IMPROVEMENTS IN PAPER FILES OR HOLDERS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wilson, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PAPER
FILES OR HOLDERS."
Sealed the 9th April 1861, and dated the 11th October 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wilson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th October 1860.
I, THOMAS WILSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PAPER FILES OR HOLDERS," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist, firstly, in the following method of constructing
paper files or holders. The frame or fixed portion of the holder consists of a.
base or foundation plate which may be secured to a wall, counter, table, or
elsewhere, and an arm fixed at one end to the said base or foundation plate.
The other or free end of the said arm rises from the plane of the base, and the
edges of the papers to be filed or held are inserted between the free end of
the arm and the base. On the end of the arm is a boss or projection screwed
on its exterior and perforated with a small hole, and in the base plate and
opposite the hole in the boss a similar hole is made. A pointed steel pin,
having a milled head or nut, passes through the hole in the boss, and the point
of the pin enters the hole in the base plate. The milled head of the pin is
hollow, and is screwed internally so as to screw upon the boss on the end of
the arm. In using the file or holder the edges of the papers to be filed or
held are introduced between the end of the arm and the base plate, the pointed
pin is forced through the papers by means of its head, the point of the pin

page_text: engaging in the hole in the base plate when the said pin has been pushed
home. By turning the head of the pin, it screws on the boss on the arm and
fixes the said pin. In order to remove the papers or insert others it is only
necessary to unscrew the head of the pin from the boss when the pin may be
withdrawn and papers removed or others inserted.
My improvements consist, secondly, of the following modification of the
paper file or holder already described. Instead of fixing the arm to the base
plate, I connect the said arm with the said base plate by means of a joint, so
that the said arm can turn aside in the plane of the base plate. In this modi-
fication the boss has an opening in one side, through which the point of the
pin passes as the arm is turned aside. The pin itself is fixed in the base plate;
by means of a cap screwing on the boss on the end of the arm, the lateral
opening may be closed and the arm secured. in its place.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WILSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Wilson, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Wilson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Wilson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PAPER
FILES OR HOLDERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Wilson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patént.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said Thomas Wilson, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists, firstly, of the improvements in paper files or holders
herein-after particularly described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the
accompanying Drawing, which said paper files or holders are specially fitted
for the use of grocers, fruiterers, and confectioners, and for use in various
other trades where sheets of paper or bags require to be suspended for
ready use.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation (partly in section) a paper file or
holder constructed according to the first part of my Invention, and Figure 2
represents the same in front elevation. The same letters are employed to
indicate the same parts in Figures 1 and 2.
The frame or fixed portion of the holder consists of a base or foundation
plate a, which may be fixed to a wall or counter, or table, or other surface,
by screws passed through the screw holes at b, and an arm c, fixed at one end
to the base or foundation plate a, near the top of the said plate as represented.
The said arm c is stationed perpendicularly on the plate a, and is bent at right
angles about midway so that its free end is parallel to the plate a.
On the free
end of the arm c is a boss or projection d, having a screw thread on its exterior,
and perforated with a small hole in a line perpendicular to the base or foun-
dation plate a. A pointed steel pin e, having a milled head or nut f, passes
through the hole in the boss or projection d, and in the interior of the nut
or head f is a concave screw which screws on the boss d. When the pin e
and milled head or nut f are pushed home, and the latter turned and screwed
on the boss d, the point of the pin e enters a small hole g in the base or
foundation plate a. In using the file or holder the edges of the papers or
paper bags to be filed or held are introduced between the boss d, on the end
of the arm c, and the base or foundation plate a; the pointed pine is forced
through the papers or paper bags by means of its head f, the point of the
said pin e entering the hole g in the base plate a when the said pin has been
pushed home. By turning the milled head f of the pin e, the said milled
head screws on the boss d on the arm c, and fixes the said pin e, and secures
the papers or bags on the file, which said papers or bags are then ready
for use, and may be torn off the file by hand as required. In order to insert
other papers or bags it is only necessary to unscrew the milled head f of
the pin e from the boss d, when the pin may be withdrawn and other papers
or bags placed thereon.

