IMPROVE- MENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR TRUNKS, PORTMANTEAUS, BOXES, AND OTHER LIKE ADTICT.RO
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Blizard Williamson, the elder, of the
City of Worcester, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR TRUNKS, PORTMANTEAUS, BOXES, AND OTHER LIKE
ADTICT.RO "
Sealed the 3rd June 1870, and dated the 22nd December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Blizard
Williamson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 22nd December 1869.
I, WILLIAM BLIZARD WILLIAMSON, the elder, of the City of Worcester,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS. FOR TRUNKS, PORTMANTEAUS, BOXES, AND OTHER
LIKE ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the arrangements or combinations of parts
herein-after described for fastening down the lids of trunks, portmanteaus,
boxes, and other like articles, the said arrangements or combinations
being used in conjunction with the ordinary lock and giving great_
additional security to the fastening.

page_text: I will describe my Invention in connection with a trunk. In the
inside of the lid and near that edge which shuts down upon the lock
I place a sliding bolt, the said bolt being flat and working in a flat case.
One end of the flat bolt is turned or doubled so that in the act of
sliding the said bolt both ends lock or unlock at the same time. A
projection on the bolt protrudes through a slot in the front of the lid at
that part covered by the staple plate of the lock when the lid is closed.
On the edge of the trunk two eyes or loops are fixed in such a position.
that the ends of the bolt may engage therein. The staple plate of the
lock has an opening or slot made in it through which the projection on
the sliding bolt passes when the said bolt is shot and the staple shut
down. On shutting down the lid of the trunk it cannot be locked until
the projection on the bolt has been brought under the hole in the staple
plate, as the staple can only shut down when the said projection is
in that position. By bringing the said projection into the last-described
position the ends of the bolt engage in the eyes or loops on the trunk and
the lid is bolted down. The staple of the lock can now be shut down
and the trunk locked. On unlocking the trunk and raising the staple of
the lock it is necessary before the trunk can be opened to move the pro-
jection on the sliding bolt so as to disengage the said bolt from the eyes
or loops, when the lid may be raised. The sliding bolt may be placed
upon the trunk instead of upon the lid with nearly the same effect. In
this case the lid requires to be furnished with two eyes or loops on its
edge for the purpose of engaging with the ends of the bolt. Instead of
placing the bolt and loops or eyes inside the trunk they may be placed
outside, and instead of making the sliding bolt engage directly in eyes or
loops its ends may be inclined and made to project spring bolts into
recesses in the edge of the lid.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in
the thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her leirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Blizard Williamson,
Her special licence, that I, the said William Blizard Williamson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Blizard Williamson, 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 TRUNKS,
PORTMANTEAUS, BOXES, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Blizard Williamson, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Blizard Williamson, 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 arrangements or combinations of parts
herein-after described for fastening down the lids of trunks, portmanteaus,
boxes, and other like articles, the said arrangements or combinations
being used in conjunction with the ordinary lock and giving great
additional security to the fastening.
I will describe my Invention in connection with a trunk. In the
inside of the lid and near that edge which shuts down upon the lock I
place a sliding bolt, the said bolt being flat and working in a flat case.
One end of the flat bolt is turned or doubled so that in the act of sliding
the said bolt both ends lock or unlock at the same time. A projection
on the bolt protrudes through a slot in the front of the lid at that part
covered by the staple plate of the lock when the lid is closed. On the
edge of the trunk two eyes or loops are fixed in such a position that the

page_text: ends of the bolt may engage therein. The staple plate of the lock has an
opening or slot made in it through which the projection on the sliding
bolt passes when the said bolt is shot and the staple shut down. On
shutting down the lid of the trunk it cannot be locked until the pro-
jection on the bolt has been brought under the hole in the staple plate,
as the staple can only shut down when the said projection is in
that position. By bringing the said projection into the last-described
position the ends of the bolt engage in the eyes or loops on the trunk and
the lid is bolted down. The staple of the lock can now be shut down
and the trunk locked. On unlocking the trunk and raising the staple of
the lock it is necessary before the trunk can be opened to move the pro-
jection on the sliding bolt so as to disengage the said bolt from the eyes
or loops when the lid may be raised. The sliding bolt may be placed
upon the trunk instead of upon the lid with nearly the same effect. In
this case the lid requires to be furnished with two eyes or loops on its
edge for the purpose of engaging with the ends of the bolt. Instead of
placing the bolt and loops or eyes inside the trunk they may be placed
outside, and instead of making the sliding bolt engage directly in eyes or
loops its ends may be inclined and made to project spring bolts into
recesses in the edge of the lid.
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.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, and Figure 2 in transverse
section, a trunk provided with a fastening constructed according to one of
the arrangements of my Invention, the bolt of the said fastening being
represented shot; Figure 3 represents in horizontal section a portion of
the trunk, Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 represents in side elevation the
trunk with the bolt withdrawn; Figure 5 represents in side elevation,
and Figure 6 in front elevation the trunk without the lid, and Figure 7
represents the lid separately. The same letters of reference indicate the
same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.
a is the lid, and 6 is the body of the trunk; c is the sliding flat bolt in
the inside of the lid a and working in a flat case d; c, c³, are the acting
ends of the bolt c which engage respectively with the eyes or loops e, e³,
on the outside of the edge of the trunk b. The acting end c³ of the
sliding bolt c is turned or doubled as represented, so that in the act
of sliding the said bolt both ends lock or unlock at the same time.

