AN IMPROVED FASTENING FOR PAPER BAGS AND PAPER PARCELS
Year: 1867

page_text: 'LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED FASTENING FOR PAPER BAGS AND PAPER
PARCELS." A communication from abroad by Charles Edwin Atwood
and George Warren Davis, both of New York City, in the United
States of America.
Sealed the 31st December 1867, and dated the 24th August 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th August 1867.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED FASTENING FOR PAPER BAGS
AND PAPER PARCELS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in applying to the open or mouth ends of paper
bags and also to sheets of paper designed for wrapping purposes a thin or
sheet metal strip, over which the edge of the paper is secured by gum, paste,
or other means, so that the filled bag or the sheet after being rolled or folded
will enclose the article within it, and may by bending over the metal band
be securely fastened without the aid of strings or tapes, or any mucilage or
adhesive substance whatever.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th February 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord
Onethousandeight hundred and sixty-seven, inthe thirty-firstyearof Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Herspecial licence that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Edward Newton, 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 FASTENING FOR PAPER BAGS AND PAPER PARCELS", being a communi-
cation to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, byan instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti
cularly 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 Edward Newton, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of "An Improved Fastening for Paper Bags & Paper
Parcels consists in applying to the open or mouth ends of paper bags & also
to sheets of paper designed for wrapping purposes a thin or sheet metal strip,
over which the edge of the paper is secured, so that the filled bag or the sheet
after being rolled or folded will enclose the article within it, and may by
bending over the metal band be securely fastened without the aid of strings or
tapes, or any mucilage or adhesive substance whatever.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a side view of an empty

page_text: paper bag provided with the improved fastening; Fig. 2 a section of the
same taken in the line a, a, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 u perspective view of a filled
bag provided with the improved fastening and secured by it.
A represents a paper bag which may be constructed in the usual or in any
proper manner, and B is a strip of sheet metal secured to one side of the
mouth of the bag in any convenient manner.
In Figures 1 and 2 the sheet metal strip is shown enclosed within a hem
formed by turning over the edge of the bag at one side of the mouth and
fastening the edge of the fold to the main portion of the bag, as shown at a,
in Fig. 2; other plans however may be devised for securing the metal strip
to the bag. When the bag is filled it is fastened in the following manner :-
The two sides of the mouth are brought in close contact, that is to say, the
side containing the metal strip B is brought in contact with the opposite side of
the mouth indicated by b, Fig. 2, and the two sides are then rolled or folded
over, say, two or three times, and the ends of the folded or rolled part are
bent upward and over, as shown clearly in Fig. 3 at 6, the metal strip
having sufficient tenacity or rigidity to hold the rolled or folded ends and form
a secure fastening.
When the metal strip is applied to a paper sheet it may be secured to one
edge, or a strip may be applied to two opposite edges of the same. When
the article to be enclosed is placed upon the sheet the edges are to be brought
in contact and rolled or folded over several times, and the ends of the rolled
or folded portion are to be bent or turned over precisely as described in
fastening the bag. A metal strip may be applied to both sides of the mouth
of a bag if required, but a strip at one side only will probably be sufficient to
effectually close and secure the mouth.
Having now described the improved fastening for paper bags and paper
parcels, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim, the
application of one or more metal strips to paper bags and to sheets of wrapping
paper to serve as a fastening for the same, as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the William Edward Newton, have hereunto set
my band and seal, the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)