page_text: My Invention consists, secondly, of a modification of the paper file or holder
already described, which said modification is represented in front elevation in
Figure 3, and in side elevation (partly in section) in Figure 4 of the Drawing.
The same letters are employed to indicate the same parts in Figures 3 and 4.
Instead of fixing the arm to the base plate, I connect the arm h with the base
plate by means of a screw k, which said screw constitutes a joint on which
the said arm h can turn aside in the plane of the base plate as represented in
Figure 3. In this modification the boss on the end of the arm h has an
opening in one side, through which said opening the point of the pin m
passes as the arm h is turned aside. The pin m is fixed in the base plate i.
By means of a cap n screwing on the boss on the end of the arm h, the lateral
opening in the said boss 7 may be closed, and the arm h secured in its place.
In using this paper file or holder the cap n is unscrewed from the boss so far
as sufficiently to uncover the lateral opening in the boss l, to allow the arm h
to be turned aside upon the joint k. After the arm h has been turned aside
the papers or bags are put on the pin m. The arm is then brought again
into a vertical plane, the point of the pin m entering the boss through the
lateral opening in the said boss, and the cap n is screwed home on the boss l.
The lateral opening in the boss is thereby so far covered that the point of
the pin m can no longer pass out of the boss l, and the papers or bags are
thereby securely held, and may be torn off as required for use.
When my Invention is to be used for holding or filing letters, invoices, or
other papers in counting-houses or elsewhere, which said letters, invoices, or
papers it may be required to remove and replace without tearing, I modify my
Invention in the following manner, that is to say, instead of a solid pin fixed
in a base plate, as in the paper file or holder last described, a hollow pin, or
split, or open-jointed tube may be fixed to the base plate, and the papers,
letters, or invoices secured thereon in the manner illustrated in Figure 5 of
the Drawing; which said Figure 5 represents this modification of my Invention
in side elevation (partly in section). A hollow pin or split tube o is fixed per-
pendicularly on the base plate p, the free end of the tube o being bevilled, so
as to form a sharp or cutting edge to it, and thereby to facilitate the passage
of papers thereon. The tube o is slit on one side, as shewn in the transverse.
section at o², so as to make it spring on the solid pin g, which is inserted
therein by its head r after the papers, letters, or invoices have been put on the
pin or tube o. In order to remove papers, letters, or invoices from the pin or
tube o, the solid pin q is withdrawn by its head r.
When it is wished to
remove a paper, letter, or invoice from the middle of the series on the file, and
without removing any others, it is only necessary to divide the series at the

page_text: place where the paper to be removed is situated, and to draw off the upper
part with the pin q. The paper, letter, or invoice required can then be taken
from off the tube o and the pin q, and papers, letters, or invoices situated
thereon replaced.
Instead of fixing the pin or slit tube o to a base plate p, as represented in
Figure 5, I sometimes fix the said pin or tube to a pasteboard or other back;
the said back being provided with a metallic or other loop for suspending the
same against a wall or other surface. I also attach to the top edge of the said
pasteboard or other back a curtain or cover of cloth, or other material, for
covering the letters or invoices on the file, and thereby protecting them from
dirt or dust. The said cover is provided with a slit or opening of a suitable
length to enable the said cover to be raised from under or brought over the
head of the fixed pin, when letters or invoices are required to be placed on or
removed from the file or holder. Two of the hollow pins or split tubes o,
Figure 5, may be fixed on the base board or back on the same line, and at a
short distance from each other, each of the said hollow pins or split tubes being
provided with a pin q. The two pins 9 are connected together by a cross piece so
that they may be drawn out together. By this arrangement the papers, letters,
or invoices are kept square on the base board or back, and prevented from
oscillating.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as
my Invention,
Firstly, the improvements in paper files or holders substantially as described
and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, the improvements in paper files or holders substantially as
described with reference to Figure 5 of the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wilson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
THOMAS WILSON.
L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.