Improvements in Bags and Purses.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bags and Purses.
I, LOUIS BLUMFELD of 119 Queen Victoria Street London E.C. Merchant 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 has for object the providing two parts or compartments one above
the other (in a bag or purse) in such a way that the upper part alone, or, at will,
the upper & lower together can be opened; but so that the lower can only be
opened from inside the upper, and, consequently, only when the upper has been
opened.
I construct the back part of a bag or purse in the ordinary way.
The front of a bag or purse constructed in accordance with my invention is
divided into two parts; the lower part (which may be a half or one third or other
desired proportion of the whole) is connected to the back by gussets at the bottom
& sides; the upper part of the front hinges on the upper edges of the lower part.
The total area of the upper and lower parts of the front correspond with the total
area of the back of the bag.
By means of a stud fastened on the inside of the back, and placed so that it can
catch in an eye fixed on the inside of the lower part of the front in a place just
below where the upper part hinges on it (& preferably near the middle) the lower
part can be closed. The lower part when closed can only be opened by a pressure
dividing the back from the front when the upper part is open. In place of one
stud and eye, two or more studs and eyes may be used where the size of the bag or
weight of the material used in its construction requires it for better security.
Pockets may with advantage be affixed to the inside of the upper part of the
back, as without these the upper part of a bag constructed according to my
invention is comparatively useless, by reason of its connecting directly (without any
intervening division or bottom) with the lower part when that is also opened.
When pockets are affixed to the inside of the upper part of the back, the front of
the upper part must be so made as to allow for the space occupied by these pockets
when the bag is closed.
The top and side edges of the front of the upper part and so much of the back as
corresponds with them may be rendered rigid by fixing them to metal frames or
binding them with metal." The sides may also be connected by gussets where this
is desired. The upper part may be closed by a catch or lock or other suitable
contrivance available for bags or purses.
The accompanying drawings will serve to illustrate the mode of performing my
invention.
Fig. I shows a bag or purse made according to my invention when open:
A is the back part; B, the lower, and E, the upper part of the front part which
hinge on each other at D. C is the gusset connecting the back part with the front.
S is the stud which catches in an eye or socket affixed to the lower part of the front.
The outside or top of the eye or socket is shown at S¹ in Fig. II, which figure
represents the bag or purse when closed.

page_text: 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 :-
The construction of bags and purses having two compartments, one above the
other, in manner substantially as above described.
Dated this 29th day of May 1893.
LOUIS BLUMFELD.