Improvements in Chests or Packages for the Shipment of Tea and other Delicate Goods, and in Means for Converting the Original Package into a Caddy or Device from which the Contents may be Retailed.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Dec., 1894-Accepted, 2nd Feb., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Chests or Packages for the Shipment of Tea and
other Delicate Goods, and in Means for Converting the Original
Package into a Caddy or Device from which the Contents may
be Retailed.
I, FRANK SCOTT JAMES, of Yokohama Japan now residing at 1 Kensington
Park Road Bayswater in the County of Middlesex, (a communication to me
from abroad by Cornelius Toohey, of 123 California Street in the City and County
of San Franciso, State of California, U.S. America, Tea Broker and Importing
Agent,) 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 chests or packages for the shipment of
tea and other delicate goods, and in a means for converting the original package
into a caddy or device from which the contents may be retailed without disturbing
the original package.
It consists in certain details of construction which will be more fully explained
by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the package, ready for shipment.
Figure 2 is a view of the package prepared for use in removing the contents.
Figure 3 is a separate view of the frame and shield forming a part of the original
package.
Figure 4 is a view of the removable door attachment.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of the package, a part of the side of the chest
being broken away showing the bag or lining.
The object of my invention is to provide a chest or package for the transport-
tation of tea, coffee, or other aromatic or delicate substances which is necessary
to seal hermetically during transportation, and a means for transforming said
package into a containing caddy, with an attachment by which the contents are
exposed, to be removed from time to time at will.
The first portion of my invention relates to the construction of the chest or box
itself.
The chest A is made of wood in the usual manner, preferably having one side
made a little thicker, and this side stops short of the bottom of the box or has a
cut away portion at that point, and grooves or channels a are made in the edges
which face each other above and below the opening.
B is a sliding door having a corresponding tongue and channel adapted to fit
the channel and tongue in the edges of the opening, so that the door may be slid
into place from one side and complete the closure of the box at this side. This
door is then secured by a nail or nails, or other fastening, so that this side of the
box is practically as solid and complete as any other.
The exterior of the box is covered with paper and matting and secured with
Within the box is the bag
rattans in the usual way, after the box has been filled.
or lining which is composed of three thicknesses, first, an outer metallized paper C,
so-called, which is impervious to moisture or air by reason of a coating of metal
upon the exterior surface. Within this is a second layer C¹ formed of cloth or
other fibrous flexible material having sufficient toughness to prevent the rupture of
the paper forming the outer coating. A third layer C2, of any suitable lining
paper is applied within the tough fibrous layer, and the three layers are secured

page_text: together by any suitable adhesive material. The whole is then formed on suitable
moulds into a bag which is adapted to exactly fit within the box A previously
described. By reason of the outer metallized surface, the bag is rendered
impervious to moisture or air, while at the same time no metal comes in contact
with the delicate interior contents by reason of the paper lining. These two
however, would not be sufficient to prevent accident, which is liable to occur to
packages of this sort in transportation, and the rupture of the paper or metal will
expose the contents so that they will become deteriorated. By reason of the
intermediate tough fibrous layer, I add the element of strength which is necessary
to prevent any rupture of the outer and inner layers, and the whole forms a
very light and serviceable lining for the box. The top of the bag is left open
and extends a short distance above the top of the box until after the package
has been properly filled, a stiff cardboard is placed over the contents, and the
upwardly projecting flaps are then folded down and pasted upon this inserted
top, and a layer of this composite material is pasted over all, so that the whole
package is hermetically sealed. Before the bag is filled, however, I place in the
bottom of the bag a shield or frame made of any material, preferably not metal,
which consists of a flat bottom adapted to fit exactly within the bottom of the
bag, to which it is pasted or secured. This bottom serves to stiffen and hold
the bag in place, and also prevents the tearing of the bottom of the bag when the
scoop is introduced after opening. This bottom E has sides E' extending
upwardly, those sides being the highest where they meet the side of the box and
declining toward the centre of the box. Across between the inclined upper edges
of these sides extends a top plate E which may be stiffened or supported in any
suitable manner, presumably by means of corrugated material placed on the
underneath side, so that it will not be depressed by reason of the pressure of
the contents of the chest which are afterwards filled in upon and around it, but the
upper surface is left smooth, and the inclination is such that when the box stands
squarely upon its bottom, any tea or other contents of the box will slide off of this
inclined roof as fast as the contents are withdrawn from below. The open side of
this frame or shield, which is of the largest area, abuts against the side of the box
which has the sliding door B previously described, and coincides with this door
opening, while the smaller opening caused by the inclined roof E' is presented
toward the interior of the box.
When the chest is filled with tea or other substance, the contents being
shaken down will pass beneath the roof E2 and will fill all of the space within
the chamber thus formed, so that when the chest is filled this part E2 will be
supported by that portion of the contents beneath it, and will not be subjected to
any undue pressure by that which is above, consequently, will not be in danger of
being pressed out of shape.
Any of the parts described in the foregoing, chest, bag, or interior mechanism of
same, can be so constructed when required, as to be available in a knocked down or
collapsed form for convenience in shipping from point of manufacture to another
for packing purposes.
From this construction it will be seen that every chest or package contains
within itself, the interior mechanism necessary to transform it into a caddy when
the exterior door is affixed, from which the contents are to be sold, and it is at the
same time a complete hermetically sealed chest, suitable for transportation.
When the chest is to be used for the purpose of selling its contents at retail,
the outer coverings and matting being removed, the nail or other fastening of the
sliding door B is removed, and the chest, lying upon its back with the front
uppermost, the door is withdrawn, sliding in the groove or channel and tongue as
before described. With a sharp knife, the inner lining of the chest is now cut
along the outline of the opening thus exposed, and the door or device for
transforming it into a caddy is attached. This device consists of a case having a
bottom F, closed segmental ends G, with an opening made upon the curved outer
face, and another one through the vertical opposite side.

