Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Sept., 1887
Complete Left, 28th Mar., 1888
Complete Accepted, 18th May, 1888
ARTHUR JOSEPH NEEDHAM, HORACE CANNING NEEDHAM, and. WALTER CEOIL
NEEDHAM, Engineers 6, Hammersmith Terrace London W. do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
The case is formed with a spring or lever connected with the lid, on closing of
which the spring or lever is forced down underneath one Card. On pressing the snap
the lid opens raising the Card. Or it may be used without a lid in which case the act
of placing in the card, cigarette, cigar, or any article for which the case is made com-
presses the spring, and as they are taken out the spring rises, bringing them into
position. The Case may be used without a spring, by having a slot on one side, and
forcing them up by the finger.

page_text: Advertisement Circulars,
We, ARTHUR JOSEPH NEEDHAM, HORACE CANNING NEEDHAM, and WALTER CECIL
NEEDHAM, all of 6 Hammersmith Terrace, London, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineers, 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 :-
The case is preferably formed with a spring or lever connected with the lid, on
closing which the spring or lever is forced down underneath one card or other article
contained in the case. When the lid is raised the lever or spring raises one of the
articles above the others, so as to enable it to be readily removed. The case may be
used without a lid, and with this arrangement the act of inserting the articles com-
presses the spring, and as the articles are removed the spring forces the next one into
position for removal. The case may also be used without a spring by forming a slot
in one side of the case and forcing the articles up by the fingers.
But in order that our invention may be clearly understood, we will now proceed to
describe same by the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a case constructed according to our invention.
Fig. 2 a similar section of same, showing the case open and one of the articles it
contains raised above the others ready for removal.
Fig. 3 a transverse section of such case when closed.
Fig. 4 a longitudinal section of a case with a modified form of lifting device.
Fig. 5 a longitudinal section of a case in which the articles are drawn out through
a side slot.
Fig. 6 a sectional plan view of Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 a longitudinal section of a case having a slot at the upper end of each side of
the case, so that one of the articles contained therein can be caught hold of by the
fingers and drawn upwards out of the case against the action of the lid.
Fig. 8. a longitudinal section of a similar case to that shown in Fig. 7, but in which
the slot in the upper end of the case is closed when the lid is down, and the lid is
aised by a push piece.
In Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the case A has a spring actuated lid B, retained in its closed
position by a spring retaining device C, which when forced inwards by means of the
push piece D releases the lid, and the spring E acting upon the projection B¹ on same,
forces the lid open, as shown in Fig. 2. The above description is that of a case with
an ordinary spring actuated lid, but according to our invention the spring E is con-
tinued down to near the bottom of the case, and is caused to bear upon the rear or
back end of a lifting piece F, which can be either pivotted to the case, or simply fit

page_text: into the rear lower corner of same as shown, so that it can turn on its rear end as
centre. An arm G extends from piece F across the case and terminates near the
front of same, such arm occupying a position as near the side A¹ thereof as possible,
as shown in Fig. 3. At the under side of the forward end of the arm G a projection G¹
extends out at right angles thereto, towards the opposite side of the case.
When the
case is to be used for cards, the projection G¹ is only of such size as to form a ledge
wide enough for a single card to stand upon at a time, and a flat spring I secured to
the opposite side, A³, of the case, acts upon the back of the rearmost card H, and
forces the foremost one H¹, on to the ledge formed by projection G₁ of the lifting
piece.
When the case is to be used for cigars, cigarettes, or other similar articles the pro-
jection G' extends to near the side A of the case, and a spring (which may be of the
form shown in Fig. 4 to be hereinafter described) acts upon the cigar or other article
which is nearest the hinge of the lid, and forces them forward toward the opposite
side A³ of the case, so that the one nearest such end is forced on to the projection G¹
of the lifting piece. To facilitate this the projection G₁ may be either caused to enter
a recess in the bottom A' of the case, when the lifting piece is in its lowest position,
or such projection may be thinned off to nearly a knife edge at its inner edge, so that
the upper surface of such projection is practically flush with that of the bottom of the
case, and will consequently present no obstacle to the passage of the foremost cigarette
or other article upon the projection G¹.
The action is as follows:-
Upon the release of the lid B from its spring fastening C, spring E causes same to
turn on its hinge, and so open the case. At same time spring E is formed so
that the forward movement of its upper end, causes its lower end to act upon the
rear end of the lifting device F, and cause same to turn round such rear end,
whereby the arm G thereof will be raised, and the projection G at its forward end
will consequently carry the article resting on same upwards, so that projects
beyond the other articles in the case, and can be readily removed by hand. The
closing of the lid effects the reverse movement, the upper end of spring E being
forced back by the descent of the lid, and its lower end consequently moved forward,
allowing the lifting device to fall until projection G' on arm G is in its lowest
position, when the spring I forces another article on to such projection, so that it is..
ready to be raised in its turn when the lid is again released.
The projection G may of course he made large enough to raise two or more articles
at the same time above the others if desired.
the
In Fig. 4, the lifting device consists of a vertical rod G placed near the front A*
of the case, and having at its lower end the projection G to receive the article to be
raised above the others. A spiral spring G2 surrounds rod G, its upper end being
secured at G3 to the case A, and its lower end to the lower end of rod G at Gʻ,
tension of the spring tending to raise the rod to the position shown in Fig. 4. The
means for releasing and raising the lid are similar to those described with reference
to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, but the spring E is made double, its arm E serving to force the
lid up when released, while the arm E' acts on the rear of a plate X pivotted on the
same pivot as lid B, and serving to press the cigarettes or other articles forward
towards the front A³ of the case. When the lid is closed its forward end B³ in
descending comes in contact with rod G, and so forces the lifting device down to its
lowest position, to receive another article on the projection G', if the one previously
raised has been removed.
When the lid is released spring E acts upon projection B¹ and opens it, when
spring G' will raise the rod G, and with it the projection G³, on which the foremost
cigarette or other article rests, thus raising it above the others as shown.
The case shown in Fig. 7 is principally intended for holding cigars or cigarettes,
and in which instead of one of the cigars or cigarettes being raised above the others,
each side of the case A is slotted as shown at K, so that the cigarette resting against
the end A of the case, will have its upper end exposed through the side slots K, and

