IMPROVEMENTS IN HANDLES FOR CARPET BAGS, PORTMANTEAUS, LADIES' RETICULES, PACKAGES AND VESSELS, AND FOR OTHER ARTICLES WHICH ARE OR MAY BE CARRIED BY HANDLES
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Parkes at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th June
1864.
I, JAMES PARKES, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HANDLES FOR CARPET BAGS, PORTMANTEAUS, LADIES' RETICULES, PACKAGES AND
VESSELS, AND FOR OTHER ARTICLES WHICH ARE OR MAY BE CARRIED BY HANDLES," to
be, as follows:-
In constructing a carpet bag handle according to my Invention, I make
that part of the handle which is grasped by the hand of wood or other hard
material, the said part having a nearly cylindrical figure, but bulged in the
middle, and flanged at its ends; to the frame of the carpet bag two metallic
pieces are rivetted, the said pieces standing nearly perpendicularly to the
frame. Between the said pieces the wooden part of the handle is fixed by
means of screws passing through the said metallic pieces. The handle
described is fastened on the broad side of the frame of the carpet bag, and the
narrow side which shuts within the former may be provided with clips, which
when the bag is closed engage with the broad part of the frame and bear
part of the strain upon the handle.
A handle of the kind described may be applied to carpet bags having
leather handles of the ordinary kind. In this case the wooden handle is
provided with a hook at either end, on which hooks the handles of the carpet
bag are made to hang. On that part of each hook on which the handle of
the carpet bag rests a short piece of tube is placed, which tube acts as anti-

page_text: friction rollers. The wooden part of the handle first described may be
employed as a handle for packages in the following way:-At either end of
the handle a groove is made, in which grooves pieces of tape or straps are
placed and fastened by tying, or sewing, or otherwise; these tapes or straps
may be employed for tying up the package to be carried.
My improvements in handles for vessels, such, for example, as buckets or
cans, are as follows:-I take a wooden handle of the kind first described; I
cut a groove or slot in the said handle in a line parallel with it axis, and of
sufficient width to permit the handle of the vessel to enter it. The wooden
handle being placed upon the metallic handle of the vessel is secured in its
place by a pin or staple driven into the wooden handle over the metallic
handle. A notch may be made in the metallic handle for the staple to engage
in, and to prevent the wooden handle sliding upon the metallic one.
I
In making handles for ladies' reticules, bags, and other such like articles, I
make the handles of a metallic wire of the required form; upon the said wire
pass a piece of vulcanized india-rubber tubing of much larger diameter than
the wire, and I cover the said tubing with velvet or other ornamental fabric.
The metallic wire gives the required figure and rigidity to the handle, while
the india-rubber tubing gives the required diameter, and also an agreeable
yielding to the hand or arm.
Although, for convenience of description, I have only described the handles
as applied to carpet bags, packages, vessels, and ladies' reticules or bags, yet the
handles described may be applied to portmanteaus, dressing and writing cases,
and to other articles which require to be furnished with handles.