US1825153A - Check protecting device - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 29, 1'931. w. MCCANN CHECK PROTECTING DEVICE Filed July 23, 1929 .NARN

mm1 ATToRNEY I 45 the direction of the arrows.

Patented Sept. 29',v 1931 PATENT oFFlcE WILLIAM MGCANN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CHECK PBOTECTING DEVICE ,Application med July 2s, 1929. serial` No. 380,889.

The present invention relates Vto animprovementV in check books, and particularly to protecting devices therefor which may constitute anintegralpa'rt of the check book or which may beused in conjunction with checkvbooks but separable therefrom.

One of the objects of my improvement is the provision .of means for perforating checks, negotiable and .non-negotiable instruments, commercial papers and the like, after the same have been written out, in order to prevent the fraudulent alteration thereof or, in the event that any alterationismade thereon, the same will be apparentvand readily detected.

Another object of my improvement is to provide a device of this character which can be used readily and with facility, to perform its desired operation, after vthe written instrument has been made out.

Another object of my improvement is to provide a device of this type whichV is simple, cheap to manufacture, compact in form and which will hardly affect the bulk of the check book to which it is attached or with which it is detachably used. f

These and other capabilities lwill be apprehended as the herein description proceeds, and it is obvious that modifications may be made in the improvement herein disclosed without departingV from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims. Y `In the accompanyingdrawings l Fig. 1 shows a pocket check book with my device applied thereto.`

Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the check book in open position. v Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken on the `line 3 3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction Y of the arrows. v

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the check book, closed, and about to be used as a check perforator, this section being taken approximately on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1, looking in Fig.V 5 risanfenlarged fragmentary view of the check perforator and stencil therefor, shownJ in enlarged relative operativeA positions. v 1 I The check book to which my unprovedv device is applied is the ordinary and well known pocket size check book, which is best shown in Fig. 2 wherein the check book comprises an upper cover 1 and a lower cover 2, they being covered with the usual buckram covering and bound together, as at 3, by stapling or gluing andbinding therebetween a plurality of' printed checks 4.

A hard and stift stencil 5 is affixed to the top cover 1 and it is hinged to the outer end B0 of the cover 1 as at G by a buckram connection, said stencil being provided with a series of registering stencil slots 7, 8, and 9, these being cut therein.

To thebottom cover 2, asin Fig. 1 and 65 along the upper long edge 10 thereof, there is also aliiXed another cardboard member 11, the hinge portion 12 of which is formed of buckram covering andis sealed around the outer edges as at 13, 14 and 15 to form an v70 easily foldable element which may be folded over and upon the unused checks 4 during the check protecting procedure.

The cardboard member 11 is the check perforating member and it is made up, as indicated in Fig. 5, of a pair of glued together boards 16 and16,.which have affixed therebetween anchoring parts of a plurality of Vmetallic perforating elements, the acting parts of which are shown as projecting above the upper surface of the board 16, these perforating parts 17, 18 and 19 being preferably each in the form of a. series of sharp pointed, upstanding teeth and being best shown in Fig. 3. These perforating lines of teeth 17, 18, and 19 are formed of suitable thin sheet metal, and the perforating members 17 and 18 are shown in Figs. 4 and 5 with the teeth thereof as formed on the two upstanding webs of a channel-shaped member, having thereon a base portion 20.

The other perforating member 19 is formed on an angle shaped member, and the teeth thereof are developed upon the edge of a web, which is spaced away from the angle base portion 21. The baseportions 20 and 21 of the perforating members are cemented betweenthe two boards 16 and 16', and their transverse webs are forced up through one of said boards 16 with the teeth projecting JN! therefrom, as shown at 17 in Fig. 3, said projecting teeth extending a sufhcient distance from said board 16 to fully and cleanly perforate a written check or other written instrument, when desired.

In Fig. 1 the relative positions of the rows of teeth are shown by the references 17, 18 and 19, but the perforating members are extending downwardly, that is, with the teeth inverted with relation to the position of the viewer. The positions of the teeth 17, 1'8 and 19 are so located upon the member 11 that, when the member 11 is folded over all but the topmost of the checks, the latter being placed over said member 11 as in the position shown in Fig. 4i, and when the cover 1 with its stencil 5 is closed thereover, the said teeth will register with the slots 7, 8 and 9', to permit the teeth 17, 18 and 19 to pass up through the said topmost check into the slots 9, 8 and 7, respectively. The registering positions of the teeth and stencil slots are fully shown in Fig. 4, and the topmost check 23, which is to be protectedy or perforated, is shown in position ust prior to perforating the same.

