IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND BINDING LETTERS, BILLS, MUSIC, PERIODICALS, AND OTHER PAPERS OR DOCUMENTS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Casper, of Finsbury Circus, in the City of
London, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR HOLDING
AND BINDING LETTERS, BILLS, MUSIC, PERIODICALS, AND OTHER PAPERS OR
DOCUMENTS."
Scaled the 12th December 1876, and dated the 13th June 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Casper at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th June 1876.
"IM-
EDWARD CASPER, of Finsbury Circus, in the City of London, Merchant.
PROVED APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND BINDING LETTERS, BILLS, MUSIC,
PERIODICALS, AND OTHER PAPERS OR DOCUMENTS."
With the ordinary arrangements for endorsing and filing or pigeon-holing bills,
letters, and other papers and documents, in offices and counting houses, a great
nmount of time is wasted, and the papers are frequently mislaid and lost. The
whole time of one clerk is occupied in putting away the papers. Various con-
trivances to hold the above papers, and others, such as periodicals, music, and the
like, have been devised, but they are complicated and expensive; they all, more or
less, mutilate the papers they are designed to keep and protect.
The object of my Invention is the preservation intact of series of letters, bills,
and other papers or documents, including music, periodicals, and the like, in regular
order, and the binding of the same, when desired, in a ready, convenient, and in-
expensive manner. And in order that the said papers or documents or any of them
may be available if required for legal evidence, I attach to each apparatus or holder
an index, wherein each letter or other document is enumerated, so that the same
forms one page of a book, and could not be abstracted or replaced by another letter
or document without detection. And one of these books filled with letters, with
another book containing answers to these letters, will give a complete history of a
series of transactions.
My improved apparatus is constructed with one piece or flap of metal or other
material, bent at a right angle, and forming one side, and the back of the said
apparatus the other side, consisting of an adjustable piece or flap of similar material.
The latter is attached to a rectangular clip or binding piece of metal, which has a
central slot and pinching screw, whereby it is attached adjustably to the back of the
apparatus, and in some instances it has at its ends guide slots and pins. The letters,

page_text: papers, or other documents to be filed or secured, are placed inside the said apparatus,
under the said rectangular clip, whose pinching screw is slackened to allow them to
be inserted; then the said clip is set down upon the said papers, and by tightening
the said screw they are firmly secured. This device affords the means for holding
the papers securely without making holes in them. The said loose or adjustable
flap or cover is hinged to the said clip, so that it opens and closes like the cover of
a book. The outside of this flap is designed to be utilized for advertisements. A
strap may be attached to the back of the said apparatus, and passed through a slit
in the edge of the said loose flap, for suspending the apparatus, and at the same
time keeping it closed.
Holes are formed through the back and front of the clip to facilitate the binding of
the letters or other papers. In the binding of these papers together I slacken the
clip, and introduce under the same two strips of card or other material on the top
and bottom of the papers to be bound, the said strips having holes corresponding
with the holes in the clip. I use a peculiarly formed implement, somewhat resem-
bling an ordinary gimlet, but whose pointed end is detachable. This detachable end
is fixed in the said implement, which is used in the same manner as a gimlet, to
make the holes in the papers. Then the detachable end is removed and a binding pin
is inserted in its place, the said implement being drawn back with this pin in it, so
that the pins are passed without trouble or inconvenience through the papers. I
prefer to use screw pins, which are fitted with round nuts made tight by means of a
two-pronged driver. Or I may use ordinary paper fasteners or other suitable means
for fastening the papers. When this fastening has been properly effected I take two
covers, formed of card or other material, and secure them to the aforesaid strips,
with pieces of canvas, cloth, or the like, by glue or other cement, thus forming a..
book. The edges of the covers and strips are made concave and convex, so that
one fits into the other, thus forming hinges. The papers will be held firmly by the
strips, while the covers open freely, without tearing or abrading any of the said
papers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edward Casper in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th December
1876.
EDWARD CASPER, of Finsbury Circus, in the City of London, Merchant.
"IM-
PROVED APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND BINDING LETTERS, BILLS, MUSIC,
PERIODICALS, AND OTHER PAPERS OR DOCUMENTS."
With the ordinary arrangements for endorsing and filing or pigeon-holing bills,
letters, and other papers and documents, in offices and counting houses, a great
amount of time is wasted, and the papers are frequently mislaid and lost. In many
offices and counting houses the whole time of one clerk is occupied in docketting
and putting away the papers. Various contrivances to hold the above papers and
others, such as periodicals, music, and the like, have been devised, but they are
complicated and expensive, and they all more or less mutilate the papers they are
designed to preserve and protect.
