AN IMPROVED Box OR CASE FOR HOLDING REELS, BOBBINS, OR OTHER DEVICES CONTAINING THREAD, RIBBON, CORD, BRAID, AND OTHER FABRICS.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Elsworthy Lilly, of Tufnell Park Road,
in the County of Middlesex, Warehouseman, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED Box OR CASE FOR HOLDING REELS, BOBBINS, OR OTHER
DEVICES CONTAINING THREAD, RIBBON, CORD, BRAID, AND OTHER FABRICS.
Sealed the 23rd December 1873, and dated the 8th September 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Elsworthy
Lilly at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th September 1873.
I, WILLIAM ELSWORTHY LILLY, of Tufnell Park Road, in the County
of Middlesex, Warehouseman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED BOX OR CASE FOR HOLDING REELS, BOBBINS, OR
OTHER DEVICES CONTAINING THREAD, RIBBON, CORD, BRAID, AND OTHER FABRICS,"
to be as follows:-
The improved box or case which forms the subject of my Invention is
intended for holding any convenient number of reels or bobbins, on
which are wound thread, ribbon, cord, braid, or other fabrics intended

page_text: for sale, the object being that the bobbins or reels shall be arranged in
such a manner that the fabrics thereon may be conveniently displayed
for the inspection of retail customers, and at the same time carefully
protected from being soiled by dust. To this end the box or case is
divided by a number of vertical partitions into a number of compart-
ments, and is made of such a depth as will be sufficient to receive a
series or layer of bobbins. The box is provided with a lid or cover, and
in front of the box there is a row of holes corresponding with the
number of compartments, and through these holes are drawn the ends
of the cords, braids, ribbons, or other fabrics, so that upon the box being
presented to a customer the latter will see at a glance all the kinds,
widths, or qualities that the case or box contains.
Above each hole the price of the fabric may be marked, and when
any particular fabric has been selected by the customer the length
required may be drawn off the reel or bobbin without opening the case.
When any reel or bobbin is empty it may be removed from the case and
a full one substituted in its place. If preferred the bobbins or reels
may be mounted on horizontal spindles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Elsworthy Lilly in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ELSWORTHY LILLY, of Tufnell Park Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Warehouseman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Elsworthy Lilly,
Her special licence that I, the said William Elsworthy Lilly, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Elsworthy Lilly, 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

page_text: lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED BOX OR CASE FOR HOLDING REELS,
BOBBINS, OR OTHER DEVICES CONTAINING THREAD, RIBBON, CORD, BRAID, AND OTHER
FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said William
Elsworthy Lilly, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 William Elsworthy Lilly, 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, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
The improved box or case which forms the subject of my Invention
is intended for holding any convenient number of reels or bobbins, on
which are wound thread, ribbon, cord, braid, or other fabrics intended
for sale, the object being that the bobbins or reels shall be arranged in
such a manner that the fabrics thereon may be conveniently displayed
for the inspection of retail customers, and at the same time carefully
protected from being soiled by dust or by being unnecessarily handled.
To this end the box or case is divided by vertical partitions into a number
of compartments, and is made of such dimensions as will be sufficient to
receive a series or layer of bobbins. The box is provided with a lid or
cover, and in front or any other convenient part of the box there is a
row of holes corresponding with the number of compartments, and
through these holes are drawn the ends of the cords, braids, ribbons, or
other fabrics, so that upon the box being presented to a customer the
latter will see at a glance all the kinds or widths or qualities of fabrics
that the case or box contains.
Above each hole the price of the fabric may be marked, and when
any particular fabric has been selected by the customer the length
required may be drawn off the reel or bobbin without opening the case.
When any reel or bobbin is empty it may be removed from the case and
a full one substituted in its place.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn plans of various forms
of boxes constructed and arranged according to my Invention.
Fig. 1 is a plan view of the simplest form of box, shewing the box
open, the lid being raised so as to expose the contents to view.
Fig. 2 is a front view of the box with the lid shut down as it would
be when the box is presented to the customer to select the fabric
desired.
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the box with the lid open.
The box or case a, a, is by preference of a rectangular form, and is
provided with a lid a* to protect the contents from dust. This lid a*
when closed may be secured in place by a lock, spring, catch, or other
suitable fastening. Vertical partitions b, b, b, Fig. 1, divide the box into
compartments and the threads, braids, or other articles to be displayed are
wound upon bobbins c, c, c, which are kept apart in their several com-
partments by means of cross bars or wires d, d, over which the ends of
the threads, braids, or other fabrics are drawn, as shewn at Fig. 3, and
are passed through holes e, e, made in front of the box, as shewn in the
Figures. These holes are arranged in one line equidistant from each
other, and immediately below or above them (as may be found most
convenient) are affixed labels e', e¹, Fig. 2, on which may be marked the
trade, No., or quality, and price of the article that belongs to the
contiguous hole e. Instead of the cross bars or wires d, d, shewn in
Fig. 3, transverse partitions d¹, d³, may be used, as shewn in Fig. 4, and
instead of the bobbins c, c, being placed loosely in their several com-
partments, as shewn at Figures 1, 3, and 4, they may be provided with
spindles and mounted in bearings in the partitions b, b.
For round cords or narrow fabrics the bobbins (instead of being placed
horizontally in their compartments (as shewn at Figures 1, 3, and 4)
may be placed on end, and either mounted on vertical spindles, as shewn
in the sectional view, Fig. 5, or they may be placed loosely in their
compartments, and the ends of the threads, cords, or braids may be
passed through holes in the transverse partitions before being conducted
to the external holes e, e, Fig. 2, at the front of the box or case.
Although I prefer to wind the threads, cords, braids, or other fabrics
on bobbins or rollers, as herein-before mentioned, these fabrics may be
wound on flat boards or cards, as is usually the case with this class of

