US2597967A - Billfold - Google Patents

Description

May 27 1952 c. A. ANDERSON 2,597,967

' "BILLFoLD Filed Aug. 1, 195o gi- Vw 38,33 3%8 sal/A l l l @x j F n 1 ENVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented May 27, 1952 BILLFOLD Carl A. Anderson, Cranston, R. I., assignor to Anson, Inc., Providence, R. I., a corporation of Rhode Island Application August 1, 1950, Serial No. 176,957

7 Claims.

1 This invention relates to improvements in billfolds and more particularly to mechanical means nwithin the billfold for removably holding bills or other strips of paper.

One object of the present invention is to provide mechanical means of a simple, inexpensive and compact construction for retaining bills in a prearranged order and then be able to remove any single bill without disturbing the arrangement or order of the remaining bills.

Another object of the present invention is to `provide a mechanical arrangement for holding bills which is pleasant in appearance and durable in construction.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a mechanical arrangement for holding bills which is light in weight and foolproof in operation.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent in part and be pointed out in part from the following specification and claims.

According to the prior art and commercial practice, billfolds have been made with leaf springs acting as clips. These have proven themselves inadequate because no finger grips were provided to lift the clip against the tension of the spring. People with tender fingers injured their finger nails and finger tips. Loss of sales followed. The spring clips could not be held back while bills were inserted. The bills had to be slid into place resulting too frequently in upsetting the arrangement of the bills. The leaf springs are greatly limited in the stack of bills which can be inserted. The leaf spring being light and fragile lacked durability. Where durability was provided, a heavy metal frame was used to hold the clip. The result was a heavy article 'of `iewelry which should have been light, serviceable and easy on pocket linings. The present invention was designed to overcome these and other objections.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is to be described by reference to the accompanying figures of the drawing wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, in which:

Figure 1 is' a front elevational view of a billfold containing the new bill clip.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a billfold hous- -ing the new bill clip.

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the billfold clip, partly in section, with the gripping fingers in open position.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts in the several views.

Referring to Figures l, 2 and 3, the improved billfold I comprises two strips of flexible material II and I2, as leather, fastened together; as by stitching I3. The upper strip I2 has fastened to its underside or inside area another piece of material I3, which may consist of leather with an open pocket I4 is shown or part I3 may consist of aftransparent material, as plastic, fastened, as with stitches I5. Thus providing a pocket for an identification card.

The lower strip II is provided with a flap I6 which may house the male portion of a snap fastener being located in strip I2.

The new and improved clip consists of a U-shaped housing 20, see Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4. A U-shaped piece of wire 2I provided with legs 22 and 23 rests in the base of the U of yhousing 20 and has its legs 22 and 23 passing through holes in said housing 20 for a purpose, presently to be described.

A spring member 24 is retained in the U slot of housing 20 by means of an ear 25 extending from one side of the U-shaped housing 20and bent across the opening of the U as shown in Figure 3. Spring member 24 is provided with a slot of a dimention to accommodate the width and depth of ear 25 thus not only retaining member 24 in housing 20 but also preventing substantial side thrust spring member 24.

Two fingers, 26 and 21 preferably of ornamental design, are pivotally mounted in either end of U-shaped housing 20 by means of pins 28 and 29 which have their ends fiattened or riveted over. Fingers 26 and 21 are arcuately shaped with finger gripping nobs 30 and 3| located on the high side of the arc of their respective fingers.

The ends of fingers 26 and 21 nearest their respective pivoting points are provided with two cam surfaces each. See Figures l and 4 where cam surfaces 32 and 33 are clearly shown on finger 26. These respective cam surfaces bear alternately on the ends 36 and 31 of spring member 24. U-shaped housing 20 is relieved on either end at 38 and 39 to allow ends 3B and 31 to be depressed beyond the base of U-shaped member 20 when ngers 26 and 21 are pivoted from the position shown in Figures 1 and 3 to the position shown in Figure 4.

Spring member 24 takes the shape shown in Figure 4 in order to provide the maximum life of a sturdy bar stock to a minimum lifting pressure on fingers 2S and 21 while providing a positive positioning means for said fingers and insurance against accidental movement of said fingers especially when paper money is positioned between the U-shaped member 20 and the ends 40 and 4I of fingers 26 and 21.

The gripping element assemblyshown inF-igure 4 is positioned between strips Il and I2 as shown in Figure 3. Legs 22 and 23 of wire 2i are pushed between stitches i3 and bent over as shown in Figure 1. In this manner an inexpensive fastening means is provided for a mechanical bill gripping element and a bill holder cover.

