US2220842A - Continuous sheet duplicate form - Google Patents

Description

NW. 5, 1940. E HAN 2,220,842

CONTINUOUS SHEET DUPLICATE FORM Filed July 29, 1938 :i: -INVENTOR,

12 100222567 0, I BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 5, 1940 Ui'iED STA QF FiCE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to-duplicating books such as the sales books commonly used by clerks in department stores where both the original and a carbon copy are required. More specifically the invention relates to fillers for use with a permanent cover or holder. The general type of device in which the inventionis employed is shown and described in a patent issued to the present inventor on July 13, 1937, No. 2,087,144, to-which reference is made for the purpose of showing the state of the prior art.

It is an object of the invention to providea filler of the character described which willpermit rapid manipulation by the user and which will also be of such a construction that the filler is retained by the cover throughout the use of the "bookwithout danger of slipping out of place.

More specifically the filler-is of the type which comprises continuous duplicate forms having lines of weakness at their upper edges whereby successive pairs of forms may beseparated from the rest of the strip of continuous forms and removed from the cover andwhich have openings or apertures near their upper edges, that is near the lines of weakness, through which thezposts of the cover pass and whereby'the filler is held in place in the cover. 'One of the'undesirable features commonly encountered in such a. construction is the tendency for thepairs of sheets to separate or tear apart along a path different 'from the line of weakness. This deviation is caused by the apertures or openings'which provide anopportunity for the path of tearing to jump across the aperture and continue at the-other-side of the aperture along a path neither intended nor'desired. It is therefore a further object of the invention to provide means for-insuring the proper separation of the sheets even with the necessary apertures positioned near the edges. More specifically it is an object of the invention to modify the line of weakness for a substantial distance ateach side of the-aperture-by slitting the paper or severing it completely so that there will beno tendency for the tear to deviate from the intended line of severance.

It is also an important object of the invention to provide a filler having the general characteristics and advantages already set forth .which shall be inexpensive to manufacture and which can be sold at prices competitive with. devices of the same general character but not having the advantages of the present invention.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention will readily appear to those skilled in the art to which it appertains' by a consideration of to being placed in a holder;

the following description of one embodiment" thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a-plan view of a continuous duplicate form sales book showing three of the sheets Withdrawn from the book preparatory to detaching two of them;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of several of the sheets in zigzag folded arrangement preparatory Fig. 3 1s a plan view to an enlarged scale showing the type of separation used at the top' of the sheets; and r Fig. 4 is a plan view of the book-drawn to "an enlarged scale and shows the appearance of the sheets just afterone'set of the-forms has been withdrawn from theholder and While the sheets are still not far from their original position in the holder.

Referring to the drawing more in detail the reference character II indicatesthe-top sheet of a packet of forms and since it carries' on its face theoriginal copy of the recordrather than a carbon copy it may hereinafter'be referred to as .an original form. The nextform is designat'ed;; 5 by the reference characterl2 and since its record is only a carboncopy or duplicate recorditmay hereinafter be referred to as a duplicate-form or duplicate sheet. The original form. ll and the duplicate form H! are joined togetheriat their v bottom edges. The nextform or sheet is another .orginal form it and is joined at its top edge to the duplicate form .12. W is joined at its bottom edge to the bottom edge of its duplicate.form I4. In like manner the top 335 edge of sheet I dis-joined to the top edge of .an

The original form 13 original form l5 and the, bottom edge. of

.originalform I5 is joined to thebottomedge of form-i6 only a small part-of which .can be-seen .in-Fig. 2.

' 1:40 The manner in which thedifferentsheets or forms. are joinedtogetherat their lower edges, the

.there being a line of weakness at. each edge indi- .cated at l 9..and.20 .and also inthe middle indi- .catedatZ l with .aslit extending betweeneach side portion and the middle portion and indicated .by

Y the reference. characters .-22 and ,23 respectively.

While, for the sake of clearness in the drawing, the slits 22 and 23 are shown as being of a very small but nevertheless of a very definite width it is to be understood that theseslits may be merely a slitting or severing of the paper without actually removing any material or giving to the slit any definite width.

Both the original forms and the duplicate forms are provided at their upper edges with apertures for engagement with posts in the book or holder in which the packet of forms is carried. Each of the original forms H, l3, l5, etc., is provided with an aperture 24 near its upper edge and near the left-hand edge of the form for engagement with the left-hand post of the holder and with an aperture 25 near the right-hand edge of the form for engagement with the right-hand post of the holder. Each of the duplicate forms is also provided near its upper edge with apertures 25 and 21, near the left-hand edge and near the right-hand edge of the form respectively.

It will be observed that the left- hand apertures 24 and 26 are positioned with their centers the same distance from the left-hand edge of the form as the middle of the left-hand slit 22. Similarly the right- hand apertures 25 and 21 are positioned with their centers the same distance from the right-hand edge of the form as the middle of the right-hand slit 23.

