Improvements in Copy Holders.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Dec., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 12th Sept., 1894-Accepted, 27th Oct., 1894
Improvements in Copy Holders.
I, HERBERT ADOLPHE JOHNSON, of 104 Southampton Row, in the Admini-
strative County of London, Journalist, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in copy holders and the special objects of
it are to provide for the copy being moved automatically by the holder so as to
avoid the necessity of the copyist's having his attention taken off his work by
having to turn a roller or to press a stud or a lever; to provide for the variation
of the rate at which the copy is traversed past the line of sight and also to provide
for the exhibition of the particular portion to be copied close to, and more or less
on a level with, the sheet on which the transcriber is writing.
In carrying the first part of my invention into effect, I provide a driving train,
preferably, driven by a spring and controlled by a fly after the manner of the
driving train of a musical box. I do not limit myself to the use of a spring, but
may employ any suitable equivalent for rotating the first motion wheel. There is
combined with the latter, a spur wheel and a pair of aligned pivots. Or, the
pivots may be aligned with the axis of the first motion wheel. Between the said
pivots, there is supported a feeding roller faced with suitable material or otherwise
adapted to engage the reverse of the copy and traverse it over the guard. The
latter is a concave plate supported in front of the roller and at only a short distance
from it and along at least one portion of the periphery of the roller so as to
provide a rigid, although narrow, surface against which the feeding roller bites
the copy. A slot is cut in the front of the plate through which the matter to be
copied is presented to view. This sight slot may be of any suitable width and
horizontal or oblique. A suitable stop to release and stop the train is provided.
When the guard is of the construction described above, the copy is passed under
the roller from behind and up past the slot. It may consist of a tube surrounding
the roller and having a second slot through which the paper is passed into the tube,
then led round the roller and brought out through the same slot.
If found necessary, 1 may add spring fingers or the like within the guard to
press the
paper to the feeding roller or even an additional or taking away roller.
The driving train above described produces only a continuous rotary motion
in the feeding roller. Provision may be made for converting this into an
intermittent one by combining any suitable device with the stop, such as a cam or
eccentric revolved by the driving train and a link connecting the cam and stop.
The second part of my invention consists in a provision for varying the rate at
which the copy is traversed past the sight slot. There are several methods which
may be adapted to effect this variation. Among others I may use an adjustable
break upon the fly or any other rotating part: a feeding roller of variable diameter
or substitute rollers of larger or smaller diameters in combination with a guard or
guards adjustable in respect of distance from the axis of the roller's rotation.
The
roller of variable diameter may consist of ribs the ends of which engage in slots in
liscs on the pivots above mentioned. These discs may be loose on the pivots, held
fast together, and have the slots curved in the right direction so that when either is
turned, all the ribs are moved radially outwards. The ribs are covered with a
suitable facing and a suitable detent is or may be provided to lock the discs in

page_text: their desired position. Or, I may mount the biting surfaces of the feeding roller
on tubes of different diameters adapted to be slipped on to a permanent axis and
held to it. Adjustable cone gearing may also be introduced into the driving
train.
4-
The third part of my invention applies more particularly to the requirements
of students of shorthand in the "acquiring speed" stage. To meet their require-
ments, a special roller as well as the sight slot are fixed in front of the train and
the other mechanism, and close down to and partially projecting to the front of the
base upon which they are mounted, so that the leaves of the student's book may,
if required, go underneath the said base and 'his'copy be presented close to the
line upon which he is writing.
The special roller and its sight slot may be made as a removeable attachment.
Or, the principal guard (the one first' described) may be hinged to the base so that
it can be moved down to the front so as to bring its sight slot in front of the said
special roller. In the latter case, the sight slot is made adjustable in position and
the guard is provided with suitable pivots for the special roller. The latter may
be driven independently from the train above described.
'Dated this 12th day of December 1893.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Copy Holders.
I, HERBERT ADOLPHE JOHNSON of No. 104 Southampton Row, in the
Administrative County of London, Journalist, do 'hereby 'déclare the nature of
this invention and in what manner'the saine is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
"My invention relates to improvements in copy holders and the special objects of
it are:-
(a.) To provide for the copy being moved automatically by the holder so as to
avoid the necessity of the copyist's attention being taken off his work to turn a
roller or to press a stud or a lever.
