Year: 1888

page_text: I GEORGE PERCIVAL CHISHOLM HOLMES, of Brynia Mawr, Llangollen, North Wales,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a new or improved combined press and racket holder and
has for its object to provide an apparatus of simple form for efficiently preventing the
warping of rackets and also for holding a certain number of them contiguously in one
of several rows or invertedly in the manner hereinafter described.
In carrying my Invention into practice I take an ordinary racket holder or stand
and I form two holes at each end of the upper shelf or rack thereof, through which
holes I pass one extremity of two poles or uprights until such extremity comes to rest
upon the base plate of the stand. Above the upper shelf or rack of the said racket
holder I fix in any suitable manner two ends of my improved racket press respectively
to the projecting outer extremity of the said poles or uprights.
My improved press which enables me to arrange the rackets in double rows consists
of a central beam or bar against each side of which the rackets are pressed by means
of separate rectangular and short cross-bars screwed at their two ends to the central
beam by means of thumb screws. In another form of racket press in which the
rackets can be placed in two superposed rows in an inverted position, the handles
of the rackets rest against the central beam in the intervals between the above
mentioned short rectangular cross-bars so that each racket can be withdrawn without
interfering with any of the others, while at the same time rackets of different
thicknesses can be pressed by the same cross-bars.
I may construct my combined racket holder and press of wood, or of a combination
of wood and iron or of any other suitable material.
TEK 1th day of Angust 1888.
HUGHES, ELI & HUGHES,
76, Chancery Lane, L'ondon, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: 1, GEORGE PERCIVAL CHISHOLM HOLMES of Brynia Mawr, Llangollen, North
Wales Gentleman, 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 invention relates to a new or improved combined racket holder and press, and
has for its object to provide an apparatus of simple form for officiently preventing
the warping of rackets and for preserving their true shape and also for holding two,
three, or any greater number of them combined in such a manner that each racket is
placed invertedly relatively to the two adjacent rackets arranged below or above the
same on each side of its handle. Or the said rackets may be held in any stand or
table by means of the main beam and cross bars of my apparatus which beam is
placed between the rackets, arranged in two rows as hereinafter described.
In carrying my invention into practice I take a framework placed or hung against
a wall consisting of four main horizontal bars, connected at their ends by two vertical
bars. In alternate sequence between the two upper or two lower main bars of this
frame, and short separate cross bars, two to each racket laid along the main bars, and
connected to them by thumb screws or screws and fly nuts, the face of each racket is
slipped in and is held and pressed against the main beam by the aforesaid short
bars, when they are screwed up, the shanks of the aforesaid screws passing freely
through holes bored in the ends of the said short bars. In the intervals between these
short cross bars the handles of the rackets rest in grooves cut in the main bars, so that
each racket can be withdrawn without dismantling or interfering with the others, and
rackets of different thicknesses can be held and pressed efficiently. In another form
of my invention the rackets are dropped through holes made in any stand or table and
hold and pressed with the aid of my apparatus which is placed centrally or otherwise
along the table or stand, its main beam lying between the rackets arranged in
two rows.
I may construct my combined racket holder and press of wood or iron or of a com-
bination of wood and iron, or of any other suitable material.
And in order that my invention may be more fully understood, I have illustrated the
same in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my
improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a central section thereof. Fig. 3 shows in elevation
another form of my apparatus combined with a stand, and Fig. 4 a central section
thereof.
In Figs. 1 and 2 is shewn my new or improved combined racket holder and press,
where B B, B¹ B' are four main bars placed horizontally and connected at their ends
by two vertical bars CC. The bars B B, B1 B¹ are provided with grooves 99
for the handles of the rackets R. R. This framework may be strengthened and kept
in shape by the tie bars D, D, D, which may be placed in any suitable position (Fig. 1).
Upon the two upper bars B B are placed, in the manner clearly shown in Figure 1 the

page_text: rackets R R R which are pressed by the short bars ff. . . secured to the main
bars B B, B¹ B', by the thumb screws t t . . . and which have their handles directed
downwards and resting in the grooves g g
Upon the two lower bars B¹ B₁ are
likewise placed, but in an inverted position the rackets R', R', R¹, the handles of which
rest in the grooves g¹ g¹ g¹. . . and are directed upwardly and lie between the faces
of the rackets R R R resting on the two upper bars.
In Fig. 3 the vertical bars CC of my apparatus are connected in any suitable
manner detachable or otherwise with the ends of a table or stand, the whole
apparatus being placed centrally or otherwise on the table, the handles of the rackets
being passed through holes cut in the table and arranged in two rows as clearly shewn
in Figs. 3 and 4.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same may be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1. A combined racket holder and press arranged and operating substantially as and
for the purpose described and shewn in Figs. 1 and 2.
2. A combined racket holder and press, in which the rackets are arranged in two
inverted rows, the rackets of each row being adjacent and pressed tightly by a main
bar and crossbars secured by thumb screws in such a manner that each racket can be
placed in position and withdrawn without interfering with any of the others, while
rackets may be pressed independently of their thickness, substantially as and for the
purpose described.
3. A combined racket holder and press arranged and operating substantially as and
for the purpose described and shewn in Figs. 3 and 4.
4. A combined racket holder and press in which the rackets are placed adjacently in
double rows on each side of the main bars of my apparatus against which they are held
by cross bars and thumb screws, said apparatus being mounted on a stand, or table
through which the handles of the rackets pass, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
Dated this 5th dove of Faber 1980
HUGHES, ELI & HUGHES,
76, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.