AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING CARD DISTRIBUTOR
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Edwards Colley and Walter Moss, both of
Fleet Street, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Edwards Colley
and Walter Moss at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 3rd March 1866.
We, EDWARD EDWARDS COLLEY and WALTER Moss, both of Fleet Street, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED SELF-ACTING CARD DISTRIBUTOR," to be as follows, that is
to say:-
Our Invention relates to advertising media and consists of a card holder
and card distributor for being affixed to walls, doors, or other erections, and
from which one card only is delivered at a time or can be withdrawn by the
public. The holder comprises a box opening at the back, top, or sides, which
opening is closed with a lid. In a suitable compartment in this box any con-
venient number of cards are placed. The cards are constantly pressed forward

page_text: by an inner back spring, cover, or weight. The successive front cards rest upon
lever tumblers, upon which they drop when pressed forward by the back
spring before mentioned; the front card is depressed by a weight terminating
with a thin blade or edge; this edge being of the same thickness as or less
thickness than the card presses it downwards, so that it can be grasped by
the thumb and finger, for which a recess is formed in the front of the holder;
the cards pass through a slot, allowing one only to be drawn out at a time.
The downward pull of the card rises the opposite ends of the lever tumblers,
and these again raise the depressing weight and allow the next card to be
depressed forward under the depresser for being withdrawn in like manner.
The pattern card is placed in a shallow recess behind a glass and fixing plate
in front, in which plate suitable openings are formed for allowing the front
card to be seen, and under which the request to take one is inserted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Edwards Colley and Walter Moss in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 3rd September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWARD
EDWARDS COLLEY and WALTER Moss, both of Fleet Street, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
.Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edward Edwards Colley and Walter Moss, Her special licence that we,
the said Edward Edwards Colley and Walter Moss, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Edward Edwards Colley
and Walter Moss, our 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 makė," 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
SELF-ACTING CARD DISTRIBUTOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Edward. Edwards Colley and Walter Moss, our executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the

page_text: 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 we, the said Edward Edwards Colley and Walter
Moss, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
Our Invention consists of an apparatus to be fixed against or upon a wall,
counter, table, or other surface in any public or convenient place for containing
and delivering singly cards or advertising media.. In the interior of the
apparatus a chamber or box, opened and closed at the top, side, or back by a
hinged, sliding, or loose lid, secured by a lock when required, is formed for
containing the cards, &c. At the bottom of this chamber, when the apparatus
is made for delivering its contents in a horizontal or inclined position, and
under and at the front when intended for vertical delivery, a suitable opening
is formed through which one card, &c. only can pass at the same time, and
partially through which opening they are separately projected by an internal
self-acting slide, so that they can be conveniently grasped between the thumb
and finger, and thus, easily withdrawn. These cards rest upon or are pressed
against a bottom or sleeper plate, which is divided lengthways at or about the
centre; the back or upper part of this plate is formed with a shallow step,
which presses against the back edge of the lowest card. This step plate.is
caused to slide or move backwards or upwards as each card is withdrawn by
the hand; the forward or downward pull operates two side. flat levers or
cranks which extend into the draft way of the card, against which levers the
front edges of the projecting card rest or are in contact. These levers are
connected to the slide step plate before mentioned, and as each card is pulled
out it causes the step to slide or move from under the remaining cards, the
lowest of which takes the place of the one withdrawn and is projected forward
by the return motion of the step.
The accompanying Drawing shews the details of construction, to which
Drawing the following explanation applies.
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 shews the card delivering box in front elevation; Fig. 2 is a plan
view over all with lock and lid removed; Fig. 3 is a transverse section
through the centre of the apparatus taken on the line A, B, Figs. 1 and 2,

page_text: Fig. 4 is a horizontal section or sectional plan taken at the line C, D, Figs.
1 and 3, and shews the side levers and connections by which the forward pull
of one card causes the step plate to recede, and the following card to fall into
the required position. For convenience of reference the several parts of the
apparatus where they appear in each Fig. are lettered with similar letters so
that the following index applies to the whole.
i
a is the chamber or inner box, the sides and ends of which are made of thin
metal; the size and shape of this chamber must be regulated by that of the
cards to be delivered; b, cards placed therein; c, the moveable step plate, the
upper portion of which by preference we make of flat steel, the front edge c
of which presses against the back edge of the cards respectively as they each
fall into position; d and d¹ are sleeper plates, or a plate divided length-
ways d", d being fixed and d¹ moveable, upon which the cards rest; the
moveable part or plate d¹ carries the step and moves backwards therewith as
the card is withdrawn, and thus allows the card 62 to take its place; e is
the draftway of the cards formed between the upper and lower sole plates
f and 9, out of each of which the part is cut away to allow the thumb and
finger to grasp the projecting card conveniently; i, i, the side levers fitted
between the sole plates; these levers are centred at j, and connected to the
sliding step plate by the connecting rods k, ke¹. As each card is pulled out the
levers i, i¹, connecting rods k, k¹, and sliding plate d' are caused to move into
the position shewn by the dotted lines. The cards then rest upon the divided
sleeper plate, and as the back edges of the drawing card pass clear of the
levers i, ¹, the spring 1, which presses against the wire m fixed in the step,
impells it and the next card forward; n is an adjusting screw for regulating
the force and action of the spring as required; o, an aperture for access to
the adjusting screw; p is an inner ring or cover recessed at the bottom for
keeping the cards, &c. flat and in position, weighted or acted upon by a spring
according as the apparatus is intended for horizontal or vertical delivery; q is
a grooved or divided frame for containing a specimen card.
The apparatus here shewn has its sides and back made hollow with inner
and outer plates of metal, such as tin, zinc, and the like; in practice, however,
the case and lid may be of cast metal, of wood, or any suitable material, the
required spaces for the delivery slide, step, and mechanism being formed and
provided therein.
Without restricting ourselves to the particular form and detail shewn upon
the Drawing, we claim the apparatus formed as or in a similar manner. to that
herein described for delivering singly cards or other advertising media' by

page_text: means of a sliding stepped sleeper or bed plate and levers actuated by an
adjusting spring or other equivalent by the draw of each card.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Edwards Colley, on behalf of
myself and the said Walter Moss, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Third day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
EDWARD EDWARDS COLLEY. (L.S.)