Improvements in or relating to Paper Holders.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 17th May, 1898-Accepted, 23rd July, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Paper Holders.
A communication from CHARLES FISHER, Salesman, and HERMAN SEGNITZ,
Merchant, both of Milkwaukee, in the County of Milwaukee, and State of
Wisconsin, United States of America.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to new and useful improvements in paper serving
machines, and relates more particularly to that class of machines which are
designed to hold a package or bunch of sheets of paper, and to deliver said sheets
one at a time.
.
The several features of the invention will be hereinafter fully described and
set forth in the appended claims.
In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a device constructed
in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view of the
same; Fig. 3 is a detail view of the roller; Fig. 4 is a detail view illustrating the
arrangement of the locking device for preventing reverse movement of the roller.
Referring by letter to said drawings, A designates the back portion of the casing
which is conveniently provided with forwardly extending side walls or flanges A¹ A¹,
and B designates the front part of the casing which is hinged preferably at its lower
end, as at b, to the back piece A. The front part B of the casing is provided with
rearwardly extending side walls or flanges B¹ B₁ which are arranged to abut,
as shown, against the forward edges of the side walls or flanges A¹ A of the back
part of the casing.
The lower end of the casing is provided with an opening or slot C extending
from side to side of the casing, for the extraction of sheets of paper, and this
opening or slot is conveniently formed as indicated in the drawings, by disposing
the lower edges of the back and the front walls of the casing at a suitable distance
from each other.
D designates a roller which is arranged transversely between the upper portions
of the side walls A'A', and is adapted to rotate freely therein. This roller may
be of any convenient or desired diameter, and is preferably provided upon its
surface with a covering or coating D¹ of rubber or other material suitable for
affording a frictional engagement between said roller and sheets of paper.
At a suitable location within the casing is provided a transverse rod or bar E
upon which is arranged a suitable hook E¹ for engagement with a loop or wire
passing through the ends of the sheets of a bunch or package.
As shown in the drawings, this rod E with the hook E¹ is preferably arranged
at a point considerably below the roller D, and is conveniently secured between
the side walls or flanges A¹ A¹.
The front part B is provided with a suitable lock 61 for securing its upper end
when. in a closed position, to the upper end of the back piece -A.

page_text: In practice, the bunch or package F of sheets of paper is inserted in the casing,
and bent or hung over the roller D, in the manner shown in the drawings. Through
one end of the package is passed a wire or cord f, which is adapted for engagement
with the hook upon the rod E, the free ends of the sheets of paper forming said
package being allowed to hang downwardly adjacent to the back wall of the casing.
It follows that the inner sheets of the package, or those nearest the surface
of the roller D, being bent upon smaller curves than the sheets at or near the
outer surface of the package, will hang or project downward within the casing to
a lower point than the said outer sheets, the lower edges of said sheets arranging
themselves upon a substantially straight line which is oblique or inclined down-
wardly and forwardly from the back wall A of the casing, and as shown in the
drawings, the lower end of said back wall is conveniently inclined down-
wardly and outwardly as shown at a, so as to present an inclined surface to the
ends of said sheets, and serve to deflect or guide them to the discharge opening
or slot C.
When the bunch or package F of sheets has been placed in position upon the
roller D), the first or innermost sheet which rests upon the surface of the roller D
is pulled downwardly so as to cause its lower end to extend through the discharge
opening or slot C, and to hang below the casing, as shown at F. This may be
done either before or after the casing is closed. In this position the sheet may be
readily grasped by the hand and drawn out through the opening or slot C, and
when it is thus withdrawn from the casing it will, by reason of its frictional
engagement with the roller D, impart a rotation to said roller.
It follows also, that by the described arrangement of the paper so as to curve
or bend around the roller, a considerable portion of the surface of said roller is
brought into frictional engagement with the sheets of the package. It will thus
he seen that before the sheet which is being withdrawn has been freed from engage-
ment with the roller, the next sheet of the package will come into contact with
the surface of said roller, so that the rotation of said roller will serve to start said
next sheet downwardly and will advance the lower end of said sheet through the
opening or slot C sufficiently to enable it to be grasped by the hand and with-
drawn. In this manner as often as a sheet of paper is withdrawn from the
casing, the next sheet in the package is brought into contact with the roller and
advanced so that its lower end projects sufficiently from the casing to enable it
to be grasped and withdrawn. The weight of the paper being supported upon
the roller will serve to bring the sheets into sufficiently forcible contact with said
roller to afford the described frictional engagement therewith.
Any means may be provided for enabling the user to advance the first sheet
into position to be readily grasped, and for this purpose it is found convenient
to provide substantially the form of construction shown in the drawings, in which
a slot or opening G is formed in one side of the casing adjacent to one end of the
roller D, and through which the user may insert the end of his finger, so as to
bear against the periphery or the end of the roller. As a matter of convenience
the end of said roller may be milled or roughened as at G¹ to afford firm engage-
ment of the finger therewith.
By this means, after the bunch or package of sheets has been placed in position,
the first sheet may be advanced to the desired position by a slight rotation of said
roller, after which the advancement of the successive sheets of the package to a
position to enable them to be readily grasped will be automatically performed,
in the manner described, each sheet imparting the necessary rotation to the roller
to advance the next sheet of the package.
It will be understood, of course, that the frictional engagement between the
sheet of paper and the serving roller D operates to tear said sheet off from the wire
or loop f, which holds the bunch of sheets together.
If, desired, the coating or covering D¹ upon the outside of the roller D may
extend from end to end of the roller, but in practice it is found convenient to
arrange said coating or covering as shown in Fig. 3, in which said coating or

