Improvements in Manifolding Autographic Tablets.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Dec., 1895-Accepted, 4th Apr., 1896
Improvements in Manifolding Autographic Tablets.
We, WILLIAM ASSHETON, DAVID STEWART and CHARLES JEROME CARROLL,
of No. 352 Holliday Street, in the City of Baltimore, and State of Maryland, 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 :-
This invention relates to improvements in manifolding autographic tablets for
the use of salesmen. The object of the invention is to provide a salesman's tablet
and pad of such shape as will admit of being carried in the coat pocket and which
will produce at one writing three copies of a sales check, each of the three checks
having corresponding printed spaces.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which,-
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tablet and paper pad ready for use.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the tablet, pad-back and one slip folded
with carbon paper in position for writing to produce three copies.
Figure 3 is a top plan view of the tablet-back and the paper-pad in position
thereon, showing the means which holds the pad of paper slips to its proper
position.
Figure 4 is a view of the tablet with the end of the paper slips folded up and
held by the rubber band, this being the condition of the parts when the tablet is
carried in the pocket.
Figures 5 and 6 show, on a smaller scale, the two sides of one of the paper
slips.
Figure 7 shows in perspective one of the paper slips folded as it is on the tablet
when it is being written upon.
Figure 8 is a view like Figure 7 but shows a modification of the slip where all
the three copies have the same length.
The tablet comprises a back, A; an end-flange or stop, B; a carbon-paper
holder, C; and sizer or folder, D, which rests on top of the uppermost slip of the
paper pad.
To more particularly describe the tablet the back, A, is a thin plate of suitable
material either metal or sheet fibre-provided with a flange, B, extending across
its upper end and for a short distance on its side, as at, e; this end-flange serves as
a stop or register against which the upper end of the pad of paper slips abut, as
in Figures 1 and 4. When the pad is thus abutting the end flange, B, both ends
of the topmost slip may be folded over the sizer, D, with an assurance that the
corresponding spaces on the three portions of the printed slip will register or
coincide. The carbon paper holder and one end of the sizer or folder are combined
in one piece as follows: A plate, C, of metal has a straight edge, f, extending
crosswise of the pad over which the upper end, h¹, of the paper slip is folded-that
is, said upper end is folded downward and toward the lower end. This plate has a
'narrow cross-slot, g. parallel with the said edge, f; one end of the carbon paper
projects out through the cross slot. The carbon paper has two writing sections, 1, 2,
or two ends; one section, i', is loose like a flap and in practice folds downward
upon the lower end, , of the paper slip. The other section,, of the carbon
paper lays flat upon the middle stretch, 3, of the paper slip, and is kept in position
by the lower plate or cross bar, j, which has a straight edge, f, over which in
operating the device the lower end or lower stretch, , of the paper slip is folded
Pin 17

page_text: upward; thus the lower end, ³, of the paper slip will lie flat upon the lower
section,, of the carbon paper.
The upper section, 1, of the carbon paper is broader than the lower section, and
has at opposite edges a shoulder, k, which rests on the plate, C; these shoulders, k,
prevent the carbon paper from being drawn down when a paper slip is detached.
The sizer or folder, D, comprises the upper cross plate with its straight edge, f,
and the lower cross plate, j, with its straight edge, f', and the side bars, 1, connecting
these two cross-plates; thus the sizer is in the form of a rectangular frame. The
printed matter for the three checks is on two sides of the paper slips and is gauged
to suit the dimensions of the sizer, so that when the lower end or check, h³, and the
top end or check, h', of the paper slip are folded over the sizer, the corresponding
spaces on the three stretches of the slip or the three checks will register with each
other, and any writing that may be done by means of a pencil on the original, h¹,
will be produced in the proper space of each of the said three checks.
The sizer, D, is connected with the back plate, A, of the tablet by means of two
spring arms, mone at each side. The spring arm consists of a wire which is
rigidly hooked into the back plate at, n, and a coil, o, is in the arm to increase its
resiliency; the end of the spring arm is connected with the sizer by a hook, p, on
the arm engaging a projecting lug, 2, on the sizer frame. This arrangement of
spring arm allows the sizer frame, D, to be lifted or raised far enough from the
back plate, A, to insert a new pad of paper slips, R. These pads are made up of
fifty or one hundred paper slips, each having three parts, h1, h2, h3, and a strip of
tough paper, s, for a backing, and all the paper slips and the tough paper backing,
are temporarily secured together at one or more points by adhesive gum, t, on the
edges; this keeps the slips from separating. The tough paper back, s, has a
V-slit, u, and the back plate, A, of the tablet has a thin cross bar, V, see Figure 3 ;
when the parts are in position the tongue of said V-slit is slipped under the said
cross bar and thereby the pad of paper slips is held in proper position with the
upper end of the pad abutting the end flange, D. The back plate, A, has a rubber
loop, W, secured to it, and when the lower end of the pad is folded up and over
the sizer, as in Figure 4, the said rubber loop will confine the parts and keep same
in condition to be conveniently carried in the pocket.
Each paper slip on one side has two printed forms; one at the top end, ', which
is the original because it is the one on which the writing is done, and a corresponding
form on the lower end, ³, and in the middle between these two is a blank; on the
opposite side the paper slip has in the middle a form, ³, like that on the lower end
and at each side of this form is a blank, all as shown in Figures 5 and 6. The top
check, h, may be a coupon giving only a summary, and be shorter than the other
checks, as in Figures 5, 6, 7, and in this case the lower portion of check, /, becomes
an original"; or said top check may be the same size as the others, as shown
at, h, in Figure 8. When the ends, h', ³, are folded over the sizer they take the
position relative to the middle, h', as shown in Figures 7 and 8. After a slip thus
folded has been written on it may be readily detached from the pad by simply
grasping the lower end, ³, and drawing it from under the sizer and folder, D; the
carbon paper remains always set in readiness for use.
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. In a manifolding tablet, the combination of a back plate provided with a register
or stop to determine the position of a paper pad resting on said plate; a sizer or
folder to rest on the topmost slip of a paper pad and connected yieldingly with
said back plate; and carbon paper which has two sections one of which extends
under the sizer or folder and the other being loose like a flap.
2. In a manifolding tablet, the combination of a back plate provided with a
register or stop to determine the position of a paper pad resting on said plate; a
sizer or folder connected with said back plate and having its extreme upper and

page_text: lower edges extending in a direction crosswise of the back plate, said edges serving
for the projecting ends of a paper slip to be folded-one end downward and the
other end upward; a carbon paper holder; and carbon paper which has two
writing sections one of which folds over the other and one section provided at
opposite edges with a notch or shoulder which engages the said holder and thereby
retains the carbon paper in position.
3. In a manifolding tablet, the combination of a back plate provided with a
register or stop to determine the position of a paper pad resting on said plate;
a frame having two extreme parallel edges extending in a direction crosswise of the
back plate said edges serving as folders over which the paper slips are to be
turned; a slot extending parallel with said folding edges; and carbon paper
inserted in said slot and provided at opposite edges with a notch or shoulder which
engages the plate at the ends of the slot.
4. In a manifolding tablet, the combination of a back plate provided with a
register or stop to determine the position of a paper pad resting on said plate; a
sizer or folder to rest on the topmost slip of a paper pad; spring arms connecting
the said sizer with the back plate; and carbon paper having two writing sections
one of which is held flat by the said sizer or folder and the other section folds over
said flat section.
Dated this 17th day of December 1895.
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicants.