IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SLIPPING AND DEPOSITING " PARCELS AND PACKAGES OR OTHER OBJECTS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Jacob Hill, of the Victoria Railway
Station, Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, Accountant, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SLIPPING AND DEPOSITING
"
PARCELS AND PACKAGES OR OTHER OBJECTS."
Scaled the 15th September 1870, and dated the 6th April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Jacob Hill
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th April 1870.
I, EDWARD JACOB HILL, of the Victoria Railway Station, Pimlico,
in the County of Middlesex, Accountant, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SLIPPING AND DEPOSITING
PARCELS AND PACKAGES OR OTHER OBJECTS," to be as follows:-
A piece of iron or steel wire or other material is bent or shaped
triangularly, but unconnected at the top. One end is curved inwards to
form a hook, the other end continued straight and projecting a short
distance beyond the curved end. The base of the triangle is bent so as
to make it easily attachable to the cording or other support of a parcel

page_text: or package. A single or double ring is attached to a cord,
rope, strap,
or chain to be held by a person, or connected to a cranc or pulley or
lowering machine.
This Invention is a simple and cheap apparatus to lower and deposit
a parcel or package or other objects on the ground, or any platform or
staging from a train whilst in motion, or from an elevation to any
staging beneath.
To work the apparatus the ring attached to the rope, chain, or string
held by a person, or connected to a crane or other machine, is passed over
the open straight end of the triangularly bent wire holding the parcel
or package and is hooked in the curved end of the triangle. The parcel
or package is then lowered until it touches and rests on the ground or
staging, when the weight being taken off the ring allows the ring to
fall from the hook or curved end of the triangle and slip over the straight
end of the triangle, thereby disconnecting the package from the ring
and rope by which it is held. The slipping and depositing apparatus
be stamped out of sheet metal or material instead of being composed
of bent wire.
may
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Jacob Hill in the Great Seal Patent 20
Office on the 6th October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
JACOB HILL, of the Victoria Railway Station, Pimlico, in the County
of Middlesex, Accountant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 2
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Edward Jacob Hill, Her special licence
that I, the said Edward Jacob Hill, my executors, administrators, 3
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Jacob Hill, 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, 3

page_text: the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "SLIPPING
AND DEPOSITING PARCELS AND PACKAGES OR OTHER OBJECTS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Edward Jacob Hill, 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 Edward Jacob Hill, 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 :-
A piece of iron or steel wire or other material is bent or shaped
triangularly, but unconnected at the top. One end is curved inwards to
form a hook, the other end continued straight and projecting a short
distance beyond the curved end. The base of the triangle is bent so as
to make it easily attachable to the cording or other support of a parcel
or package. A single or double ring is attached to a cord, rope, strap,
or chain to be held by a person, or connected to a crane or pulley or
lowering machine. The slipping and depositing apparatus may be
stamped out of sheet metal or material instead of being composed of
wire, in which case it need not be triangular in form.
The manner of carrying my Invention into effect is represented in the
accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is a view of a piece of iron, steel, or other wire bent into a
triangular shape, as before referred to; one end a is bent downwards or
curved inwards to form a hook b, while the other c is kept straight or
only bent at the corner d to throw the leg over the curved portion or
hook b, where it forms a bearing for a ring or loop c, Figure 2, to bear
against when the lower part of it is passed inside the leg and under the
hook b. It will be observed that the lower corners of the triangle are
looped or formed into eyes e, f, so that the string or other attachments
of the package can be held by them with security. In some cases the
central part of the base g only is formed into an eye e, as shown in
Figure 3, so that the cord of the package can be passed into it. It is
not necessary that the eye or eyes should be at right angles to the leg

page_text: and hook as shown, as in many instances, such as when the slip is
attached to a leather or canvas bag or other article it can be fastened to
rings or other appendages on the bag.
I have in the foregoing Figures shown that the slips are composed of
a single thickness of wire, and these will in most cases be of sufficient
strength for comparatively light articles, but where heavier objects have
to be supported by them they could be made of wire of two thicknesses,
that is to say, the wire could be bent double before it is shaped into a
triangular form; by this means additional strength would be obtained.
Of course the same result would be gained by making the slip of thicker
wire to start with.
.
As before mentioned I do not confine myself to making the slip
of wire, as it may be cast, stamped, or otherwise made from a sheet
or plate of metal of any kind found suitable for the purpose, and I have
in Figures 4, 5, and 6 shown such a slip to make this part of my
Invention clear. The letters of reference refer to the same parts of
these Figures as in the previous ones, with the exception of the cycs
being formed below the base. Here the eyes e, f, are made at the time
of making the slip.
In Figures 4 and 5 I have shown a double mode of attachment,
that is either by the eyes e, f, being slipped under the cord of the
package to fasten it to them, or by means of a rivet or screw or some
other appliance being passed into the eye h, and into the bag or other
article to which it is to be attached. In Figure 5 the full lines represent
the ring or loop in position for supporting the weight of the package,
parcel, or bag, that is, with the bottom of the loop under the hook and
the upper part of it bearing against the leg c as an abutment. The
tendency of the loop e, with the weight upon it, is to slide up the leg c
and over the top of it so that the hook b should support the whole of the
weight, but the length of the leg prevents that occurring, and the leg
bears a part of the weight by reason of the loop bearing against it, as
before explained and shown, thereby preventing the loop escaping from
the hook while the weight is suspended, but the instant the weight
reaches the platform, staging, or floor upon which it is to be
deposited a slackness is given to the cord i which allows the ring
or loop to fall into the position shown in dotted lines, whereby it
becomes detached from the hook and then slips up and off the leg.

page_text: I do not limit my Invention to the depositing of parcels, packages,
or bags upon platforms or stages of railways, as the apparatus is
applicable to many purposes, and will be found of advantage in building
and wharfage operations as well as on board ship, as a weight can be held
in a secure position for any length of time and suddenly let go on the
word of command being given to do so. In lowering a boat, for
instance, the boat can be suspended by means of halyards or guys, and
when sufficiently lowered to touch the water the rings release themselves,
and do not require the personal attendance of anyone to unfasten them,
as in the majority of apparatus at present employed. In such a case it.
is only necessary for the slips to be fastened to eyebolts or chains in the
"thwarts" of the boat by means of the spring link j, shown in Figure 6.
When the slip is used for articles of light weight, such as letter bags or
small parcels in general which have to be deposited upon the platform of
a railway station from a passing train, it might be found advisable to attach
a weight of some kind to the bottom end of the lowering cord; this would
ensure the loop falling the required distance to free itself from the hook,
whether any slackness be given to the cord or not.
In addition to the uses of the slip for commercial, post office, and
railway purposes it would be found of value in lowering milk caus in
areas of dwelling-houses and other places; in fact, the slip could be
employed in a variety of ways; among them may be mentioned hanging
or suspending goods in drapers' and tailors' windows. Here the slip
could be attached to a thread or cord of the article to be exposed for sale,
and the loop on a cord fastened to the ceiling or to a rail or other support
as is usual, the goods would hang in perfect safety during the day, and
at night, at closing time, the goods need only be lifted by a stick or
long arm," when the loop would release itself in the same manner as
before explained.
Figure 7 represents a stamped out plate of a more simple form. The
mode of securing this plate to the parcel would be by passing the tying
cord or strap into the lower portion of the space at . In this view it
will be observed that the leg c does not bend over the hook b, as in the
former ones, but is continued straight up or nearly so.
To work the apparatus for lowering purposes the rope, chain, or string,
with the loop or ring attached, is held by a person or connected to a
cranc or other machine, and the loop or ring is passed over the open
straight end of the triangularly bent wire or plate fastened to or other-

page_text: wise attached to the parcel or package, and is hooked in the curved end
or hook of the triangle. The parcel or package is then lowered until it
touches and rests on the ground or staging, when the weight being
taken off the loop or ring allows the ring to fall from the hook or
curved end of the triangle and slip over the straight end of the
triangle, thereby disconnecting the package from the ring and rope
by which it was held.
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 as
my Invention, the construction and employment of apparatus composed
of a hook and a leg for retaining a loop or ring in position for
supporting parcels, packages, or goods of any description upon such
apparatus, and in slipping them therefrom, in the manner and for the
purpose herein before described and shown in the accompanying
Drawings, whether such apparatus is composed of wire bent into shape,
or of a plate of metal cast, stamped, or otherwise made.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Jacob Hill, havo here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of October One
thousand eight hundred and seventy.