page_text: in order to bring the end cigarette to this position the case may be held with end A³
downwards, or the cigarettes may be forced towards such end by a spring either as
described in the preceding arrangement, or as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. By catching
hold of the end of the cigarette exposed through the slots K and drawing same
upward, the lid will be caused to turn on its pivot and allow the cigarette to leave
the case.
The cigarettes can thus be withdrawn one at a time as required without
opening the lid by hand.
The
In Figs. 5 and 6 a single slot K is formed in one side only of the case A, and
a transverse slot K¹ is made in the end A³ of the case and communicates with.
the longitudinal slot K in the side. The cigars or cigarettes are forced towards
the end A3 by means of spring I acting on plate L, free to slide in the case.
end cigar or cigarette is removed by catching hold of the part of same which is
exposed through the transverse slot K³, and then drawing same out through the
longitudinal slot K in the side, the spring actuated plate L causing the next cigarette
to enter the space occupied by the one withdrawn.
In Fig. 8 the slot K in each side of the case A is closed when the lid is down, the
portions removed from such sides (and also from the front A³) being secured to the
lid B, as shown at K³.
The arrangement for raising the lid B is as follows:-The retaining device is
abolished, and the back spring E is made so that when free it acts upon the rear end
of the projection B2 of lid B and forces the latter down, while when the push piece D
is forced inwards by hand it causes the upper end of spring E to act upon projection B¹
of lid B, and so open same.
The arrangement for forcing the cigarettes towards the end A³ of the case is the
game as that already described with reference to Fig. 4 of the drawing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is: :-
1. The combination of a pivotted lifting piece with the spring for raising the lid of
a case for holding cigars, cigarettes, cards, or other articles, so that such spring in
raising the lid will also cause the lifting piece to turn and raise one or more of the
articles contained in the case above the others, while the closing of the lid will lower
such lifting picce to a position to receive a fresh article, all substantially as specified.
2. The combination of a lifting piece with the lid of a case for holding cigars,
cigarettes, cards, or other articles, so that when the lid is raised a spring acting on
the lifting piece will cause same to move upwards carrying one or more of such
articles with it, while the descent of the lid will force the lifting piece down to a
position to receive a fresh article, substantially as specified.
3. In a case for holding cigars, cigarettes, or other articles, making a slot in either
or both sides towards the front and at the upper end of the case, so that the upper
end of one or more of such articles will be exposed and can be caught hold of and
drawn out by the fingers preferably against the action of a spring actuated lid,
substantially as specified.
4. In a case for holding cigars, cigarettes, or other articles, making a slot along
the whole length of one side of the case, and a central slot communicating therewith
in the front of such case, to enable the end cigar, cigarette, or other article to be
taken hold of by the fingers, through the central slot, and drawn out through the side
slot, substantially as specified.
5. In a case for holding cigars, cigarettes or other articles, making a slot in the
sides and front of the upper end of the case, so as to expose, the upper end of one
or more of the articles contained in the case, when the lid thereof is open, such slot
being closed by parts carried by the lid and corresponding to the parts cut away
from the sides and end of the case, when the lid is closed, substantially as specified.
6. The combination with a case for cigars, cigarettes, cards or other articles, of
a spring tending to force such articles towards a device for lifting same one or more

page_text: at a time, above the level of the other articles in the case, or towards a slot or
opening through which the articles can be grasped by the fingers and withdrawn
from the case, substantially as specified.
7. The combination with a case for cigars, cigarettes, cards or other articles, of a
spring serving to raise the lid of such case, and also to force the articles towards a
lifting device, or towards a slot or opening through which the articles can be grasped
or caught hold of by the fingers, for the purpose of withdrawing them from the caso,
substantially as specified.
aol. J
M
1000
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicants.