Improvements in Letter Files or Paper Holders.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Dec., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Sept., 1896-Accepted, 28th Nov., 1896
Improvements in Letter Files or Paper Holders.
A communication by WILLIAM A. COOKE, Jr., of Brooklyn, in the County of
Kings and State of New York, United States of America.
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, 118 New Street, Birmingham
in the County of Warwick and 31 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in that class of letter files or paper
holders consisting of parallel rings or arches formed of puncturing wires and
transfer wires mounted on a board or plate, and the arches adapted to be opened
for the insertion or removal of a paper or papers without disturbing the order of
those remaining on the wires.
The object of this invention is to facilitate the puncturing of the papers by the
puncturing wires, and to provide a simple and effective means for gauging the
position of the punctures, and registering the edges of the sheets of paper on
the index side and insuring a full exposure of the index letters or characters.
The invention consists in a gauge plate having perforations adapted to receive
the puncturing wires and a flange on one side and end for regulating the position
of the paper with respect to the perforations and the index characters, whereby, all
the papers on file will have their edges on the index side in register and equally
distant from the index characters, so that the latter will be fully visible and the
index sheet perfectly accessible.
The letter file to which the invention is applied consists of transfer wires,
puncturing wires, a base plate to which the said wires are attached, a base board
or tablet, a cover for the papers, and a back to which the tablet or base board and
the cover are flexibly connected. The transfer wires are fixed, and the filing,
puncturing or receiving wires are movable, to open the arches or rings, but this
construction may be reversed; and it may be mentioned here, that any form or
construction of transfer paper files, that is, paper files composed of arches or rings
adapted to be opened or closed, may be used with this invention. On the receiving
or puncturing wires is placed an index composed of strips or sheets of paper
alternately short and long, and of gradually increasing width from the uppermost
to the undermost strip. These strips of paper are strung on the said wires, and on
their ends at one side are printed or otherwise impressed, the index letters or other
characters. It is obvious that an ordinary separate sheet index with one row of
characters may be substituted for the one just described.
The gauge plate is made of sheet metal and has a flange projecting at right
angles froin the edge and extending along one side and end. The plate is provided
with perforations slightly larger than the puncturing and receiving wires and at
the same interval apart so that the plate can be placed on the said wires; one of
the perforations is at such a distance from the flanged end of the plate, that it does
not extend to the column or columns of index characters. The device is used in
the following manner :-
When a paper is to be placed on the file the arches are opened and the gauge
plate removed; the top of the paper is then placed under the gauge plate with its

page_text: ;
edges against the flange where it is held firmly between the thumb and forefingers.
The plate and paper thus held, are carried to the wires and when the holes are in
line with the puncturing wires, the plate and paper are pressed down, whereupon
the sharp pointed wires pass through the papers and holes and the puncturing and
filing of the paper on the receiving wires are simultaneously effected. The tops of
the wires and the holes form together a punch between which the paper is
punctured and while none of the paper is cut out, the edges of the holes crease
the paper so that the wires pass through without splitting the paper or making
ragged edges, and when the plate is pressed down on the paper after it has been
placed on the wires, the slightly raised burr in the hole is smoothed down. Further-
more, the paper being placed against the underside of the gauge plate and held
taut, is supported by the plate against the pressure of the puncturing wires, and it
is impossible to puncture the paper in the wrong place, as the plate prevents the
wires from passing through the paper at any other point or points except in line with
the holes, and the tautness of the paper prevents tearing around the edges of the
perforations. The distinguishing utility of this device consists in its making it
possible to file all the papers with their edges on the index side and at the top in
perfect register and at a proper distance from the index characters to prevent
their obscuration. The flange prevents the slightest deviation of the edges from
the true line and the perforations regulate the distance of the edges of the papers
from the index.
A modification of the device may be used as a substitute for that heretofore
described. This consists of a plate provided with the puncturing holes located as
heretofore described at such a point that the end of the plate next to the index
characters will be at such a distance from said characters as to leave them fully
exposed. The upper edge of the plate may or may not be provided with a flange;
and the end flange may be entirely omitted. A cover is attached to the lower
edge of the plate in any suitable manner and in such relation thereto that it will
not extend to the holes which are thus left of the thickness of the plate only, and
the sharpness of their edges is retained. The cover protects the papers on the file
and in a measure holds them down flat. In the use of this modification the paper
is placed against the underside of the plate as heretofore stated, and adjusted to
position by means of the upper end edges of the plate and held firmly while being
punctured. If desired, when the end Hauge is omitted, the end of the plate may
extend nearer to the index characters and a guide mark made on the surface of the
plate to indicate the position at which the said edges of the papers must be placed
preparatory to puncturing.
Dated this 23rd day of December 1895.
Improvements in Letter Files or Paper Holders.
A communication by WILLIAM A. Cooke, Jr., of Brooklyn, in the County of
Kings and State of New York, United States of America.
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, 118 New Street, Birmingham
in the County of Warwick and 322, late 31, High Holborn in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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 :-
This invention relates to improvements in that class of letter files or paper

