AN IMPROVED CLIP OR FILE FOR HOLDING PAPERS OR OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Ayres, of the City Road, London, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED CLIP OR FILE FOR HOLDING PAPERS OR OTHER
ARTICLES."
Sealed the 8th August 1854, and dated the 13th February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Ayres at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
February 1854.
I, GEORGE AYRES, of the City Road, London, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CLIP OR FILE FOR HOLDING PAPERS OR
OTHER ARTICLES" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the use of a spiral spring for holding letters,
papers, and other articles. The articles are inserted between the coils of the
spring, and may be readily taken out and replaced without disturbing the other
articles held by the spring. Two spiral springs may be used together, and they
may be so constructed as to hang from a nail or to rest in a horizontal position.
I do not limit myself to any particular form or shape of this improved clip or
file,

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Ayres in the Great Scal Patent Office on the 12th
August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
AYRES, of the City Road, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give änil' grant unto
me, the said George Ayres, Her special licence that I, the said George
Ayres, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Ayres, 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 "AN IMPROVED CLIP OR FILE FOR
HOLDING PAPERS OR OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said George Ayres, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 George Ayres, 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:
My improved letter clip or file consists of a spiral metallic spring, shaped
and adapted for the purpose of holding or retaining papers and other articles,
so that they may be readily arranged and referred to, and one or more taken
therefrom, without detaching the whole as in the ordinary spring clip. This
arrangement also obviates an inconvenience attending the use of the common
file, that of removing all other papers before the one required can be separated
from the rest, or otherwise the required paper must be torn off to release it
from the file.
Fig. 1 of the Drawing accompanying this Specification represents one
form of my improved clip. A is a spiral coil of metal wire, one end of which
is firmly secured to the base B, and the other to the cap C. Upon bending
over the spring upon either side the coils A are drawn asunder, leaving a space

page_text: between each. In these spaces the papers to be retained are thrust, the con-
traction of the spring, when the cap is released, holding them firmly in their
places. The base B is to be loaded with metal or other suitable material, to
give stability and firmness to the upper part when filled with papers. These
clips or files may be gilt, or bronzed, or otherwise decorated externally, to
give them a pleasing appearance and render them an ornamental as well as
useful appendage to the desk or writing table. Fig. 2 represents another
arrangement of clip, adapted to hold a much larger number of papers than that
shewn by Fig. 1. D is a heavy base; E, a spring bent into the form of an
arc and secured to the base D; F, F. are two supplementary vertical springs;
this form of letter clip may be made either with or without the springs F, F.
Figs. 3, 4, represent in clevation and plan the improved clip with a mill board.
back and hook for hanging it to a wall, similar to the spring clips often used
in the counting house, &c. G is the spring; H, the mill board back; I, the
hook. In these clips the papers may be arranged alphabetically, or otherwise
classified, and any particular paper drawn out in a moment without displacing
the others. Fig. 5 is a plan, and Fig. 6 a side view of a clip to be used in
place of the elastic rings. These clips are adapted to retain a small number of
papers either for carrying in the pocket or for use upon the writing table;
they are made by cutting one, two, or any other number of coils of wire from
springs of varying sizes, and to the ends of these short springs K are rivetted
or otherwise secured two studs L, L, the papers being held between the coils,
as before described in reference to the foregoing Figures.
Having 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 confine myself to
the precise form of the clips or files for holding papers herein-before described
and shewn, as the patterns or arrangements may be varied to a considerable
extent. But what I claim and desire to secure by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is-
The use of spiral springs in the construction of clips or files for holding
papers and other articles substantially as described and shewn herein.
0
In witness whereof, I, the said George Ayres, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twelvth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
CRORCE AVDES G
CEORCE AVDDS
(1.S.)