Improvements in or appertaining to Pencil Cases.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Sept., 1893-Accepted, 14th Oct., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or appertaining to Pencil Cases.
A communication by ROBERT HAGENMEYER, of 5, Sandstrasse, Nuremberg, in the
Empire of Germany.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool and 6, Bank Street,.
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, and 323, High Holborn in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven--
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in that class of pencil cases in which the
lead is arranged in a lead-holding tube and which is pushed in or out by means of
a stud arranged on the latter which engages in a threaded casing. The improve-
ments consist in the lead-holder being held in a given (normal) position by means.
of direct elastic pressure acting on the same, from which position it is pushed back
by pressure on the lead and then automatically retained in a given non-acting.
position, but again assumes its normal position inmediately the lead is pushed out
beyond its non-acting position and the pressure taken off.
By pressing the lead more or less strongly, a person thus has it fully in his power
to bring it out of its non-working position into a position ready for use, or vice versa.
By a suitable adjustment of the lead by means of the threaded casing, the non--
working position may be so regulated, that the pencil point is pushed completely
back, that is to say is so nearly level with the point of the case that any breakage.
of the lead is prevented even when the case is inserted in the pocket.
On the accompanying drawing,
Figures 1 and 2 show such a pencil case in elevation and longitudinal section
respectively.
In this pencil case it is assumed that the lead-holding tube A is held fast in a
given position by means of the spring f and also that the threaded casing D is held
in a given position by means of the spring F. (This latter arrangement is already
covered in my Patent No. 50493 and is only mentioned here in order that this
arrangement may also be employed in combination with the direct retention of the
lead-holding tube.) The upper part of the lead-holding tube A is shown on a
larger scale in Figures 8 and 8A. The lead-holding tube terminates at the top in
two spring tongues a and a¹, one of which a is bevelled off below and the other
one a above. The two ends of the tongues a and a¹ are arranged diametrically to.
one another and are there bulged out as shown. When the lead is pushed back,.
the points of both tongues a and a' engage with their bulged out parts over conical
projections in the guide tube B of the lead-holding tube A, and hold this latter
fast in the former. On the lead-holding tube being further pressed up, the lower
inclined surface of one tongue a encounters a cross strip h placed in the guide
tube B, and the lead-holding tube A is thereby turned so the ends of the tongues a
and a' of the lead holding tube A no longer correspond in a vertical direction with
the projections b of the guide tube B, and pass by the side of the same when the
lead-holding tube A goes back. Before however the lead holding tube has again
reached its normal position it is again turned back by the inclined surface of the
other tongue a', so that the ends of the tongues a and a¹ and the projections b b.
again coincide.
The retention of the lead-holding tube in its non-working position may also be
effected in other ways. For instance, the spring arms a and al may have hooks at
their ends engaging in openings in the guide holder B, whilst the rotation of the
lead-holding tube is produced by means of an opening in the form of a parallelogram.

page_text: arranged in the guide holder in which a pin attached to the lead-holding tube slides.
Other suitable fixing devices may of course be employed. The stud k of the guide
tube B engages in the usual manner through a slot in the sliding case C, in the
thread of the screw case D and by rotating the latter, the lead M is projected.
The latter is held at the projecting end by means of the point c of the sliding
case C. In the lead holder shown in Figures 3 and 4, the lead tube A' is only
arranged so as to slide in one sliding case B' and is held in a given position by
means of a spring f¹. If the pressure on the lead excee ue strength of the
spring f¹, the former slips back, but again assumes its normal position immediately
the pressure is taken off. The lead-holding tube A is here g: "ded by the pins z z
in the slots of the tube B' which latter again engages in the usual manner with its
stud in the thread of the case D' through the slot in the sliding case C and
allows of the adjustment of the lead. The last arrangement thus differs from that
described in Patent No. 5043 in that the lead holding tube A is arranged so as to
slide under spring pressure in the guide case B', whilst in the earlier Patent, the
lead holding tube and the threaded casing are both arranged so as to slide under
spring pressure in, or over, the slotted holder.
In general, the spring pressure on the lead holding tube A either by the springs f
or for by the spring F will suffice, but in very special cases, especially where
very soft leads or coloured crayons are used, the arrangement of two springs f and F
will be found to be advantageous.
The fixing of the lead holding tube A in the guide holder B, that is to say, the
placing of it in the so called position of repose (or non-working position) may be
effected by means of one instead of two spring tongues a and a', or even by means
of a larger number of such tongues, the ends of the tongues may also be of a
different shape to the one hereinbefore described in order to effect the automatic
retention of the lead-holding tube. The method described of retaining this tube in
a given position is however the simplest and most preferable one, and is also the
cheapest to construct.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is-
1. An improved pencil case characterised by the lead-holding tube, in which the
lead is contained in the usual manner, being made to slide in a guide case or sheath
and retained in a given position by means of a spring or other elastic pressing
device, substantially as described.
2. In pencil cases of the kind described in Claim 1, retaining in a given position
not only the lead-holding tube but also the threaded casing by means of a spiral
spring or other suitable elastic pressure device substantially as described.
3. In pencil cases an arrangement such as described by which the lead on being
pressed upon and pushed back, is automatically retained in a given pushed back or
non-working position, even after the pressure is taken off, and yet on the other hand
on further pressure being applied and then released is again at once automatically
pushed forward into its original normal position ready for use.
Dated this 9th day of September 1893.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.