A piece of partially rounded tubing 5.12 is provided to prevent the accidental displacement of legs 22 and 23 after they are bent into the working position shown in Figure 1 and to cover the ends of strips il and I2 while providing an attractive adjunct to the finished product. In addition the open edges of tube 42, see Fig. 3, will reinforce stitches I3 and assist in holding strips H and l2 together.

In the use of the billfold, fingers 26 and lwill be raised as shown in Figure 4. The bills will be placed in the order of desired denominational arrangement, over the edge of U shaped member 29 and spring 24 with the approximate center of the bills over said member and spring. Fingers 26 and 2'.' will be closed as shown in Figures 1 and 3. The ends 86 and 3l of spring member 2li acting on cam surfaces 33 and 3i! will securely position ends 49 and @l against the top surface of the bills securely holding the bills in place. If it is desired to remove a bill from the center of the pack, all that is necessary for the operation is to open the wallet as shown in Figure 3, hold the desired bill between thumb and fcrenger and give a jerking motion. The bill will become distendered from the pack without disturbing any of the other bills.

It will be seen that a positive, foolproof, easy to operate billfold with mechanical gripper means is provided which has real utility when the holder is in a crowd or in a hurry.

What I claim is:

1. In a billfold of the type having covers interconnected by a hinge about which said covers mai7 be swung to and from open and closed positions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, that improvement in said spring clamp which comprises a frame secured at the hinge, a spring mounted in said frame and a clamp pivotally mounted in said frame adapted to be held in position by said spring.

2. In a billiold of the type having covers interconnected by a hinge about which said covers may be swung to and from open and closed positions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, that improvement in said spring clamp which comprises a frame provided -with securing means fastened at the juncture of the covers, a leaf spring mounted in said frame, and two clamps pivotally mounted in said frame adapted to be held in position by said spring.

3. In a billfold of the type having covers interconnected by a hinge about which said covers may be swung to and from open and closed positions and a spring cla-mp for retaining bills therein, that improvement in said spring clamp which comprises a U-shaped frame provided with securing means fastened at the hinge, a leaf spring mounted in said U-shaped frame and two clamps pivotaliy mounted in said U -shaped frame adapted to be held in position by said spring.

4. In a billfold of the type having covers interconnected by a hinge about which said covers may be swung to and from open and closed positions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, that improvement in said spring clamps which comprises a U-shaped frame provided with a U- shaped wire projecting through holes in said U- shaped frame, a leaf spring secured in said U- shaped frame, two clamps pivotally mounted in said U-shaped frame adapted to cooperate with said spring in open or closed position and a onepiece binder tube of rigid material extending substantially the full length of said hinge, being split from end to end thereof to provide uniformly spaced free-edged jaws adapted to co-operate with the ends of said U-shaped wire projecting through said holes and said hinge..

5. In a billfold of the type having covers intel'- connected by a hinge about which said covers may be swung to and from open and closed positions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, that improvement in said spring clamp which comprises a U-shaped frame secured in said hinge, a leaf spring securely held in said U- shaped frame, arcuate clamps pivotally mounted in either end of said U-shaped frame and pivoted to present their cam surfaces to said leaf spring ends. y

6. In a billfold of the type having covers interconnected by a hinge about which said covers may be swung to and from open and closed positions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein, that improvement in said spring clamp which comprises a U-shaped frame relieved for .a short distance at either end of base of the U material, a U-shaped wire projecting through holes in the base of said U-shaped frame, the ends of said wire passing through said hinge and provided with ends bent to face each other, a. leaf spring mounted in said U-shaped frame, two arcuate shaped clips provided with finger pieces pivotally mounted in said U-shaped frame in a manner to allow the cam surfaces oi the arcuate clips to engage the ends of the leaf spring and a partially rounded piece of tubing positioned to cover the stitches of said flexible strips and the bent ends of said U-s'naped wire.

7. In a billfold of the type having covers interconnected by a hinge about which said covers may be swung to and from open and closed positions and a spring clamp for retaining bills therein that improvement in said spring clamp which comprises a rigid bar member generally parallel with said hinge, pivots at each end of said bar member, bill clamping means carried by said pivots and a resilient means retained by said bar member and engageable with said bill clamping means for resiliently biasing them into retaining engagement with the bills to be carried in said billfold.

CARL A. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 338,248 Capron Mar. 23, 1886 573,891 Martin Dec. 29, 1896 1,223,946 Fenigstein Apr. 24, 1917 1,454,182 Myer May s, 1923 1,545,577 Arms July 14, 1925 1,599,292 Seavey Sept. 7, 1926 1,686,483 Ballou et al. Oct. 2, 1928 2,419,092 Schupback et al Apr. l5, 1947 2,455,515 Miller Dec. 7, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 357,280 Great Britain Sept. 24, 1931

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