IMPROVEMENTS IN PENCILS AND IN HOLDERS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard John Cole, of No. 21, Chepstow Villas
West, Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PENCILS AND IN HOLDERS FOR THE SAME"
Sealed the 27th July 1860, and dated the 31st January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard John Cole, at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st January 1860.
I, RICHARD JOHN COLE, of No. 21, Chepstow Villas West, Bayswater, in the
County of Middlesex, Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PENCILS AND IN HOLDERS FOR THE SAME," to be as.
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to render that part of lead and other pencils
or their holders which is held between the fingers less rigid, thereby giving
a certain amount of elasticity to that part, and is effected as follows:-
I propose making cedar pencils in joints or strips having a metallic spiral
or other suitable spring at or near the centre thereof, so that the spring may
be moved upwards as the pencil diminishes in length, or a piece of semi-rigid
india-rubber tubing may be used as a spring; the lead of the pencil being
loose will allow of the pliability of the cedar without breaking the lead.
Camel's hair and other such like pencils may be treated in like manner.
In manufacturing pencil cases or holders in metal or other material; I.

page_text: propose using ornamental scales or divisions, beneath which is a spring of any
of the kinds before mentioned, or, in lieu thereof, may be placed three or more
thin flat springs, the principal object being to render lead pencils or pencil
holders slightly elastic near their centres, thereby adjusting themselves to the
bend of the fingers, and materially adding to the comfort and ease of the
writer.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard John Cole in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 31st July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
JOHN COLE, of No. 21, Chepstow Villas West, Bayswater, in the County of
Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Richard John Cole, Her special licence that I, the said
Richard John Cole, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Richard John Cole, my executors, administrators, and
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN PENCILS AND IN HOLDERS FOR THE SAME," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard John Cole, 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 Richard John Cole, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to render that part of lead and other pencils
i

page_text: or their holders which is held between the fingers less rigid, thereby giving a
certain amount of elasticity to that part.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I will now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, as follows:-
I manufacture cedar and such like other pencils in joints or strips, having
metallic spiral or other suitable springs at or near the centre thereof, so that
the spring may be moved upwards as the pencil diminishes in length; or a
piece of semi-rigid india-rubber tubing, known as "vulcanite," may be used
as a spring. The lead of the pencil being not glued in, but left loose, will
allow of the pliability of the cedar or other flexible material without breaking
the lead. Camel's hair and other such like pencils may be treated in like
manner.
I manufacture pencil cases or holders in metal by using ornamental scales
or divisions, beneath which is a spring either of thin straight strips, spiral, or
other convenient form.
I also manufacture pencil holders of the material called "vulcanite," horn,
or other such like material that can be softened and again rendered hard, or
nearly so, by forming them into strips of about three-eighths of an inch wide
by about oneighth of an inch thick, and winding them into a spiral form
with a wire inside about the size, or a little larger, of the lead intended to be
used therewith, the points of such pencils being of rather a smaller orifice to
prevent the lead falling out, care being taken not to let the edges of the
material quite meet, as between the edges is to be placed the propelling
power, consisting of a piece of serpentine sheet metal, with a pin soldered or
brazed through its centre; this will work up and down, and remain in one
piece. I am aware that a shallow groove has been used on the outside of
pencils, with a slot cut through nearly their entire length, with an indented
tube working over a pin raised at each end, but the action of my propeller
is quite different, as the pencil holders being formed of a straight strip of
material, the spiral-shaped metal is let through to the lead; the principal
object of this Invention, however, being to render lead pencils or pencil holders
slightly elastic near their centres, thereby adjusting themselves to the bend
of the fingers, and materially adding to the comfort and ease of the writer.
<<
Having now fully described the nature and object of my said Invention of
Improvements in Pencils and in Holders for the same," together with the
manner in which the same is to be performed and carried into practical
effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details of manufacture, nor the materials herein mentioned,

page_text: as many slight modifications and. variations may be made therein without at
all departing from the principle of my Invention; but what I claim as my
Invention, intended to be secured to me by the herein in part recited Letters
Patent, is, the manufacturing of. elastic pencils and pencil holders in the
manner herein described for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard John Cole, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE, Patent Agent,
4, Trafalgar Square,*
Charing Cross.
R. J. COLE. (L.S.)