IMPROVEMENTS IN CARD CASES
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARK
FREEMAN, of Sutton Common, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-second day of August, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Mark Freeman, Her especial license full power, sole priviledge and authority,
that I, the said Mark Freeman, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Mark Freeman, my exors, adfñors, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARD CASES ;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Mark Freeman, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Mark Freeman, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to

page_text: the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):
My Invention consists in applying apparatus to cases for raising or moving
one card at the time, in order that it may be the more easily separated and
taken hold of to be withdrawn from the others contained in the case.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a front view of an instrument, and Figure 2 a side
view. It will be seen that a, a, are two slits dividing the metal up to the
points a, a. The parts b, b, press against the inside of the card case, and the
part c presses against the card nearest to it; this part c is bent outward at
the bottom sufficiently to pass under one card. This instrument is attached
by a pin joint at the hole d to a thin piece of metal, represented by Figure 3,
which piece of metal is attached to the lid of the card case by a pin joint at f,
so that the instrument is caused to move up and down by the movement of
the lid of the case, or the instrument may be separate, and be slided separately
by the hand.
I will now describe the description of case which I prefer to use in carrying
out my Invention, in which the lid moves on a hinge. Card cases are usually
made on a flat block, that is to say, a block of equable thickness, but the
block which I use is somewhat thicker on one side, as is shewn by Figure 4,
which represents a transverse section of the block. Neither is the block
straight at the bottom, but it is formed as represented by Figure 5, which
causes the case to be deeper in the middle; of course the inside of the card
case corresponds with the shape of the block on which it is made. And I
will now describe the use of the recesses thus formed therein :-In the wider
part of the card case corresponding to g, I place a spring, represented by
Figures 6 and 7, having a roughened surface which presses against the edges
of the cards, and these recesses prevent the cards getting between the sides
of the spring and the sides of the case. The depression at the bottom of the
case corresponding to j, Figure 5, is to receive the part c of the instrument,
Figure 1. In making cases of other materials, suitable recesses will be
formed therein, similar to those above described. To the side of the case
opposite to the roughened spring, I glue a piece of coarse cloth, which by
yielding to any inequality of size of the cards, causes them all to press against
the spring on the opposite side. The mode of action is this: when the card
case is shut, the hook or projection at the bottom of the part of the
instrument, Figure 1, is under one card, and when the case is opened the
instrument is drawn up by the movement of the lid, and this card is brought
up by the hook, the others being held down by the pressure of the roughened

page_text: spring and cloth on their edges. In order to apply similar apparatus to what
are called limp card cases, instead of attaching a piece of metal to it at d,
a piece of leather or other suitable material is fastened to it, and at the
other end this piece of leather is fastened to the flap or other part of such
card case, the piece of leather being so short that pulling up the flap shall
pull up the instrument, or this piece of leather may be separate and unfixed,
as is shewn in Figs. 8, 9, and 10, and be moved up and down in the case by
hand. The spring for holding the cards in may be dispensed with in the
limp card cases, because the instrument being so held as to press the cards
upon
their edges, it will be found that all the cards but the one which the
instrument has taken hold of may very conveniently be kept down by such
pressure of the left hand, while the instrument is pulled up with the right.
I would remark, that although I prefer the arrangement of apparatus above
described, and the construction of card cases above mentioned, I do not con-
fine myself thereto, as variations may be made so long as the peculiar
character of my Invention be retained, whereby cards contained in suitable
cases can by suitable apparatus applied thereto be separated, and one at a time
moved and separated from the others.
Having thus described my improvements, and the means by which I prefer
to accomplish the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
combining with card cases suitable apparatus for raising or moving one card
at a time, and in such manner that it may the more easily be taken hold of,
separated, and withdrawn from the others contained in the case.
In witness whereof, I, the said Mark Freeman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.