IMPROVEMENTS IN WRITING DESKS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Rawlings, of Sherborne, in the County of
Dorset, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WRITING DESKS."
Sealed the 20th November 1855, and dated the 24th May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Rawlings at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th May 1855.
I, CHARLES RAWLINGS, of Sherbourne, in the County of Dorset, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WRITING
DESKS to be as follows:-
My improvements in writing desks consist in the combination of envelope
and paper cases with the ordinary portable writing desk, so as to form one
and the same article; I place the envelope and paper stand at the back part
of the desk, that is, furthest from the writer when open. The desk is fitted
with drawers, and furnished with inner compartments, like an ordinary portable
writing desk, and opens precisely similar to that article; an additional external
flap or cover is used to enclose the envelope case, which is all secured when
the desk is closed. Instead of having a compartment in that part of the desk
which forms the cover as usual, it may consist simply of a suitable board,
to form a continuation of the writing slope of the main body of the desk
when open, & a cover when closed. The paper and envelopes are placed in
upright stands in the ordinary manner of envelope cases, the larger sheets
being placed in compartments at the back and reaching to the bottom, while

page_text: the envelope and smaller compartments are in front, and may or may not be
above the desk drawer. The inks appear much in the same position as in
the ordinary desk, but are enclosed by cover of envelope case. I sometimes
make the cover of this part to open in two parts, the first to uncover the inks
without the necessity of raising the entire lid of the envelope case.
I am
aware that envelope cases have been made with the front to fall down and form
a slanting flap, and others with a slide to pull out below, either of which could
be used to write upon, but which in construction and utility differ materially
from the arrangement and combination before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Rawlings in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
RAWLINGS, of Sherborne, in the County of Dorset, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord Oue
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles
Rawlings, Her special licence that I, the said Charles Rawlings, any executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Rawlings, 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 end 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN WRITING DESKS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Rawlings, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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, thut 1, the said Charles Rawlings, 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,
reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: My improvements in writing desks consist in the combination of envelope
and paper cases with the ordinary portable writing desk, so as to form one and
the same article. I place the envelope and paper stand at the back part of
the desk, that is, furthest from the writer when open. The desk is fitted with
a drawer, and furnished with inner compartments, like an ordinary portable
writing desk, and opens precisely similar to that article; an additional flap or
cover is used to enclose the envelope case, which is all secured when the desk
is closed. Instead of having a compartment in that part of the desk which
forms the cover as usual, it may consist simply of a single board, to form
the continuation of the writing slope of the main body of the desk when
open, and to cover up the desk when closed. The paper and envelopes are
placed in upright stands in the ordinary manner of envelope cases, the larger
sheets being placed in compartments at the back and reaching to the bottom,
while the envelope and smaller compartments are in front, and may or may
not be above the desk drawer. The inks appear much in the same position as
in the ordinary desk, but are enclosed by the cover of envelope case. I some-
times make the cover of this part to open in two parts, the first to uncover the
inks, without the necessity of raising the entire lid of the envelope case. I am
aware that envelope cases have been made with the front to fall down to form
a slanting flap, and others with a slide to pull out below, either of which could
be used to write upon, but which in construction and utility differ materially
from the combination and arrangement herein described.
Fig. 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a front elevation of my
improved combined desk and paper stand as closed; and Fig. 2, an end view
of the same; while Fig. 3 represents a front view of the desk opened for
writing, with the paper stand uncovered; and Fig. 2, a transverse vertical
section, through the line 1, 2, Fig. 8, shewing it open as for writing. The
body part a, a, of this desk, with the inks 6, 6, and pen tray c, is made some-
what similar to an ordinary shut-up writing desk, with a receptacle d for
papers, with hinged flap e over; it is also furnished with a drawer f, running
from end to end of the desk. g,g, is the paper stand and envelope case, divided
longitudinally in this instance into four compartments by partitions h, h, h, and
these again transversely, as may be necessary for the different sizes of paper
requisite, as seen in front view, Fig. 8. The paper stand 9 is formed with a
circular top or fall, which is divided into two parts i and i', hinged to each
other at k, the part being further hinged at 1, so as to throw up, as repre-
sented in Fig. 8, and in dotted lines in Fig. 4. By this arrangement of the
fall or cover of g, when writing the part i need only be raised, which will
expose the inks 6, b, and pen tray. If paper is required out of the stand the
9.

page_text: part
2¹ may be lifted temporarily or altogether, and allowed to remain so. The
cover m, which forms the continuation of the writing slope, is simply a thick-
ness of wood hinged at n, and faced on the inner side with the leather or cloth
to form the writing surface, as in ordinary desks; it is curved and otherwise
formed to give it a handsome appearance, as also the ogee front p, into the
hollow of which the edge of m fits somewhat closely when it is open, as seen
in Fig. 4; the whole is hinged, jointed, and fitted, as well understood in cabinet
work. g shews a cross section of one of two secret drawers under the pen
tray, which are got át by the removal of the partition or facing board r, which
is held at one end in an undercut recess or dovetail, and at the other by a
spring catch. This spring catch is released by passing the finger up from the
drawer space immediately under the right-hand ink; this is easily effected when
the drawer fis partly open. When the spring catch is thus released, the board
r flies out into repository d, when it opens and discloses the drawers q, q. The
flap e is similar to those flaps in ordinary shut-up writing desks, being hinged
by the leather or cloth covering its face. In order to lock both parts of this
desk at one operation, that is, the part i and m, I use a hook-like catch s,
which takes into a notch t, as seen dotted, in the edge of i, Fig. 4. The stem
of catch s is carried some little distance down into the wood and fixed at
the bottom; it has a constant tendency to spring back from its notch t and
so release i. A recess u is made in m to receive the back part of 8 when m
is closed down. The recess u is faced with a brass plate, which takes a
bearing on s when so closed, and forces it into notch t, and so holds the part
i down. The lock vis boxed in m, as shewn by the keyhole and bolt at v,
Fig. 3; thus, if the part m be held down with the part i closed and the key
turned, the bolt v will shoot into a mortise cut in the edge of i, and so keep
the whole secure.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I would have it understood that what I claim is,
combining a desk and paper stand or envelope case 9, 9, together with the
configuration and combination of the parts, all as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, Charles Rawlings, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-first day of November, in the year of our Lord-
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
CHARLES RAWLINGS. (L.S.)