IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BAGS, AND IN FASTENINGS AND LOCKS FOR BAGS, PARTS OF THE INVENTION BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO PURSES, CIGAR CASES, RETICULES, AND OTHER SIMILAR: ARTICLES.
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Antil Richards, of Chester Cottage, Corn-
wall Place, Holloway, in the County of Middlesex, Commercial Clerk,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BAGS, AND
IN FASTENINGS AND LOCKS FOR BAGS, PARTS OF THE INVENTION BEING ALSO
APPLICABLE TO PURSES, CIGAR CASES, RETICULES, AND OTHER SIMILAR:
ARTICLES.".
Sealed the 25th September 1862, and dated the 3rd April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Antil Richards
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd April 1862.
I, WILLIAM ANTIL RICHARDS, of Chester Cottage, Cornwall, Place, Holloway,
in the County of Middlesex, Commercial Clerk, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BAGS, AND.
IN FASTENINGS AND LOCKS FOR BAGS, PARTS OF THE INVENTION BEING ALSO APPLI-
CABLE TO PURSES, CIGAR CASES, RETICULES, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," to be
as follows:-
In manufacturing bags in which frames are used, I first cement or other-
wise attach to the metal intended to form the frame a tube of leather of
larger diameter than required to cover the metal, and I force the excess of
leather into the recess, hollow, or opening formed by or left in the inetal

page_text: for the reception of the bag body, so that the leather lines the recess. I
provide or form the edge of the bag body with a cord or other material or
portion thicker than the substance or rest of the said body, and introduce this
corded or equivalently prepared margin into the recess or opening in the
clothed metal, the edges or sides of which I next force against or towards the
surfaces of the margin. Instead of metal and leather other materials may be
treated in like manner for the same purpose.
My improved fastening for bags is so constructed that it is opened in an
outward direction, or in the same direction as the bag is opened. One
member of the fastening consists of a plate, bar, or piece, which may be
conveniently worked by hand, and is herein-after called handle-piece; it
turns, cants, or works on an axis, or a pivot or pivots, a spring bears against
it, and helps to keep it in place; the handle-piece fastens the bag by engaging
a socket pin or otherwise shaped piece or part forming the other member or
portion of the fastening. To unfasten the bag the handle-piece is worked or
turned on its axis or pivots in an outward direction, or direction away from
the middle or body of the bag, pressing down the spring, and releasing or
releasing itself from the second member of the fastening.
An improved lock is constructed in combination with this fastening by
attaching the spring to a moveable piece, which I call a bolt, and causing its
ends to rest on another moveable piece, which I call a tumbler. The bolt has
slots or openings in it, which, when it is being depressed, slide or pass over
pins, studs, or stops fixed in the fastening. To lock the fastening the key is
inserted, and acts on the tumbler, so as to raise it, the spring being pre-
vented from rising by the arrangements above it, and the bolt is thus released
from a notch or abutment that held it, and is propelled by the ensuing action
of the key in continuing to turn, and is thereby so moved that its slots or
openings are brought away from the pins or stops and shoulders, on the bolt,
or solid portions or parts of the bolt without openings are brought to the pins,
stops, or abutments, which (the bolt being retained in its new position) prevent
the bolt, and consequently the spring from being depressed, and thus preclude
the opening of the fastening. The arrangement may, however, be modified as
to its details, retaining the principle of action; for example, the tumbler may
be dispensed with.
Parts of the Invention are also applicable to purses, cigar cases, reticules,
and other similar articles.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Antil Richards in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ANTIL RICHARDS, of Chester Cottage, Cornwall Place, Holloway, in the
County of Middlesex, Commercial Clerk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Antil Richards, Her special licence that I, the said William
Antil Richards, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Antil Richards, 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 BAGS, AND IN FASTENINGS AND LOCKS
FOR BAGS, PARTS OF THE INVENTION BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO PURSES, CIGAR CASES,
RETICULES, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Antil Richards, 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 Antil Richards, 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 say:-
The first head of my Specification relates to the following improvement in
the manufacture of bags:-In manufacturing bags in which frames are used,
I first cement or otherwise attach to the metal intended to form the frame a
tube of leather of larger diameter than required to cover the metal, and I
force the excess of leather into the recess, hollow, or opening formed by or
left in the metal for the reception of the bag body, so that the leather forms a
lining to the recess. I provide or form the edge of the bag body with a cord

