Year: 1886

page_text: H. GARDNER,
166, Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said H. Salsbury.

page_text: Ruling Lines in Books and on Papers.
I HENRY SALSBURY of 19 Mercers Road, Holloway, Middlesex, Gentleman, 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 :-
The object of my invention is to construct or arrange an apparatus to facilitate
lines being drawn or ruled upon paper or other substance.
The apparatus consists of a sheet of metal or other material preferably nickel
tin curled at one part and bent at another or so shaped or made as to receive
'rollers or bearers on one or more wires or axles set in the hollow but in such a
manner that the fingers in moving the ruler up or down are kept from contact
with the wheels. A length of wire may be inserted in the bent part to give
stiffness and the curled portion may serve to guide the pencil when the line is
being made.
The bent portion may be slotted if desired or finger holes or indents can be
formed to ensure a firm grip for parallel action.
Several examples of my invention are shown on the annexed drawings in which
at Figure 1 a is the part against which the pencil or pen for drawing a line bears,
the lower part b rests upon the paper or material being ruled.
The front part a is curled uppermost and the back part c is bent upwards with
its edge d curled under where it forms an attachment for rollers e by which the
appliance can be moved up or down on the paper with facility.
Figure 2 is a similar view but with the front part a curled under.
Figure 3 represents the front part of the apparatus kinked at a and curled
under, the part b being slightly lower than the point a so that when ruling with a
pen, the nib would press against it instead of as in the two previous figures against
the barrel or holder of the pen.
The point a is close enough to the paper to form a straight edge for both ink
and pencil but I prefer the form shown at Figure 4 when a pencil is used, the
angle at the front part a allowing for the incline of a pencil in the act of marking
a line.
.The back or bent portion c may be indented as at f Figure 5 or it may be notched
as at g Figure 6 so that the fingers find a resting place in the notches and bear
upon the middle rollers to fix the apparatus at any part of a page while the line
is being drawn.
The apparatus can be of any length and provided with any number of rollers:
the friction of the front part of the paper being sufficient to prevent the apparatus
running down a moderate incline.
In the examples the back part overhangs the rollers so that by a slight down-
ward pressure of the fingers, the front part can be raised from the paper and be
moved up or down the sheet.

page_text: The rollers may be of wood or other material or combination such as an india
rubber band or a strip of felt in a recess of the roller to ensure friction and the
article may be of metal, ebonite or other material of sufficient stiffness and yet
having of itself a springyness which yields when pressure is applied.
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
The several forms shown on the annexed drawings and any mere modification
thereof as an apparatus to facilitate ruling lines in books or on papers as herein-
before described.