IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING THE CORNERS AND OTHER PARTS OF MILLINERY AND OTHER BOXES AND REELS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hesketh Hughes, of Homerton, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OF
AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING THE CORNERS AND OTHER PARTS OF MILLINERY
AND OTHER BOXES AND REELS."
Scaled the 23rd June 1871, and dated the 27th December 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hesketh Hughes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th December 1870.
I, HESKETH HUGHES, of Homerton, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “Im-
PROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING THE CORNERS AND OTHER PARTS
OF MILLINERY AND OTHER BOXES AND REELS," to be as follows:
-
This Invention relates to means and apparatus for securing the
corners and edges of paper, cardboard, scalcboard, and other thin boxes,
such as are used for gloves, millinery, and fancy articles generally, the
Invention being also applicable for securing the intermediate to the outer
pieces of ribbon, ruches, and other similar reels.

page_text: The Invention chiefly consists in the employment of openwork or
solid metal plates of the proper depth and width to suit the particular
box or reel for which they are intended, these plates are perforated near
two or more of their edges, which perforations correspond with other
perforations formed in the box or reel. Into these perforations when
the plates are in place I fit ordinary eyelets or short tubes, flanged or
not, and I burr one or both of the ends of the tubes or the flanges down
upon the plato itself, or upon the box, as the case may be, to secure the
edges or corners together. Or I form short tubes or eyelets on or in
the plates themselves, which tubes or eyelets are to be passed through
holes in the box or reel and then to be burred down, or instead of the
above I form the plates with pins or clipping pieces, which are to be
first passed into or through the perforations or slits in the box, and
then turned down or compressed upon them. The eyelets, pins, or
clipping pieces may be arranged on the outside of the corners or edges
or in the inside of the box or recl, and the plates may be exposed or
covered with paper or other material as required.
In some cases the plates may be slit to form flaps or they may have
flaps upon them to be turned over or into the top and bottom edges of
the box, reel, or other article, to which they are to be fixed.
Instead of employing plates of metal as before explained strips or
pieces of canvas or other material may be used, and these would be
perforated or slit as well as the box or reel so that the eyelets, pins,
or turnover pieces can be passed through them and secured.
Among the advantages to be derived from the use of this Invention
is one of great importance to the fancy goods and warehouse trades,
namely, supplying manufacturers in large towns and country places
with boxes and reels in pieces already prepared so that the boxes or
reels can be made up and there filled, a circumstance which has not
hitherto prevailed on account of the immense bulk and consequent cost
of carriage of the empty boxes and reels. Such boxes and reels always
or nearly so having a special seat of manufacture at a distance from
the mills or other factory.
In some cases the holding power of the metal plates may be produced
by punching holes thro' the metal, and into the boxes after the plates a
are in place

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Hesketh Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HESKETH
HUGHES, of Homerton, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in
the thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Hesketh Hughes, Her
special licence that I, the said Hesketh Hughes, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Hesketh Hughes,
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
"IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING THE CORNERS AND OTHER
PARTS OF MILLINERY AND OTHER BOXES AND REELS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that " the said Hesketh Hughes, 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.
T
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Hesketh Hughes, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to means and apparatus for securing the corners
and edges of paper, cardboard, scaleboard, and other thin boxes such
as are used for gloves, millinery, and fancy articles generally, the
Invention being also applicable for securing the intermediate to the
outer pieces of ribbon, ruches, and other similar reels.