page_text: or other material or portion thicker than the substance or rest of the said
body, and I introduce this corded or equivalently prepared margin into the
recess or opening in the clothed metal, the edges or sides of which I next
force against or towards the surfaces of the margin. Instead of metal
and leather, other materials employed in the manufacture of bags may be
treated in like manner for the same purpose. My foregoing improvement in
the manufacture of bags may be applied in like manner to the manufacture of
cigar cases, purses, and similar articles with frames.
• The second head of my Specification relates to the construction of an
improved fastening. My improved fastening for bags is constructed in such
manner that it is opened in an outward direction, or in the same direction as
the bag is opened. One member of the fastening consists of a plate, bar, or
piece, which may be conveniently worked by hand, and is herein-after called
"handle-piece;" this piece turns, cants, or works on a axis or pivot, and a
spring bears against it, and helps to keep it in place. The handle-piece
fastens the bag by engaging a socket pin or otherwise shaped piece or part
forming the other member or portion of the fastening. To unfasten the bag
the handle-piece is worked or turned on its axis in an outward direction, or
direction away from the middle or body of the bag, thereby pressing down the
spring, and releasing (or releasing itself from) the second member of the
fastening. My aforesaid improved fastening for bags may also be applied to
purses, cigar cases, reticules, and other similar articles.
The third head of my Specification relates to the arrangement of an
improved lock and its combination with my aforesaid improved fastening.
This lock is constructed in combination with my fastening by attaching
the spring of the fastening to a moveable piece, herein-after called a
bolt, and causing the ends of the spring to rest on another moveable piece,
herein-after called a tumbler. The bolt has slots, notches, or openings in it,
which when it is being depressed, slide or pass over fixed pins, studs, or stops.
To lock the fastening the key is inserted, and acts on the tumbler so as to
raise it, but the spring is prevented from rising by the arrangements above it;
the bolt is thus released from a notch or abutment in the tumbler which
previously held it in place, and is propelled by the ensuing action of the key as
the latter continues to turn, so as to move its (the bolt's) slots, notches, or
openings away from the pins, stops, or abutments, while shoulders or solid
portions of the bolt or parts thereof without openings are brought to the pins,
stops, or abutments, which, while the bolt is thus retained in its new position,
prevent it and consequently the spring from being depressed, and thereby
preclude the opening of the fastening.
"

page_text: The accompanying Drawings exemplify the mode of carrying the Invention
into effect.
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 refer to my improvement in the manufacture
of bags, purses, and similar articles described under the first head of my
Specification. Figure 1 is an edge view of a bent piece of metal A, intended
to form the frame; Figure 2, a section of same. a is an opening between
the edges of the metal. B, Figure 3, is a piece of leather sewn together at
the edges, so as to form a sort of tube of larger diameter than would be
actually required to fit round the metal; the metal A is placed within the
leather B, and its outer surface cemented thereto. The excess of leather is
forced through the opening a into the recess b, as shewn in Figure 4, which
may be done by a piece of wood or other hard substance, which while the
cement is drying is retained in the recess, and bound round; when the cement
is dry, the wood or its equivalent and the binding are removed. C, Figure 5,
is the material intended to form the body of the bag or other article to be
manufactured. This material has attached to it at top a cord c, thicker than
its substance; this corded margin is inserted into the recess b, and the edges
of the opening a are forced against the body C, as shewn in Figure 6.
Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, and 19 relate to my improved fastening described
under the second head of my Specification; it is shewn by way of example
applied to a bag frame, though it may be applied in like manner to purses
and
other similar articles. Figure 7 is a transverse section of the same, represented
open; and Figure 8, transverse section represented closed; Figure 9 is a
longitudinal section. D is a plate or piece which I call the handle piece; this
piece is formed with a knob or handle d of any convenient arrangement for
handling or actuating it, and it works on an axis e, supported in lugs on the inner
surface of a case E, fixed to one lip or side of the mouth of the bag frame,
but projecting over to the opposite lip. Figure 10 is a plan of the under side
of the handle piece D. f is a rebate on the piece D at the outer side thereof,
to prevent it coming out of the case E; g is a part of the plate D, conveniently
shaped to engage the catch I. G is a spring fitted in the case E, and bearing
against the under surface of the piece D between the axis e and the edge f;
I is a catch on the side of the bag mouth opposite to that on which is the
piece D; this catch is shaped to receive the part g. The axis 6 should
preferably be at the same level as the top of the catch I. A slot is formed in
the case E for the catch I to work through. When the part 9 has engaged.
the catch I, as in Figure 8, the fastening is closed, the members thereof being,
engaged, and the spring assisting to hold them in position. But to open the
fastening the handle piece D is worked on its axis in an outward direction,

