US3731415A

US3731415A - Desk appliance

Info

Publication number: US3731415A
Application number: US00118018A
Authority: US
Inventors: S Shore
Original assignee: SOUVENIR Inc CEDAR RAPIDS
Current assignee: SOUVENIR Inc CEDAR RAPIDS
Priority date: 1971-02-23
Filing date: 1971-02-23
Publication date: 1973-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 1990-05-08

Abstract

A desk appliance of elemental simplicity incorporates a magnetic paper clip dispenser having a cylindrical lateral wall and an annular magnet at the top for holding paper clips in readiness for use. The bottom of the container is removable for refilling the container, and the same bottom has an integral cylindrical extension telescopically disposed over the cylindrical wall of the container. The extension is a mask or frame that exposes a selected group of seven columns of numerals out of thirteen columns of day-of-the-month numerals, and over the seven selected columns the mask has seven day-of-the-week characters. The bottom of the container and its extension forms a unit that is rotatable, thereby to provide a perpetual calendar.

Description

United States Patent 1 1 Shore 1 1 May 8, 1973 [541 DESK APPLIANCE [75] Inventor: Sidney X. Shore, Roslyn, N.Y.

[73'] Assignee: Souvenir/Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa [22] Filed: Feb. 23, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 118,018

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 6,600,201 7/1967 Netherlands ..206/DlG. 33

Primary Examiner-Robert W. Michell Assistant Examiner-J. H. Wolff Attorney-Paul S. Martin [5 7] ABSTRACT A desk appliance of elemental simplicity incorporates a magnetic paper clip dispenser having a cylindrical lateral wall and an annular magnet at the top for holding paper clips in readiness for use. The bottom of the container is removable for refilling the container, and the same bottom has an integral cylindrical extension telescopically disposed over the cylindrical wall of the container. The extension is a mask or frame that exposes a selected group of seven columns of numerals out of thirteen columns of day-of-the-month numerals, and over the seven selected columns the mask has seven day-of-the-week characters. The bottom of the container and its extension forms a unit that is rotatable, thereby to provide a perpetual calendar.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDHAY 8191s INVENTOR.

f/oA/m X. Jfimae BY 2 ATTORNEY DESK APPLIANCE This invention relates to desk appliances, and in particular to a desk appliance serving both as a paper clip dispenser and as a perpetual calendar.

Paper clip dispensers are known having a cylindrical cavity, a constricted top opening and a closed bottom. There is an annular permanent magnet around the constricted opening, which acts to attract and hold paper clips in a handy position for removal. Projecting paper clips can be grasped individually and removed for use. Others become available in the opening, either because one paper clip being removed attracts and draws another from the container into the opening, or because the user shakes or inverts the container to shift paper clips into the opening.

An object of the present invention resides in extending the usefulness of such a paper clip dispenser without cluttering the desk where the paper clip dispenser is used, by incorporating therein a perpetual calendar. More particularly, an object of the invention resides in integrating a paper clip dispenser and a perpetual calendar in an economical and highly functional unitary desk appliance, to take the place of two spaceconsuming desk appliances.

In achieving these objects of the invention, a paper clip dispenser is provided, whose bottom is removable for loading paper clips into the container. The outside cylindrical surface of the container has thirteen columns of day-of-the-month numerals in the usual arrangement of perpetual calendars. The bottom of the container is extended over the cylindrical outer surface of the container, as a cylindrical mask or frame that outlines seven columns of the day-of-the-month numerals. The frame has the day-of-the-week designations at the tops of the columns. By rotating the bottom of the container, the frame can be adjusted to set the first-of-the-month in the right day-of-the-week column for any given month.

The nature of the invention, including its novel features and advantages, will be appreciated more fully from the detailed description of the illustrative embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a novel desk appliance, as an illustrative embodiment of the features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the appliance in FIG. 1 as viewed at the plane 2-2 therein; and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the perpetual calendar of FIG. 1, shown flat, the rotatable mask being represented therein in broken lines.

The desk appliance in the drawings consists of a total of four component parts that are assembled easily and quickly. A cylindrical body has an annular cavity near the top that receives an annular magnet 14. A cover 12 holds the magnet in place, cover 12 advantageously being secured to body 10 by a suitable cement. Bottom 16 of the container is removable, for loading paper clips into the container. A few paper clips at a time are received in the opening at the top of the container, where they are held available for removal. Other paper clips can be drawn into the opening by attraction to a paper clip being withdrawn from the opening, or paper clips can enter the opening by being shaken upward or by invertin the container.

The foregoing four parts cons itute a paper clip dispenser. Without additional parts, the described device incorporates a perpetual calendar. Bottom 16 has an integral cylindrical extension 18 that fits telescopically over the cylindrical wall 10 of the container. Extension 18 is a mask having an opening 20 that frames seven columns of day-of-the-month numerals 22 on the outer surface of wall 10. Extension 18 has a series of seven day-of-the-week characters 24 over the exposed seven columns of numerals 22, providing a one-month calendar.

The whole series of numerals 22 consists of thirteen columns, with the numeral 1 in the seventh column of the thirteen. The bottom 16 of the container and its extension 18 can be rotated on wall 10 of the container to select any group of seven successive columns of numerals. In this way, the first-of-the-month can be set in position under the day-of-the-week that is applicable for any given month. Thus, the described desk appliance consists of only the four components described, namely

parts

10, 12, 14 and 16/18/20.

Parts

10, 12 and 16/ 18/20 are advantageously of molded plastic. The assembly of the device is obviously quick and easy. The container bottom is rotatable to carry the integral frame or mask of the perpetual calendar to the desired setting. A simple, elegant and very useful desk appliance is thus realized.

What is claimed is:

1. A desk appliance, including a paper clip container having a lateral wall at least part of which has an external cylindrical surface bearing thirteen columns of dayof-the-month perpetual-calendar numerals, said container having an annular magnet at the top thereof and having an opening through the magnet for holding paper clips in readiness for removal, said container having a bottom removable for loading paper clips into the container and said bottom having a cylindrical extension telescopically slidable on and rotatable in relation to said cylindrical surface of the container wall, said cylindrical extension and said bottom forming an integral unit coaxial with said wall and axially slidably removable from the container, said extension having an opening that frames any selected sequence of seven of said thirteen columns of numerals, said extension bearing day-of-the-week characters distributed across said columns for alignment with said selected seven columns of numerals.

Claims

1. A desk appliance, including a paper clip container having a lateral wall at least part of which has an external cylindrical surface bearing thirteen columns of day-of-the-month perpetualcalendar numerals, said container having an annular magnet at the top thereof and having an opening through the magnet for holding paper clips in readiness for removal, said container having a bottom removable for loading paper clips into the container and said bottom having a cylindrical extension telescopically slidable on and rotatable in relation to said cylindrical surface of the container wall, said cylindrical extension and said bottom forming an integral unit coaxial with said wall and axially slidably removable from the container, said extension having an opening that frames any selected sequence of seven of said thirteen columns of numerals, said extension bearing day-of-theweek characters distributed across said columns for alignment with said selected seven columns of numerals.