IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES FOR PACKING AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN MEANS FOR STRENGTHENING BOXES, AND OF SECURING BOXES AND OTHER STRUCTURES AGAINST BEING OPENED BY UNAUTHORIZED PARTIES WITHOUT DETECTION
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lloyd Wise, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES FOR
PACKING AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN MEANS FOR STRENGTHENING
BOXES, AND OF SECURING BOXES AND OTHER STRUCTURES AGAINST BEING
OPENED BY UNAUTHORIZED PARTIES WITHOUT DETECTION." A communication
from abroad by Henry Charles Stone, of the City of Brooklyn, County of
Kings, State of New York, in the United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Lloyd Wise at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd January 1878.
WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BOXES FOR PACKING AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN MEANS
FOR STRENGTHENING BOXES, AND OF SECURING BOXES AND OTHER STRUCTURES
AGAINST BEING OPENED BY UNAUTHORIZED PARTIES WITHOUT DETECTION." A
communication from abroad by Henry Charles Stone, of the City of Brooklyn, County
of Kings, State of New York, in the United States of America.
The following description of this Invention is as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent; he says:-"The first part of my Invention relates to
strengthening pieces placed in the plane of the ends.
In making common wood boxes for packing goods and analogous purposes a fault
is found in the liability of the wood to split, which is imperfectly overcome by
extending "battens" up and down on the inside or outside. In either position the
battens require lumber and occupy room. They furthermore involve a serious
addition to the labour in the manufacture.
This part of the Invention consists in a mode of manufacture in which pieces
extend up and down, and impart strength crosswise of the grain of the main
boards without either requiring any increase of the quantity of lumber used or
occupying any increased space, and without adding as much as the ordinary battens
to the labor of the manufacture.

page_text: I make the ends of the box smaller than usual, and apply a strip of wood up and
down the edges of each end, which is of the same thickness as the end, lies on the
same plane thereof, and forms in effect a part thereof. These strips can be rapidly
applied in the ordinary fitting of the parts together, whether the boxes are made by
hand or by machinery. The grain in each strip extends up and down.
In the accompanying Drawings which form a part of this Specification,
Fig. 1 represents a perspective view of the improved box without the cover, and
Fig. la an end view of a portion on a larger scale.
Referring to these Figures, A, A, are the ends of the box; B is the bottom; and
C, C, are the sides. The parts are secured together by nails E applied in the
ordinary manner. M, M, are strips of wood extending up and down. The grain of
the wood extends horizontally in the ends A, and in the sides C as well as in the
top not represented, which is to be added. But the pieces M, M, having no greater
thickness than the ends, and neither projecting on the interior to оссиру useful space
within the box, nor projecting on the exterior to interfere with the packing of the
boxes together, contribute greatly to the strengh of the box without increasing the
quantity of material or the weight. Longer nails than usual should be used so as
to take a proper hold of the heads A after passing through the strips M. The
pieces M effectually prevent the splitting of the box, and thus breaking the box into
two, upper and lower parts. Battens on the interior are objectionable for obvious
reasons in packing any kind of goods which extends to the corners. Battens on the
exterior are objectionable particularly in shipping goods for long distances where
the freight is paid for by the cubic foot, as the battens by holding the boxes apart
materially increase the expense for freight. The strips M do not prevent the
addition of battens either on the exterior or interior, or both, in the few cases
where they may be required for further strengthening the boxes.
In cases where, as is common in what are known as oil boxes, the grain of the
end pieces runs up and down, the strips M will be correspondingly extended along
horizontally between the ends A and the top and bottom respectively. I consider
this an equivalent construction. prefer that the strips M be of wood of the same
kind and colour as the other parts of the box; but I propose in some cases to make
the strips of wood of a different color from the other parts of the box, thus giving
an effect which may be considered ornamental. The material for the strips M cost
almost nothing, there being plenty of narrow wood which cannot be made available
for other purposes.
