IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR METALLIC AND OTHER TRAVELLING TRUNKS, PORTMANTEAUS, BAGS; AND BOXES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Blizard Williamson, the younger, of the Firm
of W. B. Williamson and Sons, of the City of Worcester, Manufacturers, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS FOR METALLIC AND OTHER
TRAVELLING TRUNKS, PORTMANTEAUS, BAGS; AND BOXES."
--. 1870
ล
1876
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Blizard Williamson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st March 1878.
WILLIAM BLIZARD WILLIAMSON, the younger, of the Firm of W. B. Williamson
and Sons, of the City of Worcester, Manufacturers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS
FOR METALLIC AND OTHER TRAVELLING TRUNKS, PORTMANTEAUS, BAGS, AND
BOXES."
My Invention has reference principally to fastenings for sheet iron or tin plate
travelling trunks, but is also applicable to other travelling and other trunks, as
well as to portmanteaus, bags, and boxes for various purposes.
My said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in the said
fastenings, whereby greater security is obtained than can be obtained by fastenings
of the ordinary kind.
I will describe my Invention in connection with a travelling trunk. I employ
on the outside of the trunk a lock and hasp, the lock being fixed on the body of
the trunk and the hasp hinged to the lid. Besides being provided with the usual.
hooks on its under side which enter the lock, and with which the bolt of the lock
engages, the said hasp is provided with a slot, which when the hasp is shut down,
passes over and fixes the position of a staple or eye on the body of the box. This eye
or staple is capable of turning through a small angle, but requires to be brought into
a certain position before the staple can be shut down and the trunk locked. The
axis of this eye or staple passes through the trunk to its interior, and carries on its
inner end an arm or lever hooked or turned at right angles at its upper end. On
the inside of the lid of the trunk is a loop or eye, in which loop or eye when the

page_text: lid is shut down and the staple on the outside of the trunk is brought into the
position in which it permits the hasp to be shut down, the hooked lover engages
and fixes down the lid. There is thus effected a double fastening of the trunk,
one on the inside of the trunk, which is operated by bringing the staple on the
outside of the trunk into the position necessary for the shutting down of the hasp
and for the action of the ordinary lock, and the other fastening that of the ordinary
lock.
On unlocking the lock and raising the hasp the staple or eye can be turned
through the required angle to disengage the hooked lever in the interior of the box
from the staple or eye on the inside of the lid.
Instead of making the staple or eye move by turning upon an axis as described,
it may have a sliding motion and operate one or more sliding bolts in the inside of
the box. In this case the staple must be brought into the position in which it
effects the inside fastening before the hasp can shut down and the trunk be
locked.
For additional security a padlock may be locked to the staple and a treble
fastening thus secured.
The motions of the staple may be made to operate bolts on the outside of the
trunk as well as on the inside.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Blizard Williamson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th September 1878.
WILLIAM BLIZARD WILLIAMSON, the younger, of the Firm of W. B. Williamson
and Sons, of the City of Worcester, Manufacturers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN FASTENINGS
FOR METALLIC AND OTHER TRAVELLING TRUNKS, PORTMANTEAUS, BAGS, AND
BOXES."
My Invention has reference principally to fastenings for sheet iron or tin plate
travelling trunks, but is also applicable to other travelling and other trunks, as
well as to portmanteaus, bags, and boxes for various purposes.
My said Invention consists in the improvements herein-after described in the
said fastenings, whereby greater security is obtained than can be obtained by
fastenings of the ordinary kind.
I will describe my Invention in connection with a travelling trunk. I employ
on the outside of the trunk a lock and hasp, the lock being fixed on the body of
the trunk and the hasp hinged to the lid. Besides being provided with the usual
hooks on its under side, which enter the lock, and with which the bolt of the lock
engages, the said hasp is provided with a slot, which when the hasp is shut down
passes over and fixes the position of a staple or eye on the body of the box. This
eye or staple is capable of turning through a small angle, but requires to be brought
into a certain position before the staple can be shut down and the trunk locked.
•

page_text: The axis of this eye or staple passes through the trunk to its interior, and carries
on its inner end an arm or lever hooked or turned at right angles at its upper end.
On the inside of the lid of the trunk is a loop or eye, in which loop or eye, when
the lid is shut down and the staple on the outside of the trunk is brought into the
position in which it permits the hasp to be shut down, the hooked lever engages
and fixes down the lid. There is thus effected a double fastening of the trunk, one
on the inside of the trunk, which is operated by bringing the staple on the outside
of the trunk into the position necessary for the shutting down of the hasp, and for
the action of the ordinary lock, and the other fastening that of the ordinary
lock.
