IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR CASES FOR HOLDING OR STORING KNIVES, FORKS SPOONS AND OTHER ARTICLES.
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Stokes, of Birmingham, in the County.
of Warwick, Manufacturing Jeweller and Silversmith, for the Invention of
" IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR CASES FOR HOLDING OR STORING KNIVES,
FORKS SPOONS AND OTHER ARTICLES.
""
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Stokes at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th November 1878.
WILLIAM HENRY STOKES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturing Jeweller and Silversmith. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR CASES FOR
HOLDING OR STORING KNIVES, FORKS, SPOONS, AND OTHER ARTICLES."
In boxes or cases as ordinarily made for holding or storing knives and forks, the
knives and forks are arranged in depressions in the upper sides of a series of trays
or removeable shelves situated one over the other in the box or case. In boxes or
cases of this kind it is necessary to remove the upper trays from the box or case
before access can be obtained to the knives or forks contained in the under trays.
My Invention has for its object to remedy this inconvenience, and so to construct
and arrange the holding parts of the boxes or cases that by opening the lid or cover
of the box or case access is at once obtained to the whole of the knives or forks or
other articles stored or held in the said box or case.
In constructing a box or case according to my Invention for holding or storing
knives and forks, I take a box or case, rectangular by preference, and I arrange in
the said box or case two, three, or more parallel rows or tiers of horizontal pockets
or receptacles placed one above the other, the said pockets or receptacles having
such a size and figure that they will receive the blades or prongs of the knives
or forks, and nearly the whole of the handles of the same, the ends of the handles
projecting sufficiently far from the open or front ends of the said pockets as
to be readily taken hold of by the hand when it is required to withdraw the knives

page_text: or forks from the said pockets. The pockets or receptacles in the box or case are
lined with wash leather or other soft material. The front of the body of the
box or case at which the open ends of the rows or tiers of pockets are situated may
either be situated in the same vertical plane or made in steps, the depth of each
step part being sufficient to contain one or more rows of pockets or receptacles. I
give the hinged lid or cover of the box or case such a shape that when it is closed
upon the box or case there is sufficient room between its front and the front of the
body containing the pockets for the said lid or cover to shut down without coming
in contact with the projecting handles of the knives or forks contained in the said
pockets. The hinged lid or cover may be made in one or two parts, the said lid
covering the top and front of the box or case when closed. The top of the body of
the box containing the rows or tiers of pockets described may be furnished with
depressions for holding knives or forks.
When the box or case is uncovered by the turning back of its hinged lid the
projecting ends of the handles of the whole of the knives or forks contained in the
pockets, as well as the knives or forks contained in the top of the box, are exposed
to view, and any knife or fork may be removed from the box or case without
interfering with the others. The knives or forks are introduced into and withdrawn
from their places in the box or case with great facility, and the inconvenience of
removing the upper trays to obtain access to the knives or articles contained in the
under trays, as in boxes or cases of the ordinary kind, is avoided.
The parts containing the rows of pockets may be hinged to the box or case instead
of being fixed.
In this modification, the interior of the box 'or case is filled by two sets of hinged
flaps, each set containing two or more flaps, one set being hinged to one side, and
the other set to the opposite side of the box or case; the unjointed ends of the flaps
from which the handles of the knives or forks project meeting near the middle of the
box when the flaps are in their closed positions. Each flap is pressed upwards by
a spring, the flap taking an inclined position when at liberty to move, and exposing
the open ends of the pockets so that the knives or forks can be removed from or
introduced into the said pockets.
When the lid or cover shut down, the hinged flaps are depressed and take a
horizontal position, and are held in that position by the fastening of the lid. On
unfastening and turning back the lid the hinged flaps take their inclined positions,
and the knives or forks may be introduced into or withdrawn from the pockets in
the said flaps.
Although boxes or cases constructed according to my Invention are specially
useful for holding or storing knives and forks, they may also be used for holding
spoons or other flat or nearly flat articles.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Henry Stokes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th May 1879.
WILLIAM HENRY STOKES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturing Jeweller and Silversmith. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR CASES FOR
HOLDING OR STORING KNIVES, FORKS, SPOONS, AND OTHER ARTICLES."