I can instead of the pieces M employ two thin strips of metal, lapped one upon
the other; this form is shown in Fig. 2; the metal straps may either have holes
punched, or otherwise previously produced therein through which nails or screws
may apply, or may be made so thin as to allow the production of holes after they
are in place, either by a suitable awl or punch, or by simply driving the nails
directly against and through them. A metal strap of a given length, being produced
by applying two thin pieces so as to partly overlap, employed in place of each of
the pieces M, may be lengthened or shortened to adapt it to different sizes of boxes
by simply causing the parts to lap upon each other more or less. The straps should
be of so little thickness for this form of the Invention that the difference between
the double parts and the single parts will be practically inappreciable.
A second part of my Invention relates to metal straps to encirle or partly encircle
the box on the outside. It consists in peculiarities in the form and arrangement of
the strapping which takes the place of the ordinary strapping for strengthening the
edges and corners. It has long been common to fortify the edges and corners of boxes
by applying around the box at each end a hoop of wood or metal drawn as tightly
as may be, and secured by nails.
This improvement is a strap formed of two branches or parts, joined flatwise or
in the same plane, but forming a great angle, preferably a right angle. It is in the
form of a carpenters' square. I provide also for extensions and branches.
Figs. 3 to 13 inclusive represent this part of the Invention.

page_text: In all of them G³ represents one branch, and G³ another of my angular strap
Other parts or extensions of these parts will be designated by G³, etc., as required.
Fig. 3 represents the simplest form of my strap before its application to a box.
This strap is cut from sheet metal in that form.
Fig. 4 shews a corresponding strap formed by folding a straight piece.
Figs. 3 and 4 represent the same straps after they have been applied to a box
or partly folded ready to be applied.
Fig. 5 indicates a similar strap but with the branch G2 longer, and formed with
another right angle, and branch G with another partial fold therein. This last
arm or branch applies upon two faces of the box. The end of the branch G* may
be joined to G¹, and produces a desirable form of strengthening piece.
Fig. 6 represents the same with the other arm G₁ also extended, as indicated
by G; it is formed in a right angle with an arm G partly folded so as to strengthen
another point in the edge of the box.
Fig. 7 shews a strap having two right angles, formed by folding before its
application to the box.
Fig. 7a shews the same after being applied to the box.
Fig. 8 shows a similar strap but with the two right angles, formed by cutting the
metal in that shape.
The remaining Figures shew a modification, in which one branch of the right
angle strap, and which in this form I will call the main body, is extended past the
angular part.
Fig. 9 shews a strap simply cut out of plane sheet metal.
Fig. 10 shews the same with the end branches, formed by folding the metal
obliquely, as above destribed.
Fig. 10 shews the same after each branch is partly folded before applying the
strap on a box.
Fig. 10b shews a strap of the same length and similarly branched, applied on a
box.
In these Figures the dotted lines represent a portion of the box, and the full lines
represent the strapping.
Fig. 11 shews a strap having these characteristics extended quite around the
end of the box; this Figure differs from the ordinary strapping only in the presence
of the branches.
Figs. 12 and 13 shew a mode of producing such branches in a straight strap and
abolishing them whenever there chances to be an angle in the strap.
Fig. 12 shews a part of a long strap as it lies plane with a right angle where it
is not desired, and a straight part where it is desired there shall be an angle.
Fig. 13 shews the same after it has been folded obliquely twice to make the
angular part straight, and three times to make it extend out and back, and then
continued on to form an angular branch at the point desired.
These parts may require detailed description. The material on the right is
originally a straight strip. I form two folds, each at an angle of 45° to the line of
the strip, and equidistant between them form a fold straight across. This causes the
material of the strap to extend out at right angles from the direction of the main
body, and to return back again upon itself, and to again come into line and extend
along as before. A strap thus branched should be plentifully nailed at or adjacent
to the right angle. On the left of this Figure is shewn an expedient for forming a
straight strap where the material chances to present an angle; such material
originally extending in the direction of a right angle, as shewn in Fig. 12, can be
made to come into line with the main body by folding it twice, once along the line
of one of the edges, and a second time along the oblique line shewn.
The material of the strapping may be thin sheet iron, either unprotected or coated
with tin, zinc, or any suitable japanning or varnish.
Tinned sheet iron may be used of the quality generally employed in manufacturing
tin cans.

page_text: In the ordinary method of manufacturing rectangular tin cans the parts are cut
out from sheets by dies in a rectangular form, but with the corners slightly rounded.
The sheets are enough too large to leave strips of waste; these strips of waste
metal serve admirably for my straps. When such cannot readily be procured or are
not accessible in sufficient quantities I can produce the desired angular straps either
by cutting up sheet metal with dies or other instruments in the desired angular
form, or by cutting it in straight strips and inducing the angular form by folding
obliquely, as shown in Fig. 4, and various other Figures. The Invention gives a
quality to the strapped box not before attainable.
In Fig. 11, the main body of the strap corresponds to the ordinary strap and
performs the same function. The additional pieces, the branches G2, extend over on
to the ends, and aid very greatly in promoting the strength of the box.
With the ordinary strapping, if there is a tendency of the box to bulge or to bend
outward along one of the edges, it is at first resisted only by the nails not repre-
sented. The strap can hardly ever be made so tight as to be of any effect until the
box has already bulged out and lost a large portion of its original strength; in other
words, the wood parts first separate by starting out the nails, and after that action
has proceeded to a considerable degree, so far as to lose in good part the adhesion
of the nails, then the slack of the ordinary strap being taken up, such strap becomes
available, and it contributes to hold the box together. This Invention on the
contrary, as shewn in Fig. 11, holds the straps down to their places by means of the
branches G³, so that the main body has no slack and cannot bulge outward except
by rending off the straps G² or destroying the fastenings thereof. The fastenings
of the branches G², standing at right angles to the tension, have a much better hold
on the wood and are much more able to resist the strain than the ordinary nails,
not represented, which hold the parts of the box directly together. In other words
while the ordinary strapping holds the parts of the box along the straight portions
of the strap only by the ability of the nails to resist a longitudinal pull, my
improved strapping holds the box together by the ability of those nails which
enter the branches G², to resist a shearing strain or to pull at right angles to the
direction of their length.
The corner pieces, Figs. 3 to 6, have a peculiar strength by virtue of the position
of the metal in and adjacent to the angle which comes on the top. This will
usually be held in place by one or more nails, but even in the absence of any such
fastening they will contribute great strength to the box. The fact that the metal
is there formed in a right angle, and that the two partial folds are at right angles
to each other, where the branches are deflected downward to fasten to the
respective vertical sides of the box, gives the small quantity of metal on the top
great strength to resist the bursting away of the cover. In order to bend this
improved strap upward and release the cover, the metal must be very greatly
distorted. It acts in two ways. In one way it acts in the same manner as a strap
or tie would, which should be stretched obliquely across the corner. It is impossible
to forcibly remove the cover in the presence of such a strap, except by rending
the strap or destroying the fastenings by which the branches are held to the
vertical walls below. The other way in which it acts is due to the fact that the
metal is not simply stretched across but reaches down further upon the cover, and
is stiffened by the two partial folds being out of line. They are at right angles to
each other, and they greatly brace each other by virtue thereof.
Whatever may be the number of termini in the more compounded forms, shewn
in Figs. 9 to 11, all are understood to be secured by nails.
It will be generally convenient and expedient to also supply nails at the right
angles, but it is not absolutely essential when the angles occur at the corners of the
box, as shewn in the simpler forms, Figs. 3 to 6.
A third part of the Invention lies in other means of strengthening the angles,
and especially the corners of boxes and analogous structures, with metallic straps
or ties. This may take the place of the other or ordinary strapping, or may be
used additional thereto.

page_text: The present improvement relates mainly to the strengthening of the corners, but
may be further extended as will be explained below.
Figures 14 to 18 inclusive represent this part of the Invention. All the Figures
represent the corners of boxes in perspective, with the Invention differently applied
in each.
In Fig. 14 I employ a strap of hoop iron or other iron, peculiarly applied and
bent. A saw cut is made into the corner, as indicated by a, of sufficient depth to
receive the strap extending diagonally through the wood, and to hold its whole
breadth immersed. A triangular portion of the strap is thus imbedded in the wood.
