IMPROVEMENTS IN STANDS OR CASES FOR PRODUCTS AND ADVERTISEMENTS.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Adolphus Ross, of Belfast, in the
County of Antrim, in Ireland, Aerated Water Manufacturer, for
the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN STANDS OR CASES FOR PRODUCTS AND
ADVERTISEMENTS.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Adolphus
Ross at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 25th November 1875.
I, WILLIAM ADOLPHUS Ross, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim,
in Ireland, Aerated Water Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STANDS OR CASES FOR PRODUCTS
AND ADVERTISEMENTS," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to provide an attractive, compact, and
convenient receptacle for bottles, jars, or other vessels, or for samples of
goods, or for products required or desired to be exposed for exhibition,
sale, or use, or otherwise, in combination with the display of commercial
or other titles, advertisements, or notices, and to be placed or kept upon

page_text: the counters of shops, warehouses, and offices, or upon or in other public
or conspicuous places.
My Invention consists in the construction of a frame, rack, stand, or
case, made of metallic or other stiff and rigid or substantially stiff and
rigid substances, such as wood, bone, carthen or plastic ware, wire or
wickerwork, papier mache, or glass, or of any combination of such
substances, or of or containing a number of tubes or cylinders of the
same or like substances connected together, and having the sides clear
and transparent, or partly clear and transparent, or perforated in orna-
mental designs, so that the bottles, jars, or other vessels, or the tubes or
cylinders, and the samples of goods or products placed in the same,
may be visible and convenient, and that advertisements, trade marks,
mottoes, styles, titles, notices, and the like, may be inserted in the
perforations, or embossed, stamped, or cut thereon.
An ornamental handle may also be provided and made to serve for
advertisement or information, and a drawer may be provided in the base
for the similar purposes.
The ends of the frame, rack, stand, or case, may be open or they may
be enclosed by a grating, shutter, or louvre, to be opened or fastened as
desired or as occasion may require. The frame, rack, stand, or case is
supported upon claw feet, cushioned or padded with india-rubber, gutta
percha, or other similar material, to obstruct its movement and prevent
scraping upon the counter or other support.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Adolphus Ross in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ADOLPHUS Ross, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, in Ireland,
Aerated Water Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and

page_text: successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Adolphus
Ross, Her special licence that I, the said William Adolphus Ross,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Adolphus Ross, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN STANDS OR CASES
FOR PRODUCTS AND ADVERTISEMENTS," upon the condition (amongst others(
that I, the said William Adolphus Ross, my executors or admini-
strators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the 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 I, the said William Adolphus Ross, 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, that is to say:-
The said Invention has for its object to provide an attractive, compact,
and convenient stand, case, or receptacle for bottles, jars, or other
vessels, or for samples or packages of goods, or for products required or
desired to be exposed or presented for exhibition, sale, or use, or other-
wise, in combination with the display of commercial or other titles,
advertisements, or notices, and to be placed or kept upon the counters
of shops, warehouses, and offices, or upon or in other public or con-
spicuous places.
For this purpose I construct a frame, rack, stand, or case, consisting
of a number of longitudinal rods, rails, or plates, which form cells or
compartments of any desired size, and either triangular, quadrangular,
polygonal, oval, or circular in shape, or composed of a number of tubes
or cylinders, and connected together throughout the entire length or by
a plate at each end perforated to receive such rods, rails, plates, tubes,
or cylinders, or by other simple contrivances, and so as to receive from
one or either end the bottles, jars, or other vessels, or the samples or

page_text: packages of goods, or the products required or desired to be exposed or
presented as aforesaid.
The longitudinal rods, rails or plates, tubes or cylinders, and end
plates, are made of metallic or other stiff and rigid, or substantially
stiff and rigid substances, such as galvanized iron, block tin, zinc, plated
or japanned metal, wood, bone, earthen or plastic ware, wire or wicker-
work, papier mache or glass, or of any combination of such substances,
according to the purpose to which the same are to be applied; and the
cells or compartments, tubes, or cylinders, may be compacted together
in a triangular, quadrangular, polygonal, oval, or circular form or pile.
A plate or ridge surmounts the pile and carries a handle or handles by
which the frame, rack, stand, or case may be lifted or moved and upon
which may be displayed, by means of engraving, embossing, enamelling,
painting, or piercing, the name, trade mark, motto, or title of any firm,
or the general description of the contents, or such other mark, notice, or
information, as may be necessary or desirable.
A plane or angle plate may be provided along the bottom or lower
edge of each side, and where the pile of cells or compartments is
quadrangular or polygonal a similar plate may be provided along the
top or upper edge of each side. Between the ridge and upper plates
and between the ridge or the upper plates and the lower plates may be
introduced, fixed, hinged, or sliding top or side plates made of similar
substances, and which, if not clear and transparent, may be perforated
in ornamental designs, so that the cells, or compartments, tubes, or
cylinders, or the bottles, jars, or other vessels, or the samples or packages
of goods, or the products placed in them may be visible and convenient,
or that advertisements, trade marks, mottoes, styles, titles, notices, and
the like, may be inserted in such perforations; or such advertisements,
trade marks, mottoes, styles, titles, notices, and the like, may be
engraved, embossed, enamelled, painted, pierced, or otherwise depicted
upon, or in such fixed, hinged, or sliding top or side plates, or upon or
in the tubes or cylinders, or the vessels containing the samples or
packages of goods or the products placed in them.
The edges of the ridge and of the plane or angle plates are grooved or
otherwise formed to receive and hold the sliding top or side plates.
A drawer may be provided at the base of the frame, rack, stand, or
case, to contain advertisements and information, and varied top or side

page_text: plates to replace or be substituted for those upon the frame, rack, stand,
or case, for the time being.
The end or ends of the frame, rack, stand, or case, may be open or
may be enclosed by a grating, shutter, or louvre, to be opened or
fastened as desired or as occasion may require. The frame, rack, stand,
or case, is supported upon claw feet, cushioned or padded with india-
rubber, gutta percha, or other similar material, to obstruct its movement
and prevent scraping upon the counter or other support.
The frame, rack, stand, or case, which I have above described may
also be conveniently and advantageously used as an ornamental recep-
tacle for wine, aërated waters, and other commodities in public dining
and refreshment rooms and hotels and in private houses.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it to be understood
that I do not claim the use of frames, racks, stands, or cases, except
when the same are constructed specially, and employed as herein-before
described, nor do I claim the use of rods, rails, plates, tubes, cylinders,
and end, top, or side plates, nor of handles, claw or other feet, and
drawers, nor of any of the separate mechanical parts which form the
compound apparatus used by me, but I claim,—
First. The use in frames, racks, stands, or cases, for receiving and
exposing or presenting bottles, jars, or other vessels, or samples or
packages of goods or products, of top or side plates, constructed and
employed substantially as herein-before described.
Secondly. The use in frames, racks, stands, or cases, for receiving
and exposing or presenting bottles, jars, or other vessels, or samples or
packages of goods or products, of tubes or cylinders, constructed and
employed substantially as herein-before described.
Thirdly. The display of advertisements and other notices or inform-
ation by means of ornamental plates, constructed and employed
substantially as herein-before described.
Fourthly. The display of advertisements and other notices or inform-
ation by means of ornamental tubes or cylinders, constructed and
employed substantially as herein-before described.

page_text: And fifthly. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting
the compound apparatus, constructed and applied substantially in the
manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Adolphus Ross, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of May,
in the year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-six.
Present,
HUGH HYNDMAN,
Belfast,
Solicitor.
W. A. ROSS. (L.S.)