A NEW OR IMPROVED PENHOLDER
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED PENHOLDER."
Sealed the 27th March 1860, and dated the 28th October 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th October 1859.
I, AURELIUS BRUCE MITCHELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
OR IMPROVED PENHOLDER," to be as follows:-
My new or improved penholder consists of a sheet or plate of steel or other
elastic metal or alloy cut, pierced, and bent in the following manner:-On the
sides of the plate of steel, and near the end at which the pen is to be held,
curved slits are made, the said slits curving upwards or from the pen; by
these slits the lower part of the plate is so far detached from the other part
that when the plate is bent into a cylindrical form the two parts are connected
by about one-half the circumference of the holder. The middle portion of the
partially detached part has not the convex form of the other part of the

page_text: holder, but is pressed into a concave or trough like form, and on the inner
side of this portion of the holder the pen rests. The pen is pressed upon the
part last described by means of two flaps formed by the turned back sides of
the partially separated portion of the holder. The said flaps are pierced so as
to give them greater elasticity. The curved surface on which the sides of the
pen rest is of greater radius than that of the ordinary sizes of metallic pens,
so that the holder will receive pens of very different sizes and yet hold them
equally well, as the pen is always held by its side edges being pressed upon a
curved surface by means of the before-mentioned flaps.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AURELIUS
BRUCE MITCHELL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, Her special licence that I, the said
Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED PENHOLDER," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, 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 Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is

page_text: to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of a penholder constructed in the manner herein-
after described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
I cut from sheet steel, or other elastic metal or alloy, a blank having the
form represented in Figure 1 of the Drawing; the said blank is pierced with
ornamental piercings, and is made by means of cutting tools worked in a
press, as is well understood.. On the sides of the blank curved slits a, a, are
made, the said slits curving upwards or from the part by which the pen is
held by these slits the part 6 of the blank is so far detached from the part c
that when the blank is bent into a holder the two parts b and c are connected
by about one-half the circumference of the said holder.
The manner in which the blank, Figure 1, is bent into a holder will be
understood by an examination of Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the
Drawing; Figure 2 representing the back elevation of a penholder constructed
according to my Invention mounted upon its stick or handle; Figure 3, a
front elevation of the same; Figure 4, a side elevation of the same, with a
pen held therein; and Figure 5 is a transverse section of the same on a
larger scale, taken through the line d, Figure 4.
Figures 6, 7, and 8 represent respectively a back elevation, front elevation,
and vertical section of another form of my new or improved penholder; and
Figure 9 is a transverse section of the same on a larger scale, holding
a pen.
When the blank, Figure 1, is bent into a holder, as represented by the
several Figures, the middle portion of the part 6 has not the convex form of
the other part of the holder, but is pressed into a concave or trough-like form,
marked 62 in the several Figures, and it is on the inner side of this portion b²
of the holder that the pen e rests. The pen e is pressed upon the part 6² by
means of two flaps f, which said flaps are formed by turning back the sides of
the portion 6 of the holder. The said flaps of may be pierced to give them
great elasticity, as represented in Figure 6; or they may be left unpierced, as
represented in Figure 2. The pen e rests upon the part 62 by its sides or
edges only, the curve of the part 6 being of greater radius than that of the
ordinary sizes of metallic pens.
In Figures 5 and 9 the pen e is of as large size as the holder is capable of
receiving, but when pens of a smaller size are inserted in the holder they are
held equally well, as the sides or edges of the smaller pen will be pressed firmly
upon the curved surface 6 by the elastic flaps f, f. The holder possesses
elasticity in consequence of the curved slits a, a.

page_text: The penholder represented in Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 differs from that repre-
sented in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, only in having ornamental piercings, as seen
at Figure 6, and being otherwise slightly different in the ornamental form
of the flaps f, f, as will be understood by a comparison of Figures 5 and 9.
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 illustrated in the Drawing,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention the new or improved penholder,
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that
is to say, a penholder in which the pen is held by its edges or sides being
pressed upon a curved surface of greater radius than that of the pen by means
of spring flaps bearing upon the back of the pen.
In witness whereof, I, the said Aurelius Bruce Mitchell, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
AURELIUS BRUCE MITCHELL. (L.S.)