Improvements in and relating to Label or Card Holders.
Year: 1892

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Label or Card Holders.
I, EMORY EVANS SMITH, a citizen of the United States of America, residing
at Palo Alto, in the County of Santa Clara and State of California, one of the
United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to a novel construction of label or card holder whereby it
is adapted to readily grasp and hold the label or card, and whereby also it is pro-
vided with means for engaging its support, and it will be readily understood from
the following description and claims, reference being had to the accompanying
drawings, in which-
Figure 1 represents, in front elevation, my improved holder in its simplest form
provided with a pin shank, only, for engaging it with its support.
Figure 2 is a similar view, showing the shank pin shouldered and adapted for
use in marking potted plants, etc.
Figure 3 shows the holder shank adapted to engage a box side as a support.
Figure 4 shows a holder made of malleable wire, adapting the shank to be coiled
around an upright rod support.
Figure 5 shows the holder with its shank adapted to engage the mouth or neck
of a bottle.
Figure 6 shows the holder in the form of a pendant, with a loop or eye on its
shank adapting it to be suspended from a rod or hook, and
Figure 7 shows in front and side elevation, a holder bent over to engage the
card or label on its lower side and especially adapted for use in marking dry
goods etc.
In all the several forms shown, the holder with its shank and means for engaging
it with its support or the article or substance to be marked or labelled, is made
from a single piece of wire and bent into the form shown. The holder part of the
device in each and all the forms, shows the wire bent substantially at a right angle
to the shank at a; at a short distance from the angle, a, the wire is again bent at
a right angle and brought into parallel relation or nearly so with the shank and
is extended to give the desired length to the sides of the holder; it is then bent
inward at a², and extends across the plane of the shank, A, to the opposite side
thereof and to about the same distance therefrom as the side, a', where it is again
bent toward the shank, A; to form the side, a³, parallel or substantially parallel and
of near about the same length as the side, a', when the wire is again bent inward
and extends to the plane of the shank, where it is once more bent or turned
outward or away from the shank and extends, substantially in line therewith to
form the tongue, a', substantially parallel with and midway between the sides, a²,
and a³, as shown in the several figures of the drawing.
The description of the bending of the holder part may be rendered more clear
by saying that the wire is bent into the form of the letter, O, having the sides, a',
and a, elongated and the tongue part, a', recurve to extend midway between the
sides.
The label or card to be held is inserted between the tongue, a', on the one side
and the sides, a', and a³, of the holder on the other, and owing to the elasticity of
the wire whether the latter is tempered to give it elasticity or not, the card or label
will be held securely grasped between said parts.
For engaging a cork or similar material, the end of the shank removed from
the holder is simply sharpened to form a pin, as at b, in Figure 1. For insertion in
the ground, as in marking potted plants, etc., the shank is bent into triangular or

page_text: polygonal form, as shown at, c, Figure 2, and its sharpened point, b, extended
thence below the shoulders, c, which serve to hold the device in upright position.
In Figure 3, the shank is bent at, d, into a form somewhat like that of the
holder part, per se, that is to say, it has sides and tongue adapting it-to engage the
edge or side of a box or pot, the contents of which it is intended to label.
In Figure 4, the wire used is soft and malleable and can be readily wrapped or
coiled around a rod or stem of a plant to engage the holder therewith.
In Figure 5 the shank is bent at, e, into the V-shape with its extreme end bent
into inverted hook-form, adapting the shank to be inserted in and to engage the
neck of a bottle.
In Figure 6 the holder is made in the form of a pendant, the upper end of its
shank being provided with a loop or eye, adapting it to engage a rod or support,
and in Figure 7, the holder has a pin shank, similar to that of Figure 1, but at the
holder end it is provided with a U-shaped bend or goose neck at, y, which inverts the
holder, adapting it to receive the card or label from beneath. This form is
the more especially adapted for use in labelling dry goods.
By the construction of the holder as shown, that is say, by the bending of
the wire, whereby the tongue, a, is brought into the desired relation to the sides, a',
and a³, a torsional action of said parts upon the intervening transverse portions of the
wire is produced whenever a card or label is inserted, and consequently said parts
can readily yield to admit a card of any desired thickness, without impairing the
elasticity of the parts or interfering with their subsequently grasping a card,of
different thickness.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. A label holder having its support or shank formed integral with it, from a
single piece of wire and provided with the opposing sides and tongue, connected as
described, whereby the torsional strength of the wire is exerted to grasp, the card
or label, substantially as described.
2. A label holder formed with its shank from a single piece of rod or wire, and
having the loop holder formed with parallel or substantially parallel sides and
intermediate tongue connected to said sides to exert a torsional action on the con-
necting portion of the loop, substantially as described.
3. The combination in a label holder, of the loop-shaped holder portion, having
the sides and intermediate opposing tongue, and the shank portion adapted .to
engage the article or support to which the label is to be applied, said loop holder
and supporting shank being formed from a single piece of wire, substantially.as
described.
Dated this 25th day of October 1892.
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W:C., Patent Agents.