Beyond this the parts at each side are turned upward, as indicated by G, G¹, and
extended diagonally along the respective faces of the box to the top, where they
are each bent again and extended inward upon the top, as indicated by G³. The
strap is secured in this position by nails H. The length of the straps, and conse-
quently the height of the saw cut a may be varied within wide limits, So also
the extent to which the ends of the straps extend, past the angle at g*, may be
varied. The ends of the straps may be made pointed and bent down, or one corner
of the end may be bent down and forced in'o the wood by a blow of a hammer, or
otherwise, to aid in holding it. The bottom corners may be similarly secured; all
the bottom corners may be thus secured before the cover is applied. I can make a
good packing box by securing the lower corners in this manner, and securing the
upper corners by other and substantially different means; but it is better that the
whole be secured in this manner, the straps for the upper corners being of course
applied after the cover is put on.
In cases where it may be desired the straps for the upper corners may be let into
the main body of the box, and the parts G¹, G', fastened to the respective sides and
ends, but without adjoining the parts G2, G3. They may be temporarily bent down
into the interior of the box. The boxes may be sent from the manufactory in this
condition, and care being taken not to destroy the projecting ends the straps may
remain in that condition as long as desired. After the cover is put in place and
secured by the ordinary nailing the parts G2, G³, may be adjusted in position and
secured.
Instead of sawing the cut a it may be produced by a stroke with any suitable
sharp instrument. I believe that in most cases where the boxes are made of soft
wood the edge of the band will of itself be sufficiently thin and sharp to allow of
being driven by one or more blows of a mallet or hammer directly into the corner
of the box without any previous cutting and without much danger of splitting the
wood. But where the wood is hard, and generally where good work is desired, the
score should be cut by a saw.
A modification is shewn in Fig. 15, where the seat a which allows the strap to
be inserted diagonally into the corner of the box is itself made oblique. I have in
this Figure shewn the cut as inclined to just a sufficient extent to cause the straps
to hug closely to the angle of the box. They thus extend vertically up to the corner
where they fold upon each other, and are secured by a nail. The obliquity of the
cut may vary from the horizontal cut shown in Fig. 14 to the angle shewn in Fig. 15,
and it will of course induce a corresponding change in the angle at which the strap
will reach down or up, as the case may be, to the corner.
Fig. 16 shews another modification, which may be used either with the inclined
form of the cut a or with the level form. In this modification one end of the strap is
bent differently from the other. One end G¹ is extended up and folded upon the
top, as above explained, while the other end is extended the other way, reaching
outward and downward so as to only hold the side to the end.
The depth of the recess or seat a for the strap is not necessarily confined to a cor-
respondence with the width of the strap. The depth may be much greater with a
narrow strap. The recesses a may be made of any depth which will not allow the
strap to encroach on the interior of the box. With some kinds of contents, as wine
in bottles, it may be permissable even to allow the diagonal strap to so encroach
considerably. In many instances it may be desirable to make the recess a deep

page_text: enough to allow the strap to get a firm hold not only of the side piece but also of
the vertical piece M.
Straps may be used of so little width that they may be considered, and may
actually be, merely flattened wires. I can even use round wires, care being taken
to attach them firmly by staples or the like embracing the wire, or by bending down
the ends and driving them into the wood, or by both these means, or by other means
of strongly fixing them.
When a very narrow band is employed, and especially when a round wire is
employed as the fastener, it is not essential to apply the strap into the seat a by a
lateral movement. It may be introduced and caused to stand in the same diagonal
position in the corner by being simply inserted endwise through a suitable diagonal
hole. For example:-Bore by machinery or otherwise round holes running across
through the corner the same as the seat a; then thrust in each a proper length
of wire, and bend and secure the projecting ends, as shewn in Fig. 17. In this
the wire after being thrust through a hole in the place of the seat a, and which
I will similarly designate a, is bent up each side and joined by twisting the
ends together on the top of the box..
Another plan may be to use wire previously formed by machinery with the
short bends or angles required, and applying it, as shewn in Fig. 18, so as to cause
the ends to pass each other in the hole a. The projecting ends may finally be
clenched and secured by bending them where they emerge from the wood.