page_text: The Invention chiefly consists in the employment of openwork or
solid metal plates, of the proper depth and width to suit the particular
box or reel for which they are intended; these plates are perforated
near two or more of their edges, which perforations correspond with other
perforations formed in the box or reel. Into these perforations when
the plates are in place I fit ordinary eyelets or short tubes, flanged or
not, and I burr one or both of the ends of the tubes or flanges down upon
the plate itself or upon the box, as the case may be, to secure the edges.
or corners together. Or I form short tubes or cyclets on or in the plates
themselves, which tubes or eyelets are to be passed through holes in the
box or reel, and then to be burred down; or instead of the above I form
the plates with pins or clipping picces which are to be first passed into
or through the perforations or slits in the box, and then turned down
or compressed upon them. The eyelets, pins, or clipping picces may be
arranged on the outside of the corners or edges, or in the inside of the
box or reel, and the plates may be exposed or covered with paper or
other material as required.
In some cases the plates may be slit to form flaps, or they may have
flaps upon them to be turned over or into the top and bottom edges
of the box, reel, or other article to which they are to be fixed.
Instead of employing plates of metal as before explained, strips or
pieces of canvas or other material may be used, and these would bo
perforated or slit as well as the box or reel, so that the cyclets, points,
or turnover pieces can be passed through them and secured. In some
cases the holding power of the metal plates may be produced by
punching holes through the metal and into the boxes after the plates
are in place.
The Invention will be well understood by the Figures on the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a piece of thin
metal plate, stamped or cut into the required shape and with eyclets, and
bent in the centre to form two flaps or side picces a, b, to fit the two
sides of a box, to which they have to applied and affixed by the
eyelets c, d, being pushed through corresponding holes previously made
in the box for their reception, so that the eyelets can burred down upon
the inside, and either upon the box itself or upon a similar shaped plate
fitted in the inside at that part. This burring down may be effected
by a pair of pincers or in a press in which burring down tools are
fitted.

page_text: I have shewn these eyelets c, d, as being on the inside of the flaps a, b,
so that they can be pushed in from the outside of the box, but they may
be upon the outside of the flaps, and in that case they would be pushed
through the holes in the box from the inside, and burred down upon
the outside to hold the plate or clipping piece in place. These clipping
pieces a, b, may be cut into any shape and size as before mentioned,
and in some cases, such as when the bottom corners or the top edges
of the box have to be protected from abrasion in pulling or pushing it
from or on to a shelf, the clip is made with with one or more lips which
can be turned under the bottom and then pressed to lay flat upon it. The
same may be done with the plates used for the corners of the lid or
cover, whether such cover be a loose one or hinged to the box, as will
be understood by reference to Figure 2. Examples of the positions of
the clips upon the boxes are given in Figures 3, 4, and 5.
In Figure 3 I have shown a few of the first described clips, the
eyelets of which have been burred down in the manner already
explained; while in Figure 4 I have shown the clips suitable for the
corners and top edges of the box, over which the wings g, h, are turned,
so that they can be pressed down upon the inside of the same to hold
themselves secure; these wings may, however, as well as the side pieces,
have points upon them to be passed into the holes formed in the box,
but in most cases the points upon the side pieces will be found sufficient
for the purpose.
Figure 6 is a view of a plate or narrow strip cut and bent into
shape so the ends c, d, which are cut with a chamfer can be pushed
through the holes in the box and then turned down, as shown in
the view Figure 7. Any of these forms of plates or clips can be used
to connect the separate pieces forming the box either alone or in
combination, and they can be covered with a fancy or a plain paper, as
deemed advisable, or they may be left exposed, and the plates can be of
plain metal or stamped out or impressed with any design.
In some cases when the box has to be made extra strong at the
corners I propose to fit a plate on the inside, such as I have shown in
Figure 8, and then the points c, d, of the outside plate may pass through
the slits in it, in addition to the holes in the box before the points are
turned down.
In making new boxes, such as those made from paper or other
exitinaly torch not flexible material I pronose only to "score" or

