AN IMPROVED RULER
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Theodore Griffin, of Fleet Street, in the
City of London, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
RULER." A communication from abroad by George Schramm, of
New York, United States of America.
Sealed the 8th June 1866, and dated the 11th December 1865..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Theodore Griffin
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th December 1865.
I, JAMES THEODORE GRIFFIN, of Fleet Street, in the City of London,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED RULER," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to make a flexible ruler which will adapt
itself to the contour of the book or other surface to be ruled which will
not readily slip while in use, and the ruling edges of which will be raised
clear of the paper or other surface, so as to avoid risk of spreading the
ink. My improved ruler is composed of a strip of hardened india-rubber
or ebonite of the length and breadth of the ruler required, on one side of
which I affix a strip of vulcanized rubber. This strip is the same lengt..
as, or a little shorter than the strip of hardened rubber, but narrower, so
that its edges are not flush with the edges of the hardened rubber. A
ruler thus constructed is flexible; the vulcanized rubber when the ruler

page_text: is in use rests upon the paper or other surface and prevents the ruler
slipping, while at the same time it raises the edges of the hardened rubber
'clear of the paper. Instead of the hardened rubber, a strip of brass, steel,
horn, or other flexible material may be employed, and for the soft rubber
any other suitable material may be substituted,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Theodore Griffin in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
THEODORE GRIFFIN, of Fleet Street, in the City of London, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said James Theodore Griffin, Her special licence that I, the
said James Theodore Griffin, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Theodore Griffin, my executors, ad-
ministrators, 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 "AN IMPROVED RULER," communicated
to me from abroad by George Schramın, of New York, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Theodore Griffin, 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 James Theodore Griffin, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:

page_text: The object of this Invention is to make a flexible ruler which will adapt
itself to the contour of the book or other surface to be ruled, which will
not readily slip while in use, and the ruling edges of which will be raised
clear of the paper or other surface so as to avoid risk of spreading the ink.
My improved ruler is composed of a strip of hardened india-rubber or
ebonite of the length and breadth of the ruler required, on one side of
which I affix a strip of vulcanized rubber. This strip is of the same length
as, or a little shorter than the strip of hardened rubber, but narrower, so
that its edges are not flush with the edges of the hardened rubber. A ruler
thus constructed is flexible; the vulcanized rubber when the ruler is in
use rests upon the paper or other surface and prevents the ruler slipping,
while at the same time it raises the edges of the hardened rubber clear of
the paper.
Fig. 1 of the annexed Drawings is a plan of the under side of the
improved ruler; Fig. 2 is a side elevation; and Fig. 3, a cross section
of the same. A is the strip of hardened rubber or ebonite, and B the strip
of vulcanised rubber which is narrower than the strip A. The vulcanized
rubber B is chamfered off towards the ends as shown, for the purpose of
accommodating itself more readily to the sides of the "gutter," or the
declivity of the inner margins of the pages of books. Instead of the
hardened rubber a strip of brass, steel, horn, or other flexible material may
be employed, and for the vulcanized rubber any other suitable material
may be substituted.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim constructing
flexible rulers substantially in the manner herein-before described and
shewn in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Theodore Griffin, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this First day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
זגותזתם.