Ax APPARATUS FOR THE MORE CONVENIENT FILING OF PAPERS AND OTHER ARTICLES, AND PROTECTING THE SAME FROM DUST OR DAMAGE, INCLUDING IMPROVEMENTS ON OR ADDITIONS TO THE FILES IN COMMON USB
Year: 1824

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
GARBUTT, of the Town of Kingston-upon-Hull, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of June, in the fifth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Robert Garbutt, His especial licence that I, the said Robert Garbutt, my
exors, adñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Garbutt,
my exors, admors, and 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, and also in His
said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "Ax
APPARATUS FOR THE MORE CONVENIENT FILING OF PAPERS AND OTHER ARTICLES, AND
PROTECTING THE SAME FROM DUST OR DAMAGE, INCLUDING IMPROVEMENTS ON OR
ADDITIONS TO THE FILES IN COMMON USB;" in which said Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Robert Garbutt, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His 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).

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Garbutt, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say) :-
=
My said Invention or method of filing papers and other articles consists
in additions to or improvements upon the common files, such, for instance,
as are shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, of the Drawing, which, as aforesaid,
is affixed to this Specification, Fig. 1 being the common file, made of wood
or pasteboard, and fitted up with its string and tag as usual, and upon which
said string the papers are to be strung or filed.
Fig. 2 shews another file, made of wood or strong pasteboard, and having
two strings and tags to it, and also a wooden bar or rule, being an oblong
piece of wood or other proper material, with two holes in it through which
the strings are passed and secured by tying them together after the
&c. are filed.
papers,
Fig. 3 is another file, composed of two straight rules or bars of wood or
other proper material, the one of them having two strings affixed to it with
tags to them, and the other two holes made through it for the strings to pass
through, and be fastened as usual after the papers, &c. are filed.
Fig. 4 is a front view, Fig. 5 an edge view, and Fig. 6 an end view of a
book file, consisting of two boards or book covers united by a flexible back,
with an addition of two strips of wood, pasteboard, whalebone, or other
proper material A, A, which are fastened within the flexible back, and tho
use of which is to have holes made through them for the two strings and tags
to be fastened to one of them and to pass through the other, and be tied
together after filing the papers, &c. between them, the slips being placed
within the limits of the flexible back so as to allow the boards to open or shut,
similar to those of a book. The three last files described all require to have
two strings and tags to them.
I shall now proceed to describe my said apparatus or improvements upon
the counting-house file, shewn in Fig. 1, and the objects of which said
improvements are to file papers by means of one string with more regularity
than hitherto, and to preserve them from dust or damage, which I accomplish
in the following manner.
Fig. 7 is a plan, Fig. 8 a section, Fig. 9 an edge view, and Fig. 10
detached parts of one of my said improved files. B, B, the board made of wood;
C, C, a flat frame firmly fixed upon the board B, B; D, D, a moveable frame
placed within the fixed frame C, C, and made to slide backwards and forwards

page_text: in grooves E, E, one of which is shown in Fig. 8, and both by dotted lines
in Fig. 7. F, a parallel guide or regulator consisting of two flat arms of
metal F, F, united by a round rod or axis G, which is connected with the
sliding frame D, D, by the two staples, caps, or half holes H, H, in which it
turns; the other ends of these arms F, F, are connected with the upper
wooden bar or rule I by means of pins or screws which pass through holes
made in the arms, and enter into the ends of the bar, and upon which said
pins the bar turns. J is the under rule or wooden bar, the lower part of
which is made of a round or cylindrical forth, and its upper face is flat; this
bar also turns upon pins, screws, or pivots, which pass through holes made in
the metal plates or connecting pieces K, K, and enter into each end of it. These
plates K, K, are secured to the fixed frame C, C; L, L, are two metal guards
affixed to the under rule J on each side of the file string, and against which
said guards one edge of each paper rests when it is filed in order to keep
these papers steady and prevent them from moving sideways. M, M, are two
hooks or catches affixed to the upper rule I, and are intended to keep the
guards L, L, close to that rule; N is the file string and its tag; one end of
this string is secured to the under rule J by having a knot tied at its end and
being passed through a hole made in it, or through a hole in a metal plate O,
which is afterwards screwed to the rule J, as shown in Fig. 10. After the
papers are filed the other end of the string is passed through a hole P, made
in the centre of the upper rule, which is then brought down close upon the
papers, and the string is then secured by being wound round a cleat Q, and
hitched or caught underneath the spring hook R, and as shewn on a larger
scale in Fig. 11. S is a pricker or marker designed to make the holes in the
papers at a proper distance from the edge in each paper for the edges to rest
against the guards L, L, as above described. This pricker is affixed to a
spring T, which is screwed to the fixed frame C, C, and it passes through
a hole made in a projecting piece to guide it. This hole is at exactly the same
distance from the end of the frame C, C, as the holes in the papers are from
the guards L, L, and each paper is laid with its edge resting against the end
of the frame C, C, when the pricker marks it. U, U, are side margins, or
parts of the board extending beyond the sides of the fixed frame C, C, and
the use of which will be described hereafter. A sheet of paper, pasteboard,
or a thin wooden board should be glued or otherwise affixed over and upon
the top of the frame C, C, for the filed papers to rest upon, and sheets of
thin paper or pasteboard, similar to the covers of books, may be also fastened
to the inside faces of the rules I and J. V, V, are the filed papers.
Fig. 12 is a plan, Fig. 13 a section, and Fig. 14 a sido view of another

