IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTMANTEAUS AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Hamlyn Williams, of Fenchurch Street,
-
in the City of London, Dressing Case Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTMANTEAUS AND OTHER SIMILAR
ARTICLES."
Sealed the 18th May 1872, and dated the 21st November 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Hamlyn Williams
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st November 1871.
I, ALFRED HAMLYN WILLIAMS, of Fenchurch Street, in the City of
London, Dressing Case Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTMANTEAUS AND OTHER SIMILAR
ARTICLES," to be as follows:
The object of this Invention is to facilitate the packing of apparel
and other articles in portmanteaus and other similar receptacles, and
generally to improve the construction of such receptacles.

page_text: Now my Invention consists in constructing a portmanteau or other
like article with flaps, doors, or inside lids in such manner that they
will close over or cover the halves or receptacle portions of the port-
manteau or other article when required, and they will also stand upright
or nearly upright at an angle with respect to each other and serve as
what is called a standard when required. For this purpose these flaps,
covers, or doors are hinged or jointed in such manner that when raised
they will meet at top and be there connected together. By these
means they will support each other in the said upright or nearly
upright position. The portmanteau or article can thus be packed
rapidly, and the articles therein held securely.
The doors, covers, or flaps or "standard" may be removed from the
portmanteau or other like article if desired, and used separately.
A "standard" is a part of the portmanteau (or other article) which
stands upright or nearly so, and contains various fittings.
A mode of hinging the doors, covers, or flaps or "standard
is by a
spring bolt, which allows of the same being readily removed when
required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Hamlyn Williams in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st May 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
HAMLYN WILLIAMS, of Fenchurch Street, in the City of London,
Dressing Case Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Hamlyn Williams, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Hamlyn Williams, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Hamlyn
Williams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time

page_text: 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 PORTMANTEAUS AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Hamlyn Williams,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Alfred Hamlyn Williams, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to

page_text: nttings.
One mode of hinging or jointing the doors, covers, flaps, or "standard"
for this purpose is the use of a spring bolt hinge, which allows of the
standard being readily removed from the portmanteau when required.
I proceed with reference to the accompanying Drawings to
exemplify the mode in which my Invention is carried into practical
effect.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portmanteau shewn open, its flaps or
inside doors being represented as raised and connected together and
supporting each other. Figure 2 is a front view, partly in section.
Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the raised flaps with the spring
bolt binge arrangement shown on a larger scale. Part of the portmanteau
is in section.
A is a portmanteau; B¹, B³, are flaps or interior doors hinged or jointed
to the body or frame of the portmanteau, and capable of covering the
receptacle portions of the portmanteau. These flaps or doors when
raised form what is called the "standard." They are so contrived that
they will stand nearly upright or at an angle when raised, and when
connected together at their upper ends. The receptacle portions of the
portmanteau are (as usual) hinged or jointed together at a. The
flaps B¹, B², instead of being connected with the body or frame of the
portmanteau at the junction a are connected therewith at 61, 62, respec-
tively, that is to say, beyond or on either side of the central connection a,
and therefore not in the centre of the portmanteau. Usually the flaps
or inside doors are connected with the frame or body of the portmanteau
or like article at the centre, whereas these flaps or doors are connected
at a part on either side of the centre, so that the flaps when raised stand
at an angle and support each other.
When the flaps B', B³, are raised they are connected together at their
upper ends, as shewn in Figures 1 and 4, by any convenient connection,
as for instance, c is a fastening strap attached at one end to one of the
flaps it passes over the top edges of both flaps, and is fastened to the
other flap by a stud d. When the flaps are fastened thus they stand as
shewn in Figures 1 and 4.

page_text: When it is desired to joint the flaps to the portmanteau in such
manner that they may be readily removed I prefer to use a spring bolt
hinge consisting of a rod or bolt e sliding in a staple ƒ fastened to the
flaps by connections f and carrying a stud i, which when the flaps are
to be taken from the portmanteau is pushed back in the bayonet slot j,
releases a spring k, and permits of the disengagement of the flap. The
spring holds the bolt or rod e in place when the flaps are in the body of
the portmanteau. However other ordinary joints or hinges may be
used to connect the flaps with the body or frame of the portmanteau or
other like article, (such, for instance, as strips of textile material,) pro-
vided only that the flaps or interior doors be connected with the body
or frame of the portmanteau or other like article on either side of the
centre or central joint a of the portmanteau or article, in order that
when they are raised they may stand nearly upright at an angle and be
supported one by the other. hare the end guides of the bolt e.
Though a portmanteau is shown in the Drawing the Invention is
applied in precisely similar manner to other like articles.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim as my
improvements in portmanteaus and other similar articles, constructing
and fitting the flaps, interior doors, or inside lids in such manner that
when raised they will stand nearly upright at an angle and support each
other to serve as a standard, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Hamlyn Williams, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of May,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two
Witness,
E. EDMONDS,
68, Fleet Street,
London.
A. H. WILLIAMS. (L.S.)