An Improved Hat Box, also applicable as a small Travelling Trunk.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Nov., 1896-Accepted, 9th Jan., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Hat Box, also applicable as a small Travelling
Trunk.
A communication by GOTTLOB SCHÖNLEBER, of 40, Königsstrasse, Stuttgart, in the
Empire of Germany, Royal Purveyor.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of The Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6 Bank Street, Manchester, both
in the County of Lancaster, 118 New Street, Birmingham in the County of
Warwick, and 322 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The boxes hitherto employed for holding tall hats on journeys, and also for
keeping them safely when at home, have always been of oval section and of conical
form, the hat lying in the box with its top pressing on the bottom of the box.
In this way it has been impossible to prevent the nap on the top of the hat from
being disarranged, so that the hat has always first to be brushed when it is taken
out of the box to be used. The oval conical form of the hat boxes previously
made has moreover the frequent disagreeableness that their destination is
immediately recognised. In itself this is not a bad thing, but for many persons
it is not always pleasant that people, from an inspection of their baggage, should
be able to immediately come to an idea as to the object of their journey, that is,
that the public travelling with a person immediately know that he is going to
attend some festivo occasion, such as a marriage, baptism, confirmation, burial or the
like.
This improved hat box is of a cubical form and is
only retained on its under part, and its nap never
walls. The box may also be so arranged that it is
travelling trunk.
so arranged that the hat is
comes in contact with the
also available as a small
In the accompanying drawings this improved hat box is shown in Figures 1-9.
The size of the elongated box generally depends of course on the size of the tall
hat. The lid may be arranged on the longer side of the box, as shown for instance
in Figures 1-4, or on the shorter side, as in the kind of box shown in Figures 5-7.
Further, one of the sides of the box may be made to drop down and on this side
the hat may be fastened, Figures 8 and 9. The hat may be held fast in the box in
numerous ways.
In the box shown in Figures 1-4, the high hat D is mounted with its under
edge on a suitably shaped domed piece of cardboard C, and is retained on the part C
by means of elastic cords E engaging over the brim d, the said piece of cardboard C
being inserted in two grooves in the box which are formed by two bars a formed
on the side of the box A. By means of a tag c attached to the inserted piece of
cardboard C, the latter, together with the hat, may be easily drawn out of the box.
A carrying strap b is attached to the cube shaped box A engaging over the lid B,
which strap may be fastened or opened by means of any suitable fastening, such as
a buckle or the like.
In the box shown in Figures 5 to 7 a lid B is formed on the shorter side, and
also fastened down to the box A¹ by means of straps b'. The hat D is fixed with