Improvements in the Construction of Separable Ledgers, and in the Leaves and Index and Entry Sheets therefor.
Year: 1899

page_text: Improvements in the Construction of Separable Ledgers, and in the
Leaves and Index and Entry Sheets therefor.
We, HENRY GOTTHARDT RAZALL and HENRY SWALLEY, both of Number 386,
East Water Street, in the City and County of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin,
United States of America, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its principal object the construction of a blank-book of
the kind termed a separable or "loose-leaf" ledger wherein the leaves are remov-
able at pleasure, so that the leaf or leaves of any account can be added to or
transferred therefrom, at any time, thus doing away with the necessity of
employing a series of ledgers for open accounts of customers, and our invention
consists, primarily, in making a book of this class, having a pair of independent
covers, with series of hollow sleeves and corresponding posts projecting therefrom
and adapted to telescopically engage with each other, one of said posts being
provided with a nut, and the opposed sleeve containing a screw-threaded spindle
in engagement with said nut, with a ratchet-wheel and key-post fast on the
other end of said spindle, and with a lock secured to one of said covers and
provided with a bolt adapted to engage with said ratchet-wheel, whereby, by
turning the said spindle, in either direction, the said covers will be caused to
approach each other, or to recede from each other, and thereby tighten or loosen
the removable leaves of the book held between said covers, and whereby when
the bolt is locked in engagement with the ratchet-wheel, the said spindle is
prevented from being revolved, and the leaves held fast between said covers;
Secondly, in forming said removable leaves with slitted openings at the inner
edges adapted to engage with the said hollow sleeves, and with a plurality of
closely assembled series of indentations or minute perforations arranged trans-
versely of said leaves adjacent to said slitted openings, and with a substantial
portion of each leaf left free from said assembled series above and below the
same, whereby the said leaves may be readily pushed to place on the said sleeves,
or quickly removed therefrom, when the ledger is unlocked, and whereby the
said assembled series of indentations or perforations will form a flexible hinge
to facilitate the flat bending of said leaves in the use of the ledger; thirdly,
in the union with said ledger of a series of pockets or casings, similarly held to
said sleeves, with extension slides movable within said pockets or casings, and
carrying removable index and entry sheets; and finally, in skeleton frames
secured to said slides to receive and hold the said removable index and entry
sheets below the plane of the top of said skeleton frame.
1900

page_text: Improvements in the Construction of Separable Ledgers, and in the
Leaves and Index and Entry Sheets therefor.
We, HENRY GOTTHARDT RAZALL and HENRY SWALLEY, both of Number 386,
East Water Street, in the City and County of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin,
United States of America, Manufacturers, 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:
Our invention has for its object to improve that class of blank-books, commonly
known as separable or "loose-leaf" ledgers, wherein the leaves are removable
at pleasure so that the leaf or leaves of any account can be added to or trans-
ferred at any time, thus doing away with the necessity of employing a series of
ledgers for open accounts of customers, and to that end our invention consists
in certain peculiarities of construction of the covers and locking devices of said
book to prevent the unauthorized removal of any leaf, and to facilitate the proper
addition or removal of a leaf as well as in certain peculiarities in the leaves them-
selves and in the construction and arrangement of the index and entry sheets
of said book; all as will be hereinafter particularly set forth with reference to
the accompanying drawings, and subsequently claimed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the end of the cover of our device,
taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 3.
Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view, on the line 2-2 of Figure 3.
Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a detail sectional view on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a detail view of the locking device.
Figure 6 is a perspective view of the entire device.
Figures 7 and 8 illustrate preferred forms of the loose leaves.
Figure 9 is a view of the index and balance sheet partly withdrawn from its
pocket or casing, portions being shown broken away to better illustrate details
of construction.
Figures 10 and 11 are sectional views, taken, respectively, on the lines 10--10,
and 11-11, of Figure 9.
Referring to the drawings, A. B represent metallic angle-plates, whose vertical
portions are adapted to slide past each other, forming the adjustable back
of the ledger, while to their horizontal portions are secured the rear ends of
the covers CD, having reduced flexible portions c d adjacent thereto. EE
represent square sleeves, and F an intermediate round post, all secured to and
rising from the plate B while G G represent square posts depending from the
plate A and fitting within the sleeves E E, and H represents a square sleeve
depending from plate A for receiving post F, which latter has a solid head
tapped to form a nut to receive the screw-threaded spindle e of a ratchet-wheel I,
there being a square post f rising from the latter, and the ratchet-wheel, spindle
and post being preferably integral, the wheel resting on an annular washer g
within a casing J set in the cover C, the spindle e projecting down into the post F,
and the post f projecting up through an opening in said casing to receive an
ordinary clock key (not shown) whereby the said spindle may be revolved in
either direction in the nut in post F so that the upper and lower covers will be
brought nearer to each other, or forced apart, thereby. K is a lock, of any
suitable construction, secured next the casing J in the same recess of the cover C,

