US208154A - Improvement in holders for lead-pencils - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ORESTES CLEVELAND, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

.IMPROVEMENT IN HOLDERS FOR LEAD-PENQILS.

Specification forming part-of Letters Patent No. 208,154, dated September 17, 1878 application filed March 1, 1878. V

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORESTES CLEVELAND, of Jersey City, Hudson county, State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Holders for Lead-Pencils, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates to cases or holders for lead pencils, pen-holders, crayons, and like articles, such as require to be packed or associated together for sale or use.

It consists in a holder of peculiar construction, in which a number of pencils may be compactly stored or held without interfering one with another, and from which one or more of said articles may be removed for use or sale without disturbing the position of the rest, all of which will be particularly hereinafter described.

Examples of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a holder provided with a cover, so as to form a box. Fig. 2 is an end elevation, showing said box open; Fig. 3, a similar view, showing the box as closed. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the box as closed, and Fig. 5 shows a modification of the invention.

The mainv feature of the invention is the holder 5, provided with grooves 6 and divisionribs'7. This holder is preferably constructed from a block of wood of such dimensions as adapt it to have a number of parallel longitudinal grooves, 6, formed in it by planing, thus providing the division ribs 7, which grooves are made deep enough and otherwise of such dimensions as will adapt them to receive and support the pencils or similar articles designed to be held in them. If the pen oils are round, the grooves will be semicircular if polygonal, then the grooves will be of such shape as to suit that form. These grooves 6 are closed transversely at proper points by means of stops, as 8, which are short pieces of wood of a form adapted to fit into the said grooves, and as these stops are to be permanently fixed in place they will be secured by glue or other common fastening means, and, though they need not extend higher than the sides of the holder, they will preferably conform in height with that which the pencil has when placed in the grooves 6, in order to form therewith a symmetrical appearance when the holder is filled with pencils.

The holder may be in length equal to that of .a number of pencils, and be provided widthwise with the grooves 6 for a considerable nu mber of pencils--say one or two dozenand, no matter what numberof intermediate stops 8 it may have, its ends will be provided therewith, as in Fig. 1, to afford a proper finish to the article.

Thus constructed the holder will be provided with grooves 6, in which the pencils'will snugly fit and rest and with ribs 7 and stops '8, which efi'ectually separate them one' from another, and enable the user or seller to temporarily or permanently remove'any individual one or many of the pencils without disturbing the rest.

In the embodiment of this invention shown in Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings, this holder 5 is provided with four parallel longitudinal grooves, 6, and is of a width suited to receive four pencils placed side by side therein. The

. ends of these grooves6 are supplied with stops 8, which are of a height equal to'that of the pencils 1 2 3 4, thus finishing the ends of the holder. This holder 5 is furthermore provided with a cover, 10, which is a counterpart of the holder itself, except that it is unprovided with the stops 8; but, while these stops 8 are'so shaped that their upper portions will fit into the grooves 9 in the said cover, they might be divided and each half of them be securedrespeetively in the grooves in the holder and cover, as is indicated by the dotted lines, Fig.3, thus forming, in connection with the extremities of the ribs 7 11, a straight surface at the ends of both the holder and cover.

It is obvious that whether the stops 8 conform in size and shape with the end, of the pencil and are secured in the grooves of the holder, as in Fig. 2, or are divided and have one part secured in the grooves of the holder and one part secured in the grooves of the cover, as in Fig. 3, dotted lines, the said grooves 9 in the cover will, since they fit over the pencils supported in the grooves 6 in the holder, secure the cover in place upon the holder against any lateral displacement; and that by providing a pin, as 12, carried by the cover and extending into a hole in the holder, as in Fig. 5, any longitudinal displacement of the parts will be prevented. This may also be done by cutting away a part of one of the stops at each end and providing projections upon the cover to abut against the same when the coveris in its closed position; but by preference the sides of the cover and holder will be provided with a hinge at the back, as shown, and the sides at the front will be provided with a common means for locking them together when closed, as by hooks and pins, as shown.

It is furthermore apparent that these holders may be made in nests, so as to be adjusted one upon another to any extent. Thus, in a holder adapted to hold a dozen pencils, as in Fig. 5, the upper and lower members, 10 5, correspond with those similarly marked 10 5 in the other figures, while the intervening members, as 20 21, will be counterparts of each other, and will differ from the members 10 5 only in having the grooves, as 6 or 9, duplicated on their opposite faces. These members 10 5 may be hinged together, as has been described with reference to the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4, or may be provided with the pins 12 to prevent longitudinal. displacement, as already described, and in addition may be supplied with small handles at their ends, by which they may be lifted one from the other. This form of the device will be especially desirable when the holder is designed to contain a large quantity of pencils, as for exposition in a store, the holder in that case, or when arranged to hold a smaller quantity, being adapted to contain in its upper section the hard grades, in its central section the medium grades, and in its lower section the soft grades, which arrangement will be convenient either for use by draftsmen or salesmen. This holder, though particularly described as a pencil-case, is to be understood as being capable of use for pen-holders, crayons, and similar articles of desk-furniture or writing-instruments, its dimensions and the shape of its parts being changed to suit the article.

The members of the holder are of such construction that theymay be rapidly and cheaply produced by machinery, since long wooden blocks or strips may have the grooves formed in them by the well-known process of planing, the cutters of the plane being suited to out out as many grooves side by side as may be desired while the wood is passing once through the machine. I

When these holders are made of cedar or other aromatic wood it is preferable that the stops 8 shall not entirely fill the grooves 9 in the cover 10 and corresponding parts of the sections shown in Fig. 5, the object being to afford the air free access to the interior, in order to destroy the oil which, exuding from such woods, will injure the finish of the pencils or other articles but this is not essential.

Other materials than wood may be used without departing from the gist of this invention, as papier-mach and the like.

What is claimed is 1. A holder for pencils having a number of parallel longitudinal grooves, as 6, and stops, as 8, secured in said grooves, substantially as described.

2. A box composed of the grooved holder 5 and cover 10, said members being counterparts of each other, and the former provided with. the stops 8, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the pin or pins 12 wit-h the grooved holder and cover and stops 8, substantially as described.-

4. The combination of the grooved holder 5 and cover 10 with one or more intervening members, as 20 21, said parts being provided with stops 8 and with hinges or means for lit'ting them, substantially as described.

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

ORESTES CLEVELAND.

lVitnesses:

HENRY T. 1\IUNSON, GEO. H. GRAHAM.

Images