US1340140A - Card-index - Google Patents

Description

S. ANTHONY.

CARD INDEX. APPLICATION HLEDJMR. 19. I919.

Patented May 18; 1920.

Iflnfor Stanley Anthony MSWM J .2. 29 15 s.

, 5 attached to each carrier,

o to each can.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEFioE.

STANLEY ANTHONY, or sosroN, msssscnossrrs.

' osnnmnnx.

resonate.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 192624.

Application filed March 19, 1919. Serial-No. 288,577.

,0 This invention relates to card indexes of that type which comprises a frame, a. plurality of holders or card carriers removably sustained thereby, and cards removably carried by the holders or carriers.

One of the objects of my present invention is to provide an improved holder or carrier for cards on which two or more cards may be supported and which is so constructed that either one of the cairds can be removed from or replaced on thecarrier without disturbing the other card. One advantage of this improvement is that it enables twice as many cards to be used in one frame than would be possible if only one card could be and hen'ee it pro rides means whereby the capacity f an ordinary card index of this bled by using two cards for eac. carrier instead of one. Another advantage which results from this construction is that it proin esfor readily expanding the card indent as necessity requires. if, for instance, the card index as originally put in use had one card on each carrier, each card relating to a 5 diiterent name or subject, and through ex-.

pension of business it was found that one card s relative to one particular subject, then another card could be readily attached to the carrier containing the filled card so that the surplus data or material can be placed on said second card. Thus the use of an additional card for any one name or subject does not int'olre the use of an additienal er. the: object of my invention is to provide on improved card index of the type in which two cards are or, may be suspended from i the-same card carrierconstrueted that each of the cards has at its lower ace receive the name or subject to he data on the ctrd a per tains, and wh h spaceis isible at all times. This constrl on inches ant names or type may be douinsufiicient to contain all the data and which is so lst1ng'to-diffcr-" Another object of my invention is to provide an improved carrier or holder for cards which is made from a strip of sheet metal and which is constructed so that it can be readily removed from the frame.

Other objects of the invention are to improve generally card indexes, all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth.

In order to give an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated in the drawings some selected embodimnts thereof which will now be described, after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, view of a portion in% my invention; 4

ig. 2 'isan enlarged section through one side of the frame or holder;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view with a part broken out of one of my improved holders or carriers;

Fig. 4 is a View of the two cards which are placed on any carrier with the central F igure 1 is a perspective of a card index embody-- portion of the cards broken out and'with one i hinge portion shown unfolded and in the form of'a tab;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5, Fig. 4; Fig. dis a fragmentary perspective view showing a different embodiment of the invention; 7

' Fig. 7 is a sectional view similar to Fig.

2 showing the modified'form of the invention. i

1 indicates the frame of the card index and 2 indicates the cards. These cards are secured to flexible holders or carriers 3 which are l'emovably retained in the frame 1, said frame having the usual lips or flanges 4 at its ed es beneath which the ends of the flexible holders or" carriers are received, all "its usual in card indexes of this type.

The "various holders are arranged one above the other, so that the cards which are supported thereon will have an overlappin relation with the lower edge of each'card visible below the lower alcove it.

My improved holder or carrier 3 is made from a strip of sheet length, and it avea metal of the requisite is constructed with ends which erosion from back to front the frame 1 are so constructed that the space 6 between the lips and the body of the frame is somewhat greaterthan the thickness of v greater. than the thickness of the strip. The lips 4 of edge of the card next the strip from which the holder 3 is made, and in order to prevent any holder from slipping down behind the next adjacent holder l propose to make the ends of the holder of increased thickness. This can be done in various ways. One way is to bend the ends of the strip back on the body thereof as shown at Hg. 3 thereby providing ends of double-thiclniess. Another way is that shown in Fig. 6' wherein the ends of the body are bent laterally as shown at 12, these laterally bent portions being of a length to extend across the space (S. In both forms of the invention the increased transverse dimension at the ends of the holders prevents them from l econiingivedged behind each other and serves to retain them "in their proper relative positions.

Each holder or carrier has pintles struck up therefrom on which the cards are hung. I propose to make each carrier with two pairs of pintles, the pintles of one pair being indicated at 'F, and those of the other pair at 8. With this construction two cards :an be hung from each carrier, one card be,

other on the other pair of p ntles.

Each card-2 has two hinge'portions 10 adapted to receive a pair of pintles and each card is placed on the pintles by slipping one hinge oyor one of the pintl es and bending the card centrally sufficiently to permit the" other hinge to he slipped over the other pintle when the card is straightened. Any

card can be removed by simply rever ing these operations.

Some cards will have the hinge portions 10 spaced so as to detachably engage the pair of pintles 7, while other cards will have their hinge portions situated so as to de- .tachably' engage the pintles 8. Two cards can thus be supported from each carrier 3 and because each card is sustained on its own pair of pintles, either card can be removed without disturbing the other card.

