US2850296A - Clip case - Google Patents

Description

R. W. RATLIFF Sept. 2, 1958 CLIP CASE Filed April 2, 1956 FIG.

ATTORNEY United States Patent CLIP CASE Ronald W. Ratliff, Burbank, Calif.

Application April 2, 1956, Serial No. 575,427

1 Claim. (Cl. 28144) This invention relates to an improved clip case and has for one of its principal objects the provision of means whereby sheets of paper of various types and sizes may be easily and readily written upon even under varied and diflicult conditions, and further means whereby such sheets can be readily, simply and safely stored for future reference.

One of the important objects of this invention is the provision of a device of the class described which will be particularly valuable to police oflicers and others engaged in out-door activities which include the intermittent preparation of written reports and which will render the making of such reports much more easy than heretofore considered possible, while at the same time assuring to a great degree the proper preservation of the same with little or no possibility of their becoming lost, misplaced, or damaged due to weather or other conditions.

Still another object of the invention resides in the production of a combination case and writing board wherein papers to be written upon are securely held in desired position on a firm surface and where additional papers, books, booklets or other similar elements or materials are maintained as a suitable reserve and without fear of loss.

Yet another object of the invention resides in a provision of a combination clip case, Writing board, book and pencil container which shall be simple of construction, readily manufactured, suitable for varied and various purposes with little or no change and which will be capable of withstanding long and hard wear.

Other and further important objects of the invention will be apparent from the disclosures in the accompanying drawings and following specification.

The invention, in a preferred form, is illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved clip case of this invention.

Figure 2 is likewise a perspective view showing the case from its upper end and with its lid open.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the plane of the line 3-3 of Figure 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2 looking in the direction indicated and illustrating other details.

Figure 5 is an enlarged section showing the improved hinge construction for the lid of the clip case of this invention and taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is an enlarged exploded view on the line 66 of Figure 2 showing a preferred form of locking means for the lid.

As shown in the drawings:

The reference numerals 10 indicate generally the main body portion of the improved clip case of this invention, the same being preferably in the form of a rectangular parallelopipedon having a bottom and four sides.

A lid 12, conforming in size to the body 10, is joined ice at 14, preferably by a piano hinge or the like, to the upper edge of one end of the body, and the lid itself has depending flanges 16 which fit over and form a relatively tight seal with the upper edges 18 of the sides of the case 10, which upper edges are bent slightly inwardly as best shown in Figure 3.

A spring clip 20 of usual construction is fastened in any suitable manner to the upper outer face of the lid 12, as shown in Figure 1, and this is for the purpose of securely holding and retaining a sheet or sheets of paper or other material which is to be written on or otherwise inscribed by the user of the case.

The upper edge 22 of the top end 24 of the case 10 is bent inwardly similarly to the upper edges 18 of the sides, and this is indented in one or more places as shown at 30 in Figures 2 and 6. These indentations are adapted to receive corresponding protuberances 32 formed in the upper or outer end piece of the lid 12 and the proportions of these respective depressions and protuberances are such that taken with the resilience of the material of the case, which may be of metal or other suitable material, a snap-lock effect is accomplished which provides a' substantial container normally firmly closed but which can be opened with little or no effort when the occasion arises.

Either integral with or fastened to the body of the case 10 is a further compartment 40 which is preferably in two sections, separated by a partition 42 and each of these sections is likewise in the form of a rectangular parallelopipedon open at the normal upper end of the case 10 and closed at the other end as best shown at 43 in Figure 4. Suitable cut-away portions 44 are provided as illustrated in Figure 2 for the ready gripping and removal of books, pamphlets, circulars or other items which may have been deposited in the compartments of the case 40.

The upper or main case 10 is likewise provided with a partition 50 which is usually in the form of an angle, as illustrated in Figure 4 and which thereby provides an additional space for suitable segregation and handling of pencils or other writing materials, clips, miscellaneous small items and the like.

The piano hinge 14 is usually a separate element having flanges 60 and 62 which are fastened by rivets 64 to corresponding portions of the case 10 and lid 12, all as best shown in Figure 5. However, it will be obvious that the hinge, partition, locking, and other constructions may be changed along with the actual dimensions of the various parts in order to meet different requirements when, as, and if such requirements present themselves.

It will be evident that herein is provided a clip case which combines in a single unit substantially all the elements necessary for proper, efiicient, and secure handling of all sorts of documents, reports, notations, and other miscellaneous material, including citations and accident reports by police ofiicers, geologists reports, surveyors and engineers reports, salesmens orders, and this list may be extended practically indefinitely.

In the case of traffic ofiicers, the compartments 40 are especially adapted for holding books of trafiic tickets and the size of these compartments can obviously be varied to conform to sizes of such books employed by various municipalities. The lid 10 forms a solid substantial writing surface and sheets of paper, booklets, cards or the like, are readily held in desired position on the lid by the spring clip 20. Any papers filled out can be readily deposited in the case 10, along with writing materials and other similar small articles where they will be maintained secure against loss or damage by the wind or weather.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of construction varied throughout a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and I, therefore, do not propose limiting the patent granted-hereon otherwise than as necessitated by the priorart.

I claim as my invention: 7

A clip case comprising a main container in the form ofa rectangular parallelopidedon, a hinged lid for same,

a spring clip at one end' of the lid, locking means at the juxtaposed ends of the lid and container, said locking means comprising depressions in the ends of the case and corresponding protuberances in the end of the lid, peripheral flanges on two sides and one end of the lid the corresponding sides and end of the case being laterally inwardly flanged to conform to said flanges, an additional container in the structure, said additional container being shorter than the main container, a partition in the additional container for separating the same into twosections, means in the sections of the additional container for ready removal of objects therefrom, and a further partition in the main container for separating the same into two compartments, one considerably smaller than the other.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,085,259 Gunning June 29, 1937 2,417,879 Merritt Mar. 25, 1947 2,753,987 Bond July 10, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 7 420,799 Great Britain Dec. 7, 1931 381,261 Great Britain Oct. 6, 1932

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