Improvements in Files or Binders for Letters and the like.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Feb., 1889
Specification Accepted, 6th Apr.. 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Files or Binders for Letters and the like.
We, JOHN SNELL CHENHALL, of 7, Wolseley Road, Eastville Bristol, Engineer and
JAMES WARNE CHENHALL, of Dart Villa, Totnes, in the County of Devon, Engineer,
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 object of this invention is to provide means whereby letters, papers, or other
documents may be securely and evenly filed in such a manner that they may be easily
referred to when required, and that when the file or holder is full, the papers may be
readily removed and fixed in a separate book-cover or binder, similar to the binding
of the same in a volume.
To give effect to our invention, we provide a frame or holder, made of wood or
other suitable material shaped like the covers of a book, one of its sides or covers
being fixed to the back, and the other side or cover being loosely hinged to the back
like an ordinary book cover; on battens attached to the ends of the fixed side or bed
of the frame are fixed steel springs (preferably flat), one end of these springs being
fixed to the battens at the front of the bed of the frame, and the other ends attached
to a cross-bar, this cross bar is usually made of angle iron, on the flat side of which
are perforated holes; corresponding with the cross bar and the holes therein, wire
nails are driven into and through a piece of wood, and this piece of wood with the
points of the nails upwards is screwed to the bottom of the frame-bed, and kept in its
proper position by screw eyes which are passed through the frame, and which serve
also for suspending the holder when not in use. When a sufficient quantity of letters
have been filed, and it is desired to bind them in book form, the two eyes are removed
from the back of the frame, another piece of wood similar to that through which
the nails are already driven is forced on the points of the nails and the letters are then
ready for attachment to a separate cover, which completes the binding.
Our invention will be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying sheet
of drawings, in which fig. 1 is a plan of the holder when open for the reception of
papers, fig. 2 is a section of the holder, with the loose cover hanging down, fig. 3 is
a general view of the holder, and fig. 4 is a section of the separate binder, with the
papers which have been removed froin the holder fixed therein.
The holder is constructed in the following manner;-We provide a piece of wood
or other material of the required size and thickness, which forms the bed A, and we
strengthen this bed by attaching a thin batten fat each end, these battens enclose a

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recess in which papers may lie, and also form suitable bearings for the springs F ; at
the back of the bed A we fix another piece of wood or other material B at right angles
to A like the back of a book, and on the top of the back B a cover C is hinged, this
cover is usually of a lighter material than A and B ; these three pieces form the body
of the holder, and may be covered with leather, cloth, paper, or other substances; at
the back of the bed A we insert a strip of wood D, through which a suitable number
of finely pointed wire nails d, are driven, this strip is kept in position between the
battens by a couple of screw eyes or rings G, which also serve for suspending the
holder to put the papers in their place and to file them evenly on the wire nails, a
cross bar E is provided, preferably made of angle iron, and to each end of this cross
bar we attach a spring F, fastened to the front of the battens as shown, thus giving
the cross bar a radial motion as it is lifted by the handle e¹, in the under part of the
cross bar we perforate holes e², corresponding with the points of the nails d, these holes
are elliptical in shape to allow for the increased play required by the radial motion
of the cross bar, so that it may pass over the nails without touching them at any point;
at the back of the handle e¹ is a small stud which catches into the hole of a spring b
fixed at the back, when the cross bar is lifted, this holds the cross bar at a sufficient
distance from the nails to admit of the papers being put on their points, and then by
releasing the spring b, the bar E drives the papers over the nails and into their
required position on the strip D.
When it is desired to put away the papers as in bound volumes, we provide loose
binders as shown in fig. 4, by loosening the screws G, the strip D on which the
papers H are filed can be taken out, another strip similar to D being put on the points
of the nails is forced down, and the papers are ready for attaching to the separate
binder by ordinary paper fasteners passed through the wood strips and the sides of the
binder.
Our holder being constructed as described, the papers or letters are filed in the
following manner :-The small handle e¹ in the centre of the cross bar E is lifted
until the stud at the back of the bar is caught in the hole of the spring b, the bar is
thus held in position above the points of the nails d, so that the papers may be laid in
proper position over the nails to be pressed into their place, which is effected by
releasing the spring which retains the cross bar.
To remove the letters from the holder, the screw eyes G in the bed of the holder are
loosened, the piece of wood D with the papers attached are taken out and another
piece of wood is pressed over the points of the nails, and the two strips D which
enclose the papers H are attached to the sides of the loose binder by ordinary paper
fasteners, which are passed through slots made in the strips to the sides and then
bent in the usual manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1st. The construction of a frame or holder for letters substantially as described,
with the combination of the several parts required for effecting the proper filing of
papers and documents.
2nd. The construction of the cross bar with springs attached as described, by
which the cross bar is actuated in a uniform manner.
3rd. The construction of a separate holder or binder for papers as described, and
the mode of attaching the papers thereto.
Dated 23rd February 1889.