The objects of my Invention are the preservation intact of series of letters, bills,
and other papers or documents, including music, periodicals, and the like, in regular
order, and the binding of the same when desired in a ready, convenient, and inex-
pensive manner. And in order that the said papers or documents, or any of them,
may be available if required for legal evidence, I attach to each apparatus or holder
an index wherein each letter or other document is enumerated, so that the same
forms one page of a book, and could not be abstracted or replaced by another letter
or document without detection. And one of these books filled with letters, with
another book containing answers to these letters, will give a complete history of a
series of transactions.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan or top view of my improved apparatus; Figure 2 is a side
edge view, and Figure 3 is a back view of the same.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the said apparatus, illustrating its use for particular
purposes, herein-after described; Figure 5 is a front view, and Figure 6 a side view
of a modified form of my Invention.
Figure 7 is a front view illustrating another modification of said Invention.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawings.
The most essential feature of my improved apparatus is a clip a, consisting of two
parts a¹, a. The said apparatus is constructed with one piece or flap b of wood,
metal, or other material, forming the front side of the said apparatus, and attached
to the rectangular piece of wood, metal, or other material forming the part a¹ of
the clip; the other part a³ of the said clip is also a rectangular piece, of the same or
like material, and has attached to it the back c of the said apparatus. The part a
of the clip or binding piece a has a central slot d and pinching screw e, whereby it.
is attached adjustably to the other part a¹ of the clip, and in some instances it has
at its ends guide slots and pins, and I may apply strips or tongues of metal at the
ends to prevent the slipping out of the papers. The letters, papers, or other docu-
ments to be filed or secured are placed in the said apparatus centrally between the
two parts of the clip, whose pinching screw is slackened to allow them to be
inserted, then the said clip is set down upon the said papers, and by tightening the
said screw they are firmly secured. By giving to the parts a¹, a, the peculiar form
and arrangement, shown and described, I ensure a very firm hold or grip of these
parts upon the papers placed between them, as shewn in Figure 2. This device
affords the means for holding the papers securely without making holes in them.
The said loose or adjustable flap or cover is hinged to the said clip, so that it opens
and closes like the cover of a book. The inside of this flap is designed to be
utilized for advertisements. A strap ƒ may be attached to the back of the said
apparatus, and passed through an elastic band g on the loose flap for suspending the
apparatus, and at the same time keeping it closed. This elastic band will not tear
out of the said flap.
If preferred, for binding the letters or other papers, holes may be formed through
the back and front of the clip. In this manner of binding these papers together I
slacken the clip and introduce under the same two strips of card or other material
on the top and bottom of the papers to be bound; the said strips having holes cor-
responding with the holes in the clip, I sometimes use a peculiarly formed implement
somewhat resembling an ordinary gimlet, but whose pointed end is detachable.
This detachable end is fixed in the said implement, which is used in the same manner
as a gimlet to make the holes in the papera Then the detachable end is removed,
and a binding pin is inserted in its place. The said implement being drawn back
with this pin in it, so that the pins are passed without trouble or inconvenience
through the papers. I prefer tousescrew pins, which are fitted with round nuts, made
tight by means of a two-pronged key or driver. But I prefer to use the binders
shown in Figures 5 and 6, or that shewn in Figure 7. The binder, Figures 5 and 6,
consists of a fixed bar h and adjusting bar h¹³, connected at their ends by spiral
springs . The said adjusting bar has excentric journals or shoulders h², to which
the said springs are connected and so contrived that the mere turning of the said bar
permits the insertion and removal of the papers. The springs i render the pressure of
this binder elastic, and permit its self-adjustment to different quantities or thick-
nesses of papers.
The binder, shown in Figure 7, has a straight bar j, with end pieces j₁, ³, between
which the papers or documents are placed on the said bar. It also has an adjusting
bar, supported in these end pieces. One of these end pieces ¹ has a pivoted clip k,
which, by its adjustment, permits the said bar ja to be readily secured to hold the
papers, or released to permit them to be removed. I prefer that this clip should be

page_text: provided with a spring to give it an elastic pressure and capability of adjustment
upon the papers. Or I may use a thumb-screw or other suitable fastener instead of
the said clip for securing the bar. This binder either in the form shown in Figures 5
and 6 or in Figure 7, is placed upon the inside of the back of the apparatus, and
secured by an elastic band or otherwise, and when filled with papers the said band
or other fastening is removed, and the binder can then be taken out and inserted in
a suitable case. Or I may use ordinary paper fasteners or other suitable means for
fastening the papers.
In Figure 4 I have illustrated the application of my apparatus for a music holder
and stand. The sheets of music are held by the clip a inside the covers, in the same
manner as the papers or documents, and any sheet or piece of music may be selected
and readily taken out. In this application of my Invention the back c of the
apparatus is provided with a folding bar or leg c², which supports the said apparatus
when the same is used as shewn, and which will fold compactly against the back
when the apparatus is put on one side. The sheet or piece of music being used is
placed on the ledge or shelf formed by the part a¹ of the clip, and lies against the
flap b, as on an ordinary music stand.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. The clip, consisting of the two rectangular pieces, so formed and arranged
in combination with each other, and with the slot and screw or other fastener, that
by tightening the said screw or fastener, the holding surfaces of the said clip are
caused to grasp and hold the papers or documents slightly between them, as above
specified.
Second. The binder constructed and used in combination with the said clip, as
above specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Casper, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.