(b.) To provide for the variation of the rate at which the copy is traversed past
the line of sight; and
(c.) To provide for the exhibition of the particular portion to be copied, close
to and more or less on a level with the sheet on which the transcriber is writing.
The above three objects are obtained by the first, second and third part of the
invention, respectively.
In order that the said invention and the means by which it is to be carried into
practical effect, inay be thoroughly understood, I will now describe it and them iu
detail, referring in so doing to the accompanying figures which are to be taken as
part of this Specification and read therewith.
1
T
.. j
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a copy holder constructed according to the
present invention.
**
Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 3.
Figure 3 is a plan.
J
Figure 4 is a sectional end elevation of a modified form of the invention and
exemplifies the third part of the latter.
In carrying the first part of my invention into effect, I provide a driving train
adapted to rotate the feed roller of the copy holder. Provided that the driving,
train is capable of transmitting the power of the motor to the feed roller at the
desired rate, it may be of any suitable type. But for all practical purposes, I
give the preference to the well-known musical box train. The combination with

page_text: the driving train and the members of the copy holder proper, of a motor adapted
to drive the feed roller of the latter automatically as far as the transcriber is
concerned, is an important feature of the invention, because of the great utility
secured to the transcriber by such combination. My invention does not limit me
5 in respect of the type of motor used to actuate the driving train. It may be of
any suitable type, electrical or mechanical, provided that the combination of it
with the driving train will result in the above described automatic driving of the
feed roller.
The motor illustrated consists of a coiled spring, a spring box a within which
the spring is coiled, and a spur wheel b fast on the periphery of the box, with the
usual addenda of axle and square, click and ratchet. The spur wheel acts as
the first motion wheel of the driving train. The latter and the motor together
with the speed regulator described further on, are supported between plates c, c
which are held together in any convenient way, and mounted upon a suitable
5 base.
The train and motor illustrated have their axes vertical. This arrangement puts
the wheel 6 horizontal. That being so, it is necessary to interpose a pinion between
it and the axis of the feed roller e. dis this pinion. It is fast upon the axis of the
feed roller. The latter is faced with india rubber or other material adapted to
enable it to grip and traverse the copy C past a clip f. To facilitate such
gripping, the surface of the roller e is corrugated longitudinally, as shewn. The
clip illustrated consists of a roller having a hard surface as distinguished from a
yielding one. It is of the same length as the feed roller e and parallel with it, the
length of such roller and clip being according to the width of the copy: The axle
of the feed roller e and the clip are both illustrated as being long enough to
provide bearing surfaces for the separating device described further on to act
upon.
The feed roller may be removable from its frame or not as may be desired. If it
is preferred to make it removable, such removability is provided for in any of the
well known ways. It is illustrated as having its bearings in the end cheeks next
described. The frame of the said roller consists of two end cheeks: el, e¹ and a
bottom plate e, and is supported on suitable feet. The latter are fixed at the
corners of the frame, the bottom plate being supported at a sufficient height to
make room for the transcriber's book C' (if he is using one, as he would be if he
were learning shorthand and were in the "acquiring speed" stage) to pass
under it.
e,
The bearings of the clip fare movable in a direction at right angles with the feed
roller in suitable slots f, f' in the cheeks e¹, e¹, they being provided with
springs fadapted to push the clip f up to the periphery of the feed roller e. Any
suitable separating device adapted to move the clip away from the feed roller
when the top of the copy has to be inserted between them, may be adapted: The
one illustrated consists of a pair of bell crank levers f³, . These stand up
vertically, with their lower arms projecting towards the front of the holder past
the line of contact between the feed roller e and the clip f. Each lever f³ is
pivotted upon a screw passed through its angle into the respective cheek e¹. The
outer ends of the vertical arms of these levers are connected by a bar from the
centre of which projects towards the front of the holder, an arm f' carrying a
finger bit ff, fare a pair of wedges depending from the front ends of the
lower arms of the bell crank levers respectively, with their noses normally between
the ends of the axle of the feed roller e and the clip f, being held there by the
resilience of springs f10 acting between a fixed post on each cheek e¹ and a
plate f projecting from the top of each lever f.
