IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR CASES FOR HOLDING PACKETS OF NEEDLES, AND FOR OTHER LIKE USES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Avery, of the Firm of William Avery and
Son, of Redditch, in the County of Worcester, Needle Manufacturers,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR CASES FOR HOLDING
PACKETS OF NEEDLES, AND FOR OTHER LIKE USES."
Sealed the 24th December 1867, and dated the 9th July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Avery at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th July 1867.
I, WILLIAM AVERY, of the Firm of William Avery and Son, of Redditch,
in the County of Worcester, Needle Manufacturers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR CASES FOR HOLDING
PACKETS OF NEEDLES, AND FOR OTHER LIKE USES," to be as follows:-
My Invention has reference to boxes or cases principally used on the
counters of shops for holding packets of needles, but which may also be used
for holding other small articles. The said boxes or cases are usually made of
wood, and are provided with a diaphragm or division at or near their middle,
the said diaphragm having perforations of a size suited to receive the different
size packets of needles.
In making the said boxes or cases according to my Invention I dispense
entirely with the use of wood, and make the said boxes or cases of metal; I
prefer to employ strong tin plate for this purpose, but other metals or alloys
may be used. I make the box or case by preference of a flat oblong shape,
and in its interior and on its longer sides I form ledges for supporting the
perforated diaphragm or division for holding the packets of needles. The

page_text: perforated diaphragm or division may be made in various ways. I prefer to
make it of woven wire with strips of tin plate on its longer sides; in this case
the diaphragm or division consists of a series of parallel wires situated at a
short distance apart, and having a length nearly equal to the length of the
box; these wires are crossed by other parallel wires at distances apart equal
to the breadth of the packets of needles, and of a length nearly equal to the
breadth of the box. The longitudinal and cross wires are bound together by
fine wire in the way commonly employed in the manufacture of wirework.
The ends of the last described or cross wires are soldered to the strips of the
tin plate herein-before described. The diaphragm of wirework described when
placed upon the ledges in the box presents a series of openings into which the
packets of needles may be dropped, and in which they are supported in a
nearly upright position; or the diaphragm or division may be made from a
piece of sheet metal of the required size and form, and in which perforations
for receiving the packets of needles are made by cutting-out tools worked in
a press; or the perforated metallic diaphragm may be made by the process of
casting. Boxes or cases made according to my Invention may be used for
various purposes besides holding packets of needles, such as holding cards or
packets of buttons, hooks and eyes, and other small articles, the size and form
of the perforations in the diaphragm being varied to suit the articles to be
held in the box or case.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Avery in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st December 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
AVERY, of the Firm of William Avery and Son, of Redditch, in the County of
Worcester, Needle Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Avery, Her special licence that I, the said William Avery,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Avery, 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 lawfully might make,

page_text: use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES OR CASES FOR HOLDING PACKETS OF NEEDLES, AND FOR
OTHER LIKE USES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Avery, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly 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 Avery, lo hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention has reference to boxes or cases principally used on the
counters of shops for holding packets of needles, but which may also be used
for holding other small articles. The said boxes or cases are usually made of
wood, and are provided with a diaphragm or division at or near their middle,
the said diaphragm having perforations of a size suited to receive the different
sized packets of needles.
In making the said boxes or cases according to my Invention I dispense
entirely with the use of wood, and make the said boxes or cases of metal; I
prefer to employ strong tin plate for this purpose, but other metals or alloys
may be used.
I make the box or case by preference of a flat oblong shape,
and in its interior and ou its longer sides I form ledges for supporting the
perforated diaphragm or division for holding the packets of needles. The
perforated diaphragm or division may be made in various ways. I prefer to
make it of woven wire with strips of tin plate on its longer sides; in this case.
the diaphragm or division consists of a series of parallel wires situated at a
short distance apart and having a length nearly equal to the length of the
box; these wires are crossed by other parallel wires at distances apart equal
to the breadth of the packets of needles, and of a length nearly equal to the
breadth of the box. The longitudinal and cross wires are bound together by
fine wire in the way commonly employed in the manufacture of wirework.
The ends of the last-described or cross wires are soldered to the strips of tin
plate herein-before described. The diaphragm of wirework described when
placed upon the ledges in the box presents a series of openings into which the
packets of needles may be dropped, and in which they are supported in a
nearly upright position; or the diaphragm or division may be made from a

