AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MARRAGE OF BOXES OR CASES AND IN FASTENINGS FOR THE SAME.”
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Hill, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE
MARRAGE OF BOXES OR CASES AND IN FASTENINGS FOR THE SAME.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Hill at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd August 1859.
I, WILLIAM HENRY HILL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOXES OR CASES, AND IN FASTENINGS FOR
THE SAME," to be as follows:-
My improvement in boxes or cases consists in uniting the sides to the
bottom and the top, and the top to the sides by means of gudgeons and pintles;
whereby nails and screws for attaching the sides to the bottom and top are
entirely dispensed with. My method of constructing cases allows of the sides,
top, and bottom being disconnected when empty, and of their being laid flat
together for stowage or carriage, whereby little space will be occupied by
them. In the gudgeons and pintles for attaching the front and back sides,
or any two of the sides to the bottom, the pintle is free to slide to and fro as a

page_text: bolt to allow of the gudgeon being placed in position before the attachment is
made secure by driving the pintle into it.
My improvement in fastenings for boxes and cases consists in fitting a metal
plate, with a countersink in the top of the case, and in fitting another metal plate
in the front or side of the case, with a channel at back, and with a T or other
convenient shaped countersink formed in the front thereof. To make the
fastening, I pass a wire or metal staple down the two sides of the upper metal
plate, and bring the two ends down through the front or side plate and out at
the two sides of the T; 1 then twist the two ends of the wire or staple, and
lay them in the upright part of the T. A seal may be placed over them to
shew any attempt to open the fastening.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY HILL, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry Hill, Her special licence that I, the said William
Henry Hill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Henry Hill, 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 "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOXES OR CASES, AND IN FASTENINGS, FOR
THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Henry Hill, 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Hill, do hereby
declare 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
My improvement in boxes or cases consists in uniting the sides to the
bottom and the top to the sides by means of gudgeons and pintles, whereby
nails and screws for attaching the sides to the bottom and top are entirely
dispensed with. My method of constructing cases allows of the sides, ends,
top, and bottom being disconnected when empty, and of their being laid flat
together for stowage or carriage, whereby little space will be occupied by
them. In the gudgeons and pintles for attaching the front and back sides, or
any two of the sides or ends to the bottom, the pintle is free to slide to-and-
fro as a bolt to allow of the gugdeon being placed in position before the
attachment is made secure by driving the pintle into it.
My improvement in fastenings for boxes and cases consists in fitting a
metal plate with a countersink in the top of the case, and in fitting another
metal plate in the front or side of the case, with a channel at back, and with
a T or other convenient shaped countersink formed in the front thereof. To
make the fastening, I pass a wire or metal staple down the two sides of the
upper metal plate, and bring the two ends down through the front or side
plate, and out at the two sides of the T; I then twist the two ends of the wire
or staple, and lay them in the upright part of the T. A seal may be placed
over them to shew any attempt to open the fastening.
Figures 1 of the accompanying Drawings are views of a gudgeon and pintle
for attaching the sides of a box to the bottom, according to my Invention.
A is a gudgeon, having a hole a bored through it, as shewn, one half of the
hole being somewhat larger than the other half. This gudgeon is screwed by
its arm a¹ to the bottom of the box by screws passing through holes b, b; c is
a pintle which is inserted by its small end through the hole in the gudgeon,
and has a finger piece & screwed to it, so that the said pintle cannot be
removed from the gudgeon until the finger-piece is unscrewed or unrivited. [The
pintle takes into a gudgeon, which is screwed to one of the side pieces of a
box, and the tail-piece falls into a slot formed in the bottom, so that the side
piece cannot be removed from the bottom until the tail piece is raised from
the slot, and the pintle pushed back.
Figure 2 is a view in plan of the bottom of a box fitted
gudgeons and pintles only; two gudgeons A, A, and pintles c, c,
but more can be fitted if considered necessary; e, e, e, e, are
with these
are shown,
four other

page_text: gudgeons screwed to the bottom by screws for attaching the end pieces of the
box to the bottom. The lower parts of the end pieces of the box have
gudgeons with pintles inserted screwed to them, which pintles take into the
gudgeons e, e, that are screwed to the bottom. Figure 3 is a view of the
inside of one of the side pieces of the box; g, g, are the gudgeons and pintles,
which latter take into gudgeons screwed to the side pieces; h is a gudgeon
screwed to the bottom of the side piece, into which the movable pintle c in
the gudgeon A, which is screwed to the bottom of the box, takes.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the interior of a box, constructed according
to my Invention, with one side and end piece removed. Figures 5 are views
of one metal plate, which I employ for fastenings for boxes and cases, and
which is fitted to the top or lid of a box. a is a hole through which a screw
passes to hold it to the top of the box, which is inserted in the wood in order
to keep the plate flush with the top; b, b, are holes through which the ends
of a piece of wire or stopper are inserted, and which holes correspond with
others bored in the front side piece of the box. Figures 6 are views of
another plate fitted to the outside of the side piece of the box; it is sunk in
the wood in a similar manner to the top plate, and is held therein by a screw
passing through the hole c; d, d, are holes corresponding with the holes b, b,
formed in the top plate and the front side. The ends of the wire or staples,
which are inserted through the holes b, b, in the top plate, issue through the
holes d, d, in the front plate; the ends are twisted together, and pressed into
a slot e; the whole can then for greater security be covered with a seal. To
undo the fastening raise the wire from the slot, untwist the ends, place a
pointed instrument beneath the looped wire in the top plate (the admission of
which instrument is facilitated by a groove formed in the top plate,) remove
the wire, and the fastening is undone. Any number of these fastenings may
be fitted to a box or case. The under side of the lid is slotted in two or more
places for the reception of gudgeons similar to those before described, into
which pintles fixed to one of the side pieces take. The gudgeons and pintles
can be made to act as a hinge, and at the same time the lid can be slid off as
before. Fastenings of the description just described can be fitted to boxes
other than those constructed in the manner herein-before described.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, as my improve-
ment in boxes or cases, the uniting of the sides to the bottom and the top to
the sides by means of gudgeons and pintles, as herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
And I claim, as my improvement in fastenings, the fitting of a metal plate

page_text: in the top of a box or case, and another metal plate in the front or side, and
connecting the two by a wire or wires, staple or staples, spindle or spindles, as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Hill, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty.
WILLIAM HENRY HILL. (L.S.)