US2260089A - Typist's erasure guard - Google Patents

Description

0a. 21, 1941. E, R, HERCE- 2,260,089

TYPIST S ERASURE GUARD Filed Oct. 25, 1940 lllllllll'illl'llllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllll|lllllllll|1l|l|lll| I III} TEA.-

Patented Oct. 21, 1941' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,260,089 TYPISTS ERASURE GUARD Edward R. Pierce, Washington, D. 0. Application October 25, 1940, Serial No. 362,857

2 Claims The invention relates to a guard for use in a typewriter when erasing errors, in work involving the production of an original and at least one carbon copy.

The principal aim of the invention is to provide a new and improved guard quickly and easily insertible between any typewriter-held sheet, upon which erasing is to be done, and the immediately underlying sheet of carbon paper, and effective when so inserted, to smoothly and stably support the work while erasing, with no danger of creasing the paper; to permit erasure at any point or points throughout the length of any or all of a plurality of adjacent lines of typing without shifting the guard; and to prevent the erasing operation from transferring any carbon from the carbon paper to the underlying carbon copy, thus preventing smudging of said carbon copy and also preventing the formation of semi-blind spots on the carbon paper to later produce pale carbon copies of any characters struck over them.

In carrying out the above end, a further aim is to provide a guard of such construction that it may be advantageously used as a line guide when copying or proofreading, and may, if desired, constitute a carrying means for typewriter line and letter spacing scales of sufficient length to be of practical value.

Yet another aim is to provide a novel handle on one end of the guard, not only useable when inserting and removing said guard, but useable also as a guide for accurately locating a point at which a paper fastener is to be used to-connect sheets of typed work, enabling the edges of all sheets placed on the same fastener to be alined, for more orderly filing.

A still further object is to provide an article of the class described which may be easily and inexpensively manufactured and profitably sold at a reasonable price.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accompanying draw- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the manner of using the guard.

Figure 2 is a top plan view.

Figure 3 is an edge elevation.

Figure 4 is an end elevation.v

In the drawing above briefly described, the numeral 5 denotes the guard; 6 refers to an ordinary typewriter platen; I indicates a sheet of paper upon which typing is to be done; 8 rewriter platen 6.

fers to the carbon paper; and 9 indicates the carbon copy. While the guard is shown in connection with provision for making only one carbon'copy, it is of course not so limited, and may be used not only upon the carbon paper directly underlying the first sheet or original, when correcting same, but employed in the same manner when correcting any additional carbon copies being made.

The guard 5 is in the form of a substantially rigid relatively long and narrow plate which is longitudinally straight and transversely curved on an arc of a circle, said are corresponding to the peripheral curvature of an ordinary type- The length of this guard or plate 5 is preferably somewhat less than that of the platen 6, being substantially equivalent to the width of an ordinary sheet of typewriting paper; the width of said guard or plate is at least sufiicient to underlie and project beyond a plurality of adjacent lines of double-spaced typing and said width may be approximately from one-fourth to one-third of the circumference of the platen 6; and the thickness of said guard or plate is preferably no greater than required to prevent localized deformation or springing under the pressure of the eraser and the pressure of the fingers used in holding the paper against the guard or plate and holding the latter firmly in position when erasing. Both longitudinal edges ID are unencumbered and straight and transversely rounded, and all corners are rounded.

Due to characteristics above described, the guard will have .,,a sufliciently extensive area of support to prevent any normal pressure upon the paper from transferring any of the carbon coating from the carbon paper 8 to the carbon copy 9; an erasure may be made at any point or points throughout the length of any or all of a plurality of adjacent lines of typing while the guard remains in one position; due to the fact that the transverse curvature of the guard corresponds to that of the platen, there is no danger of the guard rocking transversely as it would if curved on a longer radius, and there is no danger of the longitudinal edges of the guard exerting such pressure on the carbon copy as to transfer any of its carbon coating to the underlying carbon copy, as would occur if the guard curvature were on a shorter radius; and no erasing operation will tend to crease the paper, as it lies snugly and smoothly against the entire area of the guard. The length of the guard is also of further advantage as it permits use of said guard as a line guide when copying or proofto each other and meeting at a corner l6.

reading. Moreover; if desired, this length and the unencumbered edges ll enable the guard to carry typewriter line and letter-spacing scales of sufiicient length to be of practical value, such scales being indicated in a general way at H and I2.