page_text: c, c, are
apparatus or improved counting-house file constructed in a different manner
from that above described, and in which said Figures C, C, is a frame, which
is formed in a similar manner to a picture frame, having a pannel W within
it resting upon a rebate and side margins U, U, as in the frame before
described. Instead of forming the parallel guide or regulator (shewn at F
in Fig. 7) of two flat metal arms, it is made of two tubes X, X, united by a
round cross piece or axis Y (as shewn separately in Fig. 15), and which said
cross piece passes through and turns in two holes Z, Z, made in the frame
C, C. Within the tubes X, X, two round metal rods or wires a, a, (shewn
separately in Fig. 16) slide; these are united by a cross rod which is passed
through a hole in the upper rule I, and turns freely within it. The under rule J
is made flat, and is united to the margin of the frame C, C, by two metal
joints or hinges b, b, on which it turns up, as is shewn in Fig. 13.
sliding guards, answering a similar purpose with the guards above described.
These are shewn upon a larger scale in Figs. 17 and 18. The bars c, c, of
these guards are connected by means of the turning joints and hinges d, d,
with the under rule J, and their opposite ends have screws, studs, or buttons
e, e, affixed in them which slide backwards and forwards in the grooves or
slips ff, which are made in a metal plate h, which is screwed to the back of
the upper rule I, and thus allow the upper and under rules to approach to or
recede from each other as may be necessary. N is the file string and its tag;
the string is fastened to the under rule J, as before described, and after the
papers are filed is passed through the hole in the upper rule I, which is then
brought close upon the papers, and the string is passed once round the two
opposite hooks
9.9, and tied, as will be described hereafter. The frame C, C,
as a projecting piece with a hole made through it to guide the tag of the
string in puncturing the papers before filing them. This frame C, C, is to be
covered with pasteboard, &c., in the manner as before described, and the rules
may likewise be furnished with thick papers or pasteboards.
Figs. 19, 20, and 21 represent another method of uniting the sliding
guards c, c, with the under rule J. Instead of using the joints and hinges
d, d, before described, I make an eye or hole at the end of each guard, which
is hung upon an upright loop or staple i, affixed to the edge of the under
rule J, and I thus procure the necessary movements of the guards c, c.
In order to protect the filed papers and other articles from dust or damage,
I enclose them within a box or case, a front view of one of which is shewn in
Fig. 22; and a section thereof, taken at the dotted line j, j, in Fig. 22, with
the file and papers within it, is shewn in Fig. 23. k, k, are two side stops
being thin slips of wood affixed withinside of the box or case; these aro

