CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HOLDING TOGETHER OR FILING LETTERS, MUSIC SHEETS, NEWSPAPERS, AND OTHER Docu- MENTS
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ISAAC HAWKINS, late of Liverpool Street, King's Cross, but now of No. 30,
Charles Square, Hoxton, in the Parish of Shoreditch, and County of Middle-
sex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Tenth day of
March, in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said John Isaac Hawkins, my exors,
admňors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said John Isaac Hawkins, my exors, admors and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Isaac Hawkins, my exors, admors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HOLDING
TOGETHER OR FILING LETTERS, MUSIC SHEETS, NEWSPAPERS, AND OTHER Docu-
MENTS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said
John Isaac Hawkins, should cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an

page_text: instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Isaac Hawkins, hereby declare that my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be carried into effect, are set forth and explained in
and by the following description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and, to the figures, letters, and numbers therein contained,
that is to say:-
My Invention relates to the filing of letters, bills of parcels, and other
written documents, as also newspapers, pamphlets, music, and other printed
sheets. And the main object of my improvements is to produce an instru-
ment that shall grasp, clip, and hold together or file a collection of papers, in
a condition to be turned over like the leaves of a book without the instrument
presenting any inconvenient protuberance to hinder two or more such clipped
collections from lying compactly together in a portfolio, the clipping instru-
ment forming a kind of temporary binding, and occupying only a small space
along the back of the mass of papers.
And my Invention consists, firstly, in the clip being made to grip the papers
at two points in the back margin thereof, more or less distant from the top
and bottom, and in the two griping parts or jaws being actuated by springs
lying parallel with and near to the back margin of the papers, the springs
moving in a plane perpendicular to the produced or extended plane of the
face of the papers. This form of clip is made to act in two ways; in one way
the griping is effected by the force of the springs, which by their elasticity
collapse on the papers to hold them together, until the grip is released by
pressure of the thumb and finger between two arms projecting as levers from
the springs. This form I call my double grip collapsing clip; in the other way,
which I prefer to the former, the springs are made to open by their elasticity,
and the griping force is brought to bear by means of rings or ferrules sliding
upon the springs to close them. This modification I' name my double grip slide
clip, or simply double grip clip.
Secondly, my Invention consists in attaching to the said double grip slide
clip a pair of bars or long jaws, whereby the back margin of the papers may
be embraced throughout its whole length, the instrument still occupying but
little space outside the said margin. This modification I denominate my
bar clip.

page_text: Thirdly, my Invention consists in a pair of bars which embrace the whole
length of the back margin of the papers, and are actuated by a helical spring
contained between two concentric tubes, so as to constitute in effect the
knuckle of a hinge of which the bars are the leaves. One bar is attached by
screws to the outer tube, and the other affixed to the inner tubes by screws
passing through, and moving in two or more apertures perforated in one side
of the outer tube, and the knuckle lies parallel with and near to the said
margin, the spring being turned by a pair of levers or handles lying along
above the top, or below the bottom of the papers embraced by the bars, and
the handles projecting from the end of the knuckle on the same side as the
bars. This modification I designate as my spring hinge clip.
Fourthly and lastly, my Invention consists in a pair of bars embracing the
length of the papers, one of the bars being attached to an outer tube lying
along against the back edge of the papers, and the other bars attached to an
inner concentric tube or rod by screws passing through apertures in the outer
tube, within which the inner tube or rod freely turns about one-sixth of a
revolution, the turning being effected by means of a stud sliding in a longi-
tudinal straight slit cut through a great portion of the whole length of one of
the tubes, and in an oblique slit cut through an equal length of the other
tube, but winding in that length as the worm of a screw about a sixth of a
revolution around the tube, a ring or ferrule sliding on the outer tube carry-
ing the stud. From this construction the bars are made to grip the papers,
or to relax their hold according as the ring is slidden towards one end or the
other of the tubes. This modification I call my slide hinge clip.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
It is to be noted that the letters and numbers in all cases in these Drawings
refer to the same parts in each of the views belonging to the same Figure;
if therefore a letter or number is not found in one view under any Figure
it should be sought in some other view of the same Figure.
Figure 1 represents in two views a double grip collapsing clip; A, side
view, as if griping a mass of papers; B, edge view as seen from the side that
lies against the margin of the papers when in use; a, two pairs of springs, made
of steel or other elastic metal or alloy, having side projections to act as jaws
for griping the papers; b, a pair of brass plates, rivetted together through
the middles of the springs and through a forked or horse-shoe like plate
placed between the springs, forming a recess for a ring to slide in; the figure
of the forked plate is shewn by dotted lines on the view A; c, the ring sliding
into the recess, allowing the clip and its contents to lie compactly in a portfolio

