IMPROVEMENTS IN WRITING AND DRESSING CASES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Oldfield, of Noble Street, St. Luke's, in the
County of Middlesex, Writing & Dressing Case Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WRITING AND DRESSING CASES"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Oldfield at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th
February 1861.
I, WILLIAM OLDFIELD, of Noble Street, St. Luke's, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Writing & Dressing Case Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WRITING AND DRESSING CASES," to
be as follows:-
My improvements in writing and dressing cases relate to portable cases,
and consist in mounting the part of those cases which contain writing materials
(envelopes, note and letter paper, pens, and other articles,) on a hinge, and
applying a spring to it, so that it will rise and stand in a vertical_position
when the case is opened out on the table in condition for writing, thereby
presenting greater convenience for writing than is possessed in ordinary cases
in which the envelope and paper holder lays horizontally. It may be held
with spring catches in the horizontal and vertical positions, and when moved

page_text: from one position to the other by a spring I prefer to employ a coil or helical
spring, the ends of which are projected at a tangent, and fixed to the body of
the case, while a similar extension is made at the middle of the spring and
fixed in the part holding the writing materials; or the springs may be
otherwise arranged, in either case the tension of the spring being caused to
onorato no desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Oldfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
OLDFIELD, of Noble Street, St. Luke's in the County of Middlesex, Writing
& Dressing Case Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS, Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Oldfield, Her special licence that I, the said William Oldfield,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Oldfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
WRITING AND DRESSING CASES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Oldfield, my executors or administrators, 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 Oldfield, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: My improvements in writing and dressing cases relate to portable cases, and
consist in mounting that part of those cases which contains writing materials
(envelopes, note and letter paper, pens, and other articles), so that by the
application of a spring it rises and stands in a vertical or raised position
desired when the case is opened out on a table in condition for writing,
thereby presenting greater convenience for writing purposes than is possessed
in ordinary cases in which the envelope and paper holder lays horizontally. It
may be held with spring catches in the horizontal and vertical positions. For
the purpose of throwing this movable part from one position to the other, I
prefer to employ a coil or helical spring, the ends of which are projected at a
tangent from the coil and fixed to the body of the case, while similar
extensions are made at the middle of the spring and fixed in the part holding
the writing materials. The springs may be otherwise arranged provided the
tension of the spring is adapted to operate as desired.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a lateral section, & Fig. 2 a plan of a writing case in its
open position, constructed and fitted according to my Invention. The general
arrangements of the case are the same as ordinary writing cases, with the
exception of the part A, which is that containing writing papers, envelopes,
penknives, erasers, and other such fittings. This part in ordinary is fixed
in the body part B of the case, and remains in its horizontal position when
the case is opened out. According to my Invention I construct the part A
separately from the body B, and attach it by hinges thereto at the point C;
the hinge may either be formed of the leather of the case or of ordinary metal
hinges, or the spring or springs which actuates it according to my Invention
may supply the place of the hinge. The spring I adopt for the purpose is
separately represented at Fig. 8; it is simply brass or other suitable wire
coiled helically as at d, and having at intervals extending arms e, e, f, f, which
when in position in the case, have a tendency to recede from each other by
reason of the resilience of the coil which is placed in tension. When in
position in the case I dispose the coil d on a wire or pin g, which I fix to the
body of the case and thereby ensure the correct action of the spring; the
arms e, o, are fixed in the envelope and paper holding part, while the arms f.f.
are placed in the body B of the case, and suitably covered in with the leather
or other covering of the case. D is a box or receptacle for wafers, wax, pen
nibs, or other articles fixed to the body B; on the side of this I dispose a
spring catch h, which holds the part A collapsed, as shown dotted in Figs.

page_text: 1 & 2; on releasing the spring catch h the part A immediately rises from the
horizontal position shown dotted, and assumes the erect position as required
and most convenient for use; i is a flap of leather forming a stay from part A
to B; when the case is to be closed the part A is simply folded down on B,
where it is retained by the catch of h entering the notch k; the case may then
be readily closed as in ordinary. H is the ink bottle, and E is simply a folded
writing pad as ordinarily supplied in writing cases. It will be understood
from the foregoing that the coil spring d, d, is so arranged and adapted as to
constantly exert a force to raise A from B in the direction of the arrow, and
therefore to throw up and keep A in an erect position when it is released from
has required for use, and thereby presenting all the facilities of a desk or
writing table stand.
Instead of a coiled spring other forms of spring may be adopted to effect
the object required, but I believe the coiled spring herein-before described to
be the simplest and most efficient.
Fig. 4 represents a lateral section of modified arrangement of writing or
dispatch case according to my Invention. In this arrangement the paper
and envelope part rises in the opposite direction to that before described; the
coiled spring d is applied to the hinge point so as to act as before described.
The cover or top F when unlocked is arranged to slide off and take the
position shown dotted to form a writing slope. The part A when released by
a spring catch or otherwise rises and assumes the erect position shown dotted,
and as offering the necessary facilities for access to its contents.
Fig. 5 represents an end view of a dressing case constructed and arranged
according to my Invention. In this case I apply the spring to what may be
termed the lid or cover of the dressing case, to which I also fix the part A
containing envelopes, paper, &c. The lid or cover G I attach to the case by
a pair of ordinary butt hinges, & apply the coiled spring in the axial line as
before. Immediately the lid of the case is unlocked or unfastened the part
A, G, rises up and assumes a vertical or inclined position as may be most
convenient. The part A should occupy only a part of the area of the lid, the
other part being occupied by a looking-glass; the butts of the hinges regulate
the raised position of the parts A, G.
Instead of the part A being fixed to the lid G it may be separately fitted to
the case, & rise to position of itself when released.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, constructing writing

page_text: and dressing cases with the parts containing envelopes, paper, and other
writing requisites, jointed to and attached so as to move into the positions
required by the action of springs, as and for the purpose herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Oldfield, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
W. CLARK, Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
WILLIAM OLDFIELD. (L.S.)