page_text: g is a tongue and groove formed upon the upper edge of the vertical side and
adapted to fit into the groove and tongue from which the slide door B has been
removed, and the device is simply slipped into place and held there by these
tongues and grooves.
A plate H extends across the front upper portion of the device, a sufficient
distance from the upper tongne, so that it extends a little way up the side of the
box, and assists to steady and hold the attachment in place. The lower part and
bottom of this device extends down below the lower edge of the opening, so that
the bottom of the device will rest upon the table or surface upon which the box is
supported. The interior bottom F of the device runs flush from the entrance to
the rear edge so that it coincides with the bottom of the opening into the box and
allows the scoop by which the tea is to be removed to be inserted smoothly without
striking any obstruction. Within this exterior casing is pivotted a curved door I
which is adapted to follow the interior of the curved surface when it is turned
around its pivot pins, so that when drawn down its front edge meets the front edge
of the segmental opening, and forms a closure for the caddy. When opened it is
rotated about its pivot pin, and turns backward a short distance into the interior of
the box A, and beneath the roof portion E2 of the shield. This device is first
attached to the box, the box lying on its back with the opening upward. It will
afterwards be set down upon the bottom, and a portion of the tea, which is beneath
the inclined roof E2, will flow out into the bottom of this supplemental chamber,
and this will leave sufficient room for the curved door to be rotated backward into
the space
within the shield. At the same time, the rear edge of this door is
sufficiently above the bottom of the receptacle to allow the tea to flow out beneath
it upon the bottom F by gravitation as fast as it has been removed by the scoop,
and the whole contents of the chest can thus be removed without any further
openings being made, or any transfer from the chest to a containing vessel, thus
preventing deterioration by exposure or handling.
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. A shipping package or chest, consisting of an exterior casing, an interior
three-ply bag composed of an exterior layer of metallized paper, an interior layer
of lining paper and an intermediate flexible fibrous layer whereby the exterior and
interior layers are supported and prevented from rupture, said exterior, interior and
intermediate layers being cemented together, and the top of the bag being adapted
to be hermetically sealed.
2. A shipping package or chest consisting of an exterior wooden casing, an
interior bag fitted thereto, and composed of an exterior layer of metallized paper
impervious to moisture or air, an interior lining layer to form contact with the
contents of the package, and an intermediate layer of flexible fibrous material all
cemented together, a tongued opening made in the bottom of one side of the outer
case, a sliding door adapted to fit said opening and complete the casing during the
transportation, said door being removable to expose the side of the bag and admit
of its being cut out of the form of the opening.
3. A shipping package or box consisting of a wooden exterior case, a bag formed
to fit said case, and composed of material impervious to moisture and resistant to
rupture, an opening made near the bottom of one side of the box, and a door
slidable therein whereby the package is closed for shipment, and removable to
expose the lining back, and allow the side of it to be cut away when the package is
to be opened.
4. A shipping package or box consisting of an exterior wooden box, an interior
impervious bag or lining fitting therein, and a frame or shield fitting in the bottom
thereof and having an open side adjacent to and coinciding with the corresponding
opening made in the bottom of one side of the box, said package containing within
itself all the necessary interior mechanism to transform it into a grocer's caddy.

page_text: 5. A shipping package consisting of an exterior wooden box having an opening
upon one side near the bottom and a sliding movable door fitting therein and
⚫completing the side of the box, an interior impervious bag fitting within the box, a
frame and shield fitted within the bottom of the bag having the opening beneath
the shield coinciding with the opening in the side of the box whereby communi-
cation is made with the interior of the package by removing the sliding door and
cutting away the lining bag in lines coincident with the sides of the opening in the
box and the shield.
6. A shipping package consisting of an exterior wooden box with an impervious
lining fitted thereto, a frame or shield fitting the bottom of the box within the
lining, an opening made in the side of the box near the bottom, coinciding with the
opening beneath the shield and having tongues and grooves formed on its upper
and lower edges with a removable sliding door, an attachment consisting of a
-segmental casing having tongues and grooves at the top and bottom of its vertical
rear side, and a pivotted segmental door turnable about its pivots to open or close
the opening in the segmental front of the casing.
7. A shipping package consisting of a box having an interior impervious bag
and a frame or shield fitted in the bottom thereof whereby it contains within itself
all necessary interior mechanism to transform it into a caddy, an opening made
near the bottom of one side with a sliding closing door which is removed when the
package is to be transformed into a caddy, and the side of the bag cut away to
correspond with the opening in the box, a segmental casing having an opening
made through the segmental front, and a corresponding opening through the
vertical rear side, a segmental door pivotted to rotate within the casing to open or
close the same, and tongues aud grooves formed at the top and bottom of the
vertical rear side of the casing adapted to fit the corresponding tongues or grooves
in the upper and lower edges of the opening in the box.
8. A shipping package consisting of an exterior box with an opening in the
lower part of one side and a removable attachment therefor through which the
contents are withdrawn, a bag forming a lining for the box, having a base or floor
secured to and covering the bottom of the bag, and forming a support and a
protection to prevent the tearing of the bag by the utensil used for removing the
.contents when the package is opened.
Dated this 31st day of December 1804