Improvements in or appertaining to Collapsable Paper Boxes.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Jan., 1896-Accepted 25th Apr., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or appertaining to Collapsable Paper Boxes.
I, ERNST PAUL LEHMANN of No. 6 Plauerstrasse, Brandenburg on the Havel,
in the Kingdom of Prussia, in the Empire of Germany, Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to improvements in or appertaining to collapsable_paper
boxes, particularly of the kind for which I have obtained Letters Patent
No. 18020, dated November 12th, 1889.
The collapsable paper boxes described in the Specification and represented in
the drawings of my previous Patent referred to, have a folding top, one of the
free edges of which has a lap-joint which covers the free edges when the box is
closed, for the purpose of keeping the joint tight. To the said lap-joint, a strip of
soft metal is secured, the projecting ends of which may be bent to clasp the
lap-joint tightly to the overlapped edges.
Though, in practical use, this mode of closing and tightening the collapsable
box, in general, has been found satisfactory, it is objectionable from the point of
view that the folding top is not sufficiently held down or flattened to the upper
side of the box. In packing the filled boxes one over another the projecting parts
of the folding top are much in the way and liable to be damaged.
The improvement of my present invention consists, first, in securing the
clamping metal strips to the body or sides of the box, instead of to the lap-
joint.
Figure 1 represents a paper box with the folding top partly open; a is the lap-
joint destined to overlap the edges of the folding top. Metal clamps bare
secured to the front side of the box, which clamps or strips bb are bent down over
the lap-joint when the folding top has been closed and laid flatly down upon the
top of the box, as shown in Figure 2. By this means the lap-joint is held tightly
closed and at the same time the folding top is held down to the top of the box to
form an even surface.
Instead of employing two clamps or metal-strips b, a single clamp, in many
cases, may be found sufficient, but the number of clamps 6 may as well be
increased.
In Figure 3, the clamps bare secured to the sides of the box instead of to the
front edge. It will be easily understood that the effect of this arrangement will
be much the same as that where the clamps are secured to the front side of the
box. Side clamps may be simultaneously employed with front clamps.
In Figure 5, the side clamps bare replaced by an elastic band extending from
one side of the box to the other and acting as a pressure on the folding top, when
closed. Instead of an elastic band, two separate lengths of band, strap, cord or
thread may be secured in the place of the clamps and tightly bound or buckled
down over the folding top. The length of said bands, straps, cords or threads may
vary as desired and surround the box one or more times.
In Figure 4, the lap-joint a, instead of being secured to one side of the folding
top, is secured to the top or front edge of the box, to overlap the edges of the
folding top when closely laid down to the top of the box. In this case, as in those
before described, the lap-joint a and folding top are simultaneously held down and
tightened by front clamps or lateral clamps, or an elastic or non-elastic band or

page_text: bands, straps, cords or threads, as described, with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3
and 5, or by any other convenient means.
To provide a security against fraudulently opening the box, the clamps b, whether
secured to the lap-joint a, or to the sides of the box, may be connected to each
other by a cord or thread c, as shown in Figure 6, the ends of which cord or
thread are sealed, as at d.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a collapsable paper box provided with a folding top, the combination, with
the said folding top, of a clamp or clamps secured to the front or sides of the box,
or to both, for the purpose of tightly holding the folding top down to the box,
substantially as described.
2. In a collapsable paper box provided with a folding top, the combination, with
the said folding top, of a lap joint secured to the top or front side of the box, for
overlapping the free edges of the folding top, substantially as described.
3. In a collapsable paper box having a folding top, the combination, with the
said folding top, of a lap-joint secured to the top or front side of the box and
tightening means to force the said lap-joint over the free edges of the folding top,
substantially as described.
4. In a collapsable paper box having a folding top, the combination, with the
said folding top, of an elastic or non-elastic band, cord or thread, or bands, cords
or threads for the purpose of tightly holding the folding top down to the box,
substantially as described.
5. In a collapsable paper box having a folding top, the combination, with the
said folding top, of clamps holding the said folding top tightly down to the box,
and of cords or threads connecting said clamps, the ends of said cords or threads
being lended or sealed, substantially as described.
Dated this 28th day of January 1896.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.