One advantage of using wire instead of sheet metal is that it will allow the strap
to be thrown back out of the way by turning in the seat a as a centre to allow of
the removal of the cover. This form of the strap may be made and engaged in the
respective holes a in advance of the application of the cover.
The strap in either of these forms of round wire may be held in place on the cover
or bottom, as the case may be, by a staple or nail.
In case it is desired a suitable nail may be inserted diagonally, so as to act
drawing;" that is to say, so that as it is driven home it brings an increased tension
on the strap and makes all fit tight. This part of the Invention in all or nearly all
its modifications will allow the use of other modes of strengthening in connection
therewith; the ordinary metal straps embracing the entire box may obviously be
applied after the application of my straps. What are known as common outside
battens, being stout strips of wood nailed on the ends so as to extend along the
edges, may be applied after my straps are in place. What are known as inside
battens, which perform a corresponding function on the interior of the angles, may
be used, and that style of box is eminently adapted to my Invention.
The pieces M perform an important function in relation to the strapping because
by reason of their preserving the dimensions of the box, they prevent the straps
from becoming slacked by any shrinkage of the lumber; but I do not confine this
part of the Invention to the use of the straps with the pieces M. The straps
applied as here shewn may be of great use with ordinary boxes.
In cases where by reason of the absence of the pieces M, or for other cause, the
box shall need a longer hold than is shewn in the Figures, I can carry the recesses a
further from the corner, and consequently employ longer straps until they shall pass
each other, and the diagonal straps from one corner shall overlap the diagonal
straps from another corner.
A fourth part of my Invention relates to means of protecting the corners only
by metal corner pieces peculiarly formed to apply on three faces.
Figs. 19 and 20 shew one mode of accomplishing this, in which I produce the
desired form without cutting, but simply by crimping or corrugating a portion.
Fig. 19 represents the blank before it has been cut or formed up to the
desired shape; and Fig. 20 the same after it has been bent and crimped.
In these Figures I¹ is the part of the sheet which applies upon the side of the
box; and I is a corresponding part which applies upon the end; both these parts
are plane. A further part i is corrugated in divergent lines radiating from the
The corrugations should be carried to such an extent as to just take up
corner.

page_text: one right angle and thus contract the metal sufficiently to produce the desired
corner piece to apply upon three faces of a rectangular box.
Another form in which this general end may be attained is shewn in Figs. 21 and
22. Here the metal for the part i, instead of being corrugated, is peculiarly cut, as
shewn, so that the desired rectangular corner piece is produced by peculiarly
lapping the two parts i, i, upon each other, and causing them to interweave as
indicated. They may be secured in their proper relations by a rivet, or they may
be simply held together by one or more nails driven through them into the box.
They will hold quite strongly by reason of their interwoven condition, even without
any nail or other fastening in the top.
Either of the forms shewn in Figs. 20 or 22 will impart great strength to the
box, because when they are in place the metal lies very favourably to resist any
strain to which the box corner shall be subjected. The strain on the metal is
nearly tensile. The cover cannot be rent away except by destroying the fastenings
on all the three sides, or by either rending the metal or producing a great change of
shape of the metal, which distortion is strongly resisted by its regidity.
nails E by which these strengthening pieces are fastened should be conical on the
under side of the head. The amount of taper usually given to what are called in
England "screw nails," and in America "wood screws," will serve very well.
The
The holes in the metal for these nails should be countersunk, by which I mean a
sinking of the metal in a corresponding conical form around each hole to a little
more than the same depth as the nail head which is to enter it. This may be done
by machinery without indenting or in any way defacing the remainder of the
metal.
It is important that the remaining metal be left in as plane and perfect a condition
as possible, in order that another useful end of my Invention may be attained, to
wit, the ready betrayal of the fact if the box has been tampered with by a removal
of the fastenings.
It is practically impossible to again restore a piece of polished sheet metal which
has been bruised and indented so as to entirely erase the bruises and indentations.
The sensitive character of the reflecting surface will by its different action upon the
light shew the slight remains of the indentation, however carefully it shall be sub-
sequently hammered down or otherwise smoothed.