page_text: and to slide out of the recess, for the purpose of being hung up on a nail;
d, a pin put through the plates and the springs a to prevent the ring c
from being drawn quite out of the recess; e, the jaws of the springs, strongly
collapsing together, so as to firmly grip a mass of papers; f, a fragment of
such papers as held together between one pair of the jaws; g, elongations
from the ends of the springs, to act as levers for separating the jaws and
releiving the papers by the pressure of the finger and thumb between each
pair of levers.
Figure 2 represents in three views a double grip slide clip; C, side view,
seen as if embracing the papers; D, edge view, as seen when looking from
the tip ends of the griping jaws towards the ring edge; E, end view; h, two
pairs of steel springs, having jaws projecting sideways from the ends of the
springs; k, the jaws; l, ferrules or flat rings of brass sliding on the springs,
to press them together when slidden towards the ends, and to allow them to
relax and open when slidden towards the middles of the springs. These
ferrules or slides are to be finished on their places after the springs are
rivetted together, because the position of the jaws renders it impracticable
to put the slides on after they are completely formed; they are therefore
constructed in the following manner :-The two sides and one edge of the
slide in one piece are bent into the form of a staple, and passed upon the
pair of springs from the jaw edge to the ring edge; the remaining part or
edge of the slide is then completed by soldering on a piece of brass, or by
dovetailing it in and rivetting it, so as to hold the ends of a staple firmly
together; m, plates and a ring, similar to those shewn and explained at
b, c, d, Figure 1, for holding the springs together at their middles, and for
hanging up the clip and its contents; n, dotted line, shewing the position of
the springs when the slides are pushed towards the middle of the clip; p, the
position of the slides in that condition of the clip, shewn also by dotted lines;
9, a fragmental portion of papers held together between the jaws. Figure
3 represents in three views a bar clip; F, side view; G, edge view, seen as
looking towards the back or folded edges of the papers when the clip is fixed
on them; H, end view; r, two bars of steel, for embracing the margin of
a mass of papers in about their whole length; s, a double grip slide clip
complete, as shewn and described at Figure 2; t, edge view of four forked
plates, rivetted to the bars r to form recesses for the reception of the jaws of the
clip s; u, flat view of one of the forked plates, shewn as detached in view G,
and by dotted lines in view F; v, the rivets; w, the jaws of the slide clip, acting
between the forked plates and the bars to force the bars together when the
slides are pushed towards the ends of the springs; a, studs fixed in the jaws

page_text: of the clip to slide in the notches of the forked plates, and keep the bars
in their places on the clip; y, fragments of papers as held together by the
bars.
Figure 4 represents a view and section of a collapsing spring hinge clip
as affixed in a pair of book covers or a portfolio; I, side view, as if griping
a sheet or a mass of papers; K, section from M to N of the side view; L,
a separate view of the pair of levers for forcing open the clip; z, view of a
portion of a mass of sheets of letter paper, seen in view I; 1, view of part of the
top and bottom margin of one of the book covers; 2, 2¹, a pair of bars, as
if clipping a collection of letters; 3, 3¹, a pair of toes, rivetted to each of the
bars 2, 2¹, and screwed to the knuckle of the hinge; 4, the knuckle, formed
of two tubes, one turning within the other; 5, the outer tube; 6, a portion
of the inner tube, seen at view I through an aperture, represented as broken
in the outer tube; 7, a portion of a helical spring, extending a considerable
part of the length of the tubes and coiled between them, one end of the spring
being fastened to the outer tube and the other end to the inner tube, so that
when the outer tube is forced around upon the inner one, the elasticity of
the spring shall bring the tube back again after the resisting force is removed;
this portion of the spring is shown at the aperture before mentioned as
coiled on the inner tube, and in the section K by a thick black circle; 8,
four screws passing through the toes 3 and into the outer tube to carry
the bar 2; 9, one of four screws, shewn at view K as passing through
through the toe 3', and through an aperture in the outer tube 5, and screwed
into the inner tube 6, and also into a plug driven tightly into the inuer
tube, the neck of the screw being surrounded by a narrow washer moving
freely in the aperture, the washer being a little thicker than the spring and
outer tube together, so that the toe may be firmly attached to the inner
tube and turn on the outer tube without pressing tightly on it; 10, one
of the plugs within the inner tube, into which the screws of the toe 31
are fixed; 11, a plate of brass, rivetted on the inside of the back part of a
book cover or portfolio; 12, a pair of standards, screwed on the ends of tho
plate 11 to receive pivots at the end of the knuckle; 13, the pivots; 14, in
view K, a fragment of a mass of papers as held together by the bars; 15, a
lever, having ratchet teeth in the greater part of its length, the lever being
fixed tightly on a square at the upper end of the inner tube, in the position
for lying in the portfolio when shut up; 16, the square end of the inner tube
and fastening pin, shewn at view I, and also by dotted lines at view L;
17, the ratchet teeth; 18, a lever placed on the upper end of the outer tube
in such manner that it may revolve a few degrees upon the tube without