page_text: partly sever the parts forming the sides and ends from the bottom, cr
from the top in the case of a lid or cover, by knives in a press or other
apparatus, or by hand, and I then turn the side and end pieces up to be
secured by the clips before spoken of. This scoring or partly severing,
if done in a press, ensures the boxes all being of one size, and also
saves a deal of labour in lifting the proper sized pieces in making the
boxes up. Another advantage is that if the boxes have to be transported
by rail or otherwise they are not so bulky, and consequently cost less
freightage, as they can sent off in a prepared state and finished at
the end of their journey by folding the side and end pieces up and then
inserting the clips. In this preparation the slits or holes for the clip
points are cut or made in the press with the "scoring," or otherwise.
In cases where the boxes have sliding lids or covers I groove the
pieces near their edges, as represented in Figure 9, and when the sides
and ends are turned up, as represented in Figure 10, they are retained
in position by clips shaped to correspond. Thus I am enabled to use
pa er or other material in a finished state and with less waste than can
be ffected in the manner of making boxes usually adopted.
*
t
] L
some cases the sliding lid may be scored as in Figures 11 and 12, a
so that when an india-rubber cord i is attached to the bottom of the
box and brought over the lid the tension will draw the lid over one of
the ends a sufficient distance for the articles in the box to be removed.
I prefer to fasten the opposite end of the rubber cord i to a flap j,
which is hinged to the front end of the lid, so that it will when in one 2
position keep the flap j against the end in a secure manner. In order
to open the box the flap j has to be raised by the finger, and the tension
of the cord i will then cause the lid k to spring open.
I do not at all times turn the wings g, h, over the edges of the box, as
they can be shaped to conform to the contour of the box, as shown in 3
Figure 13, which shape would correspond to the shape of the box shown
in Figures 11 and 12, or if the top and bottom edges of the box have to be
protected the wings would be made for them from one piece of metal and
of a plain or of an ornamental character such as I have represented in
Figure 14. The rubber cord may be attached to a loop of ribbon which 3
can be looped over a stud. There is scarcely any limit to the sizes of the
boxes, the pieces of which can be secured by these clips, and in large boxes,
such as packing cases made of wood, I propose to drill a few holes in the

page_text: first place at the parts where the clips are to go, and then finish the
holes to make the slits by a chisel-edged tool. It will be understood that
the clips before spoken of can be fitted at any part of the meeting edges
of the box sides or ends as well as at the corners, and the clipping pieces
may even go all round the sides of the box in a groove or not, and then
the ends may be passed through the slits provided for them. To pre-
vent the ends opening out and becoming loose I sometimes slit the band
at one part of it, and I bring the other end over it to the slit before
passing it through. If the plates or clipping pieces are not provided
with points or eyelets I propose to fit them in place and then stamp them
with a sharp or a blunt edged tool so as to cause them to bite and hold
themselves thereto, as shown by dots in Figure 4.
Figure 23 represents a perspective view of a box made of separate
picces which are held together by one or more wires bound round the
sides and ends in the grooves w, x, and then secured by twisting the
ends of the wires together, or by means of a screw not to draw the ends
tight. The top and bottom pieces being first laid in grooves formed for
them in the inner faces of the sides and end pieces, as will be understood
by referring to Figure 24. By this means I am enabled to make up
boxes, the parts of which can be easily separated for retransportation.
A loose plate may be fitted in the corners of the grooves to prevent the
wires cutting into the corners of the box.
If the boxes have to be bound by metal bands or straps I propose to
cut the edges of the band with sharp points a, b, which can be turned
inwards and then pierced through holes prepared for them. A view of
this band is shown in Figure 25.
Reels for ruches and trimmings can also be made by these means in
a similar way as the boxes by connecting the distancing pieces or
bars l, m, Figure 15, to the outside pieces by the clips either by hand or
in a press.
The bars may be made of metal, and in that case would
have the eyelets or points c¹ turn their ends to be pushed through the
holes or slits in the side pieces.
If I use separate pieces of material to form the box I propose to
employ a press in which the slitting, passing into, and flattening down
processes are performed automatically and in consecutive order, but they
may be done independently of one another if desired, and in different
presses, or by hand.