While the hinge portions 10 of each card may be made in various ways, I will preferably make each hinge portion from an in .tegral portion of the card. This can conveniently be done by forming; each card in the first instance with two tabs 11 and then folding the tabs over to form the hinge portions, the ends of the tabs being secured to the body of the card by means of a suitable adhesive or some other fastening device.

The holders or carriers 3 are flexible or resilient so that by bending them away from the frame at their central portion the ends can be withdrawn from the lips 4. Inorder to facilitate the removal of any carrier, I propose to make it so that some portion thereof intermediate of its ends is spaced or separated from the body of the frame so that a person can readily gralsp such pormg sustained on one pair of pintles and the insane tion to bend the carrier centrally a sufficient amount to permit the ends to be withdrawn from the lips l. This spacing or separating of some portion of the carrier from the frame may be provided for in various ways. One convenient construction is that herein shown wherein the central portion 9 of each carrier is offset or bent outwardly to occupy a position in front of the plane of the rest of the carrier. placed in the frame it will rest against the back thereof, but the portion 10 will be separated from the back. Since the carriers are flexible, the operation of removing any carrier involves pressing 'baclrwardly the centra portion of the carriers above and below the one desired to be removed so that a person can grasp the portion 9 of said latter carrier between his thumb and finger thereby to draw the carrier outwardly.

My improvements involve the use of two cards on each carrier and is particularly applicable to card index systems that require frequent readjustment because of ad ditional data which it is desired. to place on the cards and especially where such ex pansion may involve the use of more than one card for any p'arti ular name or subject matter. Under such circumstances the cards which are used} in the first instance'in the system may be those which will be sustained on the pintles 7 of the holders and as the card relating to any one subject or name becomes full and another card is requirei'l for additional data," a second card adapted to be secured to pintles 8 may be applied to second card may, if desired, be of the same length. as the first card or may be longer or shorter so that its lower edge will not come into alinement, with that of the first card. I r

My invention is also applicable to card index systems Where one card only is sufficient to receive the data for any name or subject, for by properly making the card, it is possible to support two csrds on one carrier and yet have the data or name bearing space at the lower edge of each card visible. in Fig. 1 l have illustrated two cards suspended from the top carrier. One ofthe cards has at its lower edge at one end a space 32 to receive the name onsubject to which the data on the card appertains, and the other card has at its lower edge on the opposite side a similar space 33. The iirstniamed card is cut away at its lower edge opposite the portion 33, as shown at 34:, and the second card is cut away at its lower edge, as shown as 35 op posite the space 32. With this arrangement the two spaces 32, 33 for the two cards are in alinelnent, but they are both visible and hence these two cards can be used for (lifi'eriiti l l. O

ent subject matter, with this arrangement of cards it is possible to hang two cards on all the carriers if desired, thus' doubling the capacity of the card index and et,.,have the name or data-bearing space of all the cards visible.

In using card indexes of this type it frequently happens that anentry is made in ink either by hand or on the type-writer which it is desired to erase. Wherethe cards are made of ordinary paper the erasure of an ink entry is often difiicult and rather than erase such' an entry the clerk frequently makes out an entirely new card. In order to avoid this necessity, I propose to make my index cards with a washablesurface so that if it is desired to erase any ink entry, the surface of the card can be cleaned by simply washing it with a damp sponge or cloth. This washable surface might be attained in various ways. One would be to make the card from'celluloid material which is constructed to take ink. An opaque celluloid or celluloid composition will, of course,

- be preferable to a transparent material.

\Vhile I have herein illustrated some selected embodiments of the invention,'I wish to state that the invention is not confined to the construction shown as the latter may be varied in various ways wihout departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a card index, the combination with a frame, of a plurality of card holders removably' sustained thereby, one above the other, each holder having two pairs of cardsupporting pintles and a card pivotally hung on each pair of pintles.

2. In a card index, the combination wit a frame, of aplurality of card holders remevably sustained therein, one above the other, each holder having two pairs of cardsupporting pintles and a .card pivotally hung on each pair of pintles, each card being capable of removal from its pintles Without removing the other card.

, 3;; In an index, the combination with a amine, of a plurality of card holders removably sustained thereby, each holder having provision to engage detachably two cards either of which can be remove a frame having a back and retaining lips at its edges, of a plurality of resilient 'card carriers extending across the frame and havin their ends retained beneath saidlips, eac carrier being made of a strip of sheet metal which has some portion thereof intermediate of its ends offset forwardly from the plane thereof to provide'means by which the car-j rier can be readily grasped to remove it from the frame.

6. A holder or carrier for cards of a card index s stem, said holder bein made of a strip 0 metal and provided wlth' means to support detachably a card, the central portion of said holder being offset to the front of the plane of the body thereof.

7 In a oard index, the combination with from the holder without disturbing the other card.

a frame,'of a plurality of holders removably sustained thereby, one above the other, a plurality of cards suspended from each holder, each card having at its lower end a titleor name-bearing portion, said na'mebearing portions of all the cards on each holder being situated in alinement and all of said visible.

In testimony whereof, I hare signed my name to this specification.

portions of all the, cards being sTANLEYnNTHoNY.

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