US343085A - Book-holder - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

L- McG. SNYDER.

BOOK HOLDER.

N0. 343,085. I 1/ Patented June 1, 1886.

at the lower end of the frame.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

LAXVRENOE MOGLELLAN SNYDER, OF BROOKVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

soon-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 343,085, dated June 1, 1886. Application filed Decemberll, 1885. Serial No. 185,948. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE MOOLELLAN SNYDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brookville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Book-Holders, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to in'iprovemenls in book-supports; and the novelty consists of the peculiar construction and combination of parts, substantially as hereinafter fully set forth, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

The primary object of my invention is to provide means which shall be normally pressed and held in engagement withthe leaves of a book when it is placed on the holder, so as to prevent the leaves thereof from turning over, which means can be readily operated so as to be thrown out. of engagement with the leaves of the book to permit them to be turned.

A further object of my invention is to pro vide means whereby books of various sizes can be very firmly held and clamped in the holder, to provide means whereby the angle of the book-supporting frame can be varied and held in any desired position, and to provide means which shall be simple, strong, light, and durable in construction, thoroughly effective, and easy of operation and ad j ustment, and cheap of manufacture.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a book-holder constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the device in a position for standing on a desk or the like. Fig. 2 is a vertical central sectional View of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are views of a modification of my improvements.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in the several figures, A designates the main supporting-frame, which is preferably made of wire, and so bent asto provide an upper horizontal bar, a, two parallel side bars, a, and supporting-legs a and a socket, cf, the supporting-legs and socket a being arranged The legs a are adapted to rest on a desk, table, or other like place, and are preferably bent at an angle, as shown, and a cylindrical shell, B, is secured between the wires that formthe socket or loop a by soldering or otherwise, that constitutes a handle, whereby the device can be conveniently held in the hand. This handle B is made cylindrical and hollow, with closed ends, and one of its vertical walls is slotted, as at b, for a purpose presently described.

O designates upward]y-extending arms or brackets, which are rigidly secured at their lower ends to the upper crossbar, a, of the main frame A, said arms having trunnions c at upper ends, on which are journaled or pivoted a leaf-holding frame, D, also made of wire. This frame D is pivoted or journaled so as to move outwardly, to permit theleaves of the book to be turned freely without hin- (lerance from the frame, and said frame comprises side bars, (I, which are preferably inclined and bent inwardly at their ends, as at (2, and the upper ends thereof have eyes or bearings d", bent or formed therein to engage the trunnions c, a lower crossbar, d connecting the lower bent ends of the sidebars, and an upper cross-bar, (1*, to which is pivotally connected an actuating-rod, E. The lower end of this rod E enters the cylindrical or tubular handle B, and within the cylinder it hasa head, 6, secured thereto, and a thumb-piece, e, projecting through the slot 1) of the tubular handle B.

F designates a coiled spring located in the tubular handle beneath the head of the rod E, and normally pressing or bearing against the headed rod, so that it is forced upwardly, to keep the pivoted or oscillating frame D normally pressed down in engagement with the leaves of a book or against the main frame A, as is obvious.

G designates a shelf on which the book is to be placed and supported, said shelf being supported on the side bars of the main frame. This shelf is preferably made of light strong sheet metal, so as to provide two right-angled walls, and the vertical wall of the shelf is provided with sleeves or tubular portions that embrace and are free to slide vertically on the side bars of the main frame. If desired,

this shelf may be rigidly secured on the side bars of the main frame; but I prefer to make it adjustable vertically thereon for the urpose of accommodating the device to hold books of different lengths.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings I have shown two means for holding the adjustable shelf at any point of elevation, and I will now proceed to describe the detailed construct-ion of these devices, reference being first had more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2-.

H designates a rod, the upper end of which is bent to provide an inwardly-extending arm, on, that is" rigidly secured to the shelf G, and the lower end of this red enters the tubular handle B through an opening in the upper end or head thereof. The lower end of the adj ustingrod is threaded, and on this threaded portion works an adjustingnut, 71, that bears on the head of the tubular handle B, whereby when the nut h is turned by the hands of the operator the rod and the shelf to which it is attached will be adjusted vertically.

In Fig. 3 of the drawings the lower end of the spring-actuated rod E is threaded for a portion of its length, and on these threads work an adj listing-nut, I, which has a circumferential recess, 17, formed therein, and in this recess of the adjusting-collar is loosely fitted the lower end of an arm, n, that is secured to and adjusts the shelf G on the main frame A.

