Improvements in the Manufacture of Bags or Sacks.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Aug., 1889-Accepted, 26th Oct., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Bags or Sacks.
I, JOSEPH LYBRAND SEYMOUR, of No. 945 Broadway, in the City, County, and State
of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer, 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 :-
My invention relates mainly to the manufacture of bags from textile material, and
the object of my invention is to produce a stronger and in many respects better bag,
than those made in the usual way from similar material, and to produce such bags at
a reasonable cost.
Bags made from textile material or woven fabrics for general commercial use have
the warp and weft arranged parallel with the sides and ends of the bag; that is to
say, one set of the threads of the fabric extend lengthwise of the bag and the other set
extends around the bag, or at right angles with the first named set. The effect of this
arrangement of the threads is to put the strain on the threads in the direction of their
length when the bag is full or charged, and to a great extent, each set of threads
must independently bear the strain upon it. In such a bag, also the raw edge at the
mouth must be hemmed or bound to prevent it from ravelling out.
My invention obviates the above difficulties by so arranging the fabric in making
the bag that the warp and weft threads will be "bias," or stand obliquely to the top,
bottom and sides of the bag. Thus the lateral and longitudinal strains on the bag
will both be diagonal to the axes of the warp and weft of the fabric, whereby both sets
of threads partake of the strains and thus the fabric offers an elastic and yielding
resistance to said strains. This method of arranging the threads permits me to use a
less expensive and weaker material for the bag than in the case where the strains are
parallel with the threads, as in that case there is less elasticity and stronger material
must consequently be used. In this bag, also, the raw edge about the mouth of the
hag is cut bias," and consequently does not ravel and will not require to be hemmed
or bound.
Owing to its peculiar construction, the seams of this bag will also be oblique, or
bias to the sides and ends of the bag, and usually the selvages will be joined by
stitching or otherwise, thus forming the strongest possible seam. Seams arranged bias
to the sides of the bag, or spirally with its longitudinal axis, also impart great elasticity
and strength to the bag.
The bottom of the bag may be seamless, that is, formed by a fold in the fabric, or
it may, in one form of bag, be closed by a seam. Or, when the bag is made from a
tubular bag-blank, the tubes destined to form the bags may be sold to the trade with
their ends open, and these ends may be closed by gathering and tying with a string
or wire.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings illustrates one mode I employ in making my
bag. This view shows a bag-blank a in the form of a flattened tube, made by taking
a strip of muslin, for example, and stitching the selvage edges together in a manner
to forin a tube with a spiral seam. The inclination of this seam will vary with the
width of the muslin or other fabric, and the width of the bag made. Such a blank
may be stitched on an ordinary sewing machine, owing to the flexibility of the
material, and will be limited in length only by the length of the strip of material.
Indeed by joining strips together end wise, the blank may be extended indefinitely.
Fig. 2 shows a section of the blank a cut off to form a bag. The transverse dotted
lines in Fig. 1 indicate where the blank a may be cut into sections to form bags.
Fig. 3 shows a section of the blank a closed by a seam at the bottom to form a bag,
and Fig. 4 shows a similar section tied at the bottom by a cord, or wire, or other
levice, to form a bag.

page_text: Figs. 5, 6, and 7 illustrate another mode of forming a bag with an oblique seam in
which the bottom of the bag is formed by a fold in the fabric. In Fig. 5b is the
blank, which is first folded along the oblique dotted line at its middle when it will
assume the form seen in Fig. 6. The triangular flaps are now folded in and properly
joined when a bag will be formed as represented in Fig. 7. This bag as the same
characteristics as that seen in Fig. 3.
C
Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate another mode of forming the obliquely seamed bag. The
bank in Fig. 8 is folded along the dotted lines and the oblique edges of the flaps
joined together. The bottom may be closed by either of the modes illustrated in
Figs. 3 and 4, or in any other way.
Figs. 10 and 11 illustrate still another mode of making the obliquely-seamed bag.
The blank d seen in Fig. 10, is triangular in form, and is folded along the dotted lines
seen in that Figure. The adjacent edges of the angular flaps are then joined together
and a bag like that seen in Fig. 11 is formed. The bottom of this bag is formed by a
fold in the fabric, as in the bag seen in Fig. 7.
The method of manufacture is adapted to bags of all sizes and it may be used in
the manufacture of bags for all purposes. Any kind of woven fabric may be used
in the manufacture of the bag, and when paper or felted materials are substituted
for woven fabrics and folded as described, the bags are much improved in quality
over those made in the usual way.
*
وو
By the term seam as herein employed, I wish it to be understood as meaning
not only stitched or sewed seams, but those formed by gum, cement or the like as
well.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
Firstly The manufacture of bags wherein the seams are made to extend obliquely
to the axis of the bag substantially as set forth.
Secondly-The manufacture of bags wherein the warp and weft threads of the
fabric are arranged bias to the axis of the bag, substantially as set forth.
Thirdly The manufacture of bags wherein the warp and weft threads of the
fabric are arranged bias to the axis of the bag where the oblique seams are the
selvages of the fabric, substantially as set forth.
Fourthly The manufacture of bags from textile material wherein the bag has a
raw bias edge about its mouth, thus dispensing with a hem thereon.
Fifthly The manufacture of bags by first forming from the material, a tube having
a spiral seam, and then cutting such tube transversely into sections of the proper
length for bags, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 13th day of August 1889
TASKER & CROSSLEY,
Halifax, Agents.