IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING THE SHELVES OF Book Cases and other Shelves.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Ker, of No. 43, Mausfeld Road, in the
Parish of St. Pancras, in the County of Middlesex, Cabinet Maker,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING
THE SHELVES OF Book Cases and other Shelves.

page_text: shelves and the parts with which the said studs engage, the object of my
Invention being so to construct the said studs that their engagement
with and disengagement from the fixed part of the case or support may
be effected with great ease and rapidity. The said studs have the
further advantage that when engaged with the supporting parts they
are held very securely in their places.
By the use of my Invention the fixing and adjusting of the shelves at
the required distances apart is effected in a simpler manner, and the
shelves are supported more firmly than by the use of the ordinary
studs.
In constructing the said studs according to my Invention I give that
part of the stud which supports the shelf the figure by preference of a
truncated cone, but I do not limit myself to any particular figure. At
the back of the stud I form a broad strong hook, the hook part standing
above the level of the upper face of the said stud. I attach to cach end
of the book or other case or other support one or more vertical strips of
metal provided with equidistant openings of a size proper to receive the
hooks of the studs. Previously to fixing the said vertical metallic strips
to the ends of the book or other case or support a groove is formed in
the material to which the strips are to be attached of a depth sufficient
for the reception of the hooks of the studs.
In engaging the hooked studs made according to my Invention with
the supporting metallic strips described, the stud is inclined upwards
and the hook part passed through one of the openings in the strip.
By lowering the stud into a horizontal position its hook passes to the
back of the strip, and the vertical inner face of the hook bears against
and hooks itself to the back of the said strip above the opening through
which it passed. The stud is by this means fixed very securely in its
place, the said stud remaining fixed to the strip so long as the said stud
is retained in a horizontal position.
In order to withdraw the stud for adjusting the position of the shelves
it is inclined upwards so as to depress the neck of the hook in the
opening. The hook can now be withdrawn through the opening in the
strip by a horizontal motion.
I do not limit myself to the number of the vertical supporting strips
and hooked studs, but generally I prefer to use two hooked studs at the

page_text: end of each shelf and two vertical supporting strips at the ends of the
book or other case or support for receiving and supporting the said
hooked studs.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Matthew Ker in the Great Seal Patent Offico
on the 10th November 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
KER, of No. 43, Mansfield Road, in the Parish of Saint Pancras, in the
County of Middlesex, Cabinet Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Matthew Ker, Her special
license, that I, the said Matthew Ker, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Matthew Ker,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING THE SHELVES OF BOOK CASES AND
OTHER SHELVES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Matthew Ker, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Matthew Ker, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
Taation ancists of the
housin aftan

page_text: constructing the supporting studs of the shelves of book cases and other
shelves, and the parts with which the said studs engage. The object
of my Invention being so to construct the said studs that their engage-
ment with and disengagement from the fixed part of the case or support
may be effected with great case and rapidity. The said studs have the
further advantage that when engaged with the supporting parts they are
held very securely in their places.
By the use of my Invention the fixing and adjusting of the shelves
at the required distances apart is effected in a simpler manner, and the
shelves are supported more firmly than by the use of the ordinary
studs.
In constructing the said studs according to my Invention I give that
part of the stud which supports the shelf the figure by preference of a
truncated cone, but I do not limit myself to any particular figure. At
the back of the stud I form a broad strong hook, the hook part standing
above the level of the upper face of the said stud. I attach to each end
of the book or other case or support one or more vertical strips of metal
provided with equidistant openings of a size proper to receive the hooks
of the studs. Previously to fixing the said vertical metallic strips to
the ends of the book or other case or support a groove is formed in the
material to which the strips are to be attached of a depth sufficient for
the reception of the hooks of the studs.
In engaging the hooked studs made according to my Invention with
the supporting metallic strips described, the stud is inclined upwards
and the hook part passed through one of the openings in the strip. By
lowering the stud into a horizontal position its hook passes to the back
of the strip, and the vertical inner face of the hook bears against and
hooks itself to the back of the said strip above the opening through
which it passed. The stud is by this means fixed very securely in its
place, the said stud remaining fixed to the strip so long as the said stud
is retained in a horizontal position.
In order to withdraw the stud for adjusting the position of the shelves
it is inclined upwards so as to depress the neck of the hook in the
opening. The hook can now be withdrawn through the opening in the
strip by a horizontal motion.
I will now describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing,