Any attempt to remove the nails or screws when thus conditioned will necessarily
bend, bruise, and deform the corner fastenings I, I, i, because no tool can be inserted
either between the nail head and the metal of the corner piece or under the metal of
the corner piece without so bending and defacing the latter as to render it impossible
for the thief to again make it sufficiently smooth and plane to escape observation.
Any of the above parts or modifications may be adopted according to the size and
strength of the box, the nature of the material contained, the roughness of the
handling to which the boxes are likely to be subjected, and generally to the neces-
sities of the case.
A fifth part of my Invention relates to other or still further guarantees against the
box being opened except by the proper parties. Screws are inserted which cannot
be withdrawn without either irrevocably damaging the box or shewing marks on
the screws. They may be used to secure doors or other parts of any structure.
My experiments have been principally with boxes. I have devised and success-
fully applied screws which, while aiding to hold on the cover, and thus perform in a
good degree the ordinary uses of fastening screws, are so constructed and applied
that they cannot be removed by any of the ordinary appliances, or by any skill or
tools likely to be commanded by petty thieves without the fact being evident.
I provide an efficient fastening screw, having a thread broader than ordinary screw
nails, and which may be besides so notched or barbed that it resists very strongly
the turning motion necessary to withdraw the screw. This screw has an efficient
bead to be operated in turning it into the wood, but has a weak neck between the
head and the threaded part. When this screw has been sunk into the work by the
ordinary means to the proper extent the head is broken off and the screw remains

page_text: in a condition impossible of removal except by such violence and disturbance of the
parts as will render plainly evident the fact that the box or other article has been
tampered with.
Figures 23 to 30 represent this part of the Invention in several forms.
The simplest is that shewn in Figs. 23, 24, and 25, which are vertical sections
through a portion of a box cover and the adjacent end of the box.
Fig. 23 represents my screw in the act of being inserted; Fig. 24 represents the
sane when driven home; and Fig. 25 the same after the head has been broken
off.
The remaining Drawings relating to this part of the Invention will be described
further on.
D is the body of my screw; d is a small neck, and D¹ a head, which latter is scored
across and adapted to receive a screwdriver in the usual manner.
In the form of the device shewn in Figs. 23, 24, and 25, my screw is inserted in
all respects in the ordinary manner, except that the process of inserting is arrested
when the body D is sunk flush with or a little within the upper surface of the cover.
The screw is then broken off at the neck d. The breaking in this form of tho
Invention may be effected by a side blow on the head or by the means hereafter to
be described.
Figs. 26, 27, and 28 represent a modification in which there may be a shank or
unthreaded portion similar to the corresponding part in ordinary wood screws.
It
is represented in these Figures very short, but it may be longer or shorter, as desired,
in any case. The chief peculiarity of this modification is the presence of an extra
head below the neck d and marked D³. This head is unscored. In this form of
the device the screw is inserted as before, but no care need be taken to arrest the
turning motion until the increased resistance is felt due to the forcing home of the
head D2 upon and into the wood of the cover. When this has been forced down
flush or a little further, as indicated in Fig. 27, the head D' is broken off and the
screw D remains, holding the parts in the same condition as has been described for
the preceding form, except that the parts are held more strongly together by reason
of the head D².
It will be observed that in both Figs. 23 and 26 the screw is only partly
inserted.
In Figs. 24 and 27 it it fully inserted, but the head is not yet removed.
In Figs. 25 and 28 the operation has been completed by the removal of the head.
The neck d may be turned or otherwise reduced in diameter quite around, or the
screw nail may, if preferred, be held in any suitable clamps and carried past a couple
of saws, or may otherwise be notched, so as to leave the neck flat or reduced in
dimensions one way without reducing it in the other direction. Whichever form is
adopted the neck is sufficiently weakened to allow the head to be easily removed.
This must be so proportioned that the head may be easily removed when it is no
longer useful, while at the same time sufficient strength is preserved in the neck to
allow the insertion of the screw. In using the device in the large way strong pliers
should be at hand, and in the few cases where the necks may fail, before the screw
is driven home, the pliars may be used to remove the screw and allow the insertion
of another.