On unlocking the lock and raising the hasp the staple or eye can be turned
through the required angle to disengage the hooked lever in the interior of the box
from the staple or eye on the inside of the lid.
For additional security a padlock may be locked to the staple and a treble
fastening thus secured.
"
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents an outside elevation, and Figure 2 an inside elevation of a
portion of the body and lid of a metallic travelling trunk provided with a fastening
constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 3 is a cross section of the
same.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
a represents a portion of the body of the trunk, and b represents a portion of the
lid of the same. c is the ordinary lock fixed on the outside of the body a of the
trunk, and d is the hasp of the lock hinged at e to the lid b. The inside of
the hasp & carries the usual hooks d³, d³, which enter the lock case, and with which
the bolt of the lock engages. The said hasp d is also provided with a slot at d².
On the lock plate is a staple or eye f, over which the slot d³ in the hasp & passes
when the said hasp is shut down, as illustrated in the Drawing, and thereby fixes
the position of the said staple or eye f. The said eye or staple f is not rigidly
connected to the lock c, but is capable of swivelling thereon, or of turning through
a small angle.
It will be seen by an examination of Figure 3 that the eye or staple fis furnished
with a stem or stalk f, which passes through the lock case c, and also through
the body a of the trunk, the said stalk fs being screwed on its inner end and fixed
by the screw nut g.
Fixed on the inner end of the stalk f² of the eye or staple f is an arm or lever h
situated within the body of the trunk (see Figure 2). The upper end of the said
arm or lever h is hooked, and can be made to engage with a loop or eye i on the
lid b when the lid has been shut down.
In the Drawing the lid b of the box is represented fastened down by a double
fastening, that is, by the ordinary lock c, the bolt of which engages with the
hooks at ds on the hasp d, and by the hooked arm or lever h engaging with the
loop i on the lid.
It will be seen that when the hooked arm or lever h is engaged with the loop i
on the lid the eye or staple ƒ is vertical, and in such a position that the slot d in
the hasp & can pass over it.
"
It therefore follows that the locking of the lid 6 by the hooked or inside fastening
must always be effected before the hasp & can be shut down for fastening the
trunk by the ordinary lock c, and the inner fastening h cannot be disengaged
from the loop on the lid until the hasp & has been raised from the eye or staple f
In order to unfasten the double fastening of the trunk the lock cis first unlocked,
and the hasp d raised from the lock and turned back as usual. The eye or staple f
is thus liberated, and may be turned through a quadrant (or through a loss angle),
as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2. The hooked end of the arm or lever h
inside the trunk is thereby withdrawn from the loop on the lid b. -The lid is
i
thereby unfastened, and may be raised.

page_text: In order to fasten down the lid it is necessary first to turn the swivelling eye or
staple into the position represented in Figure 1. By this motion the hooked arm
or lever h is made to engage with the loop i, and the inside fastening of the lid
effected. The eye or staple fis thus brought into a position proper for the passing
over it of the slot in the hasp d, and the said hasp may be shut down upon and 5
fastened by the outside lock c in the ordinary way.
In the eye or staple f is a hole, through which the arm of a padlock may be
passed, and the treble fastening of the lid thereby effected.
Figure 4 represents a modification of the fastening last described, and Figure 5
represents a part of the same. In this modification the hooked fastening on the 10
swivelling eye or staple is situated outside the trunk, and the loop for it to engage
with is situated outside the lid. This arrangement is particularly applicable to
portmanteaus. fis the swivelling eye or staple on the outside of the lock c, and h
is the hooked arm or lever of the same.
The eye or staple fand its hooked arm h are in one piece, as best seen in the 1
separate view, Figure 5.
The said eye or staple fis connected to the lock and trunk by the axis ƒ³, so as
to be capable of motion through a small angle, as before described.
i is the loop on the outside of the lid b, and below the joint of the hasp.
The other parts of the fastening are constructed as before described, and are 20
marked with the same letters of reference.
After the hasp d has been unfastened and raised, as in Figure 4, the eye or
staple may be turned, so as to withdraw its hooked arm from the loop i on the
lid when the lid of the trunk or portmanteau is unfastened, and may be raised.
Before the hasp d can be turned down for the locking of the lid by the ordinary 25
lock the eye is turned into the vertical position indicated in Figure 4, so as to
effect the fastening of the lid by the hooked arm h, as before described, with respect
to Figures 1, 2, and 3.
When the hasp d is turned down the arm hand loop i are concealed by it.
The axis of the swivelling eye or staple ƒ may carry a hooked arm or lever at 30
each end, one of the hooked arms engaging with a loop on the inside of the lid,
and the other arm or lever engaging with a loop on the outside of the lid.