In boxes or cases as ordinarily made for holding or storing knives and forks the
knives and forks are arranged in depressions in the upper sides of a series of trays.
or removable shelves situated one over the other in the box or case. In boxes or
cases of this kind it is necessary to remove the upper trays from the box or case
before access can be obtained to the knives or forks contained in the under trays.
My Invention has for its object to remedy this inconvenience and so to construct
and arrange the holding parts of the boxes or cases that by opening the lid or cover
of the box or case access is at once obtained to the whole of the knives or forks or
other articles stored or held in the said box or case.
In constructing a box or case according to my Invention for holding or storing
knives and forks, I take a box or case, rectangular by preference, and I arrange in
the said box or case two, three, or more parallel rows or tiers of horizontal pockets
or receptacles placed one above the other, the said pockets or receptacles having
such a size and figure that they will receive the blades or prongs of the knives or
forks and nearly the whole of the handles of the same, the ends of the handles
projecting sufficiently far from the open or front ends of the said pockets as to be
readily taken hold of by the hand when it is required to withdraw the knives or
forks from the said pockets. The pockets or receptacles in the box or case are lined
with wash leather or other soft material. The front of the body of the box or case
at which the open ends of the rows or tiers of pockets are situated may either be
situated in the same vertical plane or made in steps, the depth of each step. part
being sufficient to contain one or more rows of pockets or receptacles.
I give the hinged lid or cover of the box or case such a shape that when it is
closed upon the box or case there is sufficient room between its front. and the front
of the body containing the pockets for the said lid or cover to shut down without
coming in contact with the projecting handles of the knives or forks contained in
the said pockets. The hinged lid or cover may be made in one or two parts,
the said lid covering the top and front of the box or case. when closed. The top of
the body of the box containing the rows or tiers of pockets described may be
furnished with depressions for holding knives or forks.
When the box or case is uncovered by the turning back of its hinged lid, the
projecting ends of the handles of the whole of the knives or forks contained in the
pockets, as well as the knives or forks contained in the top of the box, are exposed
to view, and any knife or fork may be removed from the box or case without
interfering with the others.
The parts containing the rows of pockets may be hinged to the box or case
instead of being fixed. In this modification the interior of the box or case is fitted
up by two sets of hinged flaps, each set containing two or more flaps, one set being
hinged to one side, and the other set to the opposite side of the box or case, the
unjointed ends of the flaps from which the handles of the knives or forks project
meeting near the middle of the box when the flaps are in their closed positions.
Each flap is pressed upwards by a spring, the flap. taking an inclined position
when at liberty to move, and exposing the open ends of the pockets so that the
knives or forks can be removed from or introduced into the said pockets. When
the lid or cover is shut down, the hinged flaps are depressed and take a horizontal
position, and are held in that position by the fastening of the lid. On unfastening
and turning back the lid, the hinged flaps take their inclined positions and the
knives or forks may be introduced into or withdrawn from the pockets in the said
flaps.

page_text: Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in perspective an open box or
case for holding knives and forks, the parts of the said box or case being constructed
and arranged according to my Invention.
a is the nearly rectangular case or box; and b, c, are the two parts of the lid or
cover of the same, the part 6 being jointed to the lower edge of the front end of the
box or case, and the other part c being jointed to the upper edge of the back end of
the box or case, as represented. d, d, are the parallel rows or tiers of horizontal
pockets or receptacles for receiving the blades or prongs of the knives or forks and
nearly the whole of the handles of the same.
It will be seen by an examination of the Drawing that the ends of the handles e, e,
of the knives or forks project sufficiently far from the open or front ends of the
pockets or receptacles d, d, so as to be readily taken hold of by the hand when it is
required to remove the said knives or forks from the said pockets. In the Drawing
the front of the box a in which the open ends of the pockets are made is arranged
in steps, the depth of each of the lower steps being sufficient to contain two rows of
pockets, but each step like part of the box may be made sufficiently deep to contain
two or more rows of pockets, or only a single row of pockets. Or the front of the
box containing the rows of pockets may be situated in the same vertical plane, but
I prefer the step like arrangement represented, as it facilitates the introduction of
the knives or forks into and their withdrawal from the pockets or receptacles d, d.