8
g is a third roller. It is carried in fixed bearings in the cheeks e¹, e¹. is a bar
pivotted at or along its bottom corners or edge to the cheeks e', e¹ or to the bottom
olate, its axis being sufficiently to the front of the roller g to prevent the bar
falling forward during the traverse of the copy C through the holder. i is a plate
or bar and adjustable in front of the feed roller e upon the cheek e¹, e' to and from

page_text: the front of the holder, by means of transverse dovetails i, engaging in undercut
grooves, in the tops of the cheeks.
To fix the copy C in the holder, the bar i is removed from the cheeks and the top
of the copy with its face upwards is inserted horizontally between the feed roller e
and the clip f. The bottom of the copy is next passed downwards between the
roller g and the pivotted bar h and outwards to the rear of the holder under the feed
roller and clip as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2. The bar is then turned
up till its top edge rests against the copy and the bar i slid on to the cheeks e¹, e¹
with its front edge as near the said edge of the bar as will expose as many lines
of the copy as the transcriber may desire to have presented to his view at a time.
The driving train duly wound up is next started by disengaging the stop from the
pin on the fly shaft.
The top edge of the bar and the front one of the bar are bevelled down
towards the copy C. h¹ is a finger notch cut in the top edge of the bar to
facilitate its being swung down for the insertion of the copy. I prefer that the
plate or bar should be adjustable upon the cheeks e' e¹ in order that the sight
space which it, in conjunction with the bar h, produces, may be adjustable, but
the two may be made in one piece with a non-adjustable slot or sight space
cut in it.
The driving train described above produces only a continuous rotary motion in
the feed roller. Provision may be made for converting this continuous motion into
an intermittent one.
In carrying the second part of my invention into effect, I do not confine myself to
the special mechanism illustrated, but may make use of any which may be adapted to
produce an equivalent effect upon the rate at which the copy is traversed. I prefer
the one illustrated because of its compactness and efficiency. It consists of an
adjustable fly. n, n are the fly arms and n', n' the vanes. The arms are movable
together about their axes in the hub n' by any suitable device. The object of
making the fly arms movable about their axes is to provide a ready means of
regulating the amount of vane surface presented to the air during the rotation
of the fly. The regulating device illustrated of a spur wheel n³ the boss of which
is loose upon the fly shaft n to which it can be made fast by a set screw n°. n° is
an index finger fast on the boss of the wheel n³. n' is a scale of speeds over which
the index travels when the wheel n³ is rotated in either direction. The motion
of the said wheel is transferred to the arms n, n through a pinion n³ fast on one of
them the two arms being fast together.
e,
the
Instead of varying the axial rate of rotation on the part of the feed roller
rate of traverse may be varied by substitute feed rollers of larger or smaller
diameter. In that case the rollers are made detachable from their axes or from
their bearings in any convenient way.
In carrying the third part of my invention into effect, I provide, a combination
of sight space defining bars and intermediate rod which is located in front of the
holder and adapted by special devices to be automatically held down upon the
transcriber's book C'. The combination in question is additional to or in sub-
stitution of the sight space combination-the bars and i and the rod y-already
described. If it is additional, then it must be removable from the frame of the
holder. It is shewn as consisting of a tube g slotted along the front to produce the
sight space and along the back to allow of the travel of the copy C, an internal
rod or tubes about which the copy travels and a pair of arms parallel with each
other to the outer ends of which the ends of both tubes r and are made fast.
These arms are pivotted at their opposite ends to the cheeks el, el by means of
studs t, t. The combination is constantly being depressed by springs * acting
upon the arms t, t in front of their pivots in order that the sight space ŕ may be
held down upon the transcriber's book.
The slots t, 3 in the ends of the arms t from the holes for the studs t¹, t¹ to the
edges of the arms, provides for the combination being detached from the holder.
The direction in which the copy travels is indicated by the arrow.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination of motor automatic as far as the transcriber is concerned,.
with a device for traversing the copy and a sight space past which the copy is
traversed, as set forth.
2. The combination of motor automatic as far as the transcriber is concerned,.
with a device for traversing the copy, means for regulating the rate at which
the copy is traversed and a sight space past which the copy is traversed, as set.
forth.
3. The combination with the frame of a copy holder combining in itself a motor
automatic as far as the transcriber is concerned, and a device for traversing the
copy, of a detachable sight space adapted to be held to the frame of the holder and.
down upon the transcriber's book, as set forth.
Dated this 12th day of September 1894.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.