By the motion of the swivelling eye or staple, both the hooked arms are engaged
with or disengaged from their respective loops.
Figure 6 represents in side elevation, and Figures 7 and 8 in cross section my 35
improved fastening applied to a bag frame, Figures 6 and 7 representing the two
parts of the bag frame unfastened, and Figure 8 the same fastened.
l, m, is the bag frame turning on a joint at n, as usual. To the upper edge of
the part the ordinary lock at p is secured, and to the upper edge of the part m
the hasp q is jointed. The lock p carries the swivelling eye or staple r, having on 40
its inner end the hooked arm s, which engages with the loop t on the part m of the
bag frame. The action of this fastening is similar to that described with respect
to the trunk fastening, Figures 1, 2, and 3.
Figures 9 and 10 represent elevations of a portion of a trunk and its lid, to
which another fastening constructed according to my Invention is applied, Figure 9 45
representing the lid fastened by my improved fastening, and Figure 10 the same
unfastened, the hasp of the ordinary lock being raised in both Figures 9 and 10.
Figure 11 represents my improved fastening detached. In this arrangement the
lid bis fastened down by means of inside and outside fastenings, in addition to the
ordinary lock. In this arrangement the swivelling eye or staple f has at the front 50
of the trunk an arm x in addition to the hooked arm or lever h inside the trunk.
Outside the trunk a is a sliding plate or bolt y, which is worked by the arm on
the swivelling eye or staple, a headed stud on the said trunk engaging with a
slot in the said arm x. This sliding bolt y is connected to the trunk a by the
headed pins or studs y, y³, on the said trunk, the stems of the said pins working 55
in the longitudinal slots y³, y³, in the bolt, and guiding the latter in its motion.

page_text: On the lid b of the trunk are two headed pins or studsz, z, which work in and
engage in the slots 2,, near the upper edge of the sliding bolt y.
When the swivelling eye or staplef is turned through a small angle after the
lock c has been unlocked and the hasp d raised, as illustrated in Figure 9, the
notion of the said eye disengages the hooked arm or lever h from the loop i on
the inside of the lid. The same motion of the eye f acting through the arm x
gives a sliding motion to the bolt y on the outside of the lid and trunk, and causes
the open vertical parts of its slots, to be brought opposite the pins 2, 3, on
the lid b, as illustrated in Figure 10. The lid b is thereby unfastened both inside
and outside, and on the lifting of the said lid the pins 2, 2, pass out of the vertical
parts of the slots 2, 3, in the sliding bolt y on the trunk a
In order to fasten the trunk by my improved fastenings before the ordinary lock
can be locked it is necessary after the lid has been shut down to move the swivel-
ling eye from the position represented in Figure 10 to that represented in
Figure 9, so as to bring the eye or staple f into its vertical position. The inside
hooked arm or lever h is thereby made to engage with the loop i on the lid, and
the sliding bolt y is moved into such a position that the studs z, z, on the lid are
engaged with the horizontal parts of the slots 3, 3, in the bolt y. The lid is thus
fastened inside and outside. The hasp d can now be turned down over the eye
or staple f, and the lid blocked by the lock c. The trunk is thus locked by a
treble fastening.
Instead of using a lock, a lock plate may carry the swivelling eye or staple, and
the hasp may be fastened down upon it after it has engaged with the said eye
or staple by passing the arm of a padlock through the hole in the said eye or
staple, but I prefer to use my Invention in combination with an ordinary lock.
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,-
The improvements in fastenings for metallic and other travelling trunks, port-
manteaus, bags, and boxes herein-before described, and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say, making on the lock of the trunk, portmanteau,
or other like article, or upon a plate used in place of the lock, a swivelling eye or
staple for the slot in the hasp to take upon, the said swivelling eye or staple
naving upon it or connected to it a hooked arm or lever (situated inside or outside
the trunk or other article), which is made to engage by the motion of the said eye
or staple with a loop on the lid or frame of the trunk or article before the hasp
can be shut down upon the lock or plate for fastening the said hasp by the said
lock, or by a padlock, substantially as described and illustrated.
Also the arrangements described and illustrated, in which the swivelling eye or
staple is made to work a double fastening, one fastening being situated on the
outside of the trunk or other article, and the other fastening inside the trunk or
other article, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Blizard Williamson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
Witness,
WILLIAM BLIZARD WILLIAMSON, JUNR. (L.S.)
3, Field Terrace,
Bath Road,
Worcester.
WILLIAM BLIZARD WILLIAMSON, senior,
Worcester.