page_text: Figure 1 represents in vertical section a portion of a book or other
case, the shelves of which are supported by means of apparatus con-
structed according to my Invention.
Figure 2 represents in front elevation, drawn of the full size, one of
the vertical metallic strips with which the studs are engaged and by
which they are supported; and Figure 3 represents a section and plan
of the same with one of the studs applied thereto.
Figures 4, 5, and 6, represent a modification of the stud, as herein.
after explained.
I will first describe the arrangement represented in Figures 1, 2,
and 3. a, a, are the fixed parts of the book or other case; and b, b, are
the shelves of the same; c, c, are the supporting studs of the shelves,
that part of the studs which supports the shelves having the figure of a
truncated conc, as represented, the shelves having recesses near their
ends and under sides to fit upon the said studs; d is the broad strong
hook of the conical stud, the said hook standing above the level of tho
upper face of the stud (see Figure 3); e, e, are the vertical metallic
strips fixed to cach end of the book or other case a, a, the said strips
being provided with equidistant openings f, f, to receive the hooks d of
the studs c. Vertical grooves at 9 are made in the fixed ends a, a, of
the case, and over these grooves the metallic strips e, e, are fixed by
screws, as represented. The grooves g are of a width equal to or slightly
greater than the width of the openings f for receiving the hooks d.
To engage the hooked studs c, d, with the supporting metallic
strips e, e, the stud is inclined upwards and its hook & passed through
one of the openings in the metallic strip e, as indicated in dotted lines
in Figure 3. The stud being then lowered into a horizontal position the
hook d passes to the back of the strip, and the vertical inner face
at d of the said hook bears against and hooks itself to the back of the
strip above the opening through which it was passed, and the
shoulder cbears against the inner side of the strip e below the
opening f. The stud is thus firmly fixed in its place on the strip by
the bearing of the two parts d², c*, on opposite sides of the said strips,
there being no tendency in the hook of the stud to escape from the
opening in the strip so long as the stud is preserved in a horizontal
position, and this horizontal position is retained by the weight of the
shelves and the articles carried by them.

page_text: When it is required to withdraw the hooked studs for removing or
re-arranging the shelves, it is only necessary to depress the hooks d into
the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3, when they may be
withdrawn through the openings fin the strips by a horizontal motion.
The construction of the hooked studs may be simplified by making
them from sheet iron or other sheet metal, in the manner illustrated in
Figures 4, 5, and 6, Figure 4 representing the hooked studs and sup-
porting strips applied to part of a book case; Figure 5, the same in
front elevation, section, and plan, drawn of the full size; and Figure 6,
one of the hooked studs separately. In this modification the flat bodies
of the studs are marked and the hooked parts are marked i, the
metallic supporting strips are marked e, and the openings in them are
marked. The shelves are in this arrangement supported upon the
flat bodies of the studs instead of recesses being made in the shelves to
receive the conical bodies of the studs, as before described. Each stud h
has a tooth or point * at its outer end which takes into the shelf and
holds the latter firmly on the studs (see Figure 4.) The flat sheet metal
studs, i, are engaged with and disengaged from the openings in the
metal strips e, e, in the same manner, as described with respect to the
studs c, d, (Figures 1, 2, and 3) having conical bodies.
Although I have only shown two forms of the bodies for the sup-
porting studs, yet I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to any particular figure of that part of the studs upon which the said
studs are supported, neither do I limit myself to the number of the
vertical supporting strips and hooked studs, but generally I prefer to
use two hooked studs at the end of each shelf, and two vertical sup-
porting strips at the ends of the book or other case or support for
receiving and supporting the said hooked studs.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention the improvements in apparatus
for supporting the shelves of book cases and other shelves herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
making at the back of the metallic stud upon which the book or other
shelf is supported a broad strong hook, and attaching to each end of the

page_text: book or other case or support vertical metallic strips provided with
openings, with which openings the hooks of the studs are engaged and
disengaged, the hooks of the studs when engaged with the metallic
strips fixing the supporting studs very firmly in their places, sub-
stantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Ker, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Second day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-
five.