US1122628A - Letter-clip. - Google Patents

Description

L. MYERS. LETTER CLIP. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 14, 1913.

1,122,628. Patented Dec.29,1914.

vf lerf 11% 1 ATTORNEY HE NORRIS PETERS CD..FHOTO-LITHI1 WASHINGTON. D. r"

LEOPOLID MYERS, OF BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

LETTER-CLIP.

Application filed March 14, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LnoPoLD MYERS, a subject of the King of England, residing at the city of Birmingham, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Letter- Clips, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to spring jawed letter clips of the well known bull dog type and to some other kinds of spring jawed letter clips in which the two lever like jaws are closed together by the action of a spring.

hflly invention comprises a catch combined with the arms of the clip and so constructed and arranged that the catch can at will be caused to either retain the grlpplng aws of the clip in their open position, or to allow the said jaws to close under the action of the spring of the clip in the ordinary way. The said catch is by preference, although not necessarily, controlled by a releasing spring adapted to normally hold the catch out of action so that the ordinary working of the clip is not interfered with and the catch is so positioned on the clip arms as to be operable by the thumb without closing the arms and opening the jaws against the pressure of the C shaped or other spring; and also the parts are, or may be, so arranged that whenthe catch is in action it can be automatically released by merely pressing the arms together to open the jaws a little farther apart.

The application of my invention to various kinds of the said letter clips is illustrated by the accompanying drawings of which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a bull dog letter clip with my inven- 'tion applied thereto, the jaws being shown in their closed position. Fig. 2 is a plan of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the same clip showing the catch in action retaining the jaws open. Fig. 4 is also a sectional elevation of the same clip but showing the catch moved out of action ready for the jaws to close. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section on an enlarged scale of portions of the same clip with the jaws closed as in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the part shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is aplan of the small spring which serves to turn the catch out of action. Fig. 8 is a plan of the sheet metal blank for forming the catch shown in the preceding figures.

It is to be understood that apart from the means which I employ for holding the clips Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

Serial No. 754,270.

open, all the clips shown on my drawings are of the well known kinds. In the bull dog clip shown in Fig. 1, 1 is the well known (3 spring which is combined with and closes together the two lever like jaws 2, 3 which are respectively formed in a piece with their arms 4, 5 and which pass through slots 6, 7 in the 0 spring, the sides of these slots 6, 7 forming the fulcra on which these arms 4, 5 turn. In applying my invention to this bull dog clip the catch 8 is arranged about on the center line of one arm 5 and some where about mid-way of the length of that arm and at its lower end is loosely connected as at 9 to said arm 5 so as to be readily moved into the locking position shown in Fig. 3 by the operators thumb at the same time that the arms are being squeezed together to open the jaws of the clip. The joint connection 9' of the catch 8 to the arm 5 allows of the catch 8 being turned slightly on the joint and moved nearer to or farther from the C spring 1. At a certain distance from the pivoted end 9 the catch is made with a lipped or hooked part 10 and the end part 11 of the catch beyond this lipped part projects through a slot 12 in the arm 4 and is rounded and widened so as to be operated by the thumb. This lipped part 10 is adapted to engage with a bridge or cross bar 13 formed on the arm 4 between the slot 12 and another smaller slot 14, but it will be seen that the catch will not engage with this bridge part 13 until the arms 4, 5 have been squeezed together for a sufficient distance to properly open the jaws as in Fig. 3. \Vhen the arms 4, 5 are pressed together the catch 8 can by the operators thumb be pressed forward toward the jaws 2, 3 so that the hooked end 10 will, as in Fig. 3, then engage over the bridge part 13 of the arm 4 and thus retain the arms in this position with the jaws 2, 3 open, but said jaws can immediately be closed by merely pressing the arms 4, 5 together slightly sufiiciently to release the catch 8 and enable it to be moved back so that its hooked part 10 will then pass through the slot 12 in the arm 4 as the jaws are closed together by the action of the spring.

In order to effect an automatic release of the catch 8 from its operative position shown in Fig. 3, by slightly pressing the arms 4, 5 together as aforesaid, a suitable spring is or may be used and combined with the catch 8 and adapted to act upon the same and such a manner that it canbe rocked to opertend to force the catch into its normal position shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5 clear of the bridge piece 13 with which it engages. This spring can conveniently be formed of a sheetsteel blank and shaped as shown more clearly by Fig. 7 so as to form a base part 15 to bear upon the inner surface of the arm 5 to which the catch 8 is jointed, this base part being made with a longitudinal slot 16 where the catch 8 is situated, this spring also having a central spring tongue 17 which acts upon and under and tends to lift the heel 18 formed on the lower part of the catch 8 so as to turn the catch backwardly away from the clip jaws 2, 3, this spring like base 15 being kept in position by its fore part turned up at each side 23 to bear against the back of the C spring 1 and by the front of the tongue part 17 being against the underside of the heel 18 of the catch and by the spring extending as it does on both sides of the catch 8. Moreoverthe front portion 19 of the spring base 15 is made so as to enter the slot 7 in the C-spring 1 and thus by this means the spring base 15 is maintained in its proper position as shown in Figs. 1, 3, 1, 5, 6 and 7. As the catch 8 is normally retained turned back as in Fig. 4: toward the outer ends of the arms 4:, 5, the latter can be squeezed together or released to open. and close the jaws in the usual way,

