Improvements in Clips or Holders, Applicable for Use in Connection with Telephones and other Instruments, whereby Paper for Recording Messages Received, or Books and the like, can be.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Apr., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 16th Jan., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 23rd Feb., 1889
Improvements in Clips or Holders, Applicable for Use in Connection
with Telephones and other Instruments, whereby Writing Paper
for Recording Messages Received, or Books and the like, can be
Firmly Held in Place while Messages are Received or Trans-
mitted.
I, GEORGE CASHEL of 40° Alderson Road, Liverpool, in the County of Lancastor,
Manager of Department, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The invention relates to a clip or holder, which is designed particularly for use in
connection with telephonic instruments, though it is also applicable for other
purposes. Hitherto some difficulty has been experienced in recording a message
received through a telephone.. The paper on which the message is recorded or written,
is very apt to slip or move about whilst the operator is in the act of writing. One
hand being generally engaged in holding the receiver and the other in writing the
communication received, it is difficult to hold the paper in the proper place on the
desk. The object of the invention is to provide a clip or holder, which can be
attached to a desk, or the part of the instrument on which the paper is placed,
so as to hold the said paper firmly in position, whilst the operator is in the act
of writing. The invention is equally applicable for holding books, documents, and
other papers, whilst extracts or communications therefrom are transmitted through
the instrument.
In carrying out the invention, I provide a metal clamp, preferably of flat
section, having its ends bent into the form of a hook or other suitable shape.
The clamp is made in two parts, so that the ends can be adjusted as regards their
distance apart. This can be effected by means of a screw attached to one of the
parts, which passes through a slot in the other part, the two parts being tightened
firmly together by a nipple or milled nut.
To the said clamp is attached (by means of eyes or in other convenient manner)
a spring clip, preferably made of wire, and having one or more turns or coils, so

page_text: that while one end can readily be raised, it will always spring back, and lock or
hold the paper, etcetera, firmly in position. To facilitate the raising of the spring
clip, it is provided with a loop, bend, or projection, which serves as a lifting
handle.
The mode of action is as follows:
The clamp is adjusted to the required length, so that the ends firmly clip the
sides of the table or desk. The end of the spring clip now rests upon surface of
said desk, and papers, books, etcetera, slipped underneath, will be firmly held in
place by it, so that the operator can write without inconvenience.
Dated this 17th day of Anril 1888
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: otherwise.
In the accompanying drawings:
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a holder constructed according to my invention,
and attached, as hereinafter explained, to a desk D or similar support.
Figure 2 is an end elevation of the same, and
Figure 3 is a sectional view of a detail of construction hereafter described.
Figures 4 and 5 show in front and side elevation respectively a simplified form of
apparatus.
Referring first to Figures 1, 2 and 3 :-
In carrying out the invention, I provide a metal clamp, preferably of flat section
and formed of two main pieces B B, capable of being slid upon a connecting
piece A, which is provided with a longitudinal slot a, for the greater portion of its
length.
Parallel with and preferably underneath said connecting piece A are the two some-
what similar preferably flat main pieces B, which may be held at any desired distance
apart by milled set screws or nuts a', or their equivalent, working in the slot a in the
connecting piece A. The outer ends of the main pieces B are bent downwards into
hooks or their equivalent, which serve to grip the opposite edges of the desk D to
which the clamping device is attached. I prefer to make the aforesaid hooks capable
of adjustment in the following manner:
The ends of the flat pieces B are bent down approximately at right angles, so as to
form lugs B. There is preferably attached to each lug B a small angled piece of
metal b, the inwardly turned portion of which grips the underside of the desk D as
shown in dotted lines, Figure 1. The width of the hooks between the main pieces B
and angled pieces can be widened or narrowed as desired by means of thumb screws
such as b¹, or their equivalent, in order to accommodate different thicknesses of the
supports to which it is desired to fasten the clamp, see Figure 3. The screws b² 61
pass through suitable slots 62 72, Figure 3, in the angle pieces b.
Attached to the connecting piece A by means of eyes or bridge pieces c, or in any
convenient manner, is a bent and coiled spring clip CC, preferably formed of stout
steel wire, which is bent at its rear ends into one or more coils C. This clip is so
adjusted that the straight portion of it will always press upon the top of the desk D
when the clamp is fastened in position thereon. A ring or handle such as c', may be
fastened by soldering or otherwise to the straight portion C of the clip, and serves to
lift it up from the desk in opposition to the spring pressure, when it is desired to place
the paper E, or other object in position, or vice versa. The portion C of the clip,
which would rest upon the desk D or paper E, is preferably enveloped in one or more
pieces of india rubber tubing c², or their equivalent, which will tend to increase the
friction between the clamp and the paper.
Or the connecting piece A may be dispensed with and the main pieces B may
slide one upon the other, the bridge pieces c being, in this case, loose upon the main
pieces.
Or the main pieces may simply slide upon the desk itself, being guided thereon by
screws or their equivalent, secured to the desk.
Referring now to Figures 4 and 5, which show a non-adjustable clamp, the main
piece B of the clamp as shown, corresponds to the two main pieces B as above described.
This piece B is adapted to be fastened on to the desk or other support by means of
screws or nails et cetera, for which purposes holes 6 are provided. The ends B¹ instead
of being turned down as in Figure 1, are turned upwards and connected together by
means of the rod A, which is thus held some distance above the desk, and may in this
nstance be of round or other cross section. The spring clip CC is attached by its
coiled ends to the rod A in lieu of to the bridge pieces c c. The rest of the device is
imilar to that already described.
The mode of action is as follows:-
:-
The device is secured to a desk or similar support, near the top thereof by any of
he means hereinbefore described. The flat portion of the spring clip now rests upon

page_text: the surface of said desk, and papers, books, et cetera, slipped underneath will be firmly
held by same. When it is required to remove the latter, the clip is simply raised by
the handle C¹.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare. that what I
claim is
1. A clip or holder for paper or the like, consisting essentially of a rigid baso piece
adapted to be screwed upon the top of a desk or its equivalent, and of a bent and
coiled spring clip CC₁ mounted by its coiled rear ends upon said base plate and
pressing with its front edge upon the said desk or its equivalent, substantially as and for
the purpose described.
2. In a clip or holder having a bent and coiled spring clip, such as described, a rigid
base picce supporting said clip and having its outer ends turned downwards and
adjustable in their distance apart, the said ends being preferably provided with adjust-
able angle pieces adapted to fit under the edges of a desk or its equivalent, substan-
tially as and for the purposes specified.
3. The improved clip or holder taken as a whole, applicable for use in connection
with telephones or other instruments, substantially as described and shown with
reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the drawings.
4. The simplified clip or holder as a whole substantially as described and shown
with reference to Figures 4 and 5.
Did the 15th day of Jan 1880