvements in rulers by which I am enabled in a
cheap and substantial manner to rule with pen and ink without the ruler becoming
inked while ruling with a pen which in the case of ordinary rulers has made it
generally necessary to wipe the ruler very frequently while at the same time my
improved ruler allows of a line being ruled as near the lower edge of the paper or
book as could be drawn by means of an ordinary ruler and special provision is further
made for preserving the paper from being blotted by any ink that might run down
the protector as will be hereafter explained.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood and more easily carried into
practice I have appended hereunto a double sized sheet of drawings upon which I
have illustrated several modifications of my improvement which will serve to fully
illustrate the principle but it will be quite evident that the various details may be
considerably varied without departing from such principle.
Figure 1. is a longitudinal elevation of a ruler looking towards the ink guard A
which is shewn attached thereto.
Figure 2 is a cross section through Figure 1. on line 1-2.
Figure 3 is a cross section through Figure 1 on the line 3-4 looking towards the
clip a¹.
Figure 4 is a similar cross section to Figure 2 but shewing a modification in the
shape of the guard and illustrating a pen applied as it would be in ruling a line.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal elevation of the reverse side of a ruler.to that shewn on
Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a similar elevation to Figure 1 but shewing a modification in the ink
guard.
Figure 7 is a cross section through Figure 6 on the line 5-6 shewing a pen applied
as it would be in use to a ruler having only a single guard or a guard with only one
ink channel and though the section is slightly different it may be modified.
Figure 8 is an end elevation of Figure 6 with a one channel guard.
Figure 9 is an end elevation shewing a modification in the means of mounting the
guard shewn in Figures 1-2 & 3.
Figure 10 is a broken off elevation of the end of the ruler shewing the recesses 1
at the extreme end.
.
Figure 11 is a broken off sectional plan through Figures 8 and 9 on the line 7-8.
In carrying my invention into practical effect. I attach the ruler guard A to any
ordinary kind of round or polygonal ruler B Figure 1 by means of one two or more
metal or other rings or bands a' or arms with centre pivot pins which are firmly
soldered or otherwise secured to the guard A or formed out of the guard solid with it
the rings or bands being made sufficiently pliable to allow of the ends a² being sprung
over the diameter of the ruler so that the bands a' may lie in the grooves and clip
the ruler just sufficient to firmly attach the guard A to the ruler B and at the same
time to allow sufficient freedom for the ruler to easily revolve in the bands a¹. The
guard A which runs the whole length of the ruler B or longer or shorter as desired
is shewn in this case with a concave face next the ruler which somewhat follows the
circular shape of the ruler or may be formed with a slightly sharper curve to prevent
the whole surface of the guard A wearing against the ruler B. The outside shape of
the guard is convex as seen at as which is a favorable shape for the easy movement of

page_text: the pen. It will also be observed that the guard offers no impediment to the backward
or forward movement of the ruler.
from
The protecting strip or guard A along its entire length has the metal or other
material turned over the top and bottom so as to form the channels a³ from which it
will be seen that which ever way the ruler B is used the guard A would always fall
with one of the channels as next the paper so as to receive any ink which may run
down by reason of the use of an overcharged pen and thus prevent the
being blotted or blurred from this cause or by reason of the ruler transferring any ink
upon its surface to the paper when rolled down and as will be seen by Figures 4
and 7 there is nothing to prevent a line being drawn at the extreme edge of the paper
or book just the same as with an ordinary ruler.
paper
In Figure 4 the guard A is shewn with the further swell or corrugation a³ which
may also run the whole length of the guard and against which the pen E would slide
when the line was being drawn, and such a corrugation whether there is one or more
than one will have the effect of stiffening the guard so that thin metal may be used in
its manufacture.
In the case of Figures 6, 7 and 8 I have shewn a modification in which the
metal guard A may be either stamped rolled or cast and while having the curved
surface as against which the pen F bears it is also provided with the returned
ends a which are turned into the recesses 62 as more plainly shewn by
Figure 11, which are formed in the end of the ruler B5 and in this case the
strips of metal a are provided to receive any ink which may run down the guard as
before described. I may also while using the guard A as shewn by Figures 1, 2 and 3
mount it upon the ruler by turning over or soldering or otherwise affixing the
ends as shewn in a of the guard A Figure 9, and pivoting them in a similar
manner to that described for Figure or by affixing pivot pins to the ends of
the ruler. In addition to the modifications above described the shape of the guard
may be varied to a considerable extent as for instance I may form it quite straight in
section with a bead against which the pen would slide or I may provide a rod running
the whole length of the ruler and supported at a convenient height by means of
an upright at each end or at several points and the rod may be formed with an
ink channel as by this means the surface of the ruler rod is unbroken along its
face. The guards may be made of any kind of metal or other substance or
material such for instance as wood, papier mache ivory bone vulcanite and in very
good rulers precious metal may be used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
The improvements in rulers which consist of the double edged guard A or single
edged guard A made of corrugated or plain metal or other materials mounted in close
proximity to the ruler and provided with a channel a or with two channels a³ or their
equivalent or equivalents substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth and
shewn on the drawings.
Dated this 10th day of October 188a
GEORGE BARKER,
77, Colmore Row, Birmingham, Agent for Applicant.