Improvements in Letter and Document Files.
Year: 1899

page_text: Improvements in Letter and Document Files.
I, BENJAMIN LAWRENCE, of 41, John Street, New York, in the United States
of America, and at present of 16, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, in the County
of London, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to letter and document files, and is designed to provide
an extremely simple and efficient construction of file of the well known kind
in which curved or arch shaped wires are provided to receive the documents after
the same have been punched or perforated.
As usually constructed, these wires each consist of two straight portions or
legs connected by the curved portion, and the latter is divided so that one part
can be turned aside to permit of the documents being placed on the other.
Now, according to my invention, I employ wires or arches which are semi-
circular and have no straight portions. These are formed of two parts adapted
to open in their own plane, that is to say they do not turn aside as in the former
arrangement, and thus it is possible to make their ends fit so evenly that they
are not likely to. tear the documents when being transferred from one wire to
the other. Moreover, by reason of the uniform curvature of the arches, it is
very easy to throw all the documents completely over from one side to the
other, as for instance when looking through them to find some particular one,
The corresponding halves of the semi circular wires or arches form con-
tinuations of a bent wire frame, there being two such frames having their
central portion or bars situated side by side transversely between the centres
of the arches.
Each frame is pivoted on a horizontal axis extending between the points
the arches spring from, and between the said central bars of the frames a spring,
say of lyre-shape, is arranged, which tends to thrust them apart and to open
the file. In the closed position the frames lie in the same plane, and the spring
is compressed between them on the line of their dead centres.
This spring is
in an upright position, so that it forms a convenient device for taking hold of,
and by drawing it slightly upwards, the bars of the frame are raised above the
dead centre, whereupon the expansion of the spring completes the opening. move-
ment and the ends of the parts of the arches are separated so that the documents.
can be removed easily.
The axes of the frames may be supported between light angle pieces or cheeks
secured to the base board of the file.
Obviously, instead of the upright lyre-shaped spring, any other convenient'

page_text: contrivance may be employed for connecting the two frames so that they shall
open simultaneously, but the spring aforesaid has the advantage that the slightest
force is sufficient to cause the arches to open.
Doted thi
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1000
ERNEST DE PASS,
Chartered Patent Agent,
78, Fleet Street, London, & 5A, Market Street, Nottingham,
Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in Letter and Document Files.
I, BENJAMIN LAWRENCE, of 41, John Street, New York, in the United States
of America, and at present of 16, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, in the County
of London, Merchant, 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, reference being had to the accompanying draw-
ings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
This invention relates to letter and document files, and is designed to provide
an extremely simple and efficient construction of file of the well known kind
in which curved or arch shaped wires are provided to receive the documents after
the same have been punched or perforated.
As usually constructed, these wires each consist of two straight portions or
legs connected by the curved portion, and the latter is divided so that one part
can be turned aside to permit of the documents being placed on the other.
Now, according to my invention, I employ wires or arches which are
of substantially semi-circular form. These are formed of two parts adapted to
open in their own plane, that is to say they do not turn aside, as in the former
arrangement, and thus it is possible to make their ends fit so evenly that they
are not likely to tear the documents when being transferred from one wire to
the other.
Moreover, by reason of the uniform curvature of the arches, it is very easy to
throw all the documents completely over from one side to the other, as for instance
when looking through them to find some particular letter or document.
In combination with these wire arches, I employ a suitable device for causing
them both to open, or to close, simultaneously and evenly.
And in order that my invention may be readily understood, I will describe the
same fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1 is a plan, and
-
Fig. 2 an end view of the operative portion of my improved file.
Fig. 3 is a section thereof on the line a, e, of Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 shews, in perspective, one of a pair of bent wire frames whose ends form
the arches before referred to.
Fig. 5 is an underside view of the device I employ for causing the two parts
of the arches to separate simultaneously.
a and b are respectively receiving and transfer wires, the former being intended
to receive the documents when they are first placed on the file, and the latter to
hold any of the said documents which may be turned over when looking through
them. These wires form the ends of a pair of bent wire frames (Fig. 4) and con-
stitute the arches above mentioned. Their extremities, in the middle of the
arches, are adapted to come together snugly, as shewn, to prevent them tearing