and unlessthe catch 8 is pressed forward as by the operators thumb, said catch will be inoperative. When however, the said catch 8 is thus pressed forward toward the C spring 1 as aforesaid the hooked catch part 16 of the catch will engage with the bridge part 13 of the arm as shown in Fig. 3 and thus retain the jaws 1, 5 open. When it is desired to close the jaws, the spring catch 8 is readily released by merely pressing the arms 1, 5 together slightly as in Fig. 4-, far enough to allow of the spring catch 8 being turned by its spring 15 to its normal position shown in Fig. 1. The said catch 8 can conveniently be formed from a sheet metal blank such as shown in Fig. 8, folded upon itself along the longitudinal center line, and the catch will thus be'forme'd of metal of double thickness at the main part which is between the arms and passes through the slot 12. This method of constructing the catch 8 is very convenient as the fixing of the catch 8 to the arm 5 is facilitated, the said blank (Fig. 8) being shaped to form at the lower end of the catch two tabs 20, 21

or the like which after passing through a hole 22 (see Fig. 6)in the arm 5 are opened out and engage against the underside of the arm 5 and thus attach the catch 8 thereto in ate as aforesaid.

It will be evident .that if desired the spring:15 for operating the catchmay be dispensed with, but in this case the catch 8 squeezed together to open'the jaws.

after looking the arms as in Fig. 3 will, to

dog type, which is described and illustrated in Figs. 1 to 8. For instance my invention can be similarly applied to all the various types of letter clips in which the two jaws are closed by the action of a C shaped or equivalent spring. One well known species of these C spring letter clips to which my invention can be applied is known as Crockers patent and in this the two lever arms are shaped so as to form the two jaws which are embraced by the C spring, the arms being folded so as to pass between the meeting ends of the C spring and then bent and continued outside the same soas to embrace the C spring and stand outwardly beyond the same as in the bull dog type to form the two lever portions which are application of my invention to this particular species of C spring letter clips is not illustrated on my drawings as it is applied thereto in a similar manner to that described and illustrated by Figs. 1 to 8.

In another well known form of the said C spring clips to which my invention can be applied in a similar manner to that above described with reference to Figs. 1 to 8, the

two arms or plates of the clips are arranged outside the C spring so as to embrace the same with the wide ends and the arms or plates turned in and embracing the ends of the C spring.

The accompanying drawings illustrate what I consider to be the best ways of carrying myinvention into practice, but it is to be understood that my invention is not limited to the precise details shown, as it will be evident that the catch for maintaining the jaws open against the pressure of the spring can be arranged in many other ways than those above described, as for instance the catch may if desired be made witha head at its upper end which projects through a key hole like slot in one arm and has a shank loosely attached to the other arm of the clip in such a way that the head of the catch will pass through the key hole slot in the arm when the arms are being closed together and can when desired be pressed toward the spring or fulcrum so that the shank of the head will enter the small part of the slot and the jaws will be maintained open by the head of the catch engaging the surrounding part of the arm and thus retaining the clip open. If desired a depression may be formed around the narrow part of the key hole slot so as to. engage in the underside of. the; head of; thecatch and thus more se- The ourely retain the catch in its locked position. Or instead of the catch being arranged on the center line of the arm to be brought into operation by moving toward the spring or fulcrum and to be moved out of operation by moving in the opposite direction, the catch can be otherwise arranged as for instance to act on one side of the arm by be ing jointed to one side of one arm to act against the other side of the other arm to hold the arms open and to release them when desired to close the jaws.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. The combination with a spring jaw letter clip of a catch pivoted to one jaw member and projecting through a slot in the other member, the said catch being maintained in its inoperative or non-engaging position by a spring and manually forced into its operative or engaging position with the clip members against the pressure of said spring. Y

2. A letter clip having two jaw members controlled by a spring normally adapted to hold the jaws together, in combination, a lipped catch pivoted at one end to one of said members and having its lipped end lo cated within a slot in the other member, said catch normally remaining in a non-engaging. position and being caused to retain the jaw members in their open position by pressing the lipped end of the catch over the member in which it is located, said catch being automatically released from said member upon further extending the aws.

3. The combination with a letter clip having two jaw members of a lipped catch pivoted to one member and having its lipped end located in a slot in the other member, said catch having a heel part, a spring fixed to one of said members engaging with the heel part of the catch to maintain the catch from locking engagement with the member in which it is located.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEOPQLD MYERS. W'itnesses W. P. JONES, JOHN C. SANDERS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

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