page_text: holders consisting of parallel rings or arches formed of puncturing wires and
transfer wires mounted on a board or plate and the arches adapted to be opened
for the insertion or removal of a paper or papers without disturbing the order of
those remaining on the wires.
The object of this invention is to facilitate the puncturing of the papers by the
puncturing wires and to provide a simple and effective means for gauging the
position of the punctures and registering the edges of the sheets of paper, on
the index side and ensuring a full exposure of the index letters or characters.
The invention consists in a gauge plate having perforations adapted to receive
the puncturing wires and a flange on one side and end for regulating the position
of the paper with respect to the perforations and the index characters, whereby all
the papers on file will have their edges on the index side in register and equally
distant from the index characters, so that the latter will be fully visible and the
index sheet perfectly accessible.
In the accompanying drawings:
Fig. 1 represents a double arch letter file with an index and a gauge plate
placed on the puncturing wires over sheets of paper (indicated by broken lines),
thus illustrating the position of the gauge plate and the sheet of paper with respect
to each other and the puncturing wires and index;
Fig. 2 a perspective view of the gauge plate;
Fig. 4 a perspective view of the file index and gauge plate in the hands of the
operator illustrating the mode of manipulating a paper preliminary to puncturing
and filing the same;
Fig. 3 represents the gauge plate with a sheet of paper placed in position for
puncturing and filing.
Fig. 5 represents the device combined with a cover for the papers.
Referring to the drawing, A represents the transfer wires of a paper file, B the
puncturing wires, C the base plate to which the said wires are attached, D the
base board or tablet, E the cover for the papers, and F the back to which
the tablet or base board and the cover are flexibly connected. In the file
represented the transfer wires are fixed and the filing, puncturing, or receiving
wires are movable to open the arch or rings, but this construction may be reversed;
and it may be mentioned here that any form or construction of transfer paper file,
that is, paper files composed of arches or rings adapted to be opened or closed may
be used with this invention. On the receiving or puncturing wires is placed an
index G composed of strips or sheets of paper alternately short and long as a band
of gradually increasing width from the uppermost to the undermost strips. These
strips of paper are strung on the said wires and on their ends at one side are
printed or otherwise impressed, the index letters or other characters as shown.
The index shown and described is of the double column form showing two parallel
rows of index characters, but it is obvious that the ordinary separate sheet index
with one row of characters may be substituted for the one shown.
H is the gauge plate which is made of sheet metal and has a flange projecting
at right angles from the edge and extending along one side and end. The plate is
provided with perforations g g' slightly larger then the puncturing and receiving
wires B B and at the same interval apart so that the plate can be placed on the
said wires. The perforation g¹ is at such a distance from the flanged end of the
plate, that it does not extend to the column or columns of index characters, and
the flange or guide thus lies between the index characters and the adjacent
perforation gl. The distance of the flanged end from the end of the shorter index
strip a should be about the same as the end of this strip is from the end of strip b.
The device is used in the following manner :-
When a paper is to be placed on the file the arches are opened (see Fig. 4) and
the gauge plate removed, the top of the paper is then placed under the gauge
plate with its edges against the flange where it is held firmly between the thumbs
and forefingers as shown in Fig. 4. The plate and paper thus held are carried to the
wires B B and when the holes g g' are in line with the puncturing wires the plate

page_text: and paper are pressed down, whereupon the sharp pointed wires pass through the
papers and holes as indicated by the dotted lines, and the puncturing and filing of
the paper on the receiving wires are simultaneously effected. The tops of the
wires and the holes form together a punch between which the paper is punctured, and,
while none of the paper is cut out, the edges of the holes crease the paper so that
the wires pass through without splitting the paper or making ragged edges, and
when the plate is pressed down on the paper after it has been placed on the wires,
the slightly raised burr in the hole is smoothed down. Furthermore, the paper
being placed against the underside of the gauge plate and held taut is supported
by the plate against the pressure of the puncturing wire, and it is impossible to
puncture the paper in the wrong place as the plate prevents the wires from passing
through the paper at any other point or points, except in line with the holes g g
and the tautness of the paper prevents tearing around the edges of the perforations.
The distinguishing utility of this device however, consists in its making it possible
to file all the papers with their edges on the index side and at the top in perfect
register and at a proper distance from the index characters to prevent their
obscuration. The flange f prevents the slightest deviation of the edges from the
true line and the perforations regulate the distance of the edges of the papers from
the index. This can be readily seen from Fig. 3 where the position of the paper'
represents the position of every other sheet of paper filed by this apparatus.
A modification of the device is represented by Fig. 5 which may be used as a
substitute for that heretofore described. This consists of a plate H provided with
the puncturing holes 9 g located as heretofore described at such a point that the
end of the plate next to the index characters will be at such a distance from said
characters as to leave them fully exposed. The upper edge of the plate may or
may not be provided with a flange; and the end flange may be entirely omitted.
A cover I is attached to the lower edge of the plate in any suitable manner and in
such relation thereto that it will not extend to the holes 9 91 which are thus left of
the thickness of the plate only and the sharpness of their edges is retained. The
cover I protects the papers on the file and in a measure holds them down flat. In
the use of this modification the paper is placed against the underside of the plate
as heretofore stated and adjusted to position by means of the upper and end edges
of the plate and held firmly while being punctured. If desired, when the end
flange is omitted, the end of the plate may extend nearer to the index characters
and a guide mark be made on the surface of the plate to indicate the position at
which the side edges of the papers must be placed preparatory to puncturing.
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. The combination with the puncturing and receiving wires and index sheets
strung thereon, of a gauge plate provided with puncturing perforations to receive
the said wires and co-operate therewith to perforate the papers, guides on one side
edge and the end of the plate, the guide on the end of the plate being between the
index characters and the adjacent perforations in the plate, whereby when papers
are placed on the receiving wires by means of the plate, as described, the side
edges of the papers are made to register and are prevented from overlapping the
index characters, substantially as described.
Dated this 21st day of September 1896.