page_text: the papers as they are turned over, and so enlarging the holes in them.. For
this purpose, the ends of the receiving wires may advantageously be pointed and
fit evenly and smoothly into recesses in the ends of the transfer wire and so
lie closely against each other.
The frames to which these wires belong, are made preferably in a single piece,
and have their bars c arranged side by side transversely between the centres of
the arches. They are pivotted near the lower ends of the wires a, b, on hori-
zontal axes d mounted in upwardly projecting lugs e on the base plate f. Instead,
however, of the axes d, short pivot pins may be used if desired.
9.
The device (Fig. 5) for opening and closing the arches comprises two forks
each formed by a pair of fingers of triangular cross section. The forks embrace
the adjacent bars h of the frames and are carried by a hub or sleeve i. When
the latter is partially rotated, the forks cause both the frames to turn simul-
taneously on their pivots, and either assume the open position, (see dotted lines
Fig. 2), or the closed position, (see full lines Fig. 2), as the case may be.
The said device is arranged and operated in the following manner: On the
base plate f is a blade spring j which acts on the under side of the hub i and
presses it upwardly so that the extremities of its axle & engage firmly in a pair
of bent over pieces serving as bearings. The part of the hub on which the
spring bears, has an edge m (Fig. 5) formed between two flats n, so that the
spring will tend to maintain the hub in one or the other of its extreme positions
and thus keep the ends of the wires a, b, pressed tightly together when closed,
and hold them apart when open. On the upper side of the hub, is an arm o
carrying finger pieces p and q so arranged that in the full line position (Fig. 3)
a pressure of the finger on the piece p will effect the opening of the arches,
whereas in the dotted position a pressure on the piece will close them. For
the sake of clearness the said piece q is not shewn in Fig. 1.
If desired, the hub i and the axle k, above mentioned, may be formed in one.
It will be readily understood that, in the opening and closing movements,
the ends of the wires a and b recede from and approach each other equally, and
thus a very wide opening is possible with only half the movement that would
be required were one of the wires stationary. Moreover, the wires a, b, present
an all-curved form, or in other words they have an even curvature and offer no
sharp corners or angles.
In some cases, the finger piece q, may be dispensed with, and the closing of
the file can be effected simply by taking hold of either of the wires a or b,
whereupon the movement will be transmitted by the forks g to the other frame.
A file such as described may have a base board r (Fig. 2) to which the plate f
would be secured; or it may be provided with covers opening book-wise. Further-
more, it may be combined with any suitable contrivance for perforating the letters
or documents with holes corresponding to the distance between the wires a, b,
and hence it is, as a matter of fact, immaterial which of these wires are used as
the receiving, or the transfer wires, since they are practically interchangeable as
regards perforated documents.
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. A letter or document file comprising a pair of pivotted frames carrying
curved receiving and transfer wires which, when closed together, form arches
and present an even curvature so as to facilitate the turning over of the contents,
substantially as described.
2. A letter or document file, of the kind referred to in Claim 1, provided with
means for causing simultaneous movement of the receiving and transfer wires
in opening and closing, substantially as described.
3. In a letter or document file as above claimed, the fork device whereby the
opening and closing of the receiving and transfer wires can be effected by a

page_text: pressure of the finger, said device acting in combination with a spring for keeping
these wires in their extreme positions, substantially as described and shewn.
4. My improved letter and document file constructed and operating substantially
as herein before described with reference to the annexed drawings.
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ERNEST DE PASS,.
Chartered Patent Agent,
78, Fleet Street, London, & 5A, Market Street, Nottingham,
Agent for the Applicant.