One end of the guard is provided with an integral upstanding transverse finger plate It which occupies a position at one'edge of the paper when erasing and will thus have no tendency to cause creasing of the paper. This finger plate may be conveniently held between the thumb and forefinger when inserting and removing the guard, and I preferably position and construct said finger plate to perform a secondary function also, as will now be described.

The finger plate I! is provided with an upper edge II and a vertical edge l5 at right angles At a point about midway between the edges l4 and IS, the plate I3 is formed with a small opening l1 any desired distance from the comer It, said opening being of a size to receive the point of a lead pencil. By holding the guard 5 in one hand and placing the plate I 3 accurately in'one corner of a typed sheet of paper, a pencil may be used with the other hand to mark the paper through the opening l1, thus accurately locating a point through which to pass a paper fastener. By so marking all sheets to be connected by the same fastener, their edges will be orderly alined for neat filing.

The finger plate I3 is useable for conveniently inserting and removing the guard 5 for erasing, and said guard 5 forms a handle when using said finger plate l3 as a guide to mark a point through which to pass a paper fastener. I have found that when this finger plate I3 is at about a 30 angle to the vertical, it may be conveniently and advantageously used for both its primary and secondary purposes.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that a novel and advantageous article has been provided for attaining the desired ends. It is to be understood, however, that within the scope of the invention as claimed, minor variations may be made. While stainless steel is preferred in manufacturing the device, any other appropriate material could of course be used.-

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture for insertion between a sheet being typed and an immediately underlying sheet of carbon paper while erasing on the first mentioned sheet, said article comprising a relatively long and narrow substantially rigid plate, both longitudinal edges ofwhich are unencumbered, said plate being longitudinally straight and transversely curved on an arc of a circle, said curvature corresponding to the peripheral curvature of an ordinary typewriter platen; the length of said plate being approximately equivalent to the width of a conventional sheet of typewriter paper and the width of said plate being sufilcient to underlie and project beyond a plurality of adjacent lines of doublespaced typing; the thickness of said plate being sufiicient to prevent localized deformation thereof under the pressure of an eraser or the pressure of the fingers used to hold the sheet upon the plate and the plate upon the underlying carbon paper, carbon copy and platen; one'end of said transversely curved plate being provided with an upstanding transverse finger plate which occupies a position at one vertical edge of the paper when said transversely curved plate is in use, in which position said finger plate has no tendency to cause creasing of the work while erasing.

2. An article of manufacture for insertion between a sheet being typed and an immediately underlying sheet of carbon paper while erasing on the first mentioned sheet, said article comprising a relatively long and narrow substantially rigid plate, both longitudinal edges of which are unencumbered, said plate being longitudinally straight and transversely curved on an arc of a, circle, said curvature corresponding to the peripheral curvature of an ordinary typewriter platen; the length of said plate being approximately equivalent to the width of a conventional sheet of typewriter paper and the width of said plate being sufiicient to underlie and project beyond a plurality of adjacent lines of double space typing; the thickness of said plate being sufiicient to prevent localized deformation thereof under the pressure of an eraser or the pressure of the fingers used to hold the sheet upon the plate and the plate upon the underlying carbon paper, carbon copy and platen; one end of said transversely curved plate being provided with an upstanding transverse finger plate at substantially 30 to its length and shaped for use as a guide when marking a carbon copy for the purpose set forth; each of said plates acting as a handle for the other thereof when either plate is being positioned for use or removed.

EDWARD R. PIERCE.

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