US1422489A - Memorandum-pad stand and pad sheets - Google Patents

Description

G. W. SMITH.

MEMORANDUM PAD STAND AND PAD SHEETS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT.13, 1920.

1,422,4 9,, Patented JuIy n, 1922.

STATES GEORGE w: sivrrrn, on cmcneo, ILLINOIS.

MEMORANDUM-PAD STAND AND PAD SHEETS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 11, 1922.

Application filed September 13, 1920. Serial 110.40.),972.

T0 all/whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I G'nonen W.v SMITH, a citizen of the United tates, residing at Chicage, Cook County, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Memorandum-Pad Stands and Pad Sheets,

of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to stands for. holding memorandum pads such as so-called calendar pads useful for easy reference upon a business mans desk, and also to sheets for such pads.

Its chief object is to provide a neat, simple and relatively cheap device according to which the pad sheets may be easily. and con veniently applied, removed, and turned from time to time. A specific object is .to provide a simple, light-weight, strong, durable and attractive form ofgpad holder or stand. Another is to provide means for holding upon the base strongly and firmly the holding elements which retain the sheets in their operative relative positions. Still another is to improve the construction of the pad sheet with respect to the means-:for holding the same upon the device. Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, which form apart ofthis specification, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view on line 1-1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2'is atop plain of the device of Fig. 1 ,Fig. 3 is a perspective of the spring member for holding the pad sheets upon the base; Fig. 4: is a fragmentary sectional detail; of the base, and spring member showing the parts inholding position; Fig. 5 is a view .o'fthe fragments of Fig. 4 viewed in thedirection of the arrow 5; Fig. 6 is a perspective of a modified form of catch device for the pad sheet holders; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section similar to Fig. 4. showing the modified catch device in operative position; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary transverse section showing the holding device of Fig. 6 in its operative position; and Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragment of one of the pad sheets showing my improved form of locking aperture therein.

The stand portion of my improved de vice is formed from a sheet of thin material,

, such as iron or brass of say eighteen-gauge stock, but it may be-of other materials and thickness, but is preferably of metal, It includes an oblong base 10 having relatively low integral sides 11 which extend substantially from end to end of the base, the sldes 11 having integral enlargements or normally upward extensions 12 substantially midway between the ends of the base. From the base 10 a pair of legs 13, integral with thebase, extend downward side by side, and are beyond the middle of the base in one of the longitudinal directions whereby the base has an upward slant tofthe rear. Each leg 18 preferably has a piece of rubber tubing 14 slipped upon its outturned foot to prevent marring the top surface of the desk.

The sides 11 and the medial extensions 12 form guards for holding the pad of sheets against material lateral movement. The extensions 12 furthermore act as protective means for the sheet-holding spring members whereby in picking up the pad device as a whole the thumb and forefinger of the user will come upon the extensions 12 and not upon the sheet holders, the latter therefore being saved from undue strain tending to get them out of alignment or possibly disconnecting them from the base. 7 The extensions 12 furthermore constitute finger grasp members whereby the handling of the device as a whole for the installation and removal of a pad of sheets or in turning or swinging the sheets from one end portion of the base to the other isgreatly facilitated.

The integral stand device as illustrated and thus far described is of light weight, strong' and rigid, forms substantially a close-fitting pocket forv the pad sheets lying on opposite end portions thereof, occupies but very little more space than that of the pad itself when normally being used, has a convenient tilt or slant for. reference, either in examination of data on the pad sheets or for writing uponthe sheets, and includes in a small, neat and compact arrangement the various desirable features and advantages indicated hereinabove.

The base 10, in the preferred construetion is provided with two pairs of longitudinally oppositely disposed lugs or projections 16 16 and 17 47, each of these lugs or projections being stamped upward from the material of the base 10, and the lugs of each pair having their free ends directed inwardly, meaning toward the middle of the base, and therefore toward each other. Each lug 16-16 and 17 17 is also formed to provide a slanting surface, as shown at 16 (Fig. 4) which slanting surface is directed upwardly and inwardly from the base.

The holding member 20 for the pad sheets is substantially U-shaped when in its operative position as shown in F ig, 1, the same preferably being formed of strip material, and of spring steel, and is so formed that the legs thereof flare apart when unrestrained, as shown by Fig. The free ends of these legs at 21 are cut straight across so as to rest firmly with a good support upon the Hat top surface of the base 10 atthe lu s 16 and '17 respectively, as well seen in ig. 5, the material width of the spring member 20 providing a good foundation for maintaining these spring members against lateral movement when operatively held upon the base.

The free ends of the two members 20 are also provided respectively with a hole through which the projections 16 and 17 respectively extend, as well seen in Fig. 4, and the arrangement of the holes 23 is such that, the metal at the bottom of each hole 23 comes into contact with the slanting surfaces mentioned, as shown at 16? ofthe lug 16 (Fig. 4), the spring pressure of each holding member 20 tending to force the legs thereof apart, a wedging action thus taking place which binds the bottom of the member 20'firmly upon the base 10, as will readily be seen from Fig. 4. The result is that the sheet-holding members 20 are not only locked upon the base against removal therefrom (except by pressing the legs of the spring members closer together respectively and withdrawing the legs from locking engagement) but these sheet-holding members are held quite stably and firmly upon the base, and the pad held by the two spring members is thereby unusually strongly and firmly maintained against lateral: movements, and, furthermore, the

device as a whole with the pad in operative position, unusual solidity and rigidity oil elements rendering it highly satisfactory in service, easily to be handled, as in turning the sheets from end-to end of the base, and in saving the sheets against being torn.