Fig. 29 is a cross section on a larger scale through the body of a screw nail, and
represents a barbed form of the threads which I can produce by scoring the screw
longitudinal by any suitable machinery in the manner shewn. The screw is easily
inserted, but when the force of the screwdriver, not represented, is reversed in
direction as if to remove the screw, the elastic fibres of the wood having closed into
the scores in the screw threads resist the backward turning, and the screw is broken
off at the neck d.
Fig. 30 shews a modification of the screw in which the neck d is below the shank.
The shank is here represented as of considerable length, but that feature may be
modified. When the device is broken at the point d, the body of the screw is not
only sunk flush with the wood but deeply into it. This form of the device may be

page_text: broken off either by attempting to unscrew when it has been forced home, or by
simply making a strong effort to continue screwing in after the screw head had
met the full resistance due to its large area. The rending strain thus induced rends
the neck instead of as in the other plans twisting it off. The barbs may be omitted
if preferred.
The form of the device shewn in Figs. 23, 24, and 25, may be similarly rended.
Figs. 31 and 32 represent such. Fig. 31 shews the screw near the latter part of
the inserting stage. Fig. 32 shews the condition aft a further effort to insert it.
The head is broken off and there remains simply the screw body sunk a little more
than flush with the wood.
The use of my Invention may largely take the place of seals and analogous
troublesome fastenings of boxes and packages, as also in any situations where doors
or other parts are to be secured against surreptitious opening. The class of men
who open boxes, and abstract and exchange the contents, on shipboard or railroad
cars, are not provided with burglars' tools which can reach into the wood, and cut a
new score in the smooth surface presented by the end of my screw body D or the head
D. The Invention will be most useful on boxes and analogous packages, but I do
not confine it to such use.
The form shewn in Fig. 30 is intended mainly for use in holding together thick
stuff, where it is desired that the screw shall be threaded through two parts, as thick
plank, and broken off at a considerable depth within the outer surface. All the
forms of the device are alike in the fact that the parts of a box or other structure
held together by my fastenings can only be separated by such violence as will shew
to the eye that the box has been tampered with on the way.
I can use for this same general purpose screws which have not been weakened
under the head, care being taken to apply a sufficient force, and under suitable
circumstances to remove the screw head without seriously bending or otherwise
damaging the screw below. An instrument to facilitate this is shewn in Figures
33 and 34. For use with this instrument the screw should have a wide thread to
take a good hold of the wood, which thread should be continued nearly or quite up
to the base of the head.. It may be inserted by the ordinary means until it is half
way in. Next I move the device Q so that the body of the screw is received in one
of the slots q. Thus conditioned with the screw body loosely embraced in the slot
I screw down the screw. It follows that when the screw head comes down and
commences to bear on the instrument Q, q, it bears only on one side of the head at
any one time. The tendency to deflect the screw due to this fact is resisted by the
pressure of the other side of the slot against the body of the screw nail. The
forcing down of the screw by the continued turning of the screwdriver under these
conditions brings the head strongly down upon the instrument Q, q, with one side of
the body supported so as to prevent the screw from springing away, while the other
side of the head strikes and is screwed down upon a rigid and unyielding seat which
bears at its extreme outer edge. The result is a bending of the screw at or a little
below the junction of the shank with the head, and as the screw is turned around
this bending is made successively in all directions. This bending with the torsion
and also the tension induced by the continued forcible turning of the screw causes
the head to separate from the shank. The instrument Q, q, is then removed
and the sealing or fastening, so far as that screw is concerned, may be considered
complete.
Fig. 35 represents a side view of the end of a peculiar form of screwdriver, and
Fig. 36 represents an end view of the same. This screwdriver R may be forced in
by any sufficient pressure, or by a blow with a hammer, and induced to cut slight
scores on an otherwise smooth head, of the form shown in Fig. 28. This device,
Figs. 35 and 36, may then serve as a screwdriver, care being taken to maintain a
strong pressure upon it to keep it engaged with the slight mark cut in the head, and
the screw may be thus withdrawn. It will be understood that the proper parties
engaged in sending and receiving boxes thus secured are to be provided with
such devices, but these devices should be of such rarity that thieves will not be

page_text: likely to have them. In the case a thief should use such a device for removing the
screws, it will still be impossible for him to re-insert the screws, and remove the
slight scores induced by this mode of operation.
