Patent GB-694624-A (GB)
Title: An improved fastening device for the lid or closure member of a container
Inventor: WEIL JACQUES
IPC: A45C5/03
Filed: 1951-12-03
Abstract: 694,624. Portmanteaux. CLARKE& CO., Ltd., S. Dec. 3, 1952 [Dec. 3, 1951] No. 28325/51. Class 133. [Also in Group XXV] A fastening device for the lid or closure member of a suitcase comprises one or more flexible elements disposed peripherally around the lid and an incompressible and inextensible wire, cord, band or the like encircling the lid and freely supported in or by the flexible element or elements, the opposite ends of the wire being connected to the movable members of an operating element by means of which, when the lid is in its closed position, the wire may be drawn tightly around the container to secure the lid in its closed position. In the arrangement shown, a strip 4 of leather or the like is secured to the edge of a suitcase lid 1 to form a sleeve 4<SP>1</SP> in which is housed a wire or cord 5. The latter is interrupted at the back of the suitcase and ends of the strip 4 are also spaced apart to permit adjustment of the length of the wire 5 by means of a threaded sleeve 23 and co-operating threaded pin 24 to which adjacent ends of the wire are attached. A locking assembly mounted on the front of the lid 1 comprises a trough-shaped element 7 and a V-shaped member 8 to which is pivotally connected a pair of arms 10, 10<SP>1</SP>, the free ends of which slidably engage, through rollers 12, mounted thereon on pins 11, with the element 7. A spacing bushing 11<SP>1</SP> is mounted on each pin 11. The ends of the wire 5 emerge from the sleeve 4 through openings therein under the element 7 and cross over and engage through apertures 14 on the element 7 with the pins 11. In a modification Fig. 6 (not shown), the bushing 11<SP>1</SP> is replaced by an L-shaped tubular member, one arm of which engages the pin 11 and to the other arm of which the wire 5 is secured. The V-shaped member 8 is formed with a pair of rearwardly projecting arms 16 Fig. 4, which define slots for the horizontal side flanges of the element 7, the lower slot being deeper to accommodate also a lug or hasp 9. Apertures 17 and 18 on the lower flange of the element 7 and on the lug 9 respectively are adapted to receive a detent 19 of an L-shaped latching element 20 slidably carried on the member 8 and normally urged upwardly by spring means (not shown). The latching element 20 is releasable by hand by means of a projection 20<SP>1</SP> and the element is locked by a key operated locking mechanism (not shown). In the operative position of the fastening the member 8 is depressed to draw the wire tightly around the suitcase, the front corners of which are provided with recesses 21 for the wire. An upwardly directed lip 26, formed in a lower horizontal flange of the member 8 ensures that the lug 9 and the lower flange of the element 7 are pressed together. Alternatively ribs may be formed on the undersurface of the lug 9. Specification 662,389, [Group XXV], is referred to. According to the Provisional Specification the wire may be attached to a rotatable member operable with a key and maintained in tension by a spring loaded pin-and-slot clutch.