page_text: On the said bolt c is a projection f, which protrudes through a
slot g in the front of the lid a (see Figures 3 and 4) at that part
which is covered by the staple plate 7 of the lock when the lid a is
closed. The said staple plate h of the lock has an opening or slot h³
made in it through which the projection f on the sliding bolt c
passes when the said bolt is shot and the staple plate h has been shut
down, as represented in Figures 1 and 2. By an examination of
Figures 1 and 4 it will be seen that the staple plate h of the lock
cannot be shut down for locking the trunk until the projection f on
the bolt c is situated under the hole or slot h³ in the said staple plate h.
By shooting the bolt c by taking hold of the projection f so as to
engage the acting ends c³, c³, with the eyes or loops e, e³, on the
trunk 6 the lid a is bolted down. By thus shooting the bolt c its
projection is brought opposite the slot ³ in the staple plate h, and
the latter can now be shut down and the trunk locked, as represented
in Figures 1, 2, and 3. The projection f of the bolt c may be locked
in its place by a padlock if thought desirable. Additional security is
thereby obtained.
On unlocking the lid a and raising the staple
plate of the lock it is necessary before the trunk can be opened to
I move the projection f on the bolt c into the position represented in
Figure 4, so as to disengage the ends of the said bolt from the eyes or
loops e, e, when the lid may be raised.
Figures 8 and 9 represent in side elevation a trunk in which the
fastening bolt is applied outside the lid instead of inside, and in which
the bolt is made of wire. In Figure 8 the bolt is represented shot and
the staple plate of the lock shut down, and in Figure 9 the bolt is
represented withdrawn and the staple plate raised. In this arrange-
ment the projection of the bolt is made in one piece with the said bolt.
The parts of the fastening, Figures 8 and 9, are marked with the same
> letters of reference as corresponding 'parts in Figures 1 to 7.
Figure 10 represents in front elevation, and Figure 11 in horizontal
section a trunk provided with a fastening constructed according to
my Invention, in which the bolt is placed upon the trunk and the
eyes or loops on the lid. c is the sliding bolt working in the guides
or cases d on the inside of the trunk b; c³, c³, are the acting ends
of the bolt engaging with the loops or eyes e, e, on the lid a; fis
the projection on the bolt passing through a slot in the trunk b;
h is the staple plate of the lock, and h³ is the slot therein in which

page_text: 'the projection f of the bolt c engages when the said bolt has been
shot and the staple plate / shut down. The action of this arrangement
is the same as that of the arrangements previously described.
Figure 12 represents in front elevation, and Figure 13 in transverse
section, a trunk provided with a fastening constructed according to my
Invention in which the sliding bolt is made to project spring bolts into
recesses in the edge of the lid; Figure 14 represents in vertical section
and Figure 15 in horizontal section the body of the trunk separately; c
is the sliding bolt working in the case d on the inside of the trunk b;
fis the projection on the bolt for engaging with the slot ³ in the
staple plate of the lock, as herein-before described; e, e, are spring
bolts on the inside of the trunk 6, the upper curved ends e³ of which
can be made to pass through the recesses g, g, in the lid a and embrace
or clip the beading i at the lower edge of the lid a. The said spring
bolts e, e², e, e³, are projected through the recesses g by means of
the flat part of the bolt c, and the said spring bolts are allowed to
retire from the recesses by means of the depressions c, c³, in the
said bolt c. When the bolt c is moved in a direction contrary to
that indicated by the arrow the flat part of the bolt c bears upon
the stems e of the spring bolts e, e³, e, e³, and presses their upper
ends e through the recesses g, as best seen in Figure 13, and thereby
bolts down the lid a and brings the projection f opposite the slot
in the staple plate of the lock. When it is wished to unbolt the
lid a the sliding bolt c is moved in the direction indicated by the
arrow. By this sliding of the bolt c the depressions c³, c³, are brought
opposite the stems e of the spring bolts e, e, when the said spring
bolts by their elasticity return into the said depressions c³, c³, and
thereby unbolt the lid a.
The parts described may be reversed, that is, the sliding bolt and
spring bolts may be placed on the lid and the spring bolts be projected
into recesses in the body of the trunk.
Although I have only described and represented my improvements as
applied to a trunk, yet my said improvements are equally applicable to
portmanteaus, boxes, and other like articles.
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

page_text: the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the
improvements in fastenings for trunks, portmanteaus, boxes, and other
like articles herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say, employing in conjunction with the ordinary
lock a sliding bolt either engaging directly with eyes or staples in the
lid or body of the trunk or article, or projecting spring bolts into staples
or recesses in the lid or body of the trunk or article, a projection on
the sliding bolt being so arranged in combination with a slot in the
staple plate of the lock that the said staple plate cannot be shut down
to lock the lid of the trunk or article until the said sliding bolt has been
shot and the said lid bolted down, substantially as described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Blizard Williamson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
Witness,
WILLIAM BLIZARD WILLIAMSON, SEN³. (L.S.)
GEORGE HENRY WILLIAMSON,
Worcester.