US493936A

US493936A - Book rest and holder

Info

Publication number: US493936A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1893-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 1910-03-21

Description

(No Model.)

0. a; MITCH-ELL.

BOOK BEST AND HOLDER.

No. 493,936. Patented Mar. 21, 1 893.

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UNTTE STATES PATENT Orrrca.

()RSON C. MITCHELL, OF NORTH GRANVILLE, NEV YORK.

BOOK REST AND HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 493,936, dated March 21, 1893.

Application filed June 11, 1892.

Serial No. 436,413- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORSON O. MITCHELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Granville, in the county of Washington and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Book Rest and Holder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in book rests and holders, and the objects of my improvements are to provide a new and improved book rest and holder which can be used to hold a book open either when lying on its back, or when standing, at any desired angle of elevation from a horizontal position, and without covering or obscuring the reading matter. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of my improved book-holder with the offset of the rear support projecting rearward and a book inserted in the front support. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the offset projecting forwardly, and the book removed. 7 Fig. 3 is aside elevation of same with the front support extended. Fig. 4 is a front View of the rear support and the slide extension of the front support, as shown in Fig. 3, the book engaging portion of the front support being removed. Fig. 5 is a bottom end view of the front support as shown in Fig. 3. v Fig. 6 is a similar view with a book inserted in the support. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the book-engaging portion of the front support detached.

My improved device consists essentially of a rear support adapted to form a rest for the upper portion of the book, and a front support adapted to form arest for the lower portion of the book and hold the same in an open position.

The rear support is made of a single piece of wire bent so that its middle part forms the base of an isosceles triangle, the supporting legs, A-, A-, being connected at their lower ends by the upwardly curved base, A and at the apex of the triangle by twisting one about the other, as shown at A The ends of the wire are then divergently bent in the plane of the triangle to form the arms, A and again bent, obliquely to the plane of the triangle, to form the offsets, A*-, the points Y together.

or ends of the wire being each covered by a curvilinear bend forming an eye, A

The front support consists preferably of a book-engaging portion, or body portion, and a slide-extension. The body portion is made of a piece of wire bent so that its middle part forms a pair of approximately parallel legs, B, B, connected at their upperends by the loop or eye, B, projecting to the rear, and bent to form at the lower ends of the legs the horizontally diverging a'rms, B and at the outer ends of the arms the uprights, B

approximately in the same plane with, and parallel to, the legs, 13-, B, and having each an eye, B covering the point of the wire. The legs are connected at or near their upper ends by a clip, 13 which serves to close the loop, B, and as a guide for the slide-extension, G-..

The slide-extension consists of a wire bent at one end to form an eye, O', and provided at the other end with a clip 0 adapted to clasp and slide lengthwise of the legs, B-, B. Before the bend is made to form the eye on the slide-extension, the end to be bent is passed through the clip, B -,and loop, lB'- 0f the front support. The wire is then bent around the rear support at the twisted portion, A to form the offsetting eye, C'-, which loosely connects the front and rear supports The lower ends of the legs, l3, B-, are sprung into the grooves, G of the slide-clip, and the connection of the parts is completed.

The legs of the front support have the function of torsion springs in maintainingthe diverging arms, B in line with each other, so that when an open book is inserted between theuprights, B and the legs, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6, the resilient force of the torsion springs tightly clamps the lower portion of the book between the legs and uprights, and holds it securely in a fixed open position.

The upper end of the book rests upon the upper end of the rear support, and the book is thus held in an open, conveniently inclined position.

The inclination of the book can be varied in a limited degree by changing the relative positions of the legs of the front and rear supports; but the offsets, A, on the rear support are an important part of my invention, and afford a means for materially varyingthe inclination of the book, independently of the inclination of the supporting legs. By turning the rear support halfway around, the line of projection of the offsets is reversed.

In Fig. 2, the offsets project frontwise, so as to support the book in a position having adegree of inclination much less than that of the front support.

In Fig. 1,the rear support is shown in aposition the reverse of that shown in Fig. 2, with the offsets projecting to the rear, in which position the book would be supported at approximately the same angle of inclination as the front support.

By moving the slide extension lengthwise of the torsion-spring legs, the length of the front support can be varied and adapted to books differing in length.

By covering the ends or points of the wires by curvilinear bends as shown, the end eyes 'so formed eliminate all danger of marring the book.

The end-eyes, L*, on the uprights, B form convenient thumb and finger pieces for operating the torsion-spring legs when it is desired to insert a book in the holder, or to turn a leaf of an inserted book. They may be made of any desired size to receive the thumb or finger.

By having the offsetting eye, O, on the front support loosely inclose the back support, I am able, not only to easily reverse the back support, but to fold the two supports together when not in use, as illustrated by the solid and dotted lines in Fig. 2, whereby the holder can be packed into a small space for shipment or storage.

The broken lines D in Figs. 2 and 3, show several different lines of inclination that may be given to the supported book.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a book-holder, the combination with a front support having a rest for the lower end of the book; of a reversible rear support; and an offset projecting from the upper part of the rear support at an angle thereto to form a rest for the upper end of the book in either of two positions, substantially as described.

2. In a book-holder, the combination with the extensible front support; of a reversible rear support; and an offset projecting at an angle to the upper end of the reversible rear support for supporting the upper part of the book, in either of two planes inclined to the horizontal substantially as described.

3. In a book rest the combination of the spring legs B, having clips E the extension 0 having sliding clip 0 and book-holding arms one on each side of said legs and normally situated in the same plane whereby when the holding arms are applied to the front of a book and the legs to its back the former are held upon the book front by the torsional force of said legs; substantially as set forth.

ORSON O. MITCHELL.

Witnesses:

JOHN B. DAVIS, GEO. B. CULVER.