Year: 1898

page_text: I, CHARLES WILLIAM Cox, of 27, George Street, Hampstead Road, in the County
of Middlesex, Foreman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows;
The invention relates to improvements in or connected with coal boxes or the
like.
The lids of coal boxes or the like are commonly hinged to the top of the box
so as to shut down upon the front of the box which is generally inclined and with
this construction no provision is made for holding the lid in its open position during
the filling of the box with coal or when feeding the fire and it is consequently
necessary for the operator to hold up the lid with one hand whilst he charges the
coal box or feeds the fire with the other.
Now the primary object of the present invention is by a simple and inexpensive
arrangement of parts to provide means whereby the lid will when desired be
automatically held in its open position thus permitting the operator to have the
free use of both hands and obviating the difficulties above pointed out.
In carrying the invention into effect the sides of the box on the interior thereof
and immediately beneath the top are formed with horizontal grooves therein and
in connection with these grooves is employed a sliding bar which at its ends enters
into the grooves in such manner as to be capable of sliding to and fro therein.
The grooves in the sides of the box terminate at a point a short distance from
the front thereof and the ends of the grooves form stops to limit the forward
movement of the sliding bar.
The lid of the box instead of being hinged to the top as heretofore is hinged to
the front of the sliding bar in such manner that it is capable of folding down on
the front of the box to close the same, or when raised into a horizontal position
of following the sliding bar into the interior of the box, and in order to retain
the lid in said position and to facilitate the sliding movement two studs or rollers
are arranged upon the sides of the box at a point to the rear of the front ends
of the grooves and below the same, so that in the extreme outward position of the
sliding bar they will occupy a position to the rear of the connection therewith
of the lid.
By this arrangement of parts when the lid is horizontally drawn out to its full
extent it may be opened and closed upon its hinges in the ordinary way whilst
when it is raised to a horizontal position and slidden into the interior of the box
it will be thus supported by the studs or rollers and the sliding bar.
It will be obvious that the details of construction of the device may be more or
less varied without departing from the spirit of the invention, for example the
sliding bar may be dispensed with and the lid provided with hooks to engage the
studs or rollers in the outward position of the lid said hooks being provided with
lateral studs running in the grooves which latter might be curved at their outer
ends.

page_text: By the means hereinbefore described and at very small additional cost a coal box
is rendered much more convenient in use than heretofore.
Dated this 20th day of July 1898.
I, CHARLES WILLIAM Cox, of 27, George Street, Hampstead Road, in the County
of Middlesex, Foreman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
The invention relates to improvements in or connected with coal boxes or the
like.
The lids of coal boxes or the like are commonly hinged to the top of the box
so as to shut down upon the front of the box which is generally inclined and with
this construction no provision is made for holding the lid in its open position during
the filling of the box with coal or when feeding the fire and it is consequently
necessary for the operator to hold up the lid with one hand whilst he charges the
coal box or feeds the fire with the other.
Now the primary object of the present invention is by a simple and inexpensive
arrangement of parts to provide means whereby the lid will when desired be
automatically held in its open position thus permitting the operator to have the
free use of both hands and obviating the difficulties above pointed out.
In carrying the invention into effect the sides of the box on the interior thereof
and immediately beneath the top are formed with horizontal grooves therein and
in connection with these grooves is employed a sliding bar which at its ends enters
into the grooves in such manner as to be capable of sliding to and fro therein.
The grooves in the sides of the box terminate at a point a short distance from
the front thereof and the ends of the grooves form stops to limit the forward
movement of the sliding bar.
The lid of the box instead of being hinged to the top as heretofore is hinged to
the front of the sliding bar in such manner that it is capable of folding down on
the front of the box to close the same, or when raised into a horizontal position
of following the sliding bar into the interior of the box and in order to retain
the lid in said position and to facilitate the sliding movement two studs or rollers
are arranged upon the sides of the box at a point to the rear of the front ends
of the grooves and below the same, so that in the extreme outward position of the
sliding bar they will occupy a position immediately beneath or slightly to the
rear of the connection therewith of the lid.
By this arrangement of parts when the lid is horizontally drawn out to its full
extent it may be opened and closed upon its hinges in the ordinary way whilst
when it is raised to a horizontal position and slidden into the interior of the box
it will be thus supported by the studs or rollers and the sliding bar
It will be obvious that the details of construction of the device may be more or
less varied without departing from the spirit of the invention, for example the
sliding bar may be dispensed with and the lid provided with hooks to engage the
studs or rollers in the outward position of the lid said hooks being provided with
lateral studs running in the grooves which latter might be curved at their outer
ends.
And in order that the said invention may be more clearly understood and readily

