US214482A - Improvement in ribbon-blocks - Google Patents

Description

' P; J. AUSTIN. Ribbon-Block.

No. 214,482. Patented April 22, 1879.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK J. AUSTIN, OF FARMINGTON,MA1NE.'

IMPROVEMENT lN RIBBON-BLOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 214,482, dated April 22, 1879; application filed January .29, 1879.

even surface upon which to wind the ribbon and keep it in shape.

Figure 1 is a perspective view, showing the block with a piece of ribbon thereon; and Fig.

2 is a sectional view on the line a: m of Fig. 1.

Figs. '3 and 4 represent longitudinal sections of the block somewhat modified in its construction.

It was formerly customary to make the blocks or rolls on which ribbons were wound by simply turning them of the various sizes required from a solid piece of wood; but blocks thus made were objectionable because of their weight, which is many times that of the ribbon wound upon them, thereby greatly enhancing the cost of transportation.

To obviate this objection they have latterly been made of pasteboard' or paper in several different styles, some having cylindrical paper bodies with wooden heads, and others having similar bodies with pasteboard heads or ends; but these have not proven satisfactory, for the reason that, as the ribbon is usually moist or damp when wound, the pasteboard bodies fail to retain a truly cylindrical form, their surfaces becoming more or less irregular and distorted, which renders the ribbon crooked or irregular on its edges when unwound, and notunfrequentlyirregular and uneven throughout its body, thereby seriously affecting its appearance, and consequently its sale also.

A ribbon-block has also been described as composed of a sheet of veneer bent to form a cylinder, with a strip glued on the inside at the joint to hold the ends together, and with end pieces of veneer or of wood glued in; but it is obvious that such a device cannot be made true without the-use of a former, and thatthe parts must be clamped or held together until the glue or cement dries, and that such a method of making them would be'both slow and expensive, besides being more liable to get out of shape or to split after being made; and I am not aware that any such have ever been made or introduced into use.

Now, the object of my invention is to produce a ribbon-block which, while obviating the objection to the old-style solid wooden block, of excessive weight, shall at the same time retain its shape and present a smooth and even surface, and thereby keep the ribbon even and smooth. To do this I make the block of wood; but instead of making it solid I make it hollow, as shown in Fig. 2.

1t is obvious that this may be accomplished in a variety of ways; but the simplest and best plan known to me is to make the block of two parts, A and B, each part being bored or hollowed out, and united by a joint, which will bring their outer surfaces flush, as shown in Fig. 2. When these parts are thus constructed, and glued or cemented together, the result is a cylinder or block which externally has a true cylindrical surface that will retain its form, and will be in all respects equal to that of the solid wooden block, and which at the same time is as light as those made of pasteboard, or nearly so. Ribbon wound on a block thus made will remain even and smooth and will be true on its edges when unwound, while at the same time the cost of transportation will be greatly reduced as compared with any other block having the same qualities.

Itisobviousthat instead of dividing theblock centrally, as represented in Fig. 2, the body may be made throughout its length of a single piece, with the head left solid at one end, and

then have a head iuserted at the other end, as shown in Fig. 3, or that both end pieces may be made separately and then inserted; but I prefer the planshown, as by the use of proper machinery they can be made cheaper and more rapidly. They may also be made in the form of a simple open-ended tube or cylinder with a diaphragm at the center, as shown in Fig.- 4; but if so made the body must be thicker, in order to prevent their being crushed or split, and this increased thickness would render them as heavy as when made with the solid ends, as shown, and would not be as one, being securely fastened together, substanstrong, and therefore I prefer the plan shown in Fig. 2.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A ribbon-block composed of a cylindrical shell or body of uniform diameter from end to end, turned from one or more pieces of solid wood, with one or more transverse supporting diaphragms or disks, the partsyif more than tially as shown and described.

2. A ribbon-block composed of the hollow cylindrical parts A and B, securely fastened together, substantially asherein shown and described.

- FRANK J. AUSTIN. Witnesses:

G. B. RoLLIN, E. B. LUFKIN.

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