page_text: that is, in the direction in which the bag opens, whereby the end f is depressed
and the end g raised out of the catch I, which is thus released, and the bag
may be opened. Figure 19 shews the fastening working within a case E, the
knob D protruding through a slot, in which its shank works. This is suitable
for cigar cases, and like articles. The case E may be raised on the top of the
bag frame, in which instance the part that engages the catch may be attached
to the body of the piece D by a knuckle joint instead of being in a piece
therewith or rigidly fixed thereto.
Figures 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 relate to the third head of my Specifi-
cation. Figures 12 and 13. are longitudinal sections, shewing my fastening
combined with an improved lock; Figure 11 is a back view of the lock
detached; Figure 12 shews the lock locked; and Figure 13 unlocked. The
parts of the fastening described under the second head of my Specification are
indicated by like letters to those in the Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10, and are similar
thereto, except that the spring G is attached to what I term the bolt K; this
bolt, a back elevation of which is shewn in Figure 14, is a moveable piece,
working in front of another moveable piece L, which I call a tumbler; a front
view of this tumbler is shewn in Figure 15. The bolt is between the tumbler
and the inner side of 'the front of the lock case E; the tumbler is shewn in
red, Figures 12 and 13, for additional clearness. The tumbler has a flange s
projecting over the top of the bolt K, and having an opening through it for
the portion of the bolt to which the spring is attached to pass through. The
ends of the spring G rest on the flange s, the tumbler works on pins 1, 1, fixed
to the lock case. Parts are cut away from the bolt at k, k. When the key,
Figure 16, is inserted through its hole m, it raises the tumbler or at least one
end thereof, and thereby forces the spring G to elongate, the spring being
prevented from rising in the centre by the surface against which it abuts; the
tumbler so raised releases the bolt K from a notch n, and allows it to be
moved by the key as the latter continues to turn and to be propelled sufficiently
to move the notches k from the pins l, while its shoulders o are brought over
the pins l, and abut against them. If, when in this position shewn in
Figure 12, an attempt were made to open the fastening by canting the handle
piece D, the pins would prevent the bolt, and consequently the spring, from
being depressed, so that the outer end of the piece D could not be forced down
and the fastening could not be opened till the lock is again unlocked and
restored to the position shewn in Figure 13, when the notches k, being brought
over the pins l, the bolt is free to slide down thereon.
Figure 17 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 18 a transverse section, of
my fastening, combined with an ordinary lock J. The parts of the fastening

page_text: D, d, g, E, e, f, I, are similar to those before described, but the spring G of
the fastening is attached to a stud h on the bag frame. When the bolt is in
the position shewn in black lines, Fig. 17, the piece D can be depressed and
the fastening is open, but when the bolt is propelled by the key into the
position shewn in red lines, its projection comes under the plate D, and
between it and the fixed abutments r, r, thereby preventing the piece
from being depressed, and the fastening from being opened until the key
returns the bolt to its previous position; e¹, e¹, are the lugs in which the
axis e works.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First, the improvement in the manufacture of bags and cigar cases, and
other similar articles with frames, substantially as described under the first.
head of my Specification.
Second, the arrangement and combination of parts constituting my im-
proved fastening, substantially as described under the second head of my
Specification.
Third, the arrangement and combination of parts constituting the combined
improved lock and fastening, as described under the third head of my Specifi-
cation, and exemplified in Figures 11, 12, 18, 14, and 15 of the Drawings.
In witnesss whereof, I, the said William Antil Richards, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
M. HENRY,
Patent Agent,
84, Fleet Street, London.
W. A. RICHARDS. (LS.)