A NOVEL KIND OF SELF-CLOSING Box, PERMANENTLY KEPT CLOSED, AND INTENDED TO CONTAIN SUCH OBJECTS OR SUBSTANCES AB REQUIRE TO BE CAREFULLY SHUT UP
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Georges Gros, of the Town of Bordeaux, and of
No. 60, Boulevart de Strasbourg, Paris, in the Empire of France,
for the Invention of "A NOVEL KIND OF SELF-CLOSING Box, PERMANENTLY
KEPT CLOSED, AND INTENDED TO CONTAIN SUCH OBJECTS OR SUBSTANCES AB
REQUIRE TO BE CAREFULLY SHUT UP."
Sealed the 6th August 1869, and dated the 10th February 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Georges Gros at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th February 1869.
I, GEORGES GROS, of the Town of Bordeaux, and of No. 60, Boulevart
de Strasbourg, Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "A NOVEL KIND OF SELF-CLOSING Box,
PERMANENTLY KEPT CLOSED, AND INTENDED TO CONTAIN SUOH- OBJECTS OR SUBSTANCES
AS REQUIRE TO BE CAREFULLY SHUT UP," to be as follows
This novel box is composed of two rectangular casings or shells, the
ends of which are rounded up, their straight edges sliding in one another,
the deeper or under part forming the box, and the upper or flatter one

page_text: the lid, and both parts joined together by means either of a small steel
or other spring or a small strip of india-rubber.
A box thus made is opened very easily by merely pushing the lid
backward with the thumb of the hand holding the box, and when the
pressure of the thumb is removed the lid is suddenly driven back by the
spring or strip of india-rubber.
Such boxes may vary in shape and size, and are intended especially for
holding chimical matches, pharmaceutical substances, or small objects
of any kind either dangerous, delicate, or precious.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Georges Gros in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGES
GROS, of the Town of Bordeaux, and of No. 60, Boulevart de Strasbourg,
Paris, in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Georges Gros, Her special licence
that I, the said Georges Gros, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Georges Gros, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NOVEL KIND OF SELF-CLOSING Box,
PERMANENTLY KEPT CLOSED, AND INTENDED TO CONTAIN SUCH OBJECTS OR SUBSTANCES
AS REQUIRE ΤΟ BE CAREFULLY BHUT UP," upon the condition
condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Georges Gros, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
the

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Georges Gros, do hereby declarc
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawing, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon:-
My attention has long been drawn to the numerous inconveniences
and accidents resulting from the brittleness of small boxes made either
of pasteboard, wood, or other material wanting strength, which boxes
yielding to the least pressure are thrown out of shape, thereby permitting
the escape of their contents, to which they also give no sufficient protec-
tion against outward pressure, a most serious defect when such boxes
contain chymical matches, and it is more especially on account of such
matches, the use of which is now so extensive, that I have been led to
the combination of a kind of box which can be made either of metal,
china, stamped leather, melted horn or shell, hardened india-rubber, or
of any other material which can be easily stamped or moulded, and is
sufficiently resistant to prevent the accidents alluded to. The peculiar
formation of my improved boxes permits their manufacture by
machinery and enables me to produce and sell them at a very trifling
price.
The boxes of my Invention are intended to contain chymical matches,
medicamental or pharmaceutical substances, sugar plums, perfumes,
jewels, cigaritos, percussion caps, in fact any substance or object either
delicate, dangerous, or precious.
The Sheet of Drawing hereunto annexed will easily convey to the
mind the principle upon which my Invention is based. The shape which
I have adopted for the box represented in the Drawing is that which I
prefer for chymical match boxes, as being the most convenient for
carriage in the waistcoat pocket, without hindering or clogging it and
without fear of crushing or breakage. I do not, however, restrain or
limit myself to this shape only, as I purpose modifying and adapting it
to the nature of the objects or substances which the said boxes are to
contain.
This box is formed with two cases or shells of a rectangular shape but
rounded off at each end; the deeper one is the receptacle, and the flatter

page_text: the lid. The straight edges of both parts are formed so as to enter and
slide in one another. They are tied to each other either by means of a
small steel or wire spring or by a thin strip of india-rubber acting as a
spring and keeping them closed. The box can be opened very easily by
sliding the lid with the thumb of the hand in which the box is held.
On the pressure of the thumb being removed the lid instantly slides
back and closes the box, this being effected by the action of the small
spring lodged inside, but which might equally well be placed outside,
and instead of a single spring two might be used, one on each side.
That part of the top of the lid against which the thumb is to bear
slightly in order to open the box is clearly indicated by the exergue or
the obligatory inscription of any patented article, the under side of the
box being either pointed, cut in the casting, or in any way roughened to
give a rubbing surface on which to ignite the matches.
On the annexed Sheet of Drawing, Fig. 1 is a top view of the box
shut up; Fig. 2 shows the box opened sufficiently to permit a match to
be taken out; Fig. 3 is a side view of Fig. 2; and Fig. 4, a cross section
through the line x, y, Fig. 1. A is the upper shell or lid; B is the
under shell or receptacle; c are the sliding edges, shown on a larger
scale in Fig. 5. The edges of the body B of the box are bent or crooked
and form a groove to receive the edges of the lid which slide within
it. The end D of the box is shaped, as shown Figs. 3, to stop the end of
the lid the projecting ends b of the slides also serve to stop the lid.
E is a small strip or string of india-rubber, one end fastened in the box
and the other in the lid.
This kind of box presents real advantages as regards convenience and
solidity, and its conformation admits of its manufacture by means which
will permits these objects to be delivered to the dealer at a price analogous
to that of pasteboard boxes. Such prices will be understood when it is
observed that my box is produced by a rapid and economical means,
there entering into its composition neither hinge, soldering, or glueing,
all of which render the manufacture of boxes longer, more difficult,
and more costly.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I
claim, the peculiar arrangement of the self-shutting up and permanently
closed boxes herein-before described, the said boxes being composed of
two main parts sliding over each other and tied to one another by a suit-

page_text: able spring, which not only shuts up but keeps them closed up, such
boxes being intended to contain any kind of substances or objects;
and I further claim the right of making the said boxes of any material
of a suitable toughness, and capable of being moulded, cast, or stamped,
as also that of modifying their shape and size according to the nature of
the objects or substances they are to contain.
In witness whereof, I, the said Georges Gros, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Signed and sealed in the
presence of
L. D'AUBREVILLE, C.E.
G. GROS. (L.S.)