. According to Figs, 6, 7 and 8 the looking member 24 (of which two are employed) has the projecting lugs 25 substantially at right angles to and integral with the body portion 26, the whole being stamped out and formed from sheet metal of say number eighteen gauge, but the thickness, width, etc., of the material may be varied. These lugs 25 have short extensions respectively having slanting. surfaces at 27 similar to the slanting surface 16 of Fig. 4. The base 10 in this instance is provided with four apertures located ,in the positions of the lugs 16-16 and 1717 of Fig. 2, one of these apertures 28 being shownin Fig. 7 and 5 two of them necessary for one unit 24 being shown in Fig. 8, The apertures 28 have only such width in the transverse directions that the projections 25 may pass upwardthrough them with a substantially tight fit, as well to be seen in Fig. 8, the locking device 24 being thereby held sufliciently firmly upon the base 10. In operation the locking members 20 coact with the lugs 25 the same as with the lugs 16 and 17 of the preferred form. An advantage of the modified construction shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 is in thefact that there are no projecting lugs as 16 and 17 upon the base 10 likely'to catch in the buffing wheel when the device is being polished and to become broken off thereby, the two locking members 24 being applied to the base after the buffing is done. i

My improved pad sheet 30 adapted for use in the deviceillustrated is similar in general respects to the sheet ordinarily employed, but'it is provided with a pair of holes of unusual construction adaptedto receive the locking members 20. Ordinarily these holes have been made slot-like and of the same width from one end to the other. In such-case unless the user exercises considerable care when swinging the sheets from one end to the other of the stand the "paper tears at the ends of the slots and the sheets become loosened from the device. I have discovered that if an enlargement of the slot, referably circular, be made at one end o the slot, referably the outer end, (meaning in a clrection toward a side edge of the sheet), the sheet may be swung on the holding members 20 with marked ease and facility, the sheets having opportunity for considerable lateral play during the operation, and that owing to the continuity of the curved edge at the end of the hole there is no point at which the paper around the hole will readily start to tear, Accordinglymy improved sheet contains a pair of slot-like apertures 31 substantially in line with each other, each slot terminating in an enlarged circu' lar opening 32,'the entire opening having much the appearance of the. key-hole of a lock of awell-known type. It is to be understood that all Of the sheets 30 .shown in Figs, 1 and 2 are punched as indicated in Fig. 9, the circular enlargements 32 being adjacent" to the lateral edges respecterial and the legs-thereof being adapted to spring apartfrom their normal operative relative positions, the free ends of the spring member being formed to rest firmly upon spring member being formed of strip material and the legs thereof being adapted to spring apart from their normal operative relative positions, the free ends of the spring being formed to rest firmly upon the base, each end portion of the spring member having a locking aperture, and a pair of spacedapart locking projections carried by the base, the projections being adapted to enter said apertures respectively when the spring legs are forced toward each other slightly beyond their normal operative relative positions, each of said projections having an inclined surface adapted to draw the legs respectively into firm contact with the base through the spring action of said spring member.

3. In a memorandum pad stand, the combination of a base, apair of substantially U-shaped spring members for holding pad leaves, the spring members being formed of strip material and the legs thereof being adapted to spring apart from their normal operative relative positions, the free ends of the spring members being formed to rest firmly upon the base to provide a stable support, each end portion of the spring members having a locking aperture, a plurality of locking projections extending normally upward through suitable holes in the base,

said projections being adapted to enter the apertures respectively of the spring members, and means for holding the locking projections in their respective operative positions.

4. A memorandumpad sheet having a pair of spaced-apart holes each adapted to receive loosely a sheet-holding member in strip form having a width substantially the length of the hole in the sheet, said holes being relatively long and narrow throughout a considerable portion of their extent with their longitudinal axes in line with each other, the long and narrow portion of each hole terminating in an enlarged portion at one end only thereof.

5. A memorandum pad sheet having a pair of spaced-apart holes each adapted to receive loosely a sheet-holding member in strip form, said holes being relatively long and narrow throughout a considerable portion of their extent with their longitudinal axes in line with each other, the long and narrow portion of each hole terminating in an enlarged portion, at the outer extremity of the relatively long and narrow portion of each hole, the inner extremitythereof being relatively narrow.

6. A memorandum pad stand of sheet material comprising an oblong base having relatively narrow normally upwardly extending integral sides throughout the greater part thereof, each of said sides having an integral upward extension substantially midway between the ends of the base, the base having pairs of lugs upstanding therefrom for holding a pair of spring members for holding pad leaves, the base having a pair of legs integral therewith and partially cut out therefrom, both of said legs being side by side beyond the middle of the base in its longitudinal direction to give the base an upward slant toward one end.

7. A locking member for the substantially U-shaped pad-holding spring of a pad stand of the character described comprising a substantially straight metallic body member having a pair of spaced-apart lugs upstanding therefrom substantially at right angles to the body member and adapted to pass throughsuitable apertures in the base of the pad stand, the free end of each of said lugs being formed as a short extension having a slanting surface and adapted to enter a hole in the pad-holding spring for-holding it 011 the base. V

8. In a pad stand of the character described having a base with a plurality of holes therein for locking projections and a substantially U-shaped pad-holding spring adapted to be held on the base by such locking projections, the combination therewith of a plurality of locking projections extendingthrough said holes from the normally lower surface thereof, and means for holding said projections in operative position on said base.

GEORGE W. SMITH.

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