page_text: rounded off at their upper ends, as shewn, and do not reach or extend to the
top of the box. The box is made higher than the length of the file, and has
a cross piece at the top, and another mat the bottom of it, and the file
being placed within it, and the side margins of the file resting upon the
rounded ends of the stops k, k, as shewn by the dotted lines in Fig. 28, it is
lifted up
until it will pass over the lower cross piece m, when it is suffered to
drop and lodge itself in a recess or rebate n, made in the lower cross piece m
to receive and retain it in its place, as shewn in Fig. 23, the upper part of it
resting against the upper cross piece 4, the side margins of the file being in
close contact with the sides of the box or case, and resting against the stops.
Fig. 24 represents a double box or case intended to hold 'two files with their
papers, &c. strung upon them, one being shewn in its place. These are fitted up
with stops and cross pieces in the manner already described, and are. besides
furnished with a lock bolt o (shewn in dotted lines), which has two pieces p, p.
projecting from its under side at the middle and one side of the box, and which
lodge upon the tops of the files and prevent them from being lifted and
removed until the bolt is withdrawn by the action of the key upon it, as in
locks as usual.
is the keyhole.
.
Fig. 25 is a front view, Fig. 26 an end section, and Fig. 27 an end view
In this
of another improved file, and Fig. 28 is another end view of it.
construction, as it is not intended to be placed in a box or case, the side
margins U, U, are omitted, as is also the wooden frame C, C. This file is
intended to be used for filing newspapers and other papers, price currents,
letters, accounts, the numbers of, periodical publications; &c., and is made to
resemble a book and to open like it, having a book cover affixed to the
upper rule I by means of thin leather or other flexible material. B is the
board; X, X, are the tubes, and a, a, the rods of the parallel guide or
regulator, already described, and which is also applied in a similar manner.
J is a cylindrical under rule, affixed close to the edge or side of the board B
by means of pins, &c. passing through holes made in the metal plates or
connecting pieces K, K, as before described, and upon which said pins, &c.
it turns freely. Sliding metal guards, similar to those shewn at c, c, in Figs.
18 and 19, may also be affixed to the under rule J and to the upper rule I, in
order to keep the papers, &c. even upon the file. 9, 9, are hooks or staples
for the file string to be passed around or through, and be secured by a single
bow knot, as shown. The gauge or marker, shewn in. Figs. 7 and 12, is
omitted, as the papers, &c. may be placed in their proper situations within the
filo and the perforations made through them with a pricker or pointed tag
31

page_text: passed through the hole in the upper rule. Figs. 25 and 27 represent this file
as being shut, and Figs. 26 and 28 as open. In Fig. 28 the upper rule I
has changed its place, and by opening the file is become undermost.
Fig. 29 is a book file, and Fig. 13 a counting-house file, in which the
parallel guides X, X, and a, a, are omitted, the parallelism being effected by
means of another construction of the guards at the backs or upper ends of the
files. This construction is shewn in Fig. 31, it being similar to that of a parallel
rule, two of the ends of each pair of cross bars 8, 8, turning upon pins or
screws affixed to metal plates h, h, one of which is screwed to the upper rule I
and the other hung to the under rule J by hinges, and their opposite ends
having also pins or screws which slide along grooves f. f, made in those
plates. The cross bars a, a, are also rivetted or screwed together at their
centres.
Fig. 82 is a plan of the upper rule I, the metal plate h, and the loops or
staples 9, 9; and Figs. 35 is an end view of the whole arrangement.
Figs. 34 and 35 are an elevation and a plan of another method of connecting
the metal plate h, h, with the upper rule I, which is effected by making the
rule in two parts united by hinges.
Fig. 36 shews the same plate h, h, as being provided with hinges to unite it
with the upper rule I instead of making that rule in two separate parts, and
Fig. 87 shews another method of uniting the metal plate h, h, with the upper
rule I (namely) by turning up the ends of the metal plate at right angles, and
making a hole in each end, and through which said hole screws, pins, or pivots
may pass and enter into the ends of the upper rule.
Fig. 38 exhibits a mode of forming the round rods a, a, of the parallel
guide or regulator in two separate parts, one end of each being bent at a right
angle, and entering into a hole made in the end of the upper rulo I to
receive it.
Fig. 39 shews a method of constructing the tag of the file string in two
parts and v, screwed together, and the use of which is to take any paper s
off the file, leaving those which were above it remaining in their proper order
upon the part v.
I do not mean or intend hereby to claim as my Invention any of the parts
described which may be already in use; but I do hereby claim their new
applications or combinations in the manners herein shewn to the various s
descriptions of files. I also claim the liberty of using two files, strings, and
tags, and two prickers or markers occasionally instead of one only, as herein-
before described, and likewise the employment of any other fit and proper

page_text: material or materials in the construction of the various parts in place of those
mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Garbutt, have hereunto set my
hand seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.