page_text: covering is located adjacent to opposite ends of the roller, and the middle portion
of said roller is left free.
By this construction ample room is afforded for the passage of the torn or
abraded central portions of the ends of sheets over the roller, and in case any frag-
ments of paper are torn from the sheets and adhere to other sheets of the package,
said sheets may be readily drawn from the roller in a perfectly smooth condition,
regardless of the fact that said fragments adhere to the under sides of said
sheets.
It is desirable to provide a suitable device for preventing a reverse or backward
rotation of the roller D so as to prevent the sheets from being accidentally moved
in the wrong direction and caused to clog in the machine. To this end any suitable
or convenient form of detent or pawl is provided, such for instance as the pawl H
shown in Figs. 2 and 4, which pawl is pivoted as at h, to the casing, and is
arranged to engage with the surface of the roller in such a manner as to permit
of a free rotation of said roller in one direction, but to prevent any opposite rotation
of said roller.
Any suitable or desired means may be provided for enabling the user to ascertain
at any time the quantity of the paper within the casing, and for this purpose the
casing is preferably constructed with one or more openings I arranged to expose
a part of the end of the roller, and the edges of a part or all of the sheets of paper
thereon. This construction is shown in Fig. 1.
By this means, when the supply of paper is wholly or nearly exhausted, this
fact may be readily ascertained without opening the casing,
so that when necessary
a fresh supply may be placed in position within the casing.
By the described construction a fresh bunch or supply of sheets of paper may be
readily placed in position within the casing without removing the last sheet or
sheets of a previous supply, the new supply being simply placed in position over
or upon the remaining sheets of the former supply, and the retaining wire or
loopf placed in engagement with the hook E.
Of course, any desired or convenient form of casing may be employed for
receiving and holding the roller D and the supply of paper thereon, but the
particular form of construction shown in the drawings is found, in practice, to
be very convenient for the purpose.
By the described construction of the lower end of the casing, with the forwardly
inclined wall a, the lower end of said casing is brought forward or away from the
wall or support against which the casing is secured, and ample room is afforded
for the hand of the user in grasping the protruding sheet of paper.
This improved serving machine may be employed for delivering all kinds of
paper in sheets, but is designed more particularly for use in delivering sheets of
thin wrapping paper, toilet paper and the like.
It is not intended to limit the device to the precise construction and arrangement
of parts shown in the drawings and herein described, as various modifications or
alterations may be made in the details of construction without departing from
the original invention, for instance, instead of a roller any desired form of friction
device may be provided for engagement with the inner curved surfaces of the
sheets, said friction device being constructed and arranged so as to present a
moving or rotating surface for frictional contact with the surfaces of said sheets;
the expression "roller" in the specification and claims being intended to include
such a frictional device.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A paper serving machine comprising a suitable casing or frame, a serving
roller journaled therein, and a retaining device or fastening for holding a package
or bunch of sheets at one end or edge, constructed and arranged with reference to
said roller and the point of discharge of the paper to hold the package in a curved

page_text: position or form around or against said roller, substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
2. A paper serving machine comprising a casing having a delivery slot or
aperture, a serving roller journaled in said casing, and a retaining device con-
structed and arranged with reference to said serving roller and delivery slot to
hold a bunch or package of sheets by one end or edge in a curved form around
said roller with each inner sheet of the package projecting at the opposite end or
edge from the retaining device beyond the next sheet, substantially as and for
the purposes set forth.
.
3. A paper serving machine comprising a suitable casing provided with a
discharge slot or aperture, a serving roller journaled in said casing above said
discharge aperture, a retaining device or fastening constructed and arranged with
reference to said serving roller so as to hold a package or bunch of sheets by one
end or edge suspended in a curved form upon said roller in position to be advanced
thereby through said discharge aperture, substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
4. A paper serving machine comprising a suitable casing provided with a
delivery slot or aperture, a serving roller journaled in said casing, and a retaining
device or fastening constructed and arranged with reference to said roller and
delivery aperture so as to hold a package or bunch of sheets by one end or edge
in a curved form upon or against said roller with each inner sheet projecting at
the end or edge opposite said retaining device beyond the next sheet, said casing
having an inclined wall next to said delivery aperture serving to support and
guide the free ends of the sheets thereto, substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
5. A paper serving machine comprising a suitable casing or frame, a serving
roller journaled therein and provided with a coating or covering of material
affording frictional engagement with the paper, and a retaining device or fastening
constructed and arranged to hold a package or bunch of sheets in a curved position
in contact with said roller, whereby the withdrawal of the inner sheet causes
the roller to advance the next sheet sufficiently to be readily grasped, substantially
as and for the purposes set forth.
6. A paper serving machine comprising a casing provided with a delivery slot
or aperture, a serving roller journaled in said casing, a retaining device or fastening
constructed and arranged to hold a package or bunch of sheets by one end or edge
in a curved position or form around said roller, and means for turning said roller
manually for starting a sheet through said delivery aperture, substantially as and
for the purposes set forth.
7. A paper serving machine comprising a casing provided with a delivery slot
or aperture, a serving roller journaled in said casing, and a retaining device or
fastening constructed and arranged to hold a package or bunch of sheets by
one end or edge in a curved position or form around said roller, said casing having
an opening at the end of said roller arranged to expose to view the edges of a
part or all of the sheets of paper thereon, substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
8. A paper serving machine comprising a suitable casing or frame, a serving
roller journaled therein, a retaining device or fastening constructed and arranged
to hold a package or bunch of sheets by one end or edge in a curved position or
form around said roller, and a detent constructed and arranged to prevent the
backward rotation of said roller, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
".
Dated the 16th day of May 1898
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.