Punch – Patent No. 507,672
Inventor: Charles B. Brooks, of Newark, New Jersey.
Patent Number: 507,672
Date of Patent: October 31, 1893
Description: Charles B. Brooks was granted a patent for an “Attachment for Ticket-Punches,” a small, removable receptacle designed to collect the punched-out portions of tickets. The box fit over the upper jaw of a standard ticket punch and was held in place by prongs. A key feature was a small aperture on top that allowed the conductor to see the ticket before punching it, ensuring accuracy while containing the waste.
The fundamental principle of this invention—a tool with a self-contained receptacle to collect waste—is a design feature that is still widely used today in devices like modern office hole punches.
Societal Impact and Legacy
- Improved Sanitation and Convenience: Before this invention, conductors would punch tickets, and the small pieces of paper would fall onto the floor of a train or streetcar.1 Brooks’s receptacle made the process cleaner and more sanitary for passengers and more convenient for the conductor by containing the waste.2
- The Inventor’s Legacy: Charles B. Brooks was an African American inventor whose work is a testament to the ingenuity of Black innovators who developed practical solutions for everyday problems in the late 19th century.3 His invention, while seemingly small, created a design concept that is still used in tools today.