page_text: piece of sheet metal of the required size and form, in which perforations for
receiving the packets of needles are made by cutting-out tools worked in a
press; or the perforated metallic diaphragm may be made by the process of
casting.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation a rectangular flat metal box or case
for holding packets of needles made according to my Invention; Figure 2 is
a longitudinal vertical section of the same; Figure 3 is a plan, and Figure 4
a cross section of the same, the lid being raised from the box. The same
letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
a is the body, and c is the lid of the box or case, the said parts being made
of strong tin plate or other sheet metal or alloy. In the bottom of the body a
is a drawer 6 in which to store the stock of packets of needles; d is the per-
forated metallic diaphragm or division for holding the packets of needles; the
said diaphragm d is supported by the ledges e (see Figure 4) on the longer
sides of the body of the box. Underneath the diaphragm is a false bottom f
formed of a piece of corrugated sheet metal, the corrugations therein running
parallel with the longer sides of the box. In the corrugations in the false
bottom the bottom ends of the packets of needles rest when passed through
the perforations or openings in the diaphragm d, as indicated in dotted lines
in Figure 4. The said packets of needles are thus prevented from slipping
from the upright or nearly upright position in which they are supported by
the perforations or openings in the diaphragm. The perforated diaphragm d
is made of woven wire having metal strips g, g, on its longer sides, and narrow
metal strips h, h, on its shorter sides, the strips g, g, being soldered to the ends
of the cross wires, and the narrow strips h, h, to the ends of the longitudinal
wires of the said diaphragm. By an examination of Figure 3 it will be seen
that the parallel cross wires of the diaphragm are situated at different dis-
tances apart, so as to form perforations or openings in the diaphragm equal
to the breadth of the different size packets of needles to be held in the said
box. The longitudinal and cross wires are bound together where they cross
by fine wire, as represented. The diaphragm d is secured in its place upon
the ledges e, e, by means of pins i, i, passed through eyes k, k, on the said
ledges, the said pins bearing upon the strips g, g, in the manner represented
in Figure 3.
Instead of making the perforated diaphragm of woven wire and strips of
sheet metal soldered to it as described, the diaphragm may be made of a

page_text: sheet of metal in which a series of openings or perforations similar to those in
the diaphragm represented is made by cutting-out tools worked in a press; or
the perforated diaphragm may be made by the process of casting; I prefer
however to make the said diaphragm of woven wire, as represented.
Figure 5 represents in longitudinal vertical section, Figure 6 in plan, and
Figure 7 in cross section, a modification of the box or case last described.
The box or case, Figures 5, 6, and 7, differs from that last described in
being provided with a rectangular trough or partition 1, 1, between the inner
sides of which trough or partition the perforated diaphragm d is situated, as
represented. The said trough is divided by cross partitions into a series of
compartments into which a stock of packets of needles may be stored. The
perforated diaphragm d is supported on the ledges m soldered to the bottom
of the trough (see Figure 7). The parts of the box or case, Figures 5, 6,
and 7, which I have not described are constructed in the manner described
with respect to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, and are marked with the same letters
of reference.
Boxes or cases made according to my Invention may be used for various
purposes besides holding packets of needles, such as holding cards or packets
of buttons, hooks and eyes, and other small articles, the size and form of the
perforations in the diaphragm being varied to suit the articles to be held in
the box or case.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention the improvements in boxes or cases for holding
packets of needles, and for other like uses, herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, making the said
boxes or cases of sheet metal, and providing the said boxes or cases with
perforated metallic diaphragms or divisions made and arranged in the boxes
or cases, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Avery, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
WILLIAM AVERY. (L.S.)