page_text: and having a bolt h whose outer end is recessed to engage with the teeth on
he ratchet-wheel I, the recess containing the casing and lock being covered by
n escutcheon L.
MM represent the leaves of our ledger, which are designed to be printed
and ruled like any ordinary ledger-leaves, but the inner ends of which are
of the
formed with openings iii conforming in size and shape to that of
described sleeves EE H, flaring slits extending from the said openings i
through the adjacent end edge of each leaf, whereby the leaves may be readily
pushed to place on the said sleeves, or quickly pulled therefrom, when the ledger
is unlocked and the spindle e revolved to force the covers away from each other,
this removal or addition of a leaf being accomplished without disturbance of the
leaves above or below, and then the spindle e is revolved in the opposite direction
thus tightly securing all the leaves in place, and the bolt of lock K is turned by
its key to force the recessed edge of said bolt again into engagement with the
ratchet-teeth, as shown in Figure 5, and then it will be impossible to either add
or remove a leaf, until the ledger is again unlocked. Ledger leaves are usually
formed of thick paper, and in order to facilitate the bending of said leaves, so
that the book may open flatly, we form each leaf with a plurality of closely
assembled series of indentations marked N in Figure 7, or minute perforations,
as shown in Figure 8, and also marked N, adjacent to the inner end of the leaf,
in the unruled portion thereof, just beyond the described openings i, and leave a
substantial portion of the leaf intact above and below said series of indentations
or perforations. The portion N of the leaf forms a flexible hinge, and the sai
intact portions kk guard against any danger of the said leaf becoming separated
or broken in two in use.
00 represent the pockets or casings, distributed at intervals throughout our
ledger, and containing the index and balance sheets of the accounts on the
leaves M M. These pockets or casings are preferably formed of any suitable
textile fabric, although they may be made of metal, or heavy paper or cardboard
if desired, the inner end of the pocket proper having secured thereto a transverse
strip P of any suitable material to form a back-stop for the slide Q, hereinafter
described, and to said inner end there is secured a stub R (which may be a pair
of strips of any flexible material) formed with openings and flaring slits j
like the leaves, for ready attachment to or removal from the sleeves EE H.
The slide Q may be of thick cardboard and its rear part is shouldered, as shown
at m m, for engagement with the front stops n n, of the pocket, secured just
within the outer or front edge of said pocket, so that the slide cannot be wholly
withdrawn therefrom. S represents a skeleton frame, preferably stamped out
of thin sheet metal, and in its preferred form having central vertical and
borizontal cross-bars, said skeleton frame being secured to the slide Q, and
the edges of its walls being raised up to permit the index and entry sheets TU
to be slipped and held thereunder, the vertical walls of the frame being cut
away adjacent to one end, as shown at r r, to allow the insertion of said sheets.
or their removal, when it is desired to replace them with others. The slides Q
5 are preferably formed with projecting tags, V, to facilitate drawing said slides
from, or replacing them within, their pockets O, said tags being marked with
the appropriate index letters of their slides.
Our ledgers will be found especially useful and convenient for banks and
similar financial institutions, where the deposits and withdrawals of customers
( and creditors vary each day and where it is desirable to quickly ascertain the
daily balance. The entry sheets U may be of any suitable material, such as
celluloid, or cardboard with a silicious or similar coating, and the entries on
said sheets, may be made with a lead pencil, so as to be readily erasable, and
thus said entries can be changed daily, as required by the facts as shown by
5 the entries on the leaves M, at the close of each days business. When this is
done (there being a line for the name on the index sheets T, and corresponding
line for amount of the deposits, balances and similar entries on the entry sheets U,

page_text: for each account on the ledger leaves M) in order to instantly ascertain the
standing of any account, it will only be necessary to pull out the proper slide Q
as indicated by the index tag V, and thus this will be shown, without the necessity
of turning to the account itself, and, by reason of the described skeleton frame,
these entries, although made with a lead pencil, will be protected from rubbing
or blurring, no matter how frequently the slide Q is withdrawn from or replaced
within the pocket or casing O.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that
what we claim is:
1. The combination of a pair of independent covers, series of hollow sleeves
and corresponding posts projecting therefrom and adapted to telescopically engage
with each other, one of said posts being provided with a nut and the opposed
sleeve containing a screw-threaded spindle in engagement with said nut, a
ratchet-wheel and key-post fast on the other end of said spindle, and a lock
secured to one of said covers and provided with a bolt adapted to engage with
said ratchet-wheel and thereby prevent the revolution of said spindle.
2. The combination of a pair of independent covers, with pairs of telescopically
engaging hollow sleeves and posts secured thereto, one of said posts having a
nut and the opposed sleeve having a screw-threaded spindle engaging therewith,
a ratchet-wheel and key-post fast on said spindle, a lock having a bolt engaging
said ratchet-wheel, and a series of removable leaves having slitted openings
engaging said sleeves, and held in place by the compression and locking of
said covers.
3. The combination with the movable sleeves and posts of a separable ledger,
of a series of leaves having slitted openings at their inner edges adapted to
engage with said sleeves and provided with a plurality of closely assembled
series of indentations or minute perforations transversely arranged adjacent to
said openings and with a substantial integral portion of each leaf above and
below the said indentations or perforations, to form a flexible hinge.
4. The combination of a pair of independent covers with pairs of telescopically
engaging hollow sleeves and posts, and means for moving said covers towards
or from each other, and locking them in adjusted position, series of removable
leaves and pockets or casings in engagement with said sleeves, and extension
slides movable within said pockets or casings, and carrying removable index
and entry sheets.
5. The combination with a casing or pocket adapted to be secured to the
movable sleeves and posts of a separable ledger, of an extension slide movable
within said casing or pocket, a skeleton frame secured to said slide and remov-
able index and entry sheets held to said slide by said skeleton frame below the
plane of the top thereof.
02.11.
+1 1000
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.