J designates an adjusting-frame, which is adapted to support and hold the main frame at any angle when it rests on a desk, &c. This adjusting-frame is also made or bent from a single piece of wire, and the upper ends of the side bars thereof have eyes j, which are loosely or pivotal] y connected to hook-shaped pivots j of the main frame A, thus adapting the adjusling-frame; to be placed at an angle to the main frame, to support the main frame in an inclined position, which is very convenient to the reader. A threaded rod, K, is pivotally connected at one end to the upper cross-bar, a, of the main frame A, and at its opposite end the said rod passes through an eye, j", of the upper cross-bar of the hinged adjustingframe J, nuts 70 k being arranged on opposite sides of said eyej and working on the said threaded rod to hold said frames at the proper desired angles to each other.

In Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings the legs a of the main frame and the hinged adjustingframe J are omitted to provide a device which is designed to be held in the hand of the speaker or reader; but these devices shown in said figures have the essential features of my improvementsnamely, the main frame, the slotted handle, the pivoted leaf -holding frame, the spring actuated rod, and the shelf G, for holding the book.

When it is desired to place a book, manuscript, &c., in the holder, the thumb-piece e of the springaetuated rod E is forced downwardly by the thumb or fingers of the hand that grasps the handle B, thus depressing the rod E and elevating the free end of the pivoted leaf-holding frame D, when the book is placed on the shelf G with its leaves opened, after which the thumb-piece is released and the frame D automatically descends and presses on the leavesof the book to hold the same open. When a leaf is to be turned, the frame D is elevated by depressing the finger piece and rod. The shelf G can be raised or lowered very quickly and conveniently byturning the nuts in-the required direction, and the hinged adj usting-frame can be very readily adjusted at any angle to the main frame to support the same and vary its inclination. The upper angles of the main frame are braced by diagonal brace-wires L, that are securedin the corners, as shown.

The various parts of the device are made of 80 wire, for lightness of construction and cheapness of manufacture; but I do not desire to limit myself to the use of wire frames, as any other material can be substituted therefor without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I am aware of the patent granted to G. Parent, No. 241,412, for a musicrack, in which a hollow or tubular standard is employed to contain a coiled spring, which bears against the lower end of a solid standard that carries a pivoted arm arranged transversely across the plane of the solid standard, and is provided with a coiled spring and a handle-piece to actuate the same; but such is not my invention. I provide a book -holder which comprises a main frame having upwardly-extended supporting-arms, a frame for holding the book open that is journaled or pivoted at one edge of the said arms, and a springpressed rod which is provided with a suitable finger-piece for operating it, and pivoted to the leaf-holding frame for actuating the latter.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isa 1. In a book-holder, the combination of a main frame having a handle, a leaf-holding frame, D, pivoted on the frame A, an operating-rod, E, pivoted to the frame D, and provided with a pressurespring that is inclosed within the handle, and a thumb piece for actuating the rod to raise the free edge of the pivoted frame D, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a main frame, a tubular handle secured thereto, a leaf -holding frame pivoted on the main frame, a rod pivoted to the leaf-holding frame at its pivoted end, and having a finger-piece working in a slot of the handle, and a spring for bearing against the rod to hold the pivoted frame normally depressed, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the main frame A, a movable shelf, G, loosely fitted at its ends on the parallel side bars of said frame, a threaded rod rigidly connected to one end of the shelf, and a nut for adjusting the rod and shelf, as set forth.

4. As an article of manufacture, a bookholder comprising a main frame, a verticallyadjustable shelf mounted thereon, a handlesecured to the main frame, a threaded rod secured to the shelf, an adjusting-nut fitted on the rod and bearing against the handle to adjust the rod and shelf vertically, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a main frame, A, formed of a single piece of wire, and having 5 the eyes j, a supportingframe, J, pivotally connected to the eyes and adjustable at an angle to the frame and provided with an extended arm, f, a threaded rod, K, pivoted to the main frame A, and passing through the 0 arm, and the nuts bearing against thearm and fitted on the rod for adjusting the frames J and A at an angle to each other, substantially as described.

6. As an article of manufacture, a book- 1 5 holder comprising a main frame havinga tubular slotted handle, a leaf-holding frame journaled on the main frame, a spring actuated rod pivoted to the leaf-holding frame, and

having a finger-piece that works in the slot of the handle, a vertically-adjustable shelf 20- hinged frame, substantially as described.

7 In testimony that I claim the foregoing as 30 my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LAWRENCE MCCLELLAN SNYDER. Witn'essesz. 1

J. G. SNYDER, ScoTT MOOL'ELLAND.

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