IMPROVED MEANS FOR SECURING THE LIDS OR COVERS OF BOXES AND OTHER RECEPTACLES FOR GOODS
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edwin Ambrose Brydges at the Ottice
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th June 1880.
EDWIN AMBROSE BRYDGES, of the Firm of Brydges and Co. Engineers and
Patent Agents, of No. 73, Koeniggraetzer Strasse, in the City of Berlin, German
Empire. "IMPROVED MEANS FOR SECURING THE LIDS OR COVERS OF BOXES
AND OTHER RECEPTACLES FOR GOODS." [A communication by Josef Fischer, of
the City of Berlin, aforenamed.]
The boxes, cases, and band-boxes now in use possess the great disadvantage that
the lid must be nailed down, tied, or otherwise fastened.
This operation costs time and trouble, and in large firms where considerable
numbers of packages are daily forwarded causes considerable expense.
These packages, boxes, or cases are almost invariably spoiled in opening the same,
in breaking the seals and withdrawing the nails, so that they cannot be used a
second time. Bandboxes are almost invariably ruined by putting on and taking off
the lid.
My Invention relates to such improvements that all these disadvantages are
avoided, and the lid closed by means of a single seal, so that no nailing, binding, or
repeated sealing is necessary.
The boxes, cases, or other like receptacles can be opened and closed without
being injured in the least degree, so that the same can be used again and again.
My Invention offers a sure and easy mode of fastening the said box or case.
This mode of fastening consists in providing the lid of the box or other receptacle
with a bolt, spring, peg, or its equivalent, so that the said box or other receptacle
can be closed by simply placing or sliding the lid in position, and by covering the
head or ring of the said spring, bolt, or its equivalent, with sealing wax, it is
impossible to open the said box without injuring the seal, whereas the box can, as
soon as it has reached its destination, be readily opened by removing the seal from
the cavity around the ring, head, or loop of the spring or peg with a sharp
instrument.
To carry out my said Invention I attach a flat spring to the underside of the lid,
which said spring is so bent that when the sliding lid is pushed to, the end of the
said spring descends and lays itself so against the interior surface of the end or
side of the said box or other receptacle that the same can only be opened by raising
the forward end of the said spring.

page_text: This forward end of the spring can be raised by attaching a pivot or piece of
wire of suitable size to the same. This pivot, pin, or piece of wire passes through
the lid of the box, and is at the upper end provided with a loop, ring, or its
equivalent. This ring lies in a circular or other shaped cavity, which is made in
the upper surface of tho lid; or the lid can be provided with a special arrangement
for the reception of the head or upper part of the said pivot, peg, or its equivalent.
It is even not necessary to use sealing wax, as plaster of Paris or any similar
material will serve the same purpose. If the box or other receptacle is used for
forwarding books or other heavy weighing matters, and the spring is not protected
from being forced upwards by the weight of the books, when the box is turned
upside down, the spring could be driven back, the seal broken, and the box opened.
To render this impossible I either attach a piece of plate metal over the spring on
the under side of the lid so as to protect the said spring, or I make two sinall
cavities on each side of the cavity made to receive the ring, one of these cavities
being deeper than the other. I then insert a small piece of metal, plate, or other
suitable material, so that the same has a firm hold in both lateral cavities. This
piece of metal fits over the head of the pin or its equivalent attached to the spring,
so as to prevent the same being moved out of position until the said piece of metal,
plate, or other suitable material has been removed.
Instead of using the spring as afore mentioned, a pin or peg is provided with a
head, ring, loop, or its equivalent, to prevent its being forced through the lid into
the box or other receptacle. This said pin, peg, or its equivalent, is pushed or
dropped through a boring of the lid so as to effectually prevent the same from being
opened. The head or upper part of this peg is also secured by sealing wax, plaster
of Paris, or other suitable material.
Instead of a ring or solid head to the peg or pin, or the pivot in the first modifi-
cation, it is evident that simple string can be used without departing from the tenor
of my Invention. If the lid is attached to the box by hinges, or if the edges of
the said lid lap over the edges of the box, one or more simple pins or pegs can be
passed through the lap of the lid and the upper part of the box and sealed or
otherwise secured, or a small bolt can be used attached to a ring or its equivalent,
so that by turning the said ring or head to the bolt pivot, the bolt is withdrawn or
turned into position. It is evident that my Invention can be modified in various
ways without departing from the principle on which it is based. The said method
of closing boxes or other like receptacles can be applied to any suitable part of the
said box or other receptacle.
In cases where the same box is to be repeatedly used for one and the same
person or firm, a double label is made of tin, plate, or other suitable material, and so
attached to the lid that the same can be readily turned, so as to save the repeated
writing and crossing out of the address, the nailing of the said lid with tacks or
their equivalent, or the smearing of the same with paste, gum, or other adhesive
matter.