In Fig. 1, the upper exposed check 23 is shown as made out in the customary manner and perforated at 24, 25 and 26, thus protecting the amount of the same, as written in the upper right hand corner, and also the name of the payee and the amount of the check written out in letters. The triangular projections 17, 18 and 19, cut through the check and leave it with a plurality of elongated perforations in the positions shown in Fig. 1 and make it extremely difficult to alter the ch-eck. It is almost impossible for alpen to be passed smoothly thereover, to alter the instrument after it has been perforated, as the perforations will catch the pen point and cause the ink to flow through vthe perforations and blot the paper through to the rear thereof, thus easily showing that the check has been changed.

In utilizing my present device, the procedure is comparatively simple. The book, which is initially closed, is opened by first throwing back the cover 1 with its hinged stencil 5 attached thereto. This exposes the perforating member 11, which is then opened to the position shown in Fig. 1. Then the check 23, or other instrument, is written out and lifted upwardly, to clear the movement of the perforating member 11, which is then closed downwardly upon the unwritten checks, leaving its perforating edges 17, 18 and 19 projecting upwardly.

The check 23 is then thrown over and upon the perforating face of the perforating meinber 11, and the cover 1, with its slotted stencil 5, is folded over and closed upon the written check 23 and firmly pressed downwardly thereover, thus forcing the lines of teeth 19, 18 4and 17 up through the check and into the clearances provided by the slots 7, 8 and 9 respectively and thus perforating the check as indicated by the perforated lines 24, 25 and 26 in Fig. 1. Then the check 23 is torn from the check book along a series of perforations, as indicated by line 27, and the check book is again `closed by first laying back the perforato-r 111 and then closing the covers 1 and stencil 5.

In actual practice it may be suitable to eliminate entirely the hinged stencil 5 and provide the cover 1 with the stencil slots 7, 8 and' 9, if so desired. But it has been found that in use the combinations of the covers 1 and stencil 5 are desirable when the check book has been partly used up in order to overcome the differences inthe check posi= tions after a number of checks have been re-` moved from thebook, leaving thev stub in the check book of athickness greater' than the y layer of remaining checks which are to be perforated.

It is also possible,I instead of hinging the stencil 5, as at 6 in Fig. 2, to hinge it at the opposite end as at au", in- F ig.- 1, and the stencil will function' as desired.

It will therefore be noted that I have provided a simple, self contained check perforator with no loose parts to become lost,- which is also compact, easy to operate and economical to manufacture.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and seek to protect by Letters Patent is: Y

1. A check protecting device for a book for bills of exchange, notes, checks and other commercial paper, comprising a. top cover, a bottom cover, means for holding commercial paper blanks therebetween, a perforati ng plate,- having thereon one or more suitably located perforating members, attached to the bottom cover, and a stencil plate attached to the top cover and provided with openings therein, which register with said perforating members, whereby desired portions of the commercial paper may be perforated when said perforating plate and stencil plate are pressed together with the written commercial paper interposed therebetween. Y

2. A check protecting device for a book for bills of exchange, notes, checks and other commercial paper, comprising a top cover, a bottom cover, means for holding commercial paper blanks therebetween, a perforating plate, having suitably located perforating teeth, projecting therefrom, attached to the bottom cover, and a. stencil plate, attached to the top cover and provided with openings therein, which 'register with said perforating teeth, whereby desired portions of the cornmercial paper may be perforated when said perforating plate and stencil plate are pressed together with the written commercial paper interposed therebetwen.

3. The elements of claim 1, said perforating plate being flexibly connected to said bottom cover and, when turned on said connection into the plane of saidbottom cover, said perforating plate being disposed with its per forating members in an inverted position.

4. The elements of claim 1, said members having thereon base portions, secured to said plate, and webs Iextending transversely thereto, said webs having thereon on the edges l thereof perforating elements, to be enclosed by said openings when the parts of said device are in inoperative assembled relation to each other.

5. The elements of claim 1, the attachment of said stencil to said top cover being adjustable, to overcome the differences in the thickness of the layer of checks, remaining after a number of checks have been removed from said book, and the thickness of the layer of stubs of said checks therein.

6. A check protecting device, including in combination with a check book or the like to which it is connected, a perforating card member, consisting of opposed Vfibrous layers adhesively connected and perforating members comprising flat base strips having marginal outstanding teeth perpendicular to the said base strips, said strips being interposed between said fibrous layers and said teeth eX- tending through one of said layers and proiecting outward beyond the outer face thereof for the purpose set forth.

7 A check protecting device, including in combination with a check book to which it is connected, a perforating element comprising connected fibrous layers, and a plurality of thin metallic .strips having perpendicular marginal teeth extending from the edges of said strips, said strips being sealed between said layers with said teeth ext-ending through one of said layers and projected beyond the face thereof for the purpose set forth.

Si ed at New York in the county of Kings and tate of New York this 20 day of July,

WILLIAM MOCANN.

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