page_text: of
turning it, and on further revolution of the lever it shall carry the tube with it
and consequently open the jaws when the lever 15 is held down or against the
book cover.
The object of giving a few degrees of revolution to the lever
without its turning the tube, is to allow this lever to lie within the shu
portfolio alongside the lever 15, whatever may be the thickness of the mass
papers held together between the jaws; 19, a stud, projecting from the side
of the lever 18 to catch against a stud fixed in the tube; 20, the stud project
ing from the tube to receive pressure from the stud 19 when the lever 18 is
turned; 21, a ratchet detent hinged to the lever 18 to hold the levers apart
and thus keep the jaws of the clip open while the hands are employed in
putting papers in or taking them out of the instrument, the hinge of the
detent shewn by dotted lines in view L; Figure 5 represents in two views and
a section a slide hinge clip; P, side view; Q, edge view; R, section from
S to T of the side view; 22, a pair of steel bars to embrace the papers.
23, steel toes, rivetted to and projecting from the bars, and screwed to the
knuckle of the hinge; 24, the knuckle, formed of one metal tube revolving
concentrically within another metal tube; 25, a longitudinal slit, perforated
through the greater part of the length of the outer tube parallel to its sides;
26, a longitudinal slit, perforated through an equal length of the inner tube,
but winding spirally about a sixth of a revolution in its whole length; 27, a
metal ferrule, sliding upon the outer tube carrying a screw stud, the neck or
cylindrical part of which passes down through the slits of both tubes, and the
point is screwed into a solid plug sliding freely in the inner tube the stud causing
the inner tube to turn within the outer about a sixth of a revolution, by sliding
the ferrule from one end to the other of the slits; 28, the screw stud; 29,
the sliding plug; 30, pivots at the ends of the knuckle to work in standards
similar to those described at 11 and 12 of Figure 4; 31, fragment of a mass
of clipped papers. It is obvious that each of those modifications of the clip
may be made of any dimensions to suit the sizes of the papers to be embraced
by them, and that although for simplicity of description, steel, brass, and
metal has been named as the materials for the respective parts of the clips,
yet I do not confine myself to such materials, since the springs may be
beneficially made of any very elastic metal or metallic compound, the bars
and tubes of any strong and light metal or alloy, or other suitable material,
and the slides of any suitable substance according to fancy or convenience.
And I hereby declare that I disclaim any letter clip or document clip, that
embraces only one small part or spot of the papers, and, therefore, cannot
prevent the papers turning one upon another around the griping part of the
clip as a centre of motion.

page_text: And I disclaim any letter or document clip, which turns upon a hinge
having the clipping jaws on one side of the fulcrum or knuckle, and an arm
or a pair of arms or handles projecting from the other side of the fulcrum
wherewith to open the jaws.
And I disclaim any clip that grasps the papers throughout their whole
length, except by means of one or other of the varieties of my Invention before
described, called the "bar clip," the "spring hinge clip," and the "slide hinge
clip"; but what I claim as my Invention is,--
Firstly, the holding together or filing of letters, music, sheets, newspapers,
and other documents by means of jaws which grasp or clip the papers together
at two points of the back margin thereof, more or less distant from the top
and bottom, and which jaws are actuated by springs lying parallel to the back
margin of the papers so held together, and which springs according to one
mode of action are compressed by their own elasticity, and released by the
thumb and finger, as exemplified in my double grip collapsing clip before
described. And according to another mode of action they relax by their own
elasticity, and have their griping force brought to bear upon the papers by
means of rings or ferrules sliding upon the springs, as exemplified in my
double grip slide clip, or my double grip clip before described.
Secondly, I claim the holding together or filing the whole or a large part
of the length of the margin of a mass of papers by means of a combination
of the said "double grip slide clip," with bars as before described, which
modification I call the "bar clip."
Thirdly, I claim the holding together or filing of papers by means of a clip
formed like a long hinge containing a helical spring within the knuckle, which
spring presses a pair of long bars or jaws firmly on the back margin of the
papers throughout their whole length, which jaws are separated by means of
two levers or handles projecting from the knuckle on the same side of the
fulcrum as the jaws.
And, lastly, I claim the employment, for the purpose aforesaid, of the clip
called the "slide hinge clip," which is formed like a long hinge, consisting of
a tube revolving concentrically within another tube, these tubes carrying a pair
of bars made to open and shut by means of a stud sliding in a longitudinal
straight slit in one tube, and in an oblique or winding slit in the other tube, as
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Isaac Hawkins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
JOHN ISAAC (L.S.) HAWKINS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord, 1847, the aforesaid John Isaac Hawkins came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty seven.