IMPROVEMENTS IN RACRENINGS FOR METALLIC TRAVELLING BOXES AND OTHER METALLIC BOXES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Hookham, of the Firm of H. J. Hookham
and Sons, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Tin Plate
Workers and Japanners, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN
RACRENINGS FOR METALLIC TRAVELLING BOXES AND OTHER METALLIC BOXES"
Sealed the 18th September 1874, and dated the 17th April 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Hookham at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th April 1874.
I, GEORGE HOOKHAм, of the Firm of H. J. Hookham and Sons, of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Tin Plate Workers and
Japanners, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR METALLIC TRAVELLING BOXES AND OTHER METALLIC
BOXES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the improvements hercin-after described in
fastenings for metallic travelling boxes and other metallic boxes, the
object of my Invention being to fasten down the lid of the box at its

page_text: "
ends in addition to the ordinary fastening or locking at its middle, so as
to prevent the prizing or raising of the lid at its ends, and further to
produce a self-acting or snapping fastening, so that on shutting down
the lid the said lid is self-fastened.
In constructing and arranging the parts of fastenings according to my
Invention I fix inside the front of the box and near the ends thereof
two vertical spring catches, the said catches being connected together by
a bar parallel with the front edge of the box. The upper free ends or
beads of the said spring catches are hook shaped, and the hooked heads
pass through slots or openings near the upper edge of the front of the
box and project a little above the beading running round the exterior of
the box, against which beading the lid shuts. The upper sides of the
hooked heads of the spring catches are curved or bevilled. To the
middle of the connecting bar of the spring catches described a horizontal
push picce is fixed, the outer end of the said push piece passing through
an opening in the middle of the front of the box, and being situated
under the hasp plate of the lock when the lid is shut down. The edge
of the front of the lid which shuts down upon the beading described is
provided near the ends of the lid and on its inner side with projections
or lips. When the lid is shut down the said projections or lips bear
against and press back the hooked ends of the spring catches, and when
the lid has been fully shut down the said catches advance and their
hooked ends snap over the said projections or lips on the lid, and thereby
hold down the lid very firmly and also prevent the prizing or raising of
the lid at its ends. To unfasten the ends of the lid after the hasp plate
of the lock bas been raised the projecting end of the push piece is pressed
inwards. A corresponding motion is thereby given to the connecting
bar of the two spring catches, and the hooks are pressed back and dis-
engaged from the projections or lips on the lid, and the latter is
unfastened and may be raised.
In order to facilitate the releasing of the fastening the push piece may
be operated through a lover instead of by the direct pressure of the
hand. The said lever and the projecting end of the push picco are
covered and concealed by the hasp plate of the lock, and the said lever
or push piece cannot be operated to release the fastening until the
ordinary lock has been unlocked and the hasp plate raised.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Hookham in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HоOкпAм, of the Firm of H. J. Hookham and Sons, of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Tin Plate Workers and Japanners, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Hookham, Her special license
that I, the said George Hookham, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said George Hookham, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FASTENINGS FOR METALLIC TRAVELLING BOXES AND OTHER METALLIC BOXES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Hookham,
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 performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Hookbam, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
fastenings for metallic travelling boxes and other metallic boxes, the
object of my Invention being to fasten down the lid of the box at its
ends in addition to the ordinary fastening or locking at its middle, so as
to prevent the prizing or raising of the lid at its ends, and further to

page_text: .
produce a self-acting or snapping fastening so that on shutting down the
lid the said lid is self-fastened.
In constructing and arranging the parts of fastenings according to my
Invention I fix inside the front of the box and near the ends thereof
two vertical spring catches, the said catches being connected together by
a bar parallel with the front edge of the box. The upper free ends or
heads of the said spring catches are hook shaped, and the hooked heads
pass through slots or openings near the upper edge of the front of the
box and project a little above the beading running round the exterior of
the box, against which beading the lid shuts. The upper sides of the
hooked heads of the spring catches are curved or bevilled. To the
middle of the connecting bar of the spring catches described a horizontal
push piece is fixed, the outer end of the said push piece passing through
an opening in the middle of the front of the box, and being situated
under the hasp plate of the lock when the lid is shut down. The edge
of the front part of the lid which shuts down upon the beading described
is provided near the ends of the lid and on its inner side with projections
or lips. When the lid is shut down the said projections or lips bear
against and press back the hooked ends of the spring catches, and when
the said lid has been fully shut down the said catches advance, and
their hooked ends snap over the said projections or lips on the lid, and
thereby hold down the lid very firmly and also prevent the prizing or
raising of the lid at its ends. To unfasten the ends of the lid after the
hasp plate of the lock has been raised the projecting end of the push
piece is pressed inwards. A corresponding motion is thereby given to
the connecting bar of the two spring catches, and the hooks are pressed
back and disengaged from the projections or lips on the lid, and the
latter is unfastened and may be raised.
In order to facilitate the releasing of the fastening the push picce may
be operated through a lever instead of by the direct pressure of the hand.
The said lever and the projecting end of the push piece are covered and
concealed by the hasp plate of the lock, and the said lever or push piece
cannot be operated to release the fastening until the ordinary lock has
been unlocked and the hasp plate raised.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.