While the apertures in the original forms and the apertures in the duplicate forms are not just alike they both have the common characteristic of beingdirectly connected with their respective slits so that they can be pulled away from the posts of the holder without the necessity of any tearing. The apertures 24 and 25, in the original forms, are somewhat larger in diameter than the apertures 26 and 21 and are positioned closer than tangential to the slits 22 and 23 respectively, i. e., the slit 22 cuts across the circular aperture 24 segmentally rather than touching it tangentially thereby leaving an opening 28 between the aperture 24 and the slit 22 fully as wide as the post in the holder which engages the apertures. A similar construction and corresponding opening 29 are to be found between the right-hand aperture 25 and right-hand slit 23.

The left-hand aperture 26 in each of the duplicate forms, is somewhat smaller in diameter than the aperture 24 and is spaced back away from the slit 22 and is connected thereto by means of a slot 30 giving to the combined aperture and slot a keyhole appearance. The right-hand aperture 21 is connected to the slit 23 by means of a similar slot 3|. While 30 and 3! have been shown and described as slots it is to be understood that they may be merely slits in the paper.

There is shown in Fig. 1 the backboard 32 of a holder or cover having a left-hand post 33 and a right-hand post 34. Such a cover usually has some sort of clamp engaging the tops of the re- 7 spective posts 33 and 34 to assist in holding the packet in place but as such clamps are old and no part of the present invention none has been shown in the drawing in order that there may be a clearer view of the sheets in the construction of which the present invention does reside.

In operation the zigzag continuous form, as shown in Fig. 2, is folded up and placed on the holder, the posts 33 and 34 receiving the apertures 24, 26 and 25, 21 respectively. Preferably some type of clamp, not shown, engages the top of the posts 33 and 34 to assist in holding the packet in place. A sheet of carbon paper is understood to be in position between the forms and I2. After a sale has been made and properly recorded on the original form I with a corresponding record on the duplicate form l2 the sales person withdraws the two forms H and I2 so that the appearance of the device is as shown in Fig. 1. The pair of sheets H and I2 are then separated from the succeeding sheets l3, etc., by pulling downwardly and laterally either to the right or to the left whichever is more convenient. The severance takes place along the successive lines of weakness l9, 2| and 20. The close juxtaposition of the apertures 22, 24, 26 and 21 and the slots 30 and 3| to the line of severance does not give rise to any tendency to tear incorrectly since the slits 22 and 23 prevent any such incorrect tearing.

After the sheets H and I2 have been removed from the holder they are, either at this time or later, as the case may be, separated from each other and sent along through the channels of the store routine while the original form I3 is folded back along the line I? into place on top of the packet ready for another sale and record thereof.

It may be well to state that the carbon sheet which is shorter than the sales sheets is usually provided with an apertured reinforcement and is held in place by the posts 33 and 34 so that the withdrawal of the sheets ll, l2 and I3 leaves it in place on top of the packet and on top of the sheet 4 and consequently beneath the original form 3 when that sheet has been folded back onto the top of the packet.

While the apertures 24 and 25 in the sheet could be of the same form as the keyhole apertures in the sheet l2 the form of the apertures 24 and 25 shown in the drawing is considered somewhat more desirable because of the fact that each time the sheets are detached the top sheet, i. e., an original form such as 3, is placed back on top of the packet and the apertures therein reengage the posts 33 and 34. By having a segmental portion of the circle 24 merge with the slit 22 there is provided an opening 28 somewhat larger than the diameter of the post 32 and it can therefore be readily slipped into place without the necessity of lifting up the clamp which engages the top of the posts 33 and 34. Such a type of construction is not necessary for the duplicate sheets beacuse they are not replaced on the holder but remain withdrawn. It is to be noted that the slots 30 and 3| permit the sheets l3 and l5'to be withdrawn readily by the exercise of a slight force which bends or curls the tongues of paper at each side of the slots and yet these same tongues ofier enough resistance to such withdrawal to keep the packet as a whole in place even though half the sheets, that is. all the original forms, have apertures so shaped that they aiford no aid in keeping the packet in place.

While the hereinbefore described embodiment of the invention has been set forth in more or less detail it is to be understood that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the subjoined claim.

I claim:

A continuous strip of duplicate forms folded zigzag into a pack so that the junction between successive sheets occur alternately at the top and the bottom of the sheets, said sheets being in sets of one original form and one duplicate form, the two sheets of each set having a line of junction therebetween at their bottom edges and said original forms having a plurality of apertures near its top edge in register with a plurality of apertures positioned in the corresponding duplicate form lying beneath and near the edge thereof, each of the apertures in said duplicate form having the shape of a keyhole and so positioned that the larger portion is back away from said junction line and is connected thereto by the slot portion of said keyhole, the apertures in each of said original forms being of somewhat greater diameter thanthe larger portion of its corresponding keyhole aperture and so positioned as to be intercepted segmentally by the line of junction to afford an opening from said junction line into said aperture as large as said larger portion of the corresponding keyhole aperture,

mainder of said junction line.

EDWARD HANO.

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