US2041756A

US2041756A - Card holder

Info

Publication number: US2041756A
Application number: US47421A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward B Gray
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1935-10-30
Filing date: 1935-10-30
Publication date: 1936-05-26
Anticipated expiration: 1953-05-26

Description

E. B. GRAY CARD HOLDER May 26, 1936.

Filed Oct. 50, 1955 Patented May 26, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARD HOLDER Edward B. Gray, New Bedford, Mass.

Application October 30, 1935, Serial No. 47,421

5 Claims.

cards without folding, in which the cards are held securely beyond possibility of accidental dislodgement in ordinary circumstances, and to enable the cards to be separately and individually inserted and removed Without necessitating disturbance of other cards.

Holders embodying this invention may be made conveniently of sheet metal, and preferably are made of that material by cutting and stamping or pressing between dies. But the invention is not limited as to material or method of forming the material into its finished condition, but includes as Well equivalent structures made by molding or pressing plastic material, or by casting; provided the material in its final condition is substantially rigid, at least to the extent that it is not easily deformable under ordinary conditions of use.

In the drawing,-

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the invention made of sheet metal;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modification involving a slight difference of form as to the rear panels of the card holding pockets.

Like reference characters designate the same parts wherever they occur in all the figures.

The holder is essentially a plate of suitable material designated as a whole by the reference letter a. It is provided with rows and columns of card holding pockets by forwardly offset panels or strap members b and rear panels 0. The parts b and c alternate with one another in alined columns and are separated from one another by transverse slots, cuts or spaces. Thus the panels or straps b are divided from the body of the plate at their upper and lower edges, but are connected thereto at their opposite ends, throughout their entire height, wherefore they are made rigid and incapable of bending or displacement in normal usage. In the preferred form the parts b are offset to a greater extent at their upper than at their lower edges, and may be offset slightly or not at all at their lower edges, while the panels 0 are preferably offset rearwardly in their upper parts, and not at all, or only to a slight extent, less than the offsetting of such upper parts, at their lower edges. When made from sheet metal, 5 a plate or sheet of any dimensions may be thus worked by dies suitably constructed and shaped to cut parallel and properly separated slits in the sheet metal and offset the material between such slits alternately forwardly and rearwardly in the 10 manner described. By repeated treatment of different parts of a large sheet by such dies, rows of pockets of any desired length, and any desired number of such rows side by side, may be made in a single holder. The drawing shows five such 5 columns of six pockets or card spaces each, which is simply illustrative of the principle. Also, when made of sheet metal, the upper margins of the rearwardly offset panels are preferably beveled forwardly, or parallel to the plane of the holder, 20

as indicated at C in Fig. 2, in order to avoid the occurrence of scooplike edges which might cut or mar the finish of a desk or table on which the holder may be laid.

When the holder is provided for use without a 5;

designated by the letter d in the drawing, tobe easily inserted, firmly held, and prevented from falling out or dropping through the slits between 5 the offset parts. A person inserting a card holds it by the upper end and slips it downward behind one of the ofiset straps b in a direction which causes its advancing end to pass in front of the upper edge of the next lower panel 0. Passage of the card in front of rather than behind the lower panel is facilitated by the relatively wide displacement of the upper part of the strap 11 and the downward and forward inclination of the rearward panel next above it which, if the 45 advancing end of the card is pressed against such upper panel by the manipulator, gives a forward impulse to the advancing edge. In passing beyond or below the strap, the advancing end of the card bears against the next lower panel and is Q inclined forwardly thereby, substantially as represented in Fig. 2. The bending or springing of the card thus effected strongly holds the card in place, and causes the next lower card in the series 55 to obstruct the upper card, preventing too deep an insertion of the latter. Thus, referring to Fig. 2, it will be noted that the lowermost part of the upper card, represented by the letter d, is inclined at a distinct angle to the overlapping part of the next lower card in the series, whereby it is obstructed. Hence if. the cards are placed one after another in upward series, the first card inserted (the lowest one) is arrested by the turned up lip, or bottom frame member of the holder, and the upper cards are each stopped, by the next lower one, after insertion to a uniform distance.

In a holder designed for cards of a given thickness, the straps or panels b are preferably set forward from the next higher panel a distance substantially greater than the thickness of the card but slightly less than twice the thickness of the card; although these proportions are not limiting. And the rearwardly offset parts are preferably offset to a greater distance from the lower edge of the strap next above than the forward offset of the upper edge .of the strap member.

However, the rearward offsetting of alternate panels is not an essential of the invention, and Fig. 3 shows a modification in which there is no such rearward offset. That is, the panels 0 remain in the original plane of the holder, but are formed with their lower lip 0 offset forwardly to provide an abutment limiting the insertion of the card, either by directly obstructing it or by deflecting its advancing end. The forwardly offset panels or straps b are, however, the same in this form as in the one first described. The abutment lip may be used also with the offset and inclined type of panel such as that first described.

Holders which are molded from other materials than sheet metal in accordance with the invention, have equivalent characteristics to those described with more or less modification in detail suitable to the specific material employed.

Such holders are adapted to contain cards or tickets appropriated to seats, or the occupants of seats, in a school room or auditorium; or to show the schedule of activities in a number rooms in a school, or departments of other organizations. It may serve likewise as a directory of the occupants of a building, and for a wide variety of other uses unnecessary to enumerate.

In the present description and the appended claims, the term card is intended to include anything similar to a card in the characteristics of relatively large length and width dimensions in proportion to thickness, whether actually made of a single piece or ply of cardboard, or of a number of plies, whether of cardboard or other material.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A holder comprising a body portion having alternate panels separated from one another by parallel cuts or slits while being integrally joined at their ends with the body, alternate panels being offset forwardly between their ends sufiiciently to admit passage of a card behind them and in front of the panels immediately adjacent above and below.

2. A holder comprising a body portion havin alternate panels separated from one another by parallel cuts or slits while being integrally joined at their ends with the body, alternate panels being offset forwardly between their ends sufiiciently to admit passage of a card behind them and in front of the panels immediately adjacent above and. below, the said adjacent panels having a forward inclination at or adjacent to their lower edges.

3. A holder comprising a body having substantially parallel transverse slits, the material bounded by alternate pairs of slits being offset forwardly and the intermediate material being offset rearwardly; all of said offset portions being thus offset to a greater extent at their upper than at their lower parts.

4. A card holder consisting of a body having card pockets constituted by strap portions integrally united to the body of the holder at their 3 opposite ends and offset between their ends sufficiently to admit cards between themselves and the contiguous areas of the body at either side of them.

5. A card holder consisting of a body having card pockets constituted by strap portions integrally united to'the body of the holder at their opposite ends and offset between their ends sufficiently to admit cards between themselves and the contiguous areas of the body at either side of them, the areas or panels of the holder immediately below each offset portion being so formed as to engage and deflect the advancing end of an inserted card.

EDWARD B. GRAY.