IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR RECEPTACLES FOR BISCUITS OR OTHER ARTICLES OR SUBSTANCES."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Isaac Palmer, of Reading, in the County of
Berks, Esquire, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR RECEPTACLES
FOR BISCUITS OR OTHER ARTICLES OR SUBSTANCES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Isaac Palmer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th May 1881.
WILLIAM ISAAC PALMER, of Reading, in the County of Berks, Esquire.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR RECEPTACLES FOR BISCUITS OR OTHER ARTICLES
OR SUBSTANCES."
My Invention relates to the tins or metallic boxes or receptacles employed for
containing biscuits or other articles or substances, and has reference to a peculiar
construction and arrangement of lid or cover of the box or receptacle, whereby
after the lid or cover has been soldered on, and the box or receptacle thereby
hermetically sealed, such facilities are afforded for the opening of the same that the
use of any knife or other tool is wholly dispensed with; at the same time keeping
the box and the lid or cover of the same, or of any number of them, of the same
dimensions and bulk of a like box and lid or cover, or such number of the same
as made at present without any means of opening, whilst the box or receptacle and
lid or cover of the same are so slightly injured by the operation of opening as to
admit of their being used again.
In carrying out my Invention the body of the box or receptacle is provided with
a horizontal flange or inwardly projecting rim at its upper edges, as in the ordinary
manner, for the attachment thereto of the lid or cover, but in lieu of making the
lid or cover in one piece, and permanently soldering or attaching it to the flange on
the body of the box or receptacle as heretofore, I construct the lid or cover in two
parts, one of which is permanently soldered or attached to the said flange, whilst
the other is soldered in the usual way, or attached by one end and its two sides to
the flange on the body of the box or receptacle, and the other end or remaining
portion slightly soldered to the first part herein before referred to of the lid or
cover, the part secondly herein before described of the lid or cover being made to

page_text: overlap the first part, and having a portion of it made of a reduced size, and then
expanded so as to form a button, which will afford a hold to the fingers in the
operation of opening.
It is thus by a lid or cover made in two parts, as hereinbefore described, and
further by a slight indentation in the first part of the same, which is permanently
soldered or attached to the body of the box or receptacle, that I find the means of
opening the same without knife or other instrument, and of keeping within the
same bulk or dimensions as boxes now made without the facility for opening.
By means of the arrangements herein before described when the box or receptacle
is to be opened it is unnecessary to use any knife or other instrument whatever; by
means of the portion of the second part of the lid overlapping the first part, and of
the indentation formed in the latter, a hold is obtained for the thumb and finger,
and such part, or the whole of the second and larger part of the lid or cover is
stripped off at will, leaving the box sound, and the lid or cover sufficiently so for
further use if desired.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Isaac Palmer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st November 1881.
WILLIAM ISAAC PALMER, of Reading, in the County of Berks, Esquire.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR RECEPTACLES FOR BISCUITS OR OTHER ARTICLES
OR SUBSTANCES."
My said Invention relates to the tins or metallic boxes or receptacles employed
for containing biscuits or other articles or substances, and has reference to a
peculiar construction and arrangement of the lid or cover of the box or receptacle,
whereby after the lid or cover has been soldered on, and the box or receptacle
thereby hermetically sealed, such facilities are afforded for the opening of the same
that the use of any knife or other tool is wholly dispensed with, whilst the box or
receptacle and lid or cover of the same are so slightly injured by the operation of
opening as to admit of their being used again. Moreover by the peculiar con-
struction and arrangement which forms the subject of my said Invention the box
or receptacle itself, and the lid or cover of the same, are kept of the same
dimensions and bulk as the tins, boxes, or receptacles at present in use of a like
capacity.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to
the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a longitudinal section of a
tin or metallic box or receptacle constructed according to my said Invention, the
dotted lines indicating the lid or cover partially open; and Figures 2 and 3 are
plans of the same, the former corresponding to the closed position of the lid or
cover, whilst in Figure 3 the separate part of the lid or cover is assumed to have
been removed. A is the body of the box or receptacle, which is provided with a
horizontal flange or inwardly projecting rim a at its upper edges, as in the ordinary
manner for the attachment thereto of the lid or cover B, but in lieu of making the
lid or cover in one piece, and permanently soldering or attaching it to the flange a
on the body of the box or receptacle as heretofore, I construct the lid or cover B in
two parts B', B³, as shewn. One of these parts, viz., (B) is permanently soldered
or attached to the flange a, whilst the other part (B) is soldered or attached by one
end b, and its two sides b', b', to the flange a on the body A of the box or
receptacle in the usual way, and its other end 6 or remaining portion is slightly
soldered to the part B¹ of the lid or cover. The part B of the lid or cover is
moreover made to overlap the part B¹, and has a portion of it c made of a reduced
size, and then expanded or widened out so as to form a button d, which will afford
a hold to the fingers in the operation of opening.
By making the lid or cover in two parts, as herein before described, with the
addition of a slight indentation e in the part B¹, which is permanently soldered or
attached to the body of the box or receptacle, I am enabled to effect the opening
of the same without the aid of a knife or other instrument, whilst keeping within
the same bulk or dimensions as boxes now made without the facility for opening.
When it is required to open the box or receptacle it is simply necessary to apply
the finger at the part where the indentation e occurs beneath the button d, and
raise the same, when a hold will be obtained for the thumb and finger, and the
whole of the part B2, that is to say, the larger portion of the lid or cover, may be
stripped off at will, leaving the box sound, and the lid or cover sufficiently so for
further use if desired. The dotted lines in Figure 1 indicate the part B of the lid

page_text: or cover, in the act of being opened, whilst Figure 3 shews the box or receptacle
with the part B' entirely removed.
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,―-
In metallic boxes or receptacles for biscuits or other articles or substances con-
structing the lid or cover in two parts, one of which is permanently soldered or
attached to the body of the box or receptacle, whilst the other part is soldered or
attached to the body of the box or receptacle, and to the first or permanent part
of the lid or cover, the two parts being constructed, arranged, and combined
together, substantially in the manner and for the purpose hereinbefore described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Isaac Palmer, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of November, One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
WILLIAM ISAAC PALMER. (L.S.)