IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC BOXES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Friedrich Leonardt, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC BOXES."
Sealed the 24th May 1867, and dated the 29th December 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Friedrich Leonardt at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th December 1866.
I, FRIEDRICH LEONARDT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC BOXES," to be as follows:--
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after explained in the
manufacture of metallic boxes from sheet metal; boxes made according to
my Invention are fitted to hold steel pens, leads, pins, matches, and various
other small articles. I prefer to manufacture the metallic boxes of an oblong
figure, and to give them more or less the form of a clasped book, but square
boxes may be made according to my Invention.

page_text: In manufacturing an oblong box according to my Invention I cut out the
parts from sheet brass or other sheet metal by means of a press and press
tools or otherwise, and joint and connect the said parts together without
soldering in the following manner:-I make the bottom and top or lid of
the box from rectangular blanks having projecting pieces at either end of
one of the longer sides of the said blanks. By means of properly shaped
tools these projecting pieces are fashioned into eyes or portions of joints, and
the blank which in the finished box constitutes the bottom is pierced with
holes on three of its sides; I make three sides of the box from a long narrow
strip or blank having on one of its longer sides a series of pins or ears, and
also having at opposite edges near either end nearly semicircular depressions
or cut away parts. The ends of the strip are bent by means of properly
shaped tools at right angles to the middle portion, the bent ends constituting
the two ends of the box, and the middle portion the front side of the box.
The back of the box consists of a rectangular plate or blank made of a convex
figure, and having at the middle of its opposite edges eyes or joint pieces of
a length suitable to fit between the eyes or joint pieces made on the bottom
and top or lid of the box. The eyes or joint pieces of the back are made in
the manner described with respect to the joint pieces of the bottom and lid.
The several parts of the box described are jointed and connected together
in the following way :-The back is connected to the bottom and lid by jointing
it thereto at top and bottom, that is, by fitting together the respective eyes or
joint pieces of the said back and bottom and lid and passing pins or axes
through them. The ends and front side are next connected to the bottom
by passing the pins or ears on their lower edges through the holes or piercings
in the said bottom and clenching the said pins or ears. By now raising the
jointed back vertically the joint of the bottom enters the depressions at the
bottom edges of the ends of the box, and by pressure the joint of the lid can
be sprung into the depressions at the said ends of the box opposite those into
which the joint of the bottom fits. The parts are thus fixed together, the
lid of the box being capable of turning on the back so as to open and close
the box. In order to fill up the cavity in the convex back of the box a flat
plate is placed between the joints before or after the back is fixed in its place.
By jointing a small clasp made from sheet metal to the front edge of the
bottom of the box the box is complete, the jointed lid being kept in its place
when shut down by means of a lip or catch on the free end of the clasp
embracing the edge of the said lid. Instead of making the bottom and
back of the box in two pieces as described they may be made in one piece.

page_text: The plates forming the back and, lid may be ornamented by stamping with
patterns resembling the binding of a book, but the said back and lid and the
sides of the box may be ornamented in any other desired way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Friedrich Leonardt in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st June 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRIEDRICH
LEONARDT, 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-ninth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Friedrich Leonardt, Her special licence that I, the said
Friedrich Leonardt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Friedrich Leonardt, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC BOXES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Friedrich Leonardt, 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 Friedrich Leonardt,, 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 improvements herein-after explained in the
manufacture of metallic boxes from sheet metal;. boxes made according to

page_text: my Invention are fitted to hold steel pens, leads, pins, matches, and various
other small articles. I prefer to manufacture the metallic boxes of an oblong
figure, and to give them more or less the form of a clasped book, but square
boxes may be made according to my Invention.
In manufacturing an oblong box according to my Invention I cut out the
parts from sheet brass or other sheet metal by means of a press and press
tools or otherwise, and joint and connect the said parts together without
soldering in the following manner :-I make the bottom and top or lid of the
box from rectangular blanks having projecting pieces at either end of one of
the longer sides of the said blanks. By means of properly shaped tools these
projecting pieces are fashioned into eyes or portions of joints, and the blank
which in the finished box constitutes the bottom is pierced with holes on
three of its sides. I make three sides of the box from a long narrow strip or
blank having on one of its longer sides a series of pins or ears, and also
having at opposite edges near either end nearly semicircular depressions or
cut away parts. The ends of the strip are bent by means of properly shaped
tools at right angles to the middle portion, the bent ends constituting the two
ends of the box, and the middle portion the front side of the box. The back of
the box consists of a rectangular plate or blank made of a convex figure, and
having at the middle of its opposite edges eyes or joint pieces of a length
suitable to fit between the eyes or joint pieces made on the bottom and top
or lid of the box. The eyes or joint pieces of the back are made in the
manner described with respect to the joint pieces of the bottom and lid.
The several parts of the box described are jointed and connected together in
the following way:-The back is connected to the bottom and lid by jointing
it thereto at top and bottom, that is, by fitting together the respective eyes or
joint pieces of the said back and bottom and lid and passing pins or axes
through them. The ends and front side are next connected to the bottom
by passing the pins or ears on their lower edges through the holes or piercings
in the said bottom and clinching the said pins or ears. By now raising the
jointed back vertically the joint of the bottom enters the depressions at the
bottom edges of the ends of the box and by pressure the joint of the lid can be
sprung into the depressions at the said ends of the box, opposite those into which
the joint of the bottom fits. The parts are thus fixed together, the lid of the
box being capable of turning on the back so as to open and close the box.
In order to fill up the cavity in the convex back of the box a flat plate is placed
between the joints before or after the back is fixed in its place. By jointing
a small clasp made from sheet metal to the front edge of the bottom of the

