AN IMPROVED TIE OR FASTENING FOR SECURING BALES OF COTTON AND OTHER MERCHANDIZE
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED TIE OR FASTENING FOR SECURING BALES
OF COTTON AND OTHER MERCHANDIZE."-A communication from abroad
by John Tredwell Butler, of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
of America
Scaled the 24th May 1872, and dated the 2nd December 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd December 1871.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED TIE OR FASTENING FOR
SECURING BALES OF COTTON AND OTHER MERCHANDISE," a communication, to
be as follows:-
My Invention relates to a bale tie constructed in as simple and
economical a manner as possible, that shall possess all the strength

page_text: requisite to sustain the utmost tension or strain to which it may be
subjected, and at the same time shall be provided with an opening of
sufficient capacity to admit the ends of a band, and allow them to be
bent therein into a hook form with space between the said ends to
secure their free play or movement when the bale of cotton upon which
they may be placed is subjected to rough handling.
A narrow diagonal cleft communicates with the aforesaid interior
opening, the same being of sufficient width only to admit the band
edgewise either before or after it has been bent or folded into the
aforesaid hook form, or to receive them otherwise as convenience may
require. By this means, I secure the taking up of all the slack of each
of the bands on a bale of cotton, while the same may be subjected to
pressure and as a consequence I secure uniformity of length in all of
the bands, and thereby give to the bale symmetrical proportions and
regularity of form after it is taken from the compressing machine.
The said improved tie is of a regular rectangular form of uniform
thickness, and has plain smooth surfaces like other ties for the same
purpose. It differs however from any other ties hitherto devised in the
.peculiar manner of cutting the lateral cleft diagonally through the side
of the buckle, or in other words at an angle with the plane of its
surfaces, whereby an almost unbroken interior opening is secured
through which it is utterly impossible for the bands to slip out during
transportation and shipment.
.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent a
Office on the 31st May 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Second day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence

page_text: that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, 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, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
." AN IMPROVED TIE OR FASTENING FOR SECURING BALES OF COTTON AND OTHER
MERCHANDIZE," a communication to me from abroad by John Tredwell
Butler, of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my
.exccutors 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming part of this Specification:-
Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved tie without the bale
bands attached thereto. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the tie with
one end of the bale band inserted in the opening therein, and with the
opposite end of the said bale band free, but ready to be inserted within
the said opening.
This Invention relates to a bale tie formed of a metal plate A, and
constructed in as simple and economical a manner as possible; which
shall possess all the strength requisite to sustain the utmost tension or
strain it may be subjected to, and at the same time shall be provided
with an opening B of sufficient capacity to admit the ends of the band c,
and allow them to be bent therein into a hook form, as shown at a,
Figure 2, with space between the said ends to permit their free play or
movement when the bale of cotton upon which they may be placed is
subjected to rough handling, a contingency against which it is highly
necessary to make ample provision.

page_text: The said tie has a diagonal cleft 6 communicating with the aforesaid
interior opening B, the same being of sufficient width only to admit the
band edgewise either before or after it has been bent or folded into the
hook form as aforesaid, or to receive them otherwise as convenience may
require. By this means I secure the taking up of all the slack of each
of the bands on a bale of cotton, while the same may be subjected to
pressure, and consequently I secure uniformity of length in all of the
bands, and thereby give to the bale symmetrical proportions and
regularity of form after it is taken from the compressing machine.
This improved tie accomplishes the results sought to be attained by it
in a simple, economical, and efficient manner.
It will be seen that the said improved tie is of a regular rectangular
form, of uniform thickness, and has plain smooth surfaces like other
ties for the same purposes. It differs however from any ties hitherto
devised in the peculiar lateral.diagonal cleft b, which is cut through the
side of the plate A at an angle with the plane of its surfaces, whereby
an almost unbroken interior opening is secured, through which it is
utterly impossible for the bands to slip out, no matter how roughly the
bale may be handled during transportation and shipment.
The said tie is struck off in suitable lengths from bars or strips of
plate iron, the tie being cut off and the interior opening being formed at
the same operation; the lateral cleft is cut by a separate operation.
The solid portions of the tie are of sufficient width and thickness to
sustain all the strain to which it might be subjected in practice under
any circumstances.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
VITU
Witness,
EDWARD C. JACKSON.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)