When the two parts b, c, of the lid or cover are closed upon the body of the box or
case there is sufficient room between the front of the body containing the pockets d, d,
and the said lid b, c, to prevent the said lid coming in contact with the projecting
handles e, e, of the knives or forks. When the box or case a is uncovered by the
turning back of the part c and the depressing of the part b of the lid or cover, the
projecting ends of the handles of the whole of the knives or forks contained in the
pockets d, d, are exposed to view, as represented, and any knife or fork may be
removed from the box or case without interfering with the others. The upper part
of the box containing the top row or rows of pockets may be furnished with
depressions, as represented, for holding knives or forks.
By constructing boxes or cases in the manner described, the knives or forks are
introduced into and withdrawn from their places in the box or case with great
facility, and the inconvenience of removing the upper trays to obtain access to the
knives or articles contained in the under trays, as in boxes or cases of the ordinary
kind, is avoided.
Figure 2 represents, in perspective, an open box or case in which the rows of
pockets or receptacles are hinged to the box or case instead of being fixed; and
Figure 3 represents a longitudinal section of the said box closed.
f is the rectangular box, and g is the lid of the same. To each end of the box a
set of flaps h, h, is hinged at h², h2, each flap containing one or more rows of pockets
or receptacles for receiving the knives or forks, as described with respect to the box
or case, Figure 1. The open ends of the pockets in the said hinged flaps h, h, meet
when shut down near the middle of the box or case, but the unjointed ends of the
said flap are sufficiently distant to prevent the projecting ends of the handles of-the
knives or forks in the pockets of one set of flaps from coming into contact with the
ends of the opposite set of flaps, as will be understood by an examination of Figure 3.
The hinge h² of each flap h is furnished with a spring k so that when the box is
opened the said flaps are pressed upwards and take an inclined position, as repre-
sented in Figure 2, thereby exposing the open ends of the pockets in the flaps for
the removal of the knives or forks from, or their introduction into, the said pockets;
or coiled springs may be employed under each flap for the purpose of raising them
when the lid is opened. Stops i may be used to preserve the parallelism of the
flaps both in their raised and depressed positions.
When the lid or cover g is shut down the hinged flaps h, h, take a horizontal
position, as represented in Figure 3, and are held in that position by the fastened
lid. On unfastening and turning back the lid g the hinged flaps h, h, take thoir

page_text: inclined positions by the action of the spring k (or the coiled springs described), as
represented in Figure 2, and any of the knives or forks in the several flaps may be
removed without interfering with the others.
The upper side of each flap may have depressions made in it for receiving knives
or forks, as represented in the Drawing.
Instead of two (or more) hinged flaps containing pockets at each end or side of
the box or case, a single hinged flap may be used, as illustrated in the longitudinal
section, Figure 4, the said single flap, Figure 4, being capable of taking a vertical
position when the lid is opened. In this modification the single pocketted flap is
hinged by its upper edge to the top, or near to the top of the box.
The hinged
pocketted flaps of the arrangements Figures 2, 3, and 4 may either be lifted after
the lid has been opened by springs or by hand.
Although boxes or cases constructed according to my Invention are specially
useful for holding or storing knives and forks, they may also be used for holding
spoons or other flat or nearly flat 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 claim as my Invention,-
First. The improvements in boxes or cases for holding or storing knives, forks,
spoons and other articles herein-before described, and illustrated in Figure 1 of the
accompanying Drawing, that is to say, providing the said boxes or cases with two
or more parallel rows or tiers of horizontal pockets or receptacles placed one above
the other for receiving the blades or prongs and the greater part of the handles of
the knives or forks or other flat or nearly flat articles, substantially as described and
illustrated, whereby access is readily obtained to the whole of the knives or forks
or other articles held or stored in the box or case.
Secondly. The improvement in boxes or cases for holding or storing knives, forks,
spoons, and other articles herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 2, 3, and 4
of the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, hinging to opposite ends or sides of
the box or case one or a set of parallel flaps containing pockets or receptacles for
receiving the knives, forks, or other articles, the said flap or flaps being lifted by
hand or pressed upwards by springs so as to expose the open ends of the pockets
when the knives, forks, or other articles are required to be removed from or intro-
duced into the said pockets, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Stokes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM HENRY STOKES. (L.S.)