page_text: If I accomplish the operations automatically I propose to employ a
press or apparatus such as I have shown in the following Figures:―This
press or appartus is composed of a bed plate A with two uprights
B and C and stays or tie bars D and E. The upright B is, so to speak,
divided near its upper part, and the opening one half serves for the intro-
duction of the edges of the two sides or picces F, G, of the box to be
connected, the aperture being fitted with a mouthpiece H for the
purpose. The faces of the two pieces of this upright B are also formed
with recesses, in one of which a pair of cutters or chiselled edge tools
I, J, are free to be moved up and down in an angular manner by
tappets p, 9, Figure 16, on a shaft K, which receives its movement by
tooth gearing L behind the upright C, as shewn in Figure 17, which is a
side view of the apparatus in its complete form.
In Figures 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 I have shewn face views of the
working parts of the apparatus, and with the front plates M, N,
removed to shew the various positions the several tools occupy in
completing the operation. Figure 18 represents the apparatus with two
pieces F, G, of the box in the opening or division ready to be slit by
tools I, J, which rise simultaneously by means of the tappet p riding
against the projection on a sliding plate s. This rising action forces
the cutters through the two pieces F, G, and they lodge in notches
formed in the noses of the turning down tools O, P, which are held at
the bottom of their stroke by a rounded portion of the cam Q on the
shaft R, also in gear at the rear. A plate or clip such as that shown in
Figure 6 is then placed upon the lift slate S to be lifted by it through
the cam T on the lower shaft K, but before this lift has actually taken
effect the cutting tools I, J, have been depressed to clear the paper by
the tappet q riding against a pin or projection t at the lower part of the
sliding 8. The lift is then continued and the points of the binding
plate or clip passes into the slits just made, the inner surface of the plate a
coming against the two pieces of the box F, G, while the pressure
exerted by the left plate is upon the binding plate, the flattening down
tools then descend and force the points which are in the inside of
the two pieces of the box down upon the points c, d, by bending them
over as it were upon themselves, and thus securing the two pieces F, G,
together. The flattening tools O, P, only slide up and down in an angular
direction, and their flattening faces are always flush with the bottom
edge of the front plate M, but the cutting tools I, J, move up and down

page_text: in an opposite angular direction, and consequently across the path of the
paper pieces in the aperture. The lift plate S always moves vertically
up and down. The up stroke of the flattening down tools is effected by
the excentric pin u on the end of the upper shaft R while their depression
or down stroke is caused by the cam piece Q which works in a chamber
formed at the back of its sliding plate U.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
Firstly. Securing the corners and melting edges of boxes which are
made of paper, wood, or other similar material by metal clips or clipping
pieces provided with points, eyelets, or other similar fastenings which
can be pushed through them, and then
or turned down in the
manner and for the purposes herein-before described and shown in
Figures 1, 6, and 8 of the Drawings annexed.
Secondly. I claim the modified forms or shapes of clips or clipping
picces in or to which lips or wings are fitted when used in the manner
and for the purposes herein-before set forth and shewn in Figures 2, 13,
and 14 of the Drawings.
Thirdly. I claim the making of boxes in separate picces in such a way
that they can be secured in position by clips or clipping pieces of the
forms herein-before described.
Fourthly. I claim grooving the top and bottom edges of paper and
other boxes in which sliding lids or covers can be used and securing the
picces together, substantially in the manner described and shown in
reference to Figures 9, 10, 11, and 12 of the Drawings.
Fifthly. I claim making packing and other cases in parts which are
grooved in the manner described so that they can be bound up with wire
or other bands, substantially as shown in Figures 23 and 24.
Sixthly. I claim the manufacture of reels for ruches and trimmings,
substantially in the manner described and shown.
Seventhly. The fitting of such before described metal clips or clipping
pieces to boxes by machinery or by hand, as hercin-before described.
Eighthly. I claim the employment of metallic strips or bands
with with spikes or points which can be forced in the sides and other parts
of packing cases or boxes to hold them firmly together, substantially as
described and shown in Figure 25 of the Drawings.

page_text: And, lastly. I claim the construction of machinery or apparatus for
effecting the three operations of slitting or holing the material, of
pushing the points or eyelets through the material, and of burring or
folding down the eyelets or points in an automatic manner, substantially
as described and shown in Figures 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22 of the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hesketh Hughes, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of June One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-one.