page_text: Figure 1 represents in front clevation and Figure 2 in vertical trans-
verse section (taken through the hasp plate) a metallic travelling box
provided with a fastening constructed according to my Invention, the
lid of the box being represented unfastened and partly raised from the
body.
Figures 3 and 4 represent transverse vertical sections of the box with
the lid shut down, the lid in Figure 3 being represented fastened, and in
Figure 4 unfastened.
Figure 5 represents in front elevation the spring catches of the
fastening detached from the box drawn to a larger scale, and Figure 6
represents in transverse vertical section the said spring catches and a
portion of the box.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several
Figures of the Drawings.
a is the body of the box and 6 is the lid of the same; c is the lock
and d is the hasp plate of the lock of the ordinary kind; e, e³, e, e³, are
the vertical spring catches fixed inside the box a and near the ends
thereof (see Figure 1). The said spring catches are connected together
by a bar f. The upper free ends or heads of the spring catches are hook
shaped and curved or bevilled at top, the said hooked ends or heads
being marked e*, e². The bottoms of the spring catches e, e³, are secured
at e to the inside of the box. In the front of the box a and above the
beading a², against which the edge of the lid shuts, are slots or openings
g, g, through which the heads e² of the spring catches pass, when the
latter are at liberty to move. To the edge of the front of the lid 6 and
on its inner side lips or projections h, h, are fixed, with which lips or
projections the hooked heads of the spring catches engage to fasten the
lid to the box, as herein-after explained. To the middle of the con-
necting barf of the spring catches e, e³, e, e³, is a horizontal push
piece i, the said push piece passing through a slot in the middle of the
front of the box a. Jointed to the front of the box is a lever / for
releasing the fastening. The said lever has the shape best seen in the
sectional views, and its upper end bears against the outer edge of the
push piece. Its lower end is furnished with a loop or thumb plate k².
When the hasp plate d of the lock c is shut down preparatory to locking
the box the said hasp plate passes over and engages with the loop or
thumb plate of the releasing lever (see Figure 3), and the hook of a

page_text: engaged with
padlock may be passed through the said loop or thumb plate for giving
additional security to the fastening. When the lid 6 of the box a is
shut down the lips or projections h, h, on the said lid bear against and
press back the hooked ends or heads e³, e³, of the spring catches e, e, and
when the lid has been fully shut down the said spring catches advance,
and their hooked ends e³ snap over the said projections or lips h, h, on
the lid, as represented in Figure 3, and thereby hold down the lid very
firmly and also prevent the prizing or raising of the lid at its ends. Thus
the shutting down of the lid causes it to be self-fastened. After the lid
has been shut down the hasp plate d is turned down and
the thumb plate of the releasing lever k, and the said
then locked in the ordinary way. When the hasp plate has been locked
the releasing lever k, k², cannot be moved. To unfasten the box the
hasp plato d is first raised and the releasing lever is operated by lifting
its thumb plate in the direction of the arrow, Figure 4. The said
lever is thereby made to act upon and press inwards the push piece i of
the connecting bar f, and the two spring catches e, e², e, e², are pressed
back and their heads disengaged from the projections or lips h, h, on the
lid, as illustrated in Figure 4, when the said lid is unfastened and may
be raised as seen in Figures 1 and 2.
hasp plate is
Although I find it convenient to use a lever for releasing the end
fastening of the box, yet the said lever may be omitted and the fastening
be released by the direct pressure of the hand upon the push piece i of
the fastening.
In addition to metallic travelling boxes my Invention may also be
applied to other kinds of metallic boxes, such as deed boxes.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention, but I claim as my Invention the improvements in fastenings
for metallic travelling boxes and other metallic boxes, herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say,
fastening down the lids of the said boxes in addition to the ordinary
fastening at the middle by means of a self-acting or snapping fastening
consisting essentially of two vertical spring catches e, e², e, e³, connecting
bar f, and push piece i (with or without a releasing lever) on the body.

page_text: the cage
of the box, with which spring catchies, projections, or ups on
of the lid engage, when the latter is shut down, substantially as described
and illustrated.
In witness whercof, I, the said George Hookham, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Seventh day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
GEORGE HOOKHAM. (L.S.)