Year: 1888

page_text: I, JAMES WEBSTER, of Fern House, Solihull Lodge, Holly Wood, near Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in bill files of that class in which the papers
are passed over a pointed wire the opposite end of which wire enters a tube and is
screwed to the bottom thereof.
According to my invention I dispense with the screw device above mentioned and
replace it by a spring-detent adapted to automatically engage in a preferably annular
indentation formed in the respective end of the wire.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: I, JAMES WEBSTER, of Fern House, Solihull Lodge, Holly Wood, near Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Engineer, 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 :-
My invention relates to improvements in that class of bill files in which the papers
to be filed are passed over a pointed wire, the opposite end of which wire enters a tube
and is screwed to the bottom thereof.
In order that my invention, and the means by which the same can be carried into
practical effect, may be thoroughly understood, I will now describe them in detail,
referring in so doing to the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as part of
this specification and read therewith.
Figs. 1 and 2 are both sectional elevations illustrating the application of my
invention to a pendent bill file. The former figure shews the two parts of the file
engaged, and the latter shews them unlocked.
Fig. 3 is a plan of the base plate.
A is the detachable filing wire; B, the tube; C, the bottom plate and D a handle.
If it is desired to apply my invention to a file required to stand on a desk or
counter e.g., a podge file the handle, D, is dispensed with, and the plate, C,
modified to the extent of being expanded into a suitable foot having a cavity in its
under side within which the locking and unlocking device is fitted.
The tube, B, is continued below the bottom plate, C, far enough to receive the
pointed end, a, of the filing wire, and the annular groove, b; and is preferably closed
at its lower end, b¹.
E is a bolt; e, its catch; and e¹, a thumb piece. It is adapted to slide in a suitable
guide against the underside of the bottom plate. In Fig. 3 it is shown as surrounding
the tube, B, but it is not essential that it should do so, although it is stronger and
works better if it is made as illustrated than it would be if it were on one side only of
the tube.
F is a returning spring adapted in virtue of its position between the tube, B, and
the thumb piece, e¹, to keep the catch, e, within the tube, B; so that when the filing
wire is pushed down to the bottom, 61, the catch automatically locks it in the tube by
engaging in the groove, b.
The filing wire is unlocked by pressing the thumb piece, e¹, towards the tube, B.
I provide a tube, G, and a pin, g, for the purpose of guiding the action of the spring,
and a stop, g¹.
The locking and unlocking device above described may be modified to the extent of
placing the thumb-piece at the opposite end of the bolt; so that the bolt would have
to be pulled, instead of pushed, to unlock it: or of fitting the spring to the opposite
side of the tube, so that the act of unlocking the bolt would extend instead of

page_text: compressing the spring. The bolt may also be made to work on a pivot in a plane
parallel with the plate, C; but I prefer the arrangement illustrated, on the score
both of economy in production and efficiency in action.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The combination of filing wire; tube; groove in the end of the filing wire; and
bolt adapted to engage in the said groove; as set forth.
2. The combination of filing wire; tube; groove in the end of the said filing wire ;
locking bolt actuated by a thumb piece in one direction and by a returning spring in
the other, and adapted to engage in, or to be disengaged from the said groove;
substantially as described with reference to the accompanying figures.
Dated this 12th day of July 1888.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Patent Agents,
22, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Patent Agents,
22, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.