IMPROVEMENTS IN RECEPTACLES FOR CONTAINING BISCUITS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES PROVISIONAL SPFICATION
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Hall of Sheffield in the County of York for an
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RECEPTACLES FOR CONTAINING BISCUITS AND
FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Hall at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th November 1882.
JOSEPH HALL of Sheffield in the County of York " IMPROVEMENTS IN
RECEPTACLES FOR CONTAINING BISCUITS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
כן
My invention relates to improvements in receptacles for biscuits, and other
similar receptacles, and more particularly to the means of automatically opening or
closing the lids, or bodies of such articles, the object being to give access to the
contents with increased facility, or to close the receptacle with equal ease when
done with. To apply my invention to opening and closing the lids of a biscuit
box-for example-I make a stand or frame consisting of two uprights fixed upon
a base, and a cross handle from one upright to the other-The Handle has a short
vertical movement which may be obtained by forming the ends of short vertical
tubes sliding upon vertical pins or guides attached to the uprights. The body of
the box can be raised by the handle, being secured thereto by short pins attached
to the bottom of the short vertical tubes before mentioned, and is kept in position
by a suitable guide or guides. I prefer to make the body semi-spherical, the lids
or covers when closed forming the remainder of the sphere. The said lids or
covers are hinged and rotate upon the said pins that attach the body to the
handle, and having a little larger radius than that of the body, they are able to
pass over or round the body till they meet (or thereabouts) on the underside near
the centre, and when raised they meet centrally over the top of the body, where
they may be secured by an ordinary catch or lock. To operate the lids auto-
matically a pin projecting from the uprights or frame is made to engage in a slot
or guide formed in, or attached to, the end of each lid; or vice versa, the pin may

page_text: be made to project from the end of each lid, and engage in a slot or guide formed
in or attached to the upright, and thus by the action of the pin traversing in the
slot or guide, caused. by the pressure or weight of the box and its contents when
placed on the table, the lids are opened; but when the box is raised from the
table, the reverse action takes place and the lids are closed and secured by the
catch.
If desirable the contrary motion, that is the opening of the lids on raising the
handle and closing thereof on setting down the box may be attained by reversing
the position of the pins and sluts from one side of the centre pin or axis to the
other or opposite side. The above described movements may be applied to Biscuit
boxes or other similar receptacles in which the body is made in two parts which
work on the axis and by closing against each other dispense with the use of outer
covers or lids.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Joseph Hall in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th May
1883.
JOSEPH HALL of Sheffield in the County of York
"
IMPROVEMENTS IN
RECEPTACLES FOR CONTAINING BISCUITS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
"
My Invention relates to improvements in receptacles for containing biscuits and
for other similar purposes, and relates more particularly to certain means of
automatically opening and closing the exterior or interior lids, or the bodies of such
receptacles with the object of obtaining onsy access to the contents, and of
reclosing the parts without trouble, such results being attained by the simple
action of lifting up and putting down the receptacle, by means of the usual
handle-In order that my invention may be clearly, understood I shall divide my
description in two parts-first as applied to a single compartiment Biscuit box with
external covers only-and second as applied to a double compartment biscuit box,
with interior lids to close the separate compartments, both descriptions being
illustrated in the sheet of drawings to which 1 shall refer, premising that the same
letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures-Figs 1, 2 and 3 refer
to the single compartment Biscuit box; Fig. 1 being an end elevation with the
exterior lids closed; Fig 2 being the same view showing the lids when opened.
Fig 3. a top view with the cross handle removed-Figures 4, 5 and 6 refer to the
double compartment biscuit box; Fig. 4 being an end view with the compartments
opened. Fig. 5 being a similar end view with the standard removed so that the
automatically-raised interior, lids to the compartments may be better seen-Fig. 6
shows the position of the receptacles when the interior lids close upon each
compartment.
.
In applying my invention to a single compartment biscuit box (for example) I
make a stand or Frame consisting of two standards A, either fixed upon a base or
secured to each other by suitable means, and having a cross-handle B with two
depending sides C, passing across the top of the box or receptacle E. The exterior
lid or cover is made in two parts F, Fby preference so formed and pivotted that
when opened they fit closely over and round the body of the receptacle, and when
closed they meet together over the centre, where they may be secured by a spring
catch or lock-The Handle B with its tubular sides C, has a short vertical
movement, on the upright tuhes or rods G, connected with the Standards, and at
each end, a short horizontal pin or stud H, connects the receptacle to the handle
and also forms an axis upon which the lids F and F¹ rotate. Upon each of the lids
is a fixed slide J, engaging with, and controlled by a pin K projecting from the
upright A, the slides being so fixed that when the body is raised by means of the
handle B, the weight of the standards cause the stationary pins to draw down the
lids and uncover the mouth of the receptacle while on putting down the box, a
slight pressure on the handle reverses the movement and causes the lids to close
together-A guide pin I retains the body of the receptacle in a vertical position,
and by altering the positions of the slides J and the pins K the movements may
be reversed so that the lids will open when the Biscuit box is put down, and will
close when lifted up by the handle.
I will now describe the application of my invention in the construction of a
Double compartment biscuit box, having interior lids. I make the divided body,
by preference cylindrical and with flat ends as shown in the drawings the halves
being hinged together, and connected by means of the hinge pin to the handle
at H, and also provided with fixed pins or studs L which engage with, and slide

page_text: I
in or upon the guides M upon the Standards N. The handle B slides vertically
in the top part of the standard and is connected to the pivot or axis H, each end
of which is guided in its vertical movement the lots or grooves P. On pressing
down the handle, the pins or studs L, traverse towards the other ends of the
guides M, and cause the two parts of the body of the receptacle to close together,
ns shown by the dotted lines, where they may be retained by a catch or other
similar device; but to prevent the biscuits from falling out while the compartments
are being raised to a vertical position, or from mixing with the contents of the
opposite compartment, I use lids Q and Q' as shown in Fig 5 which are hinged
at R to the projecting strips S and S-To open and close these lids automatically,
arrange by preference two or more springs T and T' as shown, the end of the
spring T, being attached to the lid Q, by means of a stud or like device, the other
end being secured to the projecting strip S' of the opposite compartment, and
vice versa. The action of this arrangement is clearly shown in the drawings,
Fig. 5 showing the position of the lids when the biscuit box is open, the dotted
lines showing the position of the lids and springs when closed, while in Fig. 6,
the compartments are shown at the particular angle at which the lids are
automatically shut by the action of the springs when closing the box, or at which
the lids leave the compartments to assume their upright or open position, when
the box is being opened.-I do not however bind myself to the use of springs, as
short chains and springs may be used to accomplish the same result.
Having-now-described-and-particularly-ascertained-the-nature-of-my-invention
-and-the method of carrying it into practice in the construction of both a single, and
a. double compartment Biscuit box, 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 :-
:-
First, In receptacles such as Biscuit Boxes and having only one compartment,
-the-arrangement of the various parts of same, so that the lids or covers are
automatically opened and closed by taking up and putting down the said-receptacle,-
substantially as described and as illustrated in Figs 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings or
any mere variation or modification of the same.
Second, in double compartment receptacles for containing biscuits or for other
similar purposes; the arrangement of the various parts in such manner that both
the compartments and their lids are automatically opened and closed by the action
of taking up and of putting down the said receptacle substantially as hereinbefore
described and as illustrated in Figs 4, 5 and 6, or any mere variation from or
modification of the same.
In Witness whereof, I the said Joseph Hall have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Eleventh day of May, in the year of Our Lord, One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three