Improvements in Book Supports.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Nov., 1899-Accepted, 30th Dec. 1899
Improvements in Book Supports.
I, MARION ESTELLE WELCH, of 829, 15th Street, Denver, in the County of
Arapahoe, and State of Colorado, United States of America, 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 desk-supports for books whereby the same may be
held in convenient reading position, the angle of incline to be adjustable to that
which 18 found comfortable for the sight, and it is my design that the whole
contrivance shall be of neat, practical, and inexpensive construction
One sup-
poit is also to answer for books of varying size These features and the general
construction of my invention are fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings
above referred to, in which..
Fig 1 18 a perspective view of my book-support
Fig 2 is an end elevation of my invention, one of the ears or perforated lugs
between which the leg his hinged being broken away
Fig 3 is a plan of the cential portion of my book-support, showing the details
of construction of this part
Fig. 4 shows the back of a section of the adjustable bracket g
Fig. 5 shows the means for attaching the back-stup a to the back of the
standards c, d, and
Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the same details seen in Fig 5.
The letters designate the parts referred to in my description
My invention comprises a horizontal strip of metal a, the central portion b
of which is concaved to receive the back of a book and has folded edges formed
into grooves a¹, having clamps at their extremities Such clamps must be
elastic to adapt the same to be opened to receive the two halves of an opened
The extension-arms may be made of ribbons of metal and the clamp ends
tempered The two ends of the strip a are further provided with slots a³, and
the extension-aims have studs a sliding in such slots and limiting the motion
of the arms to prevent their being drawn out too far
book
Attached to the stip a, are two standards e d, and a pivoted leg h The
lower extremity of the standards c d should be bent outward for the purpose
of providing a support on which to hold the book and also to prevent such
standards from scratching the desk on which they are placed Of course it 18
possible to use the device without such lower projections, the book being held
against the standards by the clamps of the arms e el and the base of the book
esting duectly on the desk, but the described adaptation of said standards 18
preferable The leg is hinged to the buck of the stip a at its cential poi-
tion, as shown in Fig 3, between two lugs on eaia b', , which are riveted to
the part b The upper end of the leg his flattened and perforated The
threaded bolt, provided with a washer and winged nut h, holds said parts
together. The projection at the upper end of the leg prevents the same
from being extended outward too far. At the lower end of the leg a little

page_text: rubber thimble should be fixed for the twofold purpose of preventing the said
leg from readily sliding on the desk and also to prevent the furniture from
being scratched."
A practical means for attaching the strip a to the standards c d is shown in
Figs. 5 and 6 and consists in cutting out of the folded edges at the two ends two
tongues at a³, bending these outward, and riveting such tongues to the back
of the standards, respectively
In order to enable me to use my book-support for books of varying sizes, I
make use of an adjustable bracket g, having a sole and provided at its back
with tongues 93 to be inserted in slots for that purpose provided in the
standards The use of such adjustable bracket in connection with my book-
support 18, however, optional
In using my invention the book is opened at the proper place, the extension-
arma e e diawn out so as to receive each one of the two halves of the book,
the clamps at the ends of said aims being opened and adjusted over the leaves
to hold the same, and the leg h may then be adjusted so as to place the book
in a comfortable reading position
My device is to be neatly finished and made of strong but light material to give
the whole as pretty an appearance as possible
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 18.
1. As a new article of manufacture, a book-support comprising, in combination,
a horizontal strip having folded edges forming grooves as a, and the central
portion of said strip being adapted to receive the back of a book; extension-
arms having spring-clamps at their extremities, which arms slide in said grooves,
means limiting the outward motion of said aims, standards affixed to the ends
of said strips; ears at the cential portion of said strip, and an adjustable leg
pivoted between said ears, substantially as described
2 As a new article of manufacture, a book-support comprising, in combination,
a horizontal strip having folded edges forming grooves as a', and the cential
portion of said strip being adapted to receive the back of a book: extension-
arms having spring-clamps at their extremities, which aims slide in said grooves;
means limiting the outward motion of said aims; standards affixed to the ends
of said strip; cats at the central portion of said strip; an adjustable leg pivoted
between said ears, and a movable bracket as g, provided with tongues, the
said standards having perforations for removably receiving the tonguca of said
bracket, substantially as described:
3 As a new article of manufacture, a book-support comprising, in combination,
a houzontal back-stip having folded edges forming grooves as a¹, and the
central portion of said strip being adapted to receive the back of a book, exten-
sion-aims, slidably held in said grooves, and provided with spring-clamps at
their extremities, means limiting the outward motion of said aims, standards
affixed to both ends of said back strip, the lower extremities of which are bent
outward; ears afhxed to the central portion of said back-stip, an adjustable
leg pivoted between said ears by means of a threaded bolt and nut, and tongues
as a a³, cut out of the folded edges of said back-stip and turned back, and
whereby said back-strip is 11veted to the standards, substantially as described.
Dated this 6th day of November 1899.
BOULT, WADE & KILBURN,
Agents for the Applicant.