Improvements in Card Cases.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Feb., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 4th Nov., 1897- Accepted, 18th Dec., 1897
ERNEST THOMAS COOTE 155 Fenchurch St. London E.C. Gentleman ARTHUR
JOSEPH NEEDHAM of 6 Hannersmith Terrace London W. Manufacturer do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
We form a Card Case having a lid hinged preferably at one end along the top
(flatwise) the said lid being made to close by a spring, also to snap open for the
purpose of filling. Near the bottom in one corner of the Case we have a lever working
on a centre, of such a length that it slightly projects through a small recess in lid at
the opposite side of Case. At the bottom of said lever is a short arm at right angles
to same running across the Case at the extremity of which is a small projection about
the thickness of one card, so that when the lever is moved across the case at the top,
the small projection catches in & lifts up one card only a sufficient height. for
extraction the others being prevented from rising (through friction or otherwise) by
the spring lid which opeus sufficiently to allow of only one card to escape obviating
the possibility of more than one card being raised at one movement of the lever.
The said lever is so made that it springs back to its original position ready for
another movement.
(2) Instead of the lever as above we have a narrow piece of metal made to slide up
& down in the centre of the front of case with the same small projection for raising
the card as in No. 1. This piece of metal is moved up & down by the thumb
through an aperture or by means of a projection through front of case.
The construction of the case is precisely the same as in No 1. the only difference
is in the means of raising the card.
Improvements in Card Cases.
We, ERNEST THOMAS COOTE, of No. 155 Fenchurch Street, in the County of
London, Gentleman, and ARTHUR JOSEPH NEEDHAM, of No. 6 Hammersmith Terrace,
Manufacturer, 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 present invention relates to improvements in Card cases such as are usually
employed to hold visiting or business cards. The object of the invention is to
facilitate the withdrawal of the cards from the case singly or one at a time.
According to our invention, we construct such a card case as follows:-The body

page_text: of the case is made of any suitable material and of any convenient size and shape as
usual. It is provided with a lid, preferably hinged to the body at the top end across
the width or breadthwise of the case. The lid is caused, by means of a device
hereinafter described, to have a spring action by which it is held. normally, closed.
Within the case near to one of the lower corners thereof is pivoted by one of its
arms, a bifurcated lever which extends diagonally across to the opposite top corner
of the case just above the top and projects slightly through a recess or a slit or alot
made in the lid. The top end of the said lever is held in this, its normal, position by
means of a spring the free end of which is always pressing against the pivoted arm
of the said lever. The other arm of the lever hereinafter called the lifting-arm is
preferably about as long as the pivoted arm, extending nearly to the bottom of the
case; it diverges from the pivoted arm, its widest divergence being at its lower end,
and on this arm, prefembly at the lower extremity or tip thereof is a slight lateral
projection standing out about the thickness of a card.
The spring for the lid in the form of case just described, may be any kind of what
are known as click-springs, but we have found it quite sufficient to slot the back of
the case itself to a short distance from the top so as to form a spring tongue, which,
acting against a projecting portion of the hinge of the lid, gives it the desired spring
action.
narrow and
Instead of a lever formed as described above, we may employ n
preferably flat slide, held in position against the interior surface of the front of the
case by means of a bridging guide-plate in which it can be slid freely up and down.
In order that the said slide may be moved with facility by the thumb alone, the front
side of it is provided with either serrations or a projection, and a corresponding slot
provided for same in the front of the case. This slide is provided at the extremity
of its lower end with a sunllar lateral projection to that of the lifting-arm of the
bifurcated lever above described. There is also a flat spring fixed at or near its
centre to the interior surface of the back of the case, the top end of the said spring
bears against a projecting tongue of the lid hinge and the bottom end is bent.
outwards away from the surface to which the spring is fixed.
In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a
vertical section through a filled card case constructed according to the last described
form of our invention, showing the serrated slide and the hack spring in their.
positions when the case is closed; Figure 2, being a front elevation of the same.
Figure 3 is a vertical section through the card case shown in Figures 1 and 2, but
with a projecting button in place of the serations, in its open position, showing a card
protruding ready for withdrawal; Figure 4 being a front elevation of the same.
Figure 5 is a vertical section through a filled card case constructed according to the
modification first described, showing the bifurcated lever and springs in their position
when the case is closed; Figures 6 and 7 being a front elevation and plan of the
same. Figure 8 is a vertical section of figure 6, showing the positions of the working
parts when the case is open, and figure 9 is a front elevation of the same.
The operation of our invention is as follows:-
The lid b is raised and held open while the cards e are placed in, they are gently
pressed down between the slide o, or lever d, and the back spring f, which latter
presses them towards the said slide or lever on the front of the case a, the slide c, or
lever d, as the case may he is now in its lowest or normal position, and on drawing
the lever & across the top of the case a, or raising the slide c, by the thumb, the
projection y, on its lower extremity catches against the lower end of the card e next
to it, which it carries with it; the top end of the card on coming in contact with the
lid raises the latter and the card is presented ready for withdrawal from the case.
Should, however, the projection g, on the lower end of the lever or slide, or the friction
of the card being extracted as the case may be, catch up more than one card at a
time, the spring lid by its pressure would cause any in excess of a single one to ride
off the little projection, or be detained, thus only one card is presented protruding
through the opening between the front edge of the lid and the case, as desired, ench
time the lever or slide is worked.

page_text: 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 :-
1. In a portable card case, the combination with the shell or body thereof, of a
spring-hinged lid, recessed at one end, and a bifurcated lever one divergent arm of
which is pivoted to the shell and the other provided with a lateral projection at its
tip, adapted to engage under the bottom edge of a card, substantially as and for the
purposes described and shown.
2. In a portable card case, the combination with the shell or body thereof, of a
spring-hinged lid recessed at one end, a bifurcated lever one divergent arm of which
is pivoted to the shell and the other adapted by means of a projection to engage
under the bottom edge of a card, a spring adapted to return the said lever to its
norinal position, and a second spring to press the cards forwards against the lever,
substantially as and for the purposes described and shown.
3. In a portable card case, the combination with the shell or body thereof, of a
spring-hinged lid, a slide provided with serrations or knob adapted to be moved from
the outside through an aperture in the case, and a projection on the tip thereof
adapted to engage under the bottom edge of a card, substantially as and for the
purposes described and shown.
4. In a portable card case, the combination with the shell or body thereof, of a
spring-hinged lid, a slide provided with serrations or a knob adapted to be moved
from the outside through an aperture in the case, and a projection on the tip thereof
adapted to engage under the bottom edge of a card, and a spring adapted to press
the cards against the said slide, all constructed, operated, and working substantially
as described and shown.
D
حيد
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