page_text: carried into effect I will proceed aided by the accompanying drawings more fully
to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a front elevation partly in section of a coal box constructed accord-
ing to the present invention and showing the lid in its closed position.
Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof partly in section.
Figure 3 is a plan thereof.
Figure 4 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 3
but showing the lid in its open position.
Figure 5 is an edge view of the lid and connected bar separately.
Figure 6 is an underside view of part thereof.
Figure 7 is a sectional view of a portion of a coal box representing a
modification.
Figure 8 is an underside view of a portion of the lid separately.
Figure 9 is a sectional side view of parts representing a modification and show-
ing the lid closed, and
Figure 10 is a sectional front view thereof showing the lid open.
In the several figures in which like parts are indicated by similar letters of
reference Figures 7 to 10 are drawn to an increased scale with respect to the other
figures of the drawings.
Referring to Figures 1 to 6 a represents the body of the box represents the
lid thereof and c represents the usual handle fixed with the top by means of which
the box may be moved about.
The sides of the box on the interior thereof and immediately beneath the top a*
are formed with horizontal grooves a' therein extending from front to rear of the
coal box and in connection with these grooves a¹ is employed a sliding bar b' which
at its ends is reduced as shown more particularly at Figure 5 and enters into the
grooves at in such manner as to be capable of sliding to and fro therein.
The grooves a¹ in the sides of the box a terminate at a short distance from
the front of said sides and the ends of the grooves form stops to limit the forward
movement of the sliding bar bl.
The lid of the box which is of a width to fit loosely between the sides thereof
instead of being hinged to the top of the box as heretofore is by means of hinges b³
connected with the sliding bar & in such manner that it is capable of folding down
on the front of the box a to close the same as represented at Figures 1 to 3 or when
raised into a horizontal position as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 4 of
following the sliding bar into the interior of the box a as represented by the
full lines in the same figure.
In order to retain the lid b in its horizontal position and to facilitate the
sliding movement two studs or rollers a² are arranged upon the sides of the box a
at a point to the rear of the front ends of the grooves a¹ and below the same so that
in the extreme outward position of the sliding bar b' said studs a² will occupy a
position immediately beneath or they might be slightly to the rear of the hinge
connection therewith of the lid b.
By this arrangement of parts when the lid b is horizontally drawn out to its
full extent it may be opened and closed upon its hinges 62 in the ordinary way,
whilst when it is raised to a horizontal position and partly or entirely slidden
into the interior of the box as represented at Figure 4 it will be thus supported
by the studs or rollers a² and the sliding bar bl.
In the example given at Figures 7 and 8 the sliding bar 61 is dispensed with and
the lid is at each side thereof provided with hooks 63 to engage the studs or
'rollers a² upon the interior of the box in the outward position of the lid bas
represented at Figure 7 whilst adjacent to the hooks 63 the lid b is provided with
laterally projecting studs 6' which take the place of the sliding bar and run in
the grooves a whilst in order to facilitate the movements of the lid b the grooves a¹
are at their outer ends preferably slightly curved in a downward direction or
enlarged at that point.

page_text: 'As a further slight modification the hooks 63 may be dispensed with and the
studs b may come against the ends of the grooves a¹ which form stops thereto.
In the example given at Figures 9 and 10 the grooves a¹ in the sides of the
box a are dispensed with and supporting beads or fillets a are employed in lieu
thereof and the space between the beads and the top a* constitutes a groove a¹ in
which runs the lid b whilst in order to limit the outward motion of the lid b
studs a laterally carried by the beads a engage hooks b fixed on the underside
of the lid b.
It will be obvious that the details of construction of the device may be further
more or less varied without departing from the spirit of the invention and that the
device may be applied to boxes or cabinets other than coal boxes.
By the means herein before described at a very small additional cost a coal box
or the like is rendered more efficient in use than heretofore.
4.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is-
..
1. A coal box or the like comprising a body formed with a lateral mouth or
opening, an inflexible lid adapted to close said mouth and at its upper end provided
with means constituting an axis of motion permitting it to turn into a horizontal
position to open the mouth and thus slide into the interior of the box and means
for guiding the lid in said horizontal movement substantially as herein shown and
described.
2. A coal box or the like comprising a body formed with a lateral mouth or
opening, an inflexible lid adapted to close said mouth, horizontal grooves in the
sides of the box beneath the top, a transverse bar at its ends adapted to slide in
said grooves a hinge connection between the upper end of the lid and the sliding
bar permitting the lid to turn into a horizontal position to open the mouth and
thus follow the sliding bar into the interior of the box and studs or the like carried
by the sides of the box for supporting the lid in said horizontal position substan-
tially as herein shown and described."
3. A coal box or the like comprising a body formed with a lateral mouth or
opening, an inflexible lid adapted to close said mouth, horizontal grooves in the
sides of the box beneath the top, lateral projections from the upper end of the lid
adapted to slide in said grooves permitting the lid to turn into a horizontal position
to open the mouth and thus slide into the interior of the box, studs or the like
carried by the sides of the box for supporting the lid in said horizontal position
and means for limiting the outward movement of the lid substantially as herein
shown and described.
4. A coal box or the like comprising a body formed with a lateral mouth or
opening, an inflexible lid adapted to close said mouth, horizontal guides upon the
sides of the box beneath the top adapted to receive the lid when in a horizontal
position, hooks carried by the upper end of the lid and studs or projections carried
by the box and adapted to engage the hooks in the outer position of the lid sub-
stantially as herein shown and described.
5. A coal box or the like constructed and operating substantially as herein
shown and described.
Dated this 20th day of April 1899.
WHITE & WOODINGTON,
Birkbeck Bank Chambers,
Southampton Buildings, London, Agents.