A portion of the benefit of those devices may be attained without breaking or
otherwise changing the screw by employing a form of screw head with a peculiarly
bevelled score. The upper surface of the head is in such case a part of two screws
like the rear face of a wide bladed screw propeller of two blades. When a screw-
driver is applied to such a screw head and is turned in the direction to insert the
screw it acts against square shoulders of good height and takes hold effectively.
When the screwdriver is on the contrary turned in the direction to extract the screw,
it finds no shoulder, but only gradually inclined surfaces, against which it cannot
act; it slides up the inclined surfaces producing no effect on the screw.
Fig. 37 is a side view of this form of screw; its body is marked T and its peculiar
head T; I propose to manufacture such, and employ them for all or a part of the
fastenings of boxes. These screws will be almost as effective as the plans above
described to prevent the surreptitious opening of the boxes by any ordinary thieves
while the goods are in transit or stored."
Having thus given the description of the said Invention as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I desire to have it understood that I claim,―
With reference to the first part of the Invention,―
1st. The within-described improvement in boxes consisting of the wood strips M
in the plane of the ends A, and having the grain standing crosswise of the grain
thereof, in combination with such ends, and with the adjacent pieces arranged to
serve as and for the purposes herein specified.
2nd. The lapped metallic pieces m, m, constituting a strap of adjustable length
inserted between the end and the adjacent parts, and extending in a direction
across the grain of the ends, and adapted to serve as and for the purposes herein
specified.
And with reference to the second part of the Invention,―
3rd. The combination with a rectangular wood box of metallic strapping G¹, G²,
the parts standing angularly to each other, and secured on the box, as and for the
purposes herein specified.
4th. The metal strap G having two or more branches G2 in combination with a
rectangular box as specified.
5th. The angular strap G', G, applied as shewn, holding the cover down to two
sides, and then extending the strap from one face to another adjacent face, and
uniting the branches as herein specified.
6th. A metallic strap G1, G2, G3, in combination with a rectangular box, and so
applied as to fasten one side to two adjacent sides, and also fastening the latter
together as herein specified.
7th. The branched or L shaped strap G1, G2, in combination with a rectangular
box, and with suitable fastening means as herein specified.
8th. The pieces M forming parts of the ends of the box with the grain standing
at right angles to the grain of the other portion thereof in combination with the
strap G, G, as and for the purposes herein specified.
And with reference to the third part of the Invention,-
9th. The strengthening strap G applied to the corner of a rectangular box, and
extending obliquely across through the corner is indicated by a.
10th. The strap G, G¹, G2, inserted through the corner of a rectangular
box, extended upon three of the faces thereof, as and for the purposes
specified.
And with reference to the fourth part of the Invention,―
11th. A metallic corner piece I', 12, i, formed from sheet metal without cutting by
partially folding and by crimping or contracting the part i, substantially as shewn
in Figs. 19 and 20.
12th. The combination with a rectangular box of a metallic corner piece, constructed
as shewn in Figs. 19 and 20.

page_text: 13th. A metallic corner piece 11, 12, 1, 2, formed from sheet metal by cutting,
folding, and interweaving, as represented in Figs. 21 and 22.
14th. A rectangular box in combination with strengthening corner pieces, as shewn
in Figs. 21 and 22.
And with reference to the fifth part of the Invention,―
15th. The screw D having one or more narrowed or reduced points in any portion
of its length, which shall break by torsion or otherwise as may be required, in its
application all as heretofore specified.
16th. The screw D having a head D' connected by a slender part d to the main
body, and having a sub-head D2, all adapted to serve as and for the purposes herein
specified.
17th. The device Q, q, adapted to break a screw on continuously turning the same
through the slot q into wood or other holding material which it is desired to fasten,
as herein specified.
18th. The screw T shouldered and beveled on the face of the head T', substantially
as shewn in Fig. 37, for the purposes herein described.
In witness whereof, I the said William Lloyd Wise, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
W. LLOYD WISE. (L.S.)