Improvements in Damping and Erasing Devices.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 21st July, 1396-Accepted, 5th Sept., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Damping and Erasing Devices.
I. CHARLES ARTHUR ALLISON, of 52 Chancery Lane, London, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which
has been communicated to me from abroad by William Cotter Wilson, of 118 Court
Street, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America, Medical Electrician),
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an implement made according to my
invention;
Fig. 2 a view of one end thereof;
Fig. 3 a view of the opposite end thereof, and
Fig. 4 a side view of the same.
Fig. 5 is a side view and partial sectional view showing a modification of the
same.
This invention relates to that class of implements designed principally for desk
or office use and designed for damping the gum of envelope Haps, postage
stamps etc. for erasing clerical errors in writing, for opening letters and the like,
and generally for facilitating clerical labour and the small items of more purely
mechanical office work. The object of my invention is to provide a device of the
class mentioned by which the various and multifarious operations, above indicated,
may be readily performed which will be simple in construction, reliable in its
several applications to use and capable of long continued use without replenishing
or repairs. My said invention comprises certain novel combinations of parts by
which said object is, in a high degree, secured.
A is a cup into the contracted top or opening, a, of which is screwed a tube, B,
upon the upper end of which is slipped a cap, C, upon this cap is curved, crescent
shaped or other suitable knife or scraper, D, which is so provided as to be capable
of use as a scraping eraser. At the bottom of the cup, A, is a circumferential
flange. Secured in any suitable manner within this flange is a disk, or preferably
as shown in the drawing, an annulus, F, of india-rubber of the kind and character
commonly employed for erasing pencil marks, etc. The preferred annular form of
this india-rubber eraser, D, affords inner and outer circumferential angular edges, c',
and, d, which by their acute rubbing action insures a much more effective erasing
action upon pencil marks and the like than is afforded when a simply flat disk form
of such eraser is employed. To provide for the easy attachment and detachment
of the tube, B, from the cup, A, it is desirable that the outer surface of the tube
be roughened to enable the fingers of the operator to more firmly grasp it in
turning it to screw or unscrew the same as the case may be; it is also desirable
that the said outer surface of the tube, being as it is exposed prominently to view,
should be made available for advertising purposes, I secure both conditions by
providing upon said surface in raised letters, as at, f, auy desired matter. This
may be done by suitably stamping the sheet metal of which the tube is composed.
Within said tube, preferably extended at its inner end practically to the bottom of
the cup and at its outer end projecting beyond the outer end of the tube is a porous
wick, E, which may be of felt wound about itself to a cylindrical form or of any
other suitable material. The cup, A, when the device is ready for use and
operation, is filled with water or other desired or suitable liquid to be used in
damping.

page_text: With its several parts thus coordinately arranged, the device is capable of
manifold convenient uses. Thus by grasping the tube, B, with the fingers the
angular edges of the rubber eraser, F, may be conveniently applied to and rubbed
upon surfaces bearing pencilled or other lines to be erased by rubbing thereby,
while by still holding upon said tube but simply reversing the implement, the
plate, D, may be applied to purposes of erasure by scraping. This scraper eraser
instead of being at the top of the cap may be at the bottom thereof as shown
in Fig. 5; in this case I make the cap of sufficient length to reach to the top of
the cup, A, and make its lower end of the flaring or bell shape shown in section
in said fig., with the edges, el, thereof made sharp or knife-edged, thereby
providing a circular scraper to which the cap, C, provides a handle, and which
may be employed, like that shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 for erasing by scraping, etc.
Again by simply removing the cap, C, and thus exposing the projecting outer
end of the wick, with the fingers grasping the tube as just mentioned the said end
may be applied as a damp brush to the gummed surfaces of postage stamps, of
letter envelopes, newspaper wrappers and the like to muisten the same thoroughly
and expeditiously.
By retaining the cap in place upon the tube when the wick is not in use the
latter may be kept moist for an indefinite time, while said cap serves the purpose of
so affixing the blade or scraping eraser, D, to the tube that the latter, as herein
before explained, is enabled to provide the means by which said eraser is applied
to its work.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. The combination with the cup, A, for containing liquid, and a rubber
eraser, F, at the bottom of said cup, of a flauge, b, for attaching said eraser to said
cup, a detachable tube, B, extended from the top of the cup to form a means for
manipulating the eraser, and a porous wick placed in the cup and tube and
extended beyond the latter to provide a dampening brush capable of manipulating
or application to use by means of the tube and a removable cap for preventing
evaporation of liquid from the wick, all substantially as herein set forth.
Second. The combination with the cup, A, for containing liquid, the tube, B,
screwed into the top of said cup and roughened by raised reading matter upon its
external surface, of a porous wick placed in said cup and tube and projected beyond
the latter, a cap for preventing evaporation of liquid, from said wick, and a rubber
eraser attached to the bottom of the cup, all substantially as and for the purpose
herein set forth.
Third. The combination with the cup, A, for containing liquid, the tube, B,
screwed into the top of said cup and roughened by raised reading matter upon its
external surface, and a porous wick placed in said cup and tube and projected
beyond the latter, of a cap for preventing evaporation from the wick, a rubber
eraser, F, and a circumferential flange, b, at the bottom of the cup to attach
the rubber eraser to the cup, all substantially as and for the purpose herein set
forth.
Fourth. The combination with the cup, A, for containing liquid, the tube B,
screwed into the top of said cup, a porous wick placed in said cup and tube and
extended beyond the latter, and a scraper eraser, D, of a detachable cap, C, for
attaching said eraser to the tube and for preventing evaporation of liquid from the
wick within the latter, and a rubber craser, F, attached to the bottom of the cup,
all substantially as and for the purpose berein set forth.
Fifth. The combination with the cup, A, for containing liquid, the tube, B,
screwed into the tup of said cup and roughened by raised reading matter upon
its external surface, a porous wick placed in said cup and tube and extended
beyond the latter, of a scraper eraser, 1), a detachable cap, C, for attaching said
eraser to the tube and for preventing evaporation of liquid from the wick in said

page_text: tube and an annular rubber eraser, F, at the bottom of the cup, all substantially as
and for the purpose herein set forth.
Sixth. The combination with the cup, A, for containing liquid, the tube, B,
screwed into the top of said cup and roughened by raised reading matter upon its
external surface, a porous wick placed in said cup and tube and projected beyond
the latter, of a scraper eraser, D, a detachable cap, C, for connecting said eraser
to the tube and for preventing evaporation of moisture from the wick, an annular
rubber eraser, F, and a circumferential flange, b, at the bottom of the cup for
attaching said eraser to said cup all substantially as and for the purpose herein set
forth.
י.מ
1000
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.