page_text: box the box is complete, the jointed lid being kept in its place when shut
down by means of a lip or catch on the free end of the clasp embracing the
edge of the said lid.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
I make the bottom of the box from the rectangular blank represented in
plan and edge view in Figure 1 of the Drawing, the said blank having
projecting pieces a, a, at either end of one of the longer sides of the said
blank, three of the sides of the blank are pierced with holes b, 63. By means
of properly shaped pressing tools the projecting pieces a are bent or
fashioned into eyes or joint pieces marked c, as represented in plan and edge
view in Figure 2; I make the top or lid of the box in a similar way, excepting
that the piercings are omitted; Figure 3 represents the blank from which
the top or lid is made, and Figure 4 represents the top or lid after the eyes
or joint pieces d have been bent or fashioned from the parts e of the blank
Figure 3. I make the sides of the box from a long narrow strip or blank,
represented in Figure 5, the said blank having on one of its longer sides a
series of pins or ears f, and also having at opposite ends nearly semicircular
depressions or cut away parts marked g, h. The ends of the strip, Figure 5,
are bent by press tools at right angles to the middle portion, as represented
in side elevation in Figure 6, and end elevation in Figure 7, the bent parts
marked i, i, constituting the two ends of the box, and the middle part
marked constituting the front side of the box. I make the back of the box
from the blank represented in Figure 8; I take this blank, and by cutting
tools I cut away the metal from the sides at top and bottom so as to leave
middle pieces marked l, as represented in Figure 9. By means of press or
shaping tools the pieces are made into eyes or joint pieces m, Figure 10, and
by means of another pair of press or shaping tools the back, Figure 10, is
completed by giving it the convex figure represented in Figure 11. The
eyes or joint pieces m of the back are of a length suitable to fit. between the
eyes or joint pieces c, c, and d, d, of the bottom and top, Figures 2 and 4.
Figure 12 represents in side elevation, Figure 13 in horizontal section,
Figure 14 in end elevation, and Figure 15 in cross section a complete box
made from the parts described, the said parts being jointed and connected
together in the following manner-I take the back, Figure 11 (marked n,
in Figures 12, 13, 14, and 15), and joint the bottom o to the bottom of the
said back n by fitting the bottom eye or joint piece m of the back between the

page_text: eyes or joint pieces c, c, of the bottom o, and passing a pin or axis through
the said parts; I then joint the top or lid p by the joint pieces d' and m to the
top of the back n in a similar way; I next take the ends and front side of the
box, Figures 6 and 7, and connect them to the bottom o by passing the pins
or ears on the lower edges of the parts through the holes or piercings & in
the bottom and clinching the said pins or ears f on the outer side of the
said bottom. By now raising the jointed back n vertically the joint
marked c, m, c, of the bottom o enters the depressions g; g, at the bottom
edges of the ends of the box, and by pressure the joint marked d, m, d, of
the top or lid can be sprung into the depressions h, h, at the top edges of
the ends of the box. The parts of the box are thus fixed and jointed together
without soldering, the lid or top of the box being capable of turning on the
back n, so as to open and close the box. In order to fill up the cavity in
the convex back n of the box a plate 9 (represented separately in Figure 16)
is placed between the joints before or after the back is fixed in its place.
The jointed lid or top of the box is kept closed by means of a small clasp r
jointed to the bottom of the box, the lip or catch of the clasp embracing the
edge of the lid in the manner represented in Figures 12 and 14. Figure 17
represents the blank from which the clasp » is made, and Figure 18 represents
the finished clasp. The clasp r is jointed to the bottom of the box by passing
its eye through the piercing (see Figures 1 and 2) and closing the said
eye upon the edge of the bottom o. In order to fix the ends of the box more
securely to the back a stud or ear represented in Figure 5 and marked s, may
be left on either end of the blank, which studs or ears when the back is
jointed to the top and bottom pass through piercings in the back and are
clinched on the outer side of the back. Instead of making the bottom and
back of the box in two pieces, as described and represented, they may
be made in one piece. The plates forming the back and lid may be
ornamented by stamping with patterns resembling the binding of a book, but
the said back and lid and the sides of the box may be ornamented in any
other desired way.
2-3
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 in the
Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention.
But what I claim as my Invention is manufacturing metallic boxes from
sheet metal and connecting and jointing the parts together substantially in

page_text: the manner herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Friedrich Leonardt, have hereunto set
my band and seal, this Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
FRIEDRICH LEONARDT. (L.g.)