IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOSITORS' CASE FRAMES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Mc Phail, of Wicklow, in the County of
Wicklow, Ireland, Printer, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN
COMPOSITORS' CASE FRAMES."
Scaled the 16th March 1875, and dated the 20th January 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William M° Phail at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th January 1875.
I, WILLIAM MCPHAIL, of Wicklow, in the County of Wicklow,
Ireland, Printer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOSITORS' CASE FRAMES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in compositors' case frames,
the object and nature being to bring a large amount of working material
within narrow limits, conveniently disposed for immediate use, by which
time and space will be greatly economized. The frame is composed of
two sides, a bottom, two shelves, a pair of fillets, and a pair of small iron
brackets reaching from side to side of the frame for the upper case to

page_text: rest on, one pair of double rimmed cast-iron fillets, the upper rim of
which shows an angle towards the middle of its length to admit of the
compositor's lower case at the top of the frame being pushed back when
any of the other cases in the frame are required to be drawn to the front
for use.
The lower rim is straight and sloped upwards from front to 5
back to support a moveable galley tray. Most of the lower fillets are of
wood and sloped, their upper edges forming two inclines.
The principle of my Invention consists in the shape of the fillets, and
the order in which they are placed on the sides of the frame, by which
shape and arrangement the compositor can draw to the front of the 1
frame for use with facility and safety any one of the several cases which
the frame contains without the inconvenience of lifting them out.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William M Phail in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
M PHAIL, of Wicklow, in the County of Wicklow, Ireland, Printer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William M° Phail, Her special licence
that I, the said William McPhail, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William M² Phail, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COMPOSITORS' CASE FRAMES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William McPhail, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of

page_text: the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William McPhail, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Sheet of Drawings (that is to
say:
My Invention relates to improvements in compositors' case frames,
the object and nature being to bring a large amount of working material
within narrow limits, and consists in a frame for carrying or holding
cases and galley tray in which printing types are arranged for con-
venience of composing, distributing, and correcting, said frame being
open in front and fitted with a series of bars or fillets placed one above
the other on each side of the frame and extending from the front to the
back thereof, on which bars or fillets the cases of type and galley tray
are supported so as to be capable of sliding or moving thereon, such
cases and tray being placed at the back of the frame when not in use,
and drawn out to the front, each one clear of the case above it, when
required for use, by which means the compositor is enabled to work at
any required case without the inconvenience of lifting them out of the
frame.
In order that my Invention may be clearly understood I have here-
unto annexed a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, in which Fig. 1
is a perspective view of a compositor's case frame constructed according
to my Invention; and Fig. 2, an elevation of one end of the frame
showing the arrangement of the fillets for carrying the cases and
galley.
A, A, are the sides which are connected and braced together by the
back and braces B and a metal connecting rod or bar under the galley
tray C; D is a shelf arranged under the upper case E which rests upon
a pair of fillets E¹ fitted with shoes or brackets to support the upper
case E; F is the lower case, running or supported on fillets F" formed
with a slope upwards from the front towards the back to F', and thence
horizontally or with a slight slope downwards to the rear so that the
lower case F may run in under the upper case E; below the fillets F¹

page_text: are a pair of straight fillets G sloping upward to the back of the case
frame, upon which the movable galley C will be supported, and checks
or rests G¹ are provided to hold the galley tray in convenient position,
and a further check or rest H is provided on the under side of the
fillets F¹ for a like purpose.
Any desired number of pairs of fillets are provided to carry as many
cases of type, and beedings of hard wood or other material extend across
the front of the case frame at the bottom of the sloping fillets to prevent
the cases falling out when drawn forward, and said fillets are formed
with a slope from the front backwards to nearly half their length, and 1
thence horizontally or with a slight slope or dip to the rear.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention I claim, the
improvements in compositors' case frames substantially as herein
described and shown on the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William M Phail, have hereunto set 1
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, One thousand
cight hundred and seventy-five.