IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING CANISTERS AND OTHER SIMILAR RECEPTACLES."
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Cheswright, of City Road, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING
CANISTERS AND OTHER SIMILAR RECEPTACLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Cheswright at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th June 1878.
CHARLES CHESWRIGHT, of City Road, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING CANISTERS AND OTHER SIMILAR RECEPTACLES."
This Invention relates to improved modes of protecting tin or other metal
canisters or cases of various constructions, and to the prevention of interference
with the contents of such canisters or cases without there being palpable evidence
of such interference when it has occurred.
In carrying out my Invention in relation to a canister or case of ordinary con-
struction, I prepare a sheet of combined lead and tin similar to the material
used in the manufacture of the well-known Bett's metallic capsules; this sheet
may be embossed with any device suitable in relation to the articles to be con-
tained in the canister or case, and the edges of the sheet itself so prepared aro
then let into some portion of the upper surface of the canister, and fastened therein
by means of solder or other material so as to render it impossible for the top of
the canister to be opened without breaking away the sheet of soft metal which is
impressed with the trade mark or other device of the manufacturers of the goods
contained in the canister or case.
The soft metal sheet above described, or portions of it, may be perforated in any
convenient manner, so as to render it more difficult to sever it from the canister
or case, and gain access to the contents without it being obvious that the contents
of the canister or case have been tampered with.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Cheswright in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th
December 1878.
CHARLES CHESWRIGHT, of City Road, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING CANISTERS AND OTHER SIMILAR RECEPTACLES."
Mae said Invention relates to improved modes of protecting tin or other metal
canisters or cases of various constructions, and to the prevention of interference with
the contents of such canisters or cases without there being palpable evidence of
such interference when it has occurred.
In carrying out my said Invention as applied, for example, to a canister or case
of ordinary construction, I prepare a band or strip of soft metal, for example,
of combined lead and tin similar to the material used in the manufacture of the
well-known Betts' patent metallic capsules, which band or strip is impressed with
the name, trade mark, or other device of the manufacture of the articles to be con-
tained in the canister or case, and may be embossed with any device suitable in
relation to such articles. I then apply the band or strip thus prepared to the
canister or case in such a manner that it shall cover or overlap a portion or portions
of the seam or seams along the line of which the canister or case may be opened,
the band or strip being attached at its end to the canister or case by solder, barbed
tacks, or otherwise, so as to render it impossible for the canister or case to be opened
without palpable evidence remaining of the fact by the band or strip of soft metal
having been broken away or destroyed.
The soft metal band or strip above described, or portions of it, may be perforated
in any convenient manner so as to render it more difficult to sever it from the
canister or case, and gain access to the contents without it being obvious that the
contents of the canister or case have been tampered with.
The accompanying Sheet of Drawings illustrates by way of examples three modes
of carrying out my said Invention.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent respective views of cases with the protective
band or strip applied thereto, according to the said three respective modifications,
and Figures 4 and 5 are detail views drawn to a larger scale of the modification
shewn in Figure 3, Figure 4 being a plan, and Figure 5 a section illustrating a
method of securing the protective band or strip.
Figure 1 shews the application of the band or strip to a case composed of tin, for
example, and having a hinged lid or cover. A is the body of the case, and a its
lid or cover connected thereto by hinges b; B is the protective band or strip
attached at its extremities c, c¹, by solder, barbed tacks, or otherwise, to the body A,
and lid or cover a respectively, so as to overlap the line of seam d along which the
case may be opened.
The band or strip B carries a medallion for the name and signature other
device of the manufacturer of the articles to be contained in the case, and also a
medallion f for the name and trade mark of the proprietors of the protective device;
the portions of the band or strip, as for example, the portion g, left unoccupied may
be embossed with water mark or engine turned patterns, and may also be perforated
so as more effectually to prevent removal without detection.
In Figure 2 the protective band or strip B is shewn applied to a tin case A,
having a detachable lid or cover a. In this case the band or strip, which is attached
intermediately of its two extremities to the lid or cover a, is continued down and
secured at its extremity c¹ to the other side of the body A, so as to overlap the
lines of seam d at the opposite sides of the case, and preclude the possibility of
the severance of the lid or cover from the body without indications being left that
the case has been tampered with.
In applying the Invention to wooden cases it is preferred to continue the band
or strip all round the case, as shewn in Figure 3, in which case the ends c, c¹, are

page_text: soldered to a soft metal disch (see details, Figures 4 and 5) let into the lid or cover a,
and a medallion f¹ is applied over the said ends, and soldered or attached by
barbed tacks or otherwise to the disc h, the said medallion carrying the name and
signature or other device of the manufacturer of the article to be contained in
the said box, and the name and trade mark of the proprietors of the protective device.
The band or strip may be perforated or marked so as to indicate the line along
which severance is to take place.
It is obvious that by means of my said Invention an effective guarantee is pro-
vided against an undetected flaudulent interference with the contents of canisters
or cases to which the Invention is applied, as it will be impossible to gain access to
the interior without mutilating or destroying the protective band or strip, and thus
leaving palpable evidence that the canister or case has been tampered with.
If desired a wire may be substituted for the band or strip, the wire being
arranged to encircle the case (for example), and hooked together at its extremities
where it is, attached to the lid, and covered by a medallion in the manner herein-
before described.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is, the application to canisters, cases, and similar receptacles of a
metal band or strip, or its equivalent, for the purpose of preventing undetected
interference with the contents of the same, the said band or strip or its equivalent
being arranged and applied substantially in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Cheswright, have to this my Specifi-
cation set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight.
CHARLES CHESWRIGHT. (LS.)