AN IMPROVED COMBINED PENCIL AND ERASER
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED COMBINED PENCIL AND ERASER." -A communication
from abroad by Joseph Reckendorfer, of New York, in the United
States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd October 1871.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 17, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED COMBINED PENCIL AND ERASER," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Joseph Reckendorfer, of New York,
in the United States of America, to be as follows:—
This Invention consists in the combination with a wooden lead pencil
of a rubber craser encased in a sheath of leather, paper, wood, or other

page_text: material, which is formed separately from the sheath of the lead pencil;
the combination of the two being such that when the encased rubber
craser is united with the pencil its sheath will form a prolongation of
the wooden pencil sheath and may be finished so as to present the same
external appearance as the latter; the object being to obtain an craser
which will be stiff, of a length proportionate to the size of the pencil so
that it will not be used up before the pencil is, not liable to become
dirty, cheap of construction, readily attached to the pencil, and when
so attached shall have a good appearance and constitute a merchantable
article.
The Invention may be carried out in various ways, some of which are
as follows: -
A piece or stick of erasive rubber compound of cylindrical or other
suitable shape is wrapped up in leather, or paper, or other stiffening
material which can be easily cut with a knife. A sufficient portion of the
leather or paper sheath should project beyond one end of the rubber stick
to form a sleeve or socket to fit a tenon on the end of the pencil. The
external diameter of the casing should not exceed that of the pencil
sheath, so that when fitted on the tenon on the end of the pencil the
eraser may form a continuation of the pencil, and both may if desired
be varnished and finished alike, so that in this way any trace of a joint
between the two can be obliterated.
In lieu of a paper, or leather, or similar casing a wooden case may
be used, the wood being bored out to the required dimensions and
having the same external shape as the paper or leather casing and being
united with the pencil sheath and finished with it in the manner already
described.
In order to make a wooden casing successfully one of a harder wood
should be used than is generally employed in the manufacture of the
wooden sheaths of lead pencils.
As the

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th April 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in
the 35th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson,
Her special license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times thereafter 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 "AN IMPROVED COMBINED PENCIL AND
ERASER," a communication to me from abroad by Joseph Reckendorfer,
of New York, in the United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
scal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the samo to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, referenco being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say:
The said Invention consists in the combination with a wooden lead

page_text: other material, which is formed separately from the sheath of the lead
pencil, the combination of the two being such that when the encased
rubber craser is united with the pencil its sheath will form a pro-
longation of the wooden pencil sheath and may be finished so as to
present the same external appearance as the latter; the object being 5
to obtain an craser which will be stiff, of a length proportionate to the
size of the pencil so that it will not be used up before the pencil is,
not liable to become dirty, cheap of construction, readily attached to
the pencil, and when so attached shall have a good appearance and
constitute a merchantable article.
The Invention may be carried out in various ways, some of which are
as follows: -
A piece or stick of erasive rubber compound, of cylindrical or other
suitable shape, is wrapped up in leather, or paper, or other stiffening
material which can be easily cut with a knife. A sufficient portion of 1
the leather or paper sheath should project beyond one end of the
rubber stick to form a sleeve or socket to fit a tenon on the end of the
pencil. The external diameter of the casing should not exceed that of
the pencil sheath, so that when fitted on the tenon on the end of the
pencil the craser may form a continuation of the pencil, and both may
if desired be varnished and finished alike, so that in this way any trace
of a joint between the two can be obliterated.
This construction is shown in the accompanying Drawing, wherein a
represents the wooden pencil sheath tenoned at its upper end b, the
casing enclosing the rubber eraser c and forming a continuation of the
sheath a. The folds of the material forming the casing should be held
together by glue or other adhesive substance, which may also be applied
between the rubber and the casing.
In lieu of a paper, or leather, or similar casing a wooden case may be
used, the wood being bored out to the required dimensions, and having
the same external shape as the paper or leather casing shown in
the Drawing, and being united with the pencil sheath and finished with
it in the manner already described.
In order to make a wooden casing successfully one of a harder wood
should be used than is generally employed in the manufacture of the
wooden sheaths of lead pencils.

page_text: As the eraser becomes worn its sheath can be cut away to expose fresh
portions of rubber in like manner as the pencil is sharpened.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the naturo of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I con-
sider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
combination with a wooden lead pencil of a paper, leather, or wood
encased rubber eraser, substantially in the manner herein-before described
and illustrated by the Drawing hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of
April One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.