Match-box Holder, applicable also for use as a Paper Knife, Parcels Porter, or Clothes-peg.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Jan., 1899-Accepted, 25th Mar., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Match-box Holder, applicable also for use as a Paper Knife, Parcels
Porter, or Clothes-peg.
I, THOMAS WEBBER, of 17, Union Street, in the County Borough of Swansea, in
the County of Glamorgan, Grocer and Tea Dealer, 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 present invention consists of a match-box holder which can also be used as a
paper knife, parcels porter, or clothes peg. The advantages of my invention are
the provision in a single article of means for fulfilling the purposes above named,
while, as a match-box holder, the invention presents novel and useful features as
hereinafter described. The invention further possesses the merit of simplicity and
cheapness in manufacture, and can be made from wood or scraps of sheet metal
which would usually be considered waste.
Reference will be made to the accompanying drawings upon which.
Figure 1 shows my invention (in sheet metal) with a match-box applied thereto,
Figures 2 and 3 being modified forms of the holder.
Figure 4 shows a similar device in wood, which is applicable for use as a clothes
peg.
At a
In carrying out my invention, I take a strip of material such as
"tin" (so
called), and cut it to any suitable and convenient shape, width, and length, say,
about twice the length of a match-box but somewhat narrower as shown by A,
Figure 1. I bend up the bottom of the strip, as at B, and provide an eyelet or
equivalent device, as at C, for hanging the holder upon the wall of a room.
distance of an inch, an inch and a half, or any other desired distance, I provide a
projection, such as a tongue 1 stamped and bent forward from the strip; or, as
shown by Figure 2, I may form a fold or ledge E in the strip, or may provide
studs or other equivalent device.
My invention is now ready for use as a match-box holder or as a paper knife.
For the sake of good appearance, it may be painted or enamelled or embellished in
any other suitable manner.
For use as a match-box holder, it is only necessary to insert and slide the strip
between the back of the box F and its casing G. The casing will eventually be
held in check by its edge falling within the groove of the upturned portion B,
while the match-box proper will not be permitted to drop so far as this, being
stopped by the tongue 1) (Figure 1) or fedge E (Figure 2), the matches being
left partly exposed, as will be understood on reference to Figure 1.
I may also provide a double form of holder, adapted for the reception of either
a large or small box, this form being shown by Figure 3. According to this
arrangement, the upturned portion is extended upwardly so as to be capable of
holding a match-box in the reverse position, another ledge El being furnished in a
higher or lower position than the. ledge E upon the main portion of the strip A. In
practice, the match-box will always come to rest upon the projecting tongue or
ledge, while the casing should be forced down until it reaches the bottom of the
groove.

page_text: The same principle can be carried out in a holder made of wood or metal or other
suitable material as shown by Figure 4. This form is also a double holder, the
two sides A A', however, being preferably of equal length and slightly bevelled at
the top to facilitate its employment as a clothes peg. When used as a parcels
porter, the strings of the parcel are slipped into the groove or fork, and the strain
thus taken off the fingers.
It may be useful to provide retaining catches H (Figure 1) or equivalent means
for preventing the box from accidentally being pulled off from the holder.
I may add to the match-box holder a button hook, knife blade, or other useful
implement in a similar manner to and as sometimes found upon pocket knives, the
whole being a compact and useful combination tool to carry in the pocket.
My present invention can be modified without departing from its nature, as herein
described and claimed. I may, for instance, employ studs to act as stops for retain-
ing the box casing instead of having a groove B.
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 holder for match boxes consisting of a strip of wood or metal provided with
suitable stops whereby the match box may be carried in a partly opened position
substantially as described.
2. A holder for match boxes consisting of a double strip of wood or metal pro-
vided with suitable stops whereby a match box of either small or large size may be
carried in a partly opened position substantially as described.
3. The match box holder, applicable also for use as a paper knife, parcels porter,
or clothes peg, substantially as described.
4. A match box holder consisting of a strip or strips A, provided with an
upper stop or stops 1 or E, a lower stop B, and retaining catch H, substantially
as described.