page_text: goods. When these boards or cards are used they should be mounted
on centres so that they will rotate with facility. This arrangement is
shewn in cross section at Fig. 6.
It will be obvious that in place of having a number of separate cases
or boxes a, each provided with lids as shewn in the preceding Figures, a
number of boxes or cases may be combined in one framing like a set of
drawers, as shewn at Fig. 7. Any convenient number of these drawers
are arranged one above the other, and any of them may be drawn out
and their contents submitted to the inspection of the customer.
Fig. 8 represents a modification of the boxes or cases shewn in the
preceding Figures. In this instance the partitions 6 and d are dispensed
with, and the rollers or bobbins on which the cords, threads, braids, or
other fabrics are wound are kept separate by being enclosed in cylindrical
boxes or cases f which are placed in the outer box or case a in any
desired order. These boxes or cases are made by preference of paper,
but if desired they may be made of scaleboard, wood, or other material.
One of these paper or other boxes f is shewn detached in section at
Fig. 9. A hole is made in the side or end of the box f to allow of the
end of the fabric being passed through and conducted to the external
holes e, e, of the outer case a as in the former instances. It will be
obvious that any number of cases or drawers containing bobbins enclosed
in these paper boxes may be combined in the manner shewn at Fig. 7,
and already described, but in all cases the ends of the fabrics must be
drawn through holes e made in the external case, as shewn at Fig. 2, so
that the contents of the hole, case, or drawer may be seen at a glance
and carefully examined without disturbing or routing about the contents
of the box.
Having now described my Invention of "An Improved Box or Case
for Holding Reels, Bobbins, or other Devices Containing Thread, Ribbon,
Cord, Braid, and other Fabrics," and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by
Letters Patent as aforesaid, arranging in any desired order any con-
venient number of the bobbins or rollers c, c, or the cards or flat boards
or their equivalents (on which are wound the fabrics to be exhibited) in
boxes, cases, or drawers provided with holes e, e, through which the ends
of the fabrics may be passed, as herein set forth, so that they may be
examined, drawn off, and measured without necessarily opening the
external box or case.

page_text: I also claim enclosing the bobbins or rollers c, c, in separate cylindrical
boxes or cases, which when arranged in any desired order in the external
boxes or cases a, as herein set forth, will without the use of separating
partitions keep the fabrics apart and prevent them from rubbing against
and chafing or injuring each other.
I further claim arranging any convenient number of these external
boxes or cases a in the